New Ontario Consumer Protection laws are in place to ban door-to-door sales of furnaces, air conditioners, water heaters and other related goods or services. This law effective March 2, 2018 protects consumers from aggressive and misleading contracting at home.
No employee from Unionville Heating will ever visit your house unsolicited. We’re happy to help with your home HVAC needs. Please call or e-mail us for an appointment.
Source: Government of Ontario
Know your rights when you sign a contract at your door. Learn about avoiding common door-to-door scams for water heaters, home heating, and other services.
The Consumer Protection Act, 2002 (CPA) gives you rights when you buy something from a salesperson either at your door or in your home that costs more than $50.
As a consumer, you:
- have the right to cancel a contract without any reason within a 10-day cooling-off period, beginning the day you receive a written copy of the agreement.
- must be given a written contract: under the CPA, a consumer contract has to include specific information about the goods or service and your rights as a consumer. If it doesn’t, you can cancel the contract within 1 year of entering into the agreement.
- can cancel the agreement, regardless of its value, up to one year after you entered into it if the business or salesperson you’ve signed your contract with made a false or misleading statement about the contract.
New rules mean some products and services cannot be sold door-to-door
For consumers
Certain products and services can no longer be offered or sold at your home unless you initiate the transaction (for example, by calling or emailing a business and asking them to come to your home for the purpose of entering into a contract.) There are some exceptions including instances where you already have a contract in place.
These restricted products and services include:
- furnaces
- air conditioners
- air cleaners
- air purifiers
- water heaters
- water treatment devices
- water purifiers
- water filters
- water softeners
- duct cleaning services
- any good or service that performs or combines one or more of the above functions
Businesses will be able to enter into a contract at your home if you contacted them ahead of time and invited them to your home for the purpose of buying or leasing one of the restricted products and services.
If you call for a repair, maintenance, an energy assessment, or any reason other than entering into a contract for one of these items and the business comes to your home, the business cannot enter into a new contract with you. They will only be able to leave information about the products and services they offer.
Products and services not listed on this page can still be sold door-to-door but businesses must still follow other requirements under the Consumer Protection Act.
Exceptions if you already have a contract
If you already have a written and effective contract in place with a business, they can still contact you by phone, schedule a visit to your home for any reason you request, including repairs and maintenance, and enter into a new contract. However, the business must tell you if they plan to offer you one of the restricted products and services before visiting your home and you would have to agree to hear their offer before they can do so.
