This is a two part story starting with an old situation and ending with a recent situation. How this company remains in business after scamming so many people and after so many of their sales and technician staff leave because of the scams blows my mind. Years ago I contacted them for a quote for purchase and installation of central air. Nothing specifically unique about the quote, standard industry cost. What I didn't know was they put liens against people's homes, its in the fine print. Most people incl their own customers don't know. The lien is likely not needed alot and its probably invoked very little, but its there. What upset me was the sales person never told me it was there. And that its not industry standard. A work colleague warned me. When I called Reliance back, they confirmed they put liens on homes to protect their interest in being fully compensated for expensive equipment. I advised them I would not be purchasing with them (I had 2 other quotes from 2 other places). Spring forward to 30 Nov 2025. Our furnace won't kick on. My wife calls multiple places, Reliance answers. She books an appointment. They arrive about 5hrs later. Technician suggested when they first arrived at the front door, after hearing my wife describe how the furnace sounded, that it could be an issue with the flame sensor. We noted that furnace started just fine after we booked the service, and it ran fine all afternoon. Technician said they'd still check everything. I wanted to monitor the Technician but my wife said no, it will make the Tech nervous. After the Tech went to the basement, I told my wife in a serious tone, that we were not buying a brand new furnace no matter how much the Tech insisted. Cause I knew once the Tech saw our 15yr old Concorde furnace, that they would see $$ opportunity. After about 15mins, the Tech came upstairs telling us she had to turn off and lock out our gas cause the secondary heat exchanger was leaking and there were tube aldehydes present. She said we need a new furnace and she can have a salesperson contact us the next day. How did I predict this?! She also told us the system is running hot, and that our fan motor had seized bearings. She said that the styrofoam support that someone installed under the motor was dangerous (although she did't remove it). That is really when I knew she was scamming us, cause I knew the motor worked fine and the foam support was there to eliminate the small vibration caused by the fan spinning that echoed in the hollow system. I asked her to explain the aldehydes again, which she did. I questioned how we can go overnight without heat and she explained she had no choice cause if the system blew up, it would be on her if she didn't lock out the gas. I asked her to text us the photo of the aldehydes, which she did. She left after my wife paid the $115 bill. Too bad all of what she said about our furnace was lies. I called Enercare Service Experts the next day. I had worked with them multiple times before. They had a technician arrive by 3pm the next day. The furnace was still off. I showed him the aldehydes photo. He said that is not aldehydes, its dust and normal discolouration of the metal caused by the heat. He said if aldehydes were present, they would be on the seam, which in the photo were clear. He then asked me where she drilled into the furnace to snake the camera into the secondary heat exchanger. I said there is no drill point. He then suggested he check for leaks both externally and internally. I watched him measure the CO levels- 25ppm outside and 0ppm inside. In other words, no leaks. He then looked at the motor fan. I asked him to prove to me its not seized. He said that I would be able to see and hear a seized motor but he took a measurement of the amps it was using- 1.9, where the furnace was using 5amps as a whole system. He said a seized motor would be using way more amps as it struggled to run. He also confirmed there was no danger to the system to have the foam support the motor. He pulled out the flame sensor and it was covered in black carbon. He cleaned the sensor, showed me the clean sensor and put it back in. He recorded all his measurements on the 35B Violation form and sent it immediately to Enbridge. He turned our gas back on, and the furnace lit with no issues. He waited 5mins to watch and listen to the furnace run. He agreed my furnace is old so I will want to consider upgrading sooner rather than later. He also said the furnace is running good, it shows no state of rot, rust or aldehydes. So don't use Reliance for anything. Lied to our faces. Just wanted to sell us a new furnace. We can't prove the photo she took is even from our furnace. She didn't even clean the flame sensor. I have now signed up for Enercare's maintenance plan. They didn't bill me for the service call. read more

Reliance Home Comfort ABSOLUTELY DISGRACEFUL SERVICE The reason I had to give one star is Yelp wouldn't accept my zero star rating. We have rented our hot water tank from Reliance for 29 years. In October we had a new water tank installed, and it's broken down three times. Yesterday we had two technicians come to fix it again as the thermostat valve is defective. It would change the temperature from 120 degrees to 150 degrees as it was broken. The two technicians accused me of changing the temperature, then said "it was probably your wife changing the temperature and she doesn't know how to do it properly.... How dare them accuse us !!! He couldn't diagnose the problem but did say it's probably the valve... wow go figure!!!! He said he had one in the truck but didn't. He then said it's probably not the valve. When I questioned him he said "those valves are over $600 and I just can't replace it or order one".... It's a brand new tank and we rent it and it's broken!!!! The valve wasn't changed and the water temperature is 150 degrees on my digital thermometer !!! As they were leaving the tech told the other tech "we're not replacing parts and building a whole new tank just because the customer wants it done. Can you think of anything else?" The other tech said "let's just give him a sugar pill". They didn't know that I have surveillance cameras with audio all around my house AND THEIR CONVERSATION IS RECORDED I called the tech "Chris" on his cell and told him what I heard after they left. He denied saying anything until I told him I recorded them. I demanded the make of his manager and he flat out refused to tell me. I've laid a formal complaint with their head office and I'm supposed to hear back today. Immediately I called DOWS CLIMATE CARE and they are removing the reliance tank this afternoon and installing a new one. Immediate and honest service like I've said before. When I called to cancel my Reliance account I was told there's a $65 fee for Reliance to come and pick up their tank... needless to say I told them where they can file the unpaid bill !!! The lady on the phone then said they. waiving this fee.... It's up to you who you deal with, but this is the disgraceful service I received from Reliance after being a customer for 29 years. DOWS CLIMATE CARE.... locally owned, well established for years and fantastic service and honest Doug Norman Belleville Ontario read more

