Scarborough senior sold protection plan for products she doesn’t have

The senior has memory problems and doesn’t remember signing a contract for furnace and air conditioner protection. Pat Foran reports for Consumer Alert.

Door-to-door sales in Ontario were banned seven years ago, but companies can still approach homeowners with certain products or services.

Last April, an Ontario senior with early onset dementia was approached by a company to protect appliances in her home, despite not owning the products she signed up for.

“I don’t like the fact that Delores was taken advantage of,” said Scarborough resident Marg Blaszczyk.

She is a friend of Delores McLeod, who has early onset dementia and trouble remembering things. Blazczyk says she stops in often to check on her friend as they both live in the same Scarborough complex.

McLeod recently told her friend about a letter from a lawyer she received stating she was being sued.

“It’s for a contract that was signed for furnace maintenance and air conditioner maintenance,” Blaszczyk told CTV News.

McLeod had signed a five-year contract to purchase $40 in carbon offsets each month as well as $50 a month for a furnace and air conditioner protection plan, totalling up to $101.70 per month with tax.

The only thing is, McLeod says she doesn’t remember signing a contract and she doesn’t even have a furnace or air conditioner in her home.

CTV asked McLeod if someone came to her door to sell her the plan.

“They must have, but I don’t remember who or when, I’m sorry,” she responded.

McLeod was then served with a notice pending litigation saying she must pay $2,342 for missed payments immediately.

That’s when Blaszczyk contacted CTV News on her friend’s behalf because she knew McLeod didn’t have an air conditioner and heated her home with electric baseboards and a gas fireplace, not a furnace.

“The protection plan is for furnace maintenance and air conditioning maintenance and we don’t have those things in our units,” said Blaszczyk.

In a follow-up phone call with Offset Ontario Inc., which was made to McLeod and recorded, she told the Offset Ontario operator twice that she didn’t have an air conditioner.

McLeod said, “I don’t have an air conditioner. Does that lower it?”

The Offset Ontario Inc. operator responded, “Umm, no, I’ll just repeat myself again.”

McLeod replied, “Okay, as I said, I don’t have an air conditioner.”

To which the Offset Ontario Inc. operator said, “So, it’s a yes, right?”

McLeod then responded, “Yes.”

Blaszczyk felt her friend shouldn’t be responsible for paying the $2,342 to get out of the contract.

“I want my friend to have some justice to have this go away, and for the company to absorb the charges,” said Blaszczyk.

When CTV News Toronto reached out to Offset Ontario Inc., a spokesperson for the company said in a statement: “Offset Ontario is committed to ensuring that any contracts relating to home warranties or protections over certain devices within homes such as water heaters, furnaces, etc. are not placed with vulnerable peoples, such as the elderly or people without capacity to enter into agreements.”

“In the specific case outlined above, the contract with Offset Ontario and any subsequent contracts thereof, have been fully cancelled and rescinded in order to ensure strict compliance with our client’s policies and procedures. Moreover, the file has been cancelled from collections and the individual is no longer liable for any debt owing to our client.”

In McLeod’s case, she no longer has to pay the $2,342, which Blaszczyk said was a huge relief for her friend.

“It’s great that the situation is resolved and it was resolved so quickly,” said Blaszczyk

While door-to-door sales are banned in Ontario for many products and services, the ban doesn’t extend to all of them. If you are approached at your door, be careful and if in doubt, just say no and don’t sign anything.