Ultimate Home Comfort — Attraction in Halifax

Purchasing a fireplace is a substantial investment, and as such, it is essential to ensure the people who are facilitating your purchase and subsequent install are committed to providing you with a level of service commensurate with the associated costs you, as the consumer, are expected to incur.

My wife and I purchased a home this summer and wanted to remodel the living room and have a wood burning fireplace installed. I went to Ultimate Home Comfort at the end of June to discuss our vision and learn which unit would suit our needs. After choosing the model we wanted, I returned to the store and talked to a sales associate to move forward with the project. The sales associate contacted me a few days later and set up a site visit in our home. The site visit occurred as planned, and he informed me that he would go back to the office and provide me with a couple of options so that we could get an idea of the rough cost of our project. After not hearing from him for a couple days, I emailed him to find out if he had any information to pass on. He informed me he had made some queries and was waiting for a response. After not hearing from him for a couple of weeks, my wife and I paid a visit to the store and were informed he was on holidays for 3 weeks. It was obvious that no intra office communication had occurred whatsoever, and absolutely nothing had moved forward on our file since our initial visit, which, at this point, occurred three weeks previously. As we were anxious to move forward with the project (we could not start any of the renovations in that room until the fireplace was installed) we talked to the sales manager and delineated exactly what it was we wanted to obtain in terms of information regarding feasibility and pricing so that we could move forward and book the install. The three queries we needed satisfied on completion of the technical site visit were:

Is it possible to use our existing chimney?;

What would be the cost of a complete install without using our existing chimney; and

What would be the cost of a complete install of the “High Country” model, complete with the requisite 10” chimney?

The sales manager set up a site visit by the installation technicians, which occurred over a month later. At the conclusion of the site visit, the tech told me they would go back to the office, put together a quote, and someone would contact me in short order. A month went by with no communication, and on 18 September, I received an email (not a phone call, but an email) from the sales manager which read “the tech came back and said it would not work. How did you want to pay ($171) for the technician’s site visit?” At this point, not only was our renovation delayed by three months, but we were given a bill for an incomplete service that addressed only one of the three questions / options I had delineated to the sales manager as previously mentioned. I replied to his message and, given that he never replied to mine, considered the matter closed. But they did in fact still want the site visit fee, notwithstanding the incompleteness and incompetence of the site visit. Yesterday, 26 Oct, I went in and paid the $171 for the incomplete site visit, and as it happened, the sales manager was the person there. I expressed to him my disappointment and frustration, both because of the 3-month delay, as well as the fact that we ended up paying for a service we did not fully receive. They should have waved this fee as the service was incomplete and incompetently done.

In all honesty, I never once got the impression they wanted our business in the first place, which seems strange to me, given the purchase would have been $15,000 or more. Perhaps their business model is so successful that they don’t need the business?

Silver lining......we went down the street to Heritage Hearth and have an install scheduled for 21 Nov. It seems they wanted and appreciated...

This company states they have a record of selling me my wood stove but no record of ever installing it. I paid them almost $6000 for the wood stove and the installation and they have no record of this! How can a company have no record of a service they provided, and that I paid for, especially at the cost they charge? Nor was I provided a copy of my WETT certification. When I asked for this they advised me that these aren't kept on record and the technicians at that time no longer work for them. Why is this the customers problem, they are still responsible for the paperwork and services provided by their company, not their employees? They provided no solution to rectify these issues besides offering to do another WETT certification for $175! Crystal their employee in service, was rude and very unhelpful, when I asked to speak to a manager she said they'd say the same thing to me, after asking again to speak to a manager, she advised me that they weren't in the office and she didn't know when he'd be back in, it was supposed to be sometime this week, this was on a Tuesday, how can a company not know a date when a manager will be back in the office! What kind of company provides sketchy service like this and doesn’t keep information in their records. Legally this information needs to be kept for 6 years. For the price they charge you, the service you receive is horrendous! I wouldn't suggest this company to anyone, go with one of their competitors!

Some CRA information below: Supporting documents provide documentary evidence of transactions. To the extent that they record binding agreements, they can be relied upon when disagreements arise between transacting parties. Supporting documents include, but are not limited to the following: • sales invoices; • purchase receipts, contracts; • guarantees; • bank deposit slips, cancelled cheques; • cash register slips, credit card receipts; • purchase orders; • work orders; • delivery slips; emails; and • general correspondence in support of the...

What a horrible experience from start to finish. We bought our home that had a rental propane tank from Ultimate Home Comfort that supplied our propane stove installed in our basement. After the closing on the house it took three months to get an account, which was a condition of closing. When we took over the house, the stove had a fault, which Ultimate Home Comfort was used to repair. In the five months waiting for the part, the service department coordinated an appointment for installation three times. The only problem is that the part was never delivered and we planned the times for nothing. That was inconvenient. So after a few months winter started and we turned on our stove. Which is what the propane is for, so we run out. When I called, they dealt with it, stating it was their error and the rest of the winter went by with two more fills and no more issue. Well, this winter we turned the stove on the first week of November after a fill of 250 ltr 05 Nov. We ran out 30 Dec. I emailed them and Donny gave me a call. He said I could get a delivery that week but he wanted me to verify i was empty. I checked the gauge and called back. When I called, I asked for propane service and told them the problem and said I was looking for Donny. They checked the registry and said that they don't have a Donny on the list and asked how they could help. I told the I was speaking to Donny who asked me to verify my guage which i did, as it was indeed empty. I was informed that I would be scheduled in coming days. Two weeks later (less a day) I still did not have propane. I'm glad my power hasn't gone out and I'm leaving Ultimate Home Comfort. Superior rents the same tank at the same price, free install three lines are already run, and they monitor the tank level and top up at 30%. I'm renting a second tank and doubling capacity. I have read the reviews for this business and I am happy that there are content people, as such i hope my experiences...