If you read our door-to-door scam artists article, you are undoubtedly aware that we received and wrote about an unsolicited visit from an Ottawa-based, door-to-door residential “heating and cooling” sales company called New Home Comfort. This was just one of many similar, eponymously named outfits that we’ve heard from over the years. We used New Home Comfort’s pitch as an example of the scripted baloney so-called “home comfort” salespeople use to get past your front door and into your home.
Miles Duggal, CEO of the single-employee (according to the Better Business Bureau) New Home Comfort, took umbrage with our remarks and wrote several complaints in the Comments section of our article. We allowed him to freely express his thoughts and opinions, but turned off the spigot when he started to use our blog as his personal marketing and customer service platform.
At the time we wrote our initial article, New Home Comfort claimed on its website to be an authorized Carrier dealer. Carrier is a very reputable furnace and air conditioning manufacturer. I confronted Mr. Duggal online after contacting Carrier to verify his professional affiliation. According to Carrier, New Home Comfort was not on its list of authorized dealers in our area. Mr. Duggal’s response was as follows:
The [New Home Comfort] website will actually be updated in the next 4-6 weeks to reflect the change that we use Trane now, a very highly reputable brand and we are listed as a registered ‘Sales Channel’ meaning that we sell on behalf of their authorized Trane dealers/contractors.
Within a few days, Mr. Duggal’s website updated to include the claim that his company is now the “#1 authorized Trane sales channel in Ontario.”
Given Mr. Duggal’s past declarations, we decided to confirm New Home Comfort’s relationship with Trane. Trane’s website does not include New Home Comfort in its list of certified comfort specialists, so we wrote the company directly. Our email:
Hello, we received a call from a door-to-door salesperson who claimed to work for the “Number One authorized Trane sales channel in Ontario” and said he was in our neighbourhood to perform inspections on behalf of the province of Ontario. I cannot find this dealer in your list of certified comfort specialists. The company he named is New Home Comfort, 1 Cleopatra Drive, Unit 205, Nepean, ON K2G 3M9. Can you please verify this company’s relationship to Trane, before I commit to a follow-up sales call? Thank you.
Here is the rather amusing response we received from Trane:
I was not able to locate this business in our dealer database. Upon searching Google in regards to your situation, I located this link:
http://www.patronized.ca/personal-finance/door-to-door-scam-artists/
We recommend using the dealers on our websites when considering installation, purchase, or repairs to any Trane or American Standard equipment. Thank you for your contact.
New Home Comfort is not an authorized Trane “sales channel.” Trane does not recommend New Home Comfort. Since this relationship is a key selling point on Mr. Duggal’s website, we have to wonder how many other New Home Comfort statements are false, misleading, or deceptive.
As always, be vigilant. Don’t sign at the door. Do your homework.