Reliance Home Comfort

I bought a new home in the spring and inherited a Reliance water heater contract. Late this summer, the water heater started acting up and developed a slow leak. When Reliance came to inspect it, they informed me that the water heater was 22 years old and needed to be replaced. I expressed my desire to terminate the contract and purchase a new water heater outright, but the service technician said they dont offer that option.

The next day, I bought a new water heater from another company, which agreed to install the new water heater and return the old one to Reliance, as Reliance charges a $65.00 fee for pick-up. I called Reliance again, explained the situation, and asked how to return the old water heater. They explained to me the process and emailed me a drop-off location and a link to a form that needed to be filled out and submitted when dropping off the water heater.

I printed and filled out the form, but when the service technician from the other company tried to drop off the old water heater, they refused to accept it. They said the form I had was preliminary and needed to be submitted online first, after which they would email me an approval form within 24 hours. This was not mentioned in the email from Reliance, nor during my previous call to Reliance.

After another 90 minutes on the phone with Reliance, I finally spoke to a manager. I explained that I could no longer transport the water heater to their drop-off location as it wouldnt fit in my car. Given that I had followed their instructions, I expected them to pick up the old water heater free of charge. The manager eventually agreed and approved the free pick-up.

The next day, a service technician picked up the old water heater and gave me a receipt for $0.00. I thought that was the end of it, but three weeks later, I received a final bill from Reliance Home Comfort: $17.96 for the last rental charges and $65.00 for the pick-up and transportation fee.

You know what, Im going to pay it. Its worth paying the $65.00 to terminate our relationship and the peace of mind in knowing that I will never have to deal with Reliance Home Comfort ever again.