Smart Home Works Inc

My friend suggested checking out Smart Home Works - I Googled them and their website seems to be http://www.smarthomeworks.com as well as ***.ca
After some hesitation I called the company and the Sales person was very nice (I think his name was Brian)He answered all my questions and I also got a friendly technician who came well-prepared
The install took a little while but I am happy with the way he treated my home and would recommend this business to others

We had a salesperson come to our door who was somewhat pushy to get inside our home, which made me very uncomfortable to begin with We sat down with this salesperson who explained how the program worked to us She went through all our hydro and gas bills and explained how we would not be "out of pocket" for our furnace and air conditioner upgrade She explained how our energy savings would go to the cost of the new equipment It sounded good to us since we needed the upgrade anyway...so we went ahead with the installation which she booked the day after she was here, not giving us much time to research or think about itNow we see a $rental charge with our gas bill every month I thought we wouldn't be out of pocket? Now we seem to be locked into a year lease and the furnace and air conditioner will cost a lot more than purchasing it ourselves from a different provider We feel very misled and wish they would back off with their sales tactics (they are very aggressive) and wish they would say straight u,p that it's a rental agreement, just like renting your hot water tank Shame on us for letting them into our home to begin with and completely buying into (literally) their sales tactics

This company upgraded my furnace back in DecemberTheir technicians were great didn't leave a mess and made sure to clean up after themselvesHad to phone in once to see the update on my rebates but that has since been sorted out no problem

I had a great experience with Smart Home WorksThe plan we chose included a new furnace, removal of our old furnace, new thermostat, yearly tu/ maintenance, new filter and 24/supportWe are looking forward to saving some money on hydro bills this year as the old furnace was very old and had a low AFUE ratingThanks Smart!

Showed up at my house in Newmarkey and spoke to my wife in an aggressive manner to get in while I was not home Said he would be back at as she was not the decision maker When he showed up, I said I was not interested and he stated, "hey buddy" don't you know this is a federally mandated program that you have to replace your furnace? I said sorry and closed the door, after which he was still calling to me through the closed door, saying I don't know what I was doing Upon researching, found it is the same company as Eco Energy, who we had similar problems with in the neighbourhood last year Keep your door closed to these guys

My neighbor gave me her service company`s number when my furnace broke downI dealt with a sales representative who was very knowledgeableThey helped me understand which equipment would work best in my home and san install appointment that worked with my busy scheduleI am very pleased with my experience with this companyI`ve recommended them to my family members

My furnace was making some noise, so I found this company online. I was talking to a customer service rep there who was very helpful. After getting a few comparables I chose to go ahead with Smart Home Works to replace my old unit. It was a pleasure working with this company, all of the staff that I dealt with were top notch.

My old furnace broke down so I called their 1-800 number to set-up an appointment with one of their sales reps to come out to my home. The representative was knowledgeable and took the time to listen to what my needs and concerns were. Two days later, a couple of their technicians arrived to conduct my installation. I`ve been very happy with the service I`ve received from this company, and would recommend them to anyone looking to upgrade their HVAC equipment.

 

Had a door to door auditor from Smart Home Works ring my doorbell and asked to see if he could check out my furnace to see if I would qualify for a furnace upgrade. They looked at my furnace (which is 18 years old) and said I qualified. They made an appointment to have a Smart Home Works evaluator come by the next day to work on the specifics to see what I could save.

The following day, an evaluator from Smart Home Works came by and looked at my furnace and air conditioner (also older). After evaluating the units and a couple gas and electric bills, he said that with the upgraded high efficient furnace and AC he proposed, I would be saving $145 on average per month. Cost to me if they installed a high efficient furnace and AC would only $140/month and installation was free. Sounded great and was 'guaranteed to save me money by Smart Home Works'. Signed up (knowing I could cancel for any reason within 10 days) and the agent booking in the installation for 4 days later (tried to book me in the next day I which case I would be on the hook once the equipment was installed but I wanted to check things out and fully read the contract).

After the agent left, I added up my gas and electric bills for the past year(administration charges included when I added them up) and I only averaged $137/month all in. NO WAY I could save what they said!! I would be on the hook for the $140/month plus my gas and electric bills (which would be slightly reduced but the vast amount on your bills is not directly gas or electric charges but Amin/distribution charges).

In addition, after reading the contract there were many alarming points:
- Contract was for 10 years and the monthly rate could increase 3.5% per year. This would mean the final year of payments would be for $190/month with a total value paid over the 10 year span of $19,708!!!!
- I was only being leased the equipment. If I tried to sell my house, I had to disclose to the potential buyers that they would have to take over the payments or essentially buyout the remaining portion of the above amount!
- the 'guaranteed savings' was subject to review of previous bills along with their evaluation of gas/electric prices and fluctuations in weather. So hard to prove!! And only 'guaranteed' for the first year.
-Installation charges were only free after paying your contract for 5 years. If you tried to cancel your contract before 5 years you paid installation plus your remaining contract amount.


Needless to say, I called the main line to cancel the next day and the person on the phone told me my installation appointment would be put on hold and the evaluator would call to discuss. The evaluator called to discuss which resulted in 15 minutes of me pointing out why this made no sense and them telling me I was wrong and was missing out on all these savings. Finally, I had enough I just flat out said I am canceling my contract regardless and to please email me confirmation of cancellation. I received no such cancellation confirmation. Since then I have sent 3 emails to 3 separate Smart Home Worls email addresses, one text to the evaluator, and one other phone call to try to get cancellation confirmation in writing - which still has not been received.

