Greater Sudbury resident Robin Hawrelluk admits he made a costly mistake.
In mid-September of 2016, he signed a 10-year contract with Markham, Ont.-based company Nationwide Home Comfort for the installation of a HEPA filter at his Valley East home. He claims he was offered a monthly rebate by the company through the provincial government that would cover the entire cost of the contract.
“I was told by the sales representative the company was teaming up with the provincial government, which was making it mandatory that all homes with a furnace have a HEPA filter installed by Jan. 1, 2017,” he said. “He made it sound like every home was going to need this filter, and if you sign up now, it's going to be free. At the time, I thought I'd be mental if I didn't sign up.”
However, Hawrelluk didn't read the contract before signing it. He said he trusted the sales representative, who kept reassuring him that these changes were coming, and that if he acted now, he was going to save a lot of money.
“I was just naive and stupid,” he said. “(The sale representative) was very nice and polite. He was good at what he did. It all sounded legit.”
He said he called the company about three weeks after the filter had been installed to ask them about the rebate.
“The manager said she had no idea what I was talking about,” he said. “I started to lose my mind. I signed up because it was essentially free.”
He said Nationwide Home Comfort called him recently to offer him a lower rate, or to buy out the contract at a lower cost — about $7,400 after HST.
Sashanna Nevins, compliance manager for Nationwide Home Comfort, said her company offers rebates for certain products, but no rebate was available for the HEPA filter Hawrelluk purchased. She said Hawrelluk is the only customer to come forward claiming he was offered a provincial rebate to cover the cost of the entire 10-year contract.
“If we do have an overwhelming number of people coming forward saying the same thing, it will be dealt with, because it's against our policy,” she said. “With this particular customer, I reached out to the area sales manager to inform him of this issue, and he assured me that's something not being said.”
She said she asked the manager to have a meeting with his staff to ensure they are clear on the company's policies, and there's zero tolerance for providing false information.
Nevins also said her company had been in contact with Hawrelluk several times since he purchased the filter.
“We always disclose all of the information with our customers,” she said. “We go over the terms and conditions, and we make them aware of any rebates, if there are any. We went through this entire process with him, and at no time did he question any of the information given to him.
“I told him there are rebates available, but not for the product he purchased. He told me he wasn't aware of the terms or the price, so I asked him if he read the contract, and he said no. He didn't do his due diligence, even though the information was presented to him.”
She said her company took several thousand dollars off Hawrelluk's total rental contract in order to accommodate him.
Now, Nickel Belt MPP France Gélinas is going to bat for Hawrelluk. She's trying to put pressure on the company to get his money back.
“I have no doubt (Robin) was lied to,” Gélinas said. “It's worrisome, and it's time to let the people know there is no program from the province forcing them to do anything with their furnace, and there certainly is not rebate program from the province.”
She said she deals with a lot of these types of scenarios, and the response from Nationwide is “pretty typical.”
“They lay the blame on the customer,” she said.
Even if the blame partially belongs to Hawerlluk, she questions how a company can justify charging more than $10,000 for a filter that she claims other companies would install for a maximum of $600.
“The company can say whatever they want, but at the end of the day, they are selling a $600 filter for $10,000. It's still a shitty deal.”
Gélinas, in the meantime, said she has written to the minister of Consumer Affairs to see if they can add pressure to the company to help Hawrelluk get out of the contract. She said if sales representatives are offering rebates on behalf of the province, they need to change their sales tactics.
“I want them to investigate this company,” she said. “You can't speak for the government when you haven't been given the privilege to do so.”
Gélinas said if any other resident has had a similar experience, or if they have any doubts about a company that offers services door to door, to call her office at 705-969-3621.
“I know every provincial program there is, and we I don't have the answer, we will get an answer,” she said.
