Reliance Home Comfort

Renting a furnace and hot water tank from Reliance was supposed to be an affordable solution but the last 4 years with Reliance has been the worst customer service experience of my life. The real nightmare is admin/accounting. I've wasted days of my life on hold trying to help them figure out pre-authorized withdrawals. After 3 months they got the furnace account sorted out and working but 7 months later they still can't get the hot water account straight. And they have the nerve to charge me interest. I'd like to charge them for my time sitting on hold waiting for the service rep in the call centre to find 'a manger' that never appears and never follows up on unresolved issues. The install crew were lovely people (although they damaged my ceramic tile and forgot to hook up a few vents). Unfortunately I've gotten to know them on a first-name basis for service calls in the first few years. Reliance advertises 24/7 emergency support but when the furnace conked out in winter the call centre in the east couldn't figure out how to get someone to me until the next day. They want you to have annual maintenance checks on their equipment but they leave the tracking and scheduling entirely up to you - how easy (and customer-service friendly) would it be to have an automated email reminder every year to say 'hey, it's time to check/clean your furnace.' Every other service from dentists to massage therapists and hair dressers has this figured out. Frustrated beyond belief in Calgary.