With all this I decided to see what it would really cost if I wanted buy and install the units they quoted me. I contacted [redacted] to evaluate my house and provide me a quote for an upgrade. [redacted] quoted me the exact same units as Smart Home was going to install. I find out the units quoted were the cheapest high efficient units that could be bought and the cost to buy and install the units (with a [redacted] thermostat, CO detector, and new filtration system included) only came to $8800 with [redacted]. [redacted] also had financing available for the units if the lump sum was not possible and was under $90/month. If I sold the house I would only have to pay off the remaining principal left.

[redacted].

[redacted]

I just had an agent of this company at my front door acting in a similar fashion to the other 2 negative reviews posted. The agent was unprofessional and acted aggressively. As in the other postings, the agent's strategy appeared to be to portray that they were acting on behalf of a mandated program. It is my belief that this is the way the agents are trained and I am disgusted with this type of marketing strategy.

My old furnace stopped working because of a leak in the basement. It was purchased and I am not currently in the market to buy a brand new furnace.

A few minutes after calling an installer at SHW (two days ago), I had an appointment and Jeff (the installer) notified me that he could have it installed for me on the 27th (yesterday).

The installation was free and I am paying a considerably low monthly fee for a top notch furnace rental that works without making any noise. I am very eager to see my hydro bill in a month or so because apparently this new one can save me almost 50% of my energy bills. He also installed an ecobee thermostat and helped us program it - apparently having a smart thermostat will help with the hydro bills as well.

All in all, Jeff was very nice and professional. He had no problem answering my questions about how to change my filter (I bought four extras because of my kids and cats). He also gave me a quick tutorial on the ecobee so that I could maximize the family's energy savings.

Thanks Smart Home! My father's furnace is definitely older than 10 years old and I will be referring him to you soon!

*Diane Mary*

We desperately needed a new furnace last year and decided to wait until this year to finally replace the depreciated piece of junk we had in our basement. The installer we had was quick to arrive and made sure to not track any snow into the house. Worth mentioning he was very dog friendly as he did not mind our large dog being in the way, as he wouldn't stop barking unless we let him in to see what was going on lol.

Had a door to door auditor from Smart Home Works ring my doorbell and asked to see if he could check out my furnace to see if I would qualify for a furnace upgrade. They looked at my furnace (which is 18 years old) and said I qualified. They made an appointment to have a Smart Home Works evaluator come by the next day to work on the specifics to see what I could save.

The following day, an evaluator from Smart Home Works came by and looked at my furnace and air conditioner (also older). After evaluating the units and a couple gas and electric bills, he said that with the upgraded high efficient furnace and AC he proposed, I would be saving $145 on average per month. Cost to me if they installed a high efficient furnace and AC would only $140/month and installation was free. Sounded great and was 'guaranteed to save me money by Smart Home Works'. Signed up (knowing I could cancel for any reason within 10 days) and the agent booking in the installation for 4 days later (tried to book me in the next day I which case I would be on the hook once the equipment was installed but I wanted to check things out and fully read the contract).

After the agent left, I added up my gas and electric bills for the past year(administration charges included when I added them up) and I only averaged $137/month all in. NO WAY I could save what they said!! I would be on the hook for the $140/month plus my gas and electric bills (which would be slightly reduced but the vast amount on your bills is not directly gas or electric charges but Amin/distribution charges).

In addition, after reading the contract there were many alarming points:
- Contract was for 10 years and the monthly rate could increase 3.5% per year. This would mean the final year of payments would be for $190/month with a total value paid over the 10 year span of $19,708!!!!
- I was only being leased the equipment. If I tried to sell my house, I had to disclose to the potential buyers that they would have to take over the payments or essentially buyout the remaining portion of the above amount!
- the 'guaranteed savings' was subject to review of previous bills along with their evaluation of gas/electric prices and fluctuations in weather. So hard to prove!! And only 'guaranteed' for the first year.
-Installation charges were only free after paying your contract for 5 years. If you tried to cancel your contract before 5 years you paid installation plus your remaining contract amount.


Needless to say, I called the main line to cancel the next day and the person on the phone told me my installation appointment would be put on hold and the evaluator would call to discuss. The evaluator called to discuss which resulted in 15 minutes of me pointing out why this made no sense and them telling me I was wrong and was missing out on all these savings. Finally, I had enough I just flat out said I am canceling my contract regardless and to please email me confirmation of cancellation. I received no such cancellation confirmation. Since then I have sent 3 emails to 3 separate Smart Home Worls email addresses, one text to the evaluator, and one other phone call to try to get cancellation confirmation in writing - which still has not been received.

With all this I decided to see what it would really cost if I wanted buy and install the units they quoted me. I contacted [redacted] to evaluate my house and provide me a quote for an upgrade. [redacted] quoted me the exact same units as Smart Home was going to install. I find out the units quoted were the cheapest high efficient units that could be bought and the cost to buy and install the units (with a [redacted] thermostat, CO detector, and new filtration system included) only came to $8800 with [redacted]. [redacted] also had financing available for the units if the lump sum was not possible and was under $90/month. If I sold the house I would only have to pay off the remaining principal left.

[redacted].

[redacted]