Locked: Forced into water heater rental contract with shady company - any way out?

Post your question on the monster thread on same subject.

https://forums.redflagdeals.com/great-w ... m-1126945/

Heartcloud wrote: ↑ I'm in the process of firming a purchase agreement for a new house, and I noticed the builder has "partnered with", aka bribed by, an absolutely terrible water heater rental company "Cricket Comfort" (1/5 stars on Google, 100+ reviews). Not sure why as the bribe would've been less than pocket change for a multi-billion dollar builder. Do these contracts usually have a time frame, e.g. I'm trapped for 1 year? I'd like to switch to a reputable company like Enercare at the earliest opportunity since there are hundreds of nightmare stories with this shady company.

It may seem like pocket change but multiplied by 1,000’s of units a year it helps pad the bottom line and builds up a multi-million dollar business into a multi-billion dollar business when the have dozens of these cards they play and do it year after year.

What I’d advise to do is to get ahold of the full rental agreement and read it over thoroughly. It should spell out the rights and obligations of both parties and will hopefully reveal how you can reasonably get out of it early without too much financial pain. Don’t get your hopes up too high though.

If you haven’t signed yet maybe you can negotiate the purchase price down to offset the rental or maybe negotiate that they use a different supplier. It’ll likely be a big fat no, but worth a shot as the market has softened up a bit. If it’s a no then you need to assess the additional lifetime costs of the shady rental and whether you’re prepared to accept the added cost or walk away.

Charged me $4400 to buyout after 2 months of house possession. I didn't know this but apparently in Ontario you legally have 10 days after moving in to get out of the contract and have them take their heater away. If you have passed 10 days, Just assume the buyout money loss is part of the initial house price from the builder and move on with your life

Heartcloud wrote: ↑ I'm in the process of firming a purchase agreement for a new house, and I noticed the builder has "partnered with", aka bribed by, an absolutely terrible water heater rental company "Cricket Comfort" (1/5 stars on Google, 100+ reviews). Not sure why as the bribe would've been less than pocket change for a multi-billion dollar builder. Do these contracts usually have a time frame, e.g. I'm trapped for 1 year? I'd like to switch to a reputable company like Enercare at the earliest opportunity since there are hundreds of nightmare stories with this shady company.

Nobody forced you to do anything as you have an option to buy the house with the terms or not buy the house with the terms. The buyout is probably less than 1% of the value of the house so it would be pocket change for you.