JOB Heating and Air Conditioning helps mother ripped off in Saskatoon furnace scam
JOB Heating and Air Conditioning team help mother ripped off by door-to-door Saskatoon furnace scam
Original Article by Global Saskatoon- April 8th 2016
A single mother in Saskatoon says she is overwhelmed by the outpouring of support after she decided to share her door-to-door sale nightmare with Global News. In late March, Kassandra Agarand was approached by two sales representative from Secure Home Services, an Ontario based offering her a brand new furnace for a low price.
She said she signed a contract at her doorstep, only to realize later it would cost her over $10,000 over 10 years. Agarand says she was initially told she would only have to pay around $4500.
When Kassandra Agarand was approached by two sales reps at her door, offering her a brand new furnace for a low price, she thought it was a blessing. The single mother signed a contract with Ontario-based company, Secure Home Services, which promised a low-fee purchase for a term of three years.
“They told me originally the furnace would cost me $4,500 dollars,” she said.
Agarand later looked into the fine print online and discovered she would be paying more than $9,000 over 10 years.
She says she’s now left with two choices: be left without heat or pay thousands of dollars for a new furnace.
“It’s food out of my fridge. It’s savings out of my daughter’s bank account. And I just feel robbed and disgusted by everything,” she said.
In Saskatchewan, a cooling off act allows consumers to demand a refund from a door-to-door sale within 10 days. Agarand falls under that time frame and has asked for a refund. Still, she says she’s worried about installation costs and any other hidden fees.
“We don’t know if we’re going to have to pay the money for them to uninstall or take it out. It’s the unknown that’s driving us crazy,” said Gwen Larson, Agarand’s mother.
Now, Agarand has to search for a brand new furnace to replace the new one.
“I’m embarrassed by what they did to me,” she said
“What happened to me was devastating. I felt defeated. I felt like I don’t know how I’m going to come back from this,” she said. Now, Agarand says her faith in humanity is restored. Global News received several calls and emails from local heating companies offering to help. Eventually, Jeff Bolton, the owner of JOB Heating and Air Conditioning got in touch with her and teamed up with an electrician to replace her furnace at no cost.
“Stepping up and helping is the right thing to do. And it’s a Saskatchewan thing to do,” said Bolton.
Jeff says he also has kids and knew he had to help Agarand as soon as he heard her story.
“What those two salespeople did to me has just totally been outdone by the amount of people messaging me to help me,” said Agarand
She says she is continuing to receive supportive messages from strangers everywhere.
“Thank you. I don’t know how to say that enough.”
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