heating and hot water equipment rental and repair
Direct Energy is one of the most incompetent, inefficient, discourteous, and unethical companies I have ever had to deal with. On a scale of 1 to 10, I rate them a minus-10! The unit we rented from them was continually malfunctioning, leaving us without heat and hot water during the coldest part of the majority of winters since the system was installed. One winter we didn’t have heat and hot water for the better part of six weeks. Service people wouldn’t show up, and insisted we weren’t home when our whole family was anxiously awaiting their arrival. We were told couriers were on their way with vital parts, and they never arrived. Our basement was flooded at least four times by Direct Energy repair people. Others left our exterior door open in minus twenty degree temperatures when we had no heat. They trampled in salt and snow, left their garbage strewn on our finished floors. Many had no idea how to repair our unit. We spent an enormous part of these weeks on the phone with Direct Energy, trying to track down missing parts and missing service people, trying to find out how and when the repairs would be completed. This winter it seemed the Direct Energy service had deteriorated even further. Because we felt terribly deceived with the sale of a heating protection plan, we looked for validation on the web. We found out there is indeed a context of allegations of fraud, subsequent investigations and fines against Direct Energy and its American affiliate. (See articles, “Direct Energy Fined over forged electricity contracts”, Toronto Star, June 21, 2003, “From Texas to Ontario, energy consumers have been stung”, Calgary Herald, May 16, 2004 and “So many complaints, no quick fixes”, Calgary Herald, May 16, 2004 which can be accessed from: http://www.ontariotenants.ca/electricity/articles/2004/ch304e16.phtml.) Enough! Once we decided to leave Direct Energy, we had heat from the installation of new equipment purchased from another company in less than twenty-four hours, and hot water shortly thereafter.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $8,000.00
- What could this company do to improve their services?
- Direct Energy does not seem to know that customer satisfaction and ethical practices are good business. Management needs to ensure that all their employees and contractors make ethical customer service a top priority. There seems to be something inherently wrong in the way Direct Energy structures the payment of their service contractors, since in our experience so many of them enter and exit the customer's premises as quickly as possible and lack any motivation to get the job done and to communicate appropriately with the customer. This can't be efficient for the corporation, and is extremely frustrating for the customer. Direct Energy is in serious need of management strategies which ensure accountability and prevent misrepresentation, lying and deception by their representatives.
- Any advice to offer fellow homeowners facing a similar project?
- Avoid Direct Energy. Go with a smaller company that has a vested interest in customer satisfaction. Get recommendations from people you trust, and get multiple quotations. If you do run into problems, document them. Before signing, read all contracts thoroughly--including the fine print--and ask for explanations. Keep careful records so that a company cannot lie to you about what you orally agreed to do. Be sure of what is and is not covered in the contract, and before signing a heating or cooling protection plan, be sure it covers what you need to have covered. Ensure all warranties and promises are in writing.