A Calgary homeowner is warning others after booking a furnace and duct cleaning service with one company, only to have a different one show up at his home.
Jean Dube told Global News he had been meaning to get his furnace and air ducts cleaned for a while, so when he got a call out of the blue from a telemarketer he jumped on it.
The caller said he was from Reliable Duct Pro with offices in Calgary and Edmonton. Dube said he went on the company’s website and liked what he saw, so he booked an appointment for the next day.
“The door rang, I went to the door. There was a fellow there — he wasn’t in uniform — but he explained he was from Reliable and said, ‘Could you show me to the furnace room?’” Dube said.
Dube said he did, but he then started to get suspicious when the furnace tech didn’t have any of the equipment listed on the website.
He said he then checked the van parked in his driveway and saw another name on it, not Reliable.
I went out and I spoke to who appeared to be his wife,” he told Global News. “She explained that the main truck was cold and it hadn’t started. It had broken down so they called them and sent them instead.”
Dube said he continued to ask her questions, including what their relationship was to Reliable, and was told Reliable was the “marketing arm” for some local companies.
Dube said he then canceled the entire service call.
“I didn’t feel comfortable with what was going to happen. It’s my furnace, it’s winter time and you kind of want a certified tech to do that.”
On its website, Reliable posts it’s a locally owned and operated company with offices in both Calgary and Edmonton.
Global News went to both addresses listed but could not find the company. We did get a hold of someone at the phone number listed, but despite many attempts to find out a physical location we were not able to.
A company representative did tell us that Reliable did nothing wrong, adding Dube canceled the service and was not charged.
Global News continued to ask why a different company was sent out to service his furnace and ducts and were told Reliable’s service technicians were busy that day, so the company had to contract the service out.