Let me regale you with a story of exceptionally poor service. I have a rental hot water tank in the apartment over my shop. It was there when I bought the house 20 years ago, so I continued on with it. We have hard water, so six or seven years is about the limit for these tanks, and they corrode through, and subsequently leak. Reliance home comfort provides free replacement of the tank. I informed them last night the tank was leaking, and required replacement. The call centre operator was asking me about the tank, and I informed him I was quite familiar with hot water tanks, and their problems, and I was completely confident the tank had failed. This morning, the technicians came, and I led them to the tank. They immediately informed me they could not replace the tank today, and their earliest appointment was Friday. I told them I had already informed the service center the tank had failed, and I had shut the water off to the apartment, so I could not go without water for my tenant for three days. I also stated I would have to replace the tank myself, which I am more than capable of doing. They then informed me there would be a cancellation charge. I phoned back the service center, and engaged in long drawn out conversations about possible options, (there were none that were acceptable) and then moved on to the fact I had to drop off the old tank in Kingston, as they still owned the tank. I asked why they would want a rotten hot water tank, and then stated I was not driving a two hour round trip to drop off a rotten tank. After much wrangling, I finally said I would take this to social media, and let everyone I knew know about the customer service level Reliance offered to their customers. I cannot even begin to tell you how many times call center operators said "I understand" "I can relate to your frustration" and "I am just stating Reliance policy". This was combined with several attempts to extort money from me for a tank that was failed, and service that was not provided. I suggested they take me to small claims for the minor charges, and we could have a discussion with the judge on what was reasonable expectations of service from a company that clearly stated the " Whether you need emergency assistance or regular maintenance, our experts in plumbing, air conditioning, hot water tanks, and furnace repair are ready to help. " Obviously, the help they provide means you go without water for three days. With that kind of help, I would prefer to go another route, to say the least. This is absolutely hopeless, indifferent, and incompetent customer service. I phoned a local plumber who I use, and they are coming today to replace my tank. I am waiting for a call back to confirm, but if they can't (and they are the best people ever) I will go to Home Depot, buy a tank, and put it in, It has to go up a long flight of stairs, and since I am by myself, it would be a pain, but doable. MY ADVICE: do not rent equipment from RELIANCE HOME COMFORT. They are unable, or unwilling to recognize the severity of failure in components they rent to homeowners, and as a result, you bear the responsibility of dealing with it yourself. If this is the norm, you are far better off to own your own appliances, since the convenience you would associate with a rental is simply not available from this company. read more

Such disappointing service, I waited 7 hours, 3 hours longer than I was quoted, for the technician to arrive and tell me they could go through with the a/c inspection but it would not be accurate because of the weather.(March 31). Reliance advertises this service at a discount if done prior to a certain date. They also never mentioned the weather possibly being an issue when I called to schedule. The technician was to arrive by 11 am, I was called at 10 and told it would be closer to 12:30. The technician called at 1:20 to say arrival would be in 10 minutes, it was 30 minutes later. I cancelled at the door...so frustrating!! read more

In May of 2017 I called reliance home comfort to come and look at my air conditioner. Instead of a repairman, a salesman called Mike came to my house. He looked at my air conditioner (just looked no testing examining or anything). He told me it would cost me more to repair it then to buy a new one. No one was home at the time. What I found strange is he asked me twice if I was alone. I was quite scared. He was sitting at my dinning room table and looked upstairs and said "are you sure nobody's home?". I said I was sure. I asked Mike Mcarther several times if this was a scam. He looked at me in a very intimidating way and said "we don't scam people". I ended up signing a contract for a rental furnace and air conditioner for the amount of $13, 000+. You can buy a furnace for $1500 and an air conditioner for $2000. That would amount to $3500 not $13000+. The problem is the intimidation I received for Mike Mcarther to sign this scandalous contract. He led me to believe that my furnace was not working as it should without even looking at it. I don't know how people like this sleep at night. It's very disturbing to me that reliance, such a big company, can continue to scam vulnerable people. The thing is they know what they are doing. This salesman scammer never said it was a rental agreement. I don't even remember him asking me to read a contract. It was signed and he was out the door. BUYER BEWARE. RELIANCE IS THE EPITOME OF SCAM ARTIST. MIKE MCARTHER IS A SCAM ARTIST. read more