What is a citizen supposed to do about wankers abusing scarce resources? At some point, governments run out of money to spend. At that point, maybe some sanity returns and they implement policies to limit abuse.
Inflation
- Thread starter nobbie48
- Start date
That's great, but in the end it's not about me judging someone...it's about food banks (for instance) being abused.
Food banks are at the breaking point...I'm 100% in favour of putting in checks and balances to ensure the people using them have a right to use them.
If you're at the foodbank making 150k / year (number out of my bum) then...too bad so sad...out you go.
If you're at the food bank making 40k / year...come on in.
Canada has functioned on a trust society for many years...that trust has been shattered and we need to adjust to that.
I agree...but we are swinging so far away from the trust society...that we no longer have as many options available to us.
Scammers and thieves are ripping off normal, hard working, deserving people that are struggling to make ends meet.
If we need to upset a few people...so be it.
I agree, But who wants to get labeled for hate speech? Hopefully but i'm doubtful, the next government coming in will rollback some of the left-wing ideology and things like DEI crap. maybe get us back to even ground and not try and pit one against the other.
Mad Mike
Well-known member
The carbon tax may have initially been a way to use taxes as a stick and carrot to change behaviours. The tax is a deterrent to use carbon, and the rebate is the incentive to use another form of energy.
But it’s not that. It’s simply another Liberal Robin Hood plan for redistributing wealth.
Carbon tax on optional things may make sense. As MP posted, carbon tax to keep your kids warm is crazy when you allow heat pumps prices to be grossly unaffordable. Restrict "rebate" to systems under 10K and that puts heat pumps under air conditioners. As implemented, every hvac company put heat pumps at 15k plus to absorb the 5k "rebate" plus make bank as people thought they were getting a deal. As administered, the entire program was a dumpster fire with zero positives for the environment and much pain on the citizens.
I had no real idea of markup on HVAC , not my industry , till a friend working at a major brands distribution center offered me a new AC unit at “cost” . It was less than half what I had been quoted for an identical unit .
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Friend of friend thing but a neighbour of his was down on his luck and resorting to a food bank. It was a prosperous area. Another neighbour gave the guy $10 and said to pick up a bag of stuff for him.
It's hard to legislate ethics.
Minority groups are like puffer fish. They use social media to inflate their sizes and situations.
I'm willing to bet most here on GTAM could find a "Poor me" excuse to blame everyone else for their problems. Therefore "I deserve..."
Mad Mike
Well-known member
It's a tricky business.
Consumers might buy a furnace once or twice in a lifetime -- they are reliable beasts that if maintained can go decades on basic maintenance and minor repairs -- so when faced with an immediate need for heat, they can get trapped into an expensive decision.
Furnace makers layer branding, selling the same items under different brands to different dealers. For example, Lennox sells furnaces under Lennox brand to a closed dealer network at higher prices than the same Ducane-branded furnaces made available to anyone through wholesale distributors.
There are some dirty tricks furnace contractors pull, particularly on elderly and vulnerable homeowners. A tech who finds a 15+ year old furnace will pickup $250 for a referral that ends up in a sale, and he also gets paid for the service call without performing any work! Many of these asshats will red tag a perfectly good furnace that needs a simple repair just to collect their kickback. You know when this is happening to you if the tech can get a 'Manager' to your home in 15 minutes to help you get the heat back on. The "Manager" is a sales rep who's likely standing by waiting for the tech to call. This has happened to me 4 times in the last 10 years with Enercare, most recently 2 weeks ago.
A modern 97% efficient 70,000 BTU 2-stage furnace for a modern 2,400sq' house costs the dealer $1200. $100 for tin, electrical & plumbing parts, then another $300 for labor and overhead of a service tech doing the installation. So, all in costs are about $1600 for a furnace.
If you buy that through Enercare or a full-service 'Home Comfort' firm, they will quote you around $6000+ and charge up to $1000 for vent installation or upgrades if they are needed - you furniture will be installed tomorrow. If you buy that furnace through a Costco using one of their approved vendors it will cost $3,800 for the same furnace, it will be installed waiting 48 hours. If you go directly to a mom-and-pop dealer, expect to pay about the same, maybe $3500 including vent installation and upgrade. If you call a licensed technician flogging side hustles on Kijiji -- $1200 for the furnace, whatever it costs for the vent upgrade parts, and $500 to install - installation after hours or weekends.
So, depending on where you buy and who you are prepared to trust, the same good quality furnace replacement can cost you anywhere between $2000-$7000.
I just replaced my furnace with a similar unit you mentioned... old one was 25 years old. Board gave out Friday night.
$4050 for the furnace, install.. some duct work and repairing some f'ups from previous work. Had it scheduled for Monday.. tech called Saturday night and said he would do it Sunday because of the cold snap.
My furnace a yr ago was six k or so , new exhaust tube required to be code . I suspect they made very ok money , I needed a furnace and they had one .
Was offered a new AC they would install later , I passed, then bought a new two ton for $onethousand and twenty bucks , they had a tech that would drop it in place for six hundred cash . Done deal . That was over two Gs less than first guys quote .
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Was offered a new AC they would install later , I passed, then bought a new two ton for $onethousand and twenty bucks , they had a tech that would drop it in place for six hundred cash . Done deal . That was over two Gs less than first guys quote .
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Mad Mike
Well-known member
I just put in a 70Kbtu 2-stage Lennox. Needed a small extension to the ductwork (new furnaces are shorter) and the exhaust needed re-sloping and new pipe to meet code. I could have done it for about $1K less using a Kijiji side hustler, but I wanted a company to stand behind the thing for maintenance, emergency service and warranty.
Mine was $3800 all in.
POWERMAN
Well-known member
Agreed.
Be careful of calling Reliance for a quote for HVAC related appliances. If you do, do not allow their rep (who will in all likelihood be licensed) to inspect your current furnace unless you want to risk getting red tagged.
Reliance is a criminal organization I can believe that anybody calls them.
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POWERMAN
Well-known member
Hopefully they are able to get you back up and running once the current one conks out.
They all say they offer 24/7 service but in my experience with Enercare in the past, they take a day or two to schedule a technician to your home, decide the water heater can be fixed rather than replaced, figure out they need to order a part that will take 4-7 days to arrive yada yada yada.
Almost a month without hot water was not fun - even though this was during May last year.
I havent checked but I suspect Reliance does offer you a way to cancel your contract after a certain period of time. Enercare forces you to buy the old one at almost full market price if you want out after a number of years.
I've had it replaced 3 times already, In georgetown we had well water right up till a couple months ago, the water was very hard and rotted the tanks quickly. Had them out a few times for service calls because the flame detector wasn't working. all at no cost to me other then the 22bucks a month
