On March 1, residents can breathe a sigh of relief as door-to-door unsolicited sales becomes illegal regarding certain household appliances. This legislation is aimed at protecting residents from aggressive and misleading contracting at home.
This decision couldn't have come at a better time for Elliot Lake senior Catherine Zylo. According to her, in the past two weeks, she's had four sales people come to her home trying to sell her a new furnace, a new air conditioner and duct cleaning services. Zylo, a recent amputee because of her diabetes, said she was made fun of by the sales people and they were aggressive when they knocked on her door.
"I was sitting at home watching a game show, and there's a knock on my door. It takes a while for me to get around and they persisted at my door," she explained. "I went to my door, thinking it was the children from next door, and this man told me it was about time I answered. I said, 'Excuse me, I'm old and missing a leg' and he said he didn't care and told me he was selling a cleaning thing for my furnace. I said no, I wasn't interested in buying anything from someone at my door. He kept asking me if I was sure about that. I said yes and closed my door. This isn't the first time this has happened."
According to Zylo, a second knock on the door came three days later, trying to sell her a new air conditioner.
"I asked this man to see his business lanyard and he showed it to me. I don't remember the name because the writing was so small but I told him if I wanted to buy an air conditioner, I'll wait until Canadian Tire sells them," she explained. "Joke is on him. I have one already."
After hearing about Ontario's new law to ban door-to-door unsolicited sales, Zylo said she's happy to hear about this.
"It's about time something gets done because some of these guys are rude and ignorant," she explained. "My friend signed an energy contract with this one bloke who came to her door, saying she can save money, when she shouldn't have. Now she's stuck."
Starting March 1, businesses can only enter a home if they have been invited in for the purpose of entering a business contract. Contracts that are in violation of the new rules relating to door-to-door contract solicitation will be considered void and the consumers wil be able to keep the services with no obligations.
Marcus Lapointe is glad this ban is happening. For a week straight, he said he's had someone at his door trying to sell him one thing or another, the most recent being an air conditioning unit.
"I'm pretty sure this salesperson has been around Elliot Lake a lot because four of my friends have each received a knock on the door with someone trying to sell them an air conditioner," he explained. "I get people want to get prepared ahead of time for the summer weather but come on, it's still February. This gentleman said I was going to miss out on this incredible deal. I paid less for the same air conditioner two years ago at Costco in Sudbury. Glad this is now going to be banned. It's starting to get annoying."
The new rules concerning door-to-door salespeople will apply to:
- Air cleaners
- Air conditioners
- Air purifiers
- Duct cleaning services
- Furnaces
- Water filters
- Water heaters
- Water purifiers
- Water softeners
- Water treatment devices
- Bundles of these goods and services
For Janette Beaudry, this is a sigh of relief. She said she experienced a gentleman at her door this week who was trying to sell her duct cleaning services.
"I don't need that right now and when I explained that to him, he said I needed it now. Like, he was so mean and pushy," she explained. "This new rule is going to benefit seniors because they fall prey the most to these guys. At least they won't be able to keep knocking at doors."
The ban for door-to-door unsolicited sales begins Thursday as part of Ontario's plan to create fairness and opportunity during a rapid economic change.