Renting Vs Buying A Furnace
This is a MUST READ BEFORE considering a rental furnace, air conditioner or tankless water heater contract.
There seems to be a growing question about rentals in the HVAC markets these days. It’s no wonder, since there are companies putting massive amounts of advertising and sales agents in your neighbourhood to promote the renting of furnaces, air conditioners and tankless water heaters. I would like this to be a warning to consumers everywhere about this trend and to encourage you to find out what you are REALLY getting into.
Kings Plumbing and Heating of Thessalon, has had many opportunities to rent appliances to our customers over the years. Fortunately, we have noted many of the problems our customers would have faced should we have rented equipment to them. For this reason, we do not rent any of our equipment.
Through research and conversations with unhappy consumers, we have some major concerns about rental contracts that are often left unclear or misleading.
Here are 4 things you will hear that may seem like a positive reason to go ahead and sign a rental contract:
- It costs less up front to rent than buy.
- You can put it on your gas bill.
- Repairs are covered for the duration of the contract.
- It’s easy to cancel.
Here are 4 things they don’t tell you…
- It costs less to rent than to buy
Yes it does. However the fine print locks you in a contract for 10 to 15 years (and some companies are now locking in indefinitely!!!) So when you do the math, you are paying a FORTUNE for this rental.
Lines of credit, credit cards or even a simple financing contract set up by your banking institution or local HVAC contractor will allow you to OWN the appliance by paying a bit more per month in 5 years or less without any further monthly payments.If you decide, for whatever reason, that you don’t like the service, the workmanship or the rental company, you have no choice for the next 10 to 15 years but to deal with them (unless you cancel and accept the buy-out terms: see below for the problems with that!). You cannot go to another company once you sign. - You can put it on your gas bill
Sure you can, but you can also sometimes finance your furnace on your gas bill, no rental required. - Repairs are covered for the duration of the contract.
Yes, and this seems like the cherry on the cake, however most furnaces now come with a 10 year parts warranty so you are covered for a long time without being “locked in”.
If you are concerned about labour costs, most companies provide 1-2 years free labour with their new furnaces. In reality, if you buy your furnace from a respected company with a reputation for quality workmanship, then it is unlikely that repairs will be required for some time. If repairs are required, however, labour costs are usually minimal; much cheaper than paying rental fees every month.
Another note about labour costs: when the furnace is past its warranty period, you can sometimes easily sign up for a yearly plan that will cover your repair costs. - It’s easy to cancel if you want.
It is NOT easy to get out of these contracts and there are hundreds, if not thousands, of complaints online to prove this.
These companies are not telling people that they are LOCKED IN for 15 years. If you wish to sell the house, the new owners MUST take over the contract. This is a ridiculous expectation to place on potential buyers that may not want to carry on the payments for a rental furnace. This means that you are on the hook to pay it off before the house closes.
From the many complaints I have read, many rental companies are charging their clients thousands of dollars more than the furnaces value for the buy-out. The sales people will not go into detail about the buyouts or it would impact their sales when it comes to selling these contracts to wise customers. Once again WRONG!
There are many things in the fine print of these contracts so make sure you read the fine print closely before signing your name on the dotted line.
This is a major concern: when you sign into a rental contract these companies can and are putting liens on your home!!! In most cases the customer is not even aware of it! And what do you have to do to get the lien off? You guessed it, pay huge amounts of money to get out of the contract… it can really cause a mess if you decide to sell your home sooner than you intended.
Why is it that most companies selling these rental contracts do not have a good reputation? Some have very, very bad reputations!
It seems that most of the companies that are renting furnaces not only have pushy sales people, but poor ratings and reviews on buyer beware sites. Make sure, if you do go this route, do your homework and find a quality company. The last thing you want is to have something installed by a company that you regret doing business with but are tied to forever.
In the end, every consumer has to make the choice for themselves. I encourage you to do your research and be aware of what the contract entails before agreeing to it. You only have 10 days from the date of the agreement to change your mind, then there is no turning back and you are “LOCKED IN”. It is nearly impossible to get out of the contract without paying what they tell you to pay, no matter if you like dealing with them or not.
For those of you that question this or are on the fence over the decision, please take some time to do some research of your own. Have a look at these consumer sites and type in “rental furnace or contract furnace complaints” to see what I am talking about.
www.complaintsboard.com
www.BBB.com
www.measureup.com
www.canada-complaints.com
www.scambook.com
www.homestars.ca
These are just a few of the sites online to browse though. I hope I have given you something to think about and you make the right decision to give you safe and happy heating for years to come.