I purchased a new home about 3 months ago. At the time of the purchase, I was told the home had a hot water heater and really didn't think much about it. Moved in and didn't notice at first because the kids were on summer break but once we got into our regular schedule we noticed that their was insufficient hot water.
We tried various work arounds (shortening shower times, staggering them a bit etc...). Nothing seemed to work and it was clear this 50 gallon take was insufficient for our family of 6. My old home had a 60 gallon take which seemed to work fine.
So, I called Enercare and told them I would like to replace the tank, either by purchasing new or renting one from them, depending upon the price. They immediately told me that returning was NOT an option under any circumstance. They also told me that a new 60 gallon take would be prohibitively more expensive per month. I asked them if they could rent it at the same price and they said "no, prices are fixed". So, I went back to the "return" option.
After quite a bit of haggling, it turns out you do have the option to "buy back" the existing tank (which is five years old). So, what's the catch?
That cost of the tank is $1,462 including HST. A 5 year old 50 gallon tank, which is more expensive than a brand new 80 gallon tank. I spoke to Customer service rep, Shiraz and Water Tank Manager Mahabub and neither one was willing to do anything to help our situation. They kept repeating... "well, if the tank wasn't working, that's a different story, we'd break the contract"... to which I replied, "yes, but it isn't working for us, because inevitably every morning two members of my household have to take 2 showers". There responses just got progressively worse and more nonsensical.
If you are stuck doing business with these guys, get out when you can. I will NEVER do business with this company. This is organized extortion. How our government can let these guys operate under these terms is mind blowing.
