Mr. Tankless

The install was one nightmare after another. Poor shotty work led to Enbridge shutting the gas off. We spent 4 days with no hot water and then they had the nerve to demand more money for the install. I have filed a complaint with the BBB case# 1200629.

I did most of the research myself online and thought I had found a reputable company and a product that would match my home's needs. So I called Mr. Tankless and I went ahead with the purchase in relatively no time in late Aug 09. The Navien is perfect (so far - 2 weeks into the installation) with 15 years manufacture warranty. Unfortunately the specific installers, and from the looks of it Mr Tankless as whole, are DEEP in issues and past complaints. The installers were young, wearing jeans and what would easily pass as clubbing gear. I've purchased a furnace from another major contractor and the installers wore industrial overalls which implied that they took their job seriously and were prepared to do the job at hand, instead of the Mr. Tankless guy who was raising his low-rider jeans every 5 minutes to cover his butt crack. I asked them of their proficiencies and the main guy who was also the one guy who spoke English well enough to actually have a conversation said out front that he has a history of gas work but hardly any background in plumbing and actually "hates doing plumbing". He mentioned later that he was extremely tired and making mental mistakes because he was out until 4am the night before. Now I'm probably his age, possibly a year or 2 older and I can easily spot out a young go-getter who knows how to balance work and life, and I can also spot those my age who still don't appreciate having a job and don't take many things seriously enough. This guy and his partner fell very definitely in the later group. He also mentioned 1 or 2 stories of the harsher client complaints he had to deal with.

They quickly assessed the layout of the laundry/furnace room and the exterior wall for venting. They vent this particular tankless system (and probably others) with 3-inch pipe. So you would expect that they have a 3-inch mortar bit handy. They in fact don't. They use a very much smaller bit and place multiple holes while blowing out the back end with every hole. The next day when there was enough daylight I inspected the outside wall (it's an 80 year old house and those walls are load bearing) I see 2 massive craters, see attached. A grenade could have made less damage. That's something I can live with, as I can repair the brick and mortar myself, and hopefully no structural damage will happen. The rest of the installation was sloppy, hardly any use of a measuring tape, no level as the venting and the tankless were all placed by eye, and the installers spoke their own language most of the time. I'm an immigrant myself, and I will speak in a foreign tongue in the presence of people who are familiar with it, but I will not do so in the presence of customers or anyone else who doesn't understand that language. It's a matter of respect to the customer to show that you are not concealing anything.

The intake vent is recommended on being a rigid pipe, yet they opted to use a flexible metal duct for the intake. The installer wasn't too sure if it that was safe or if it caused any hazards.

Part of the plumbing installation involves the use of flexible pipe. This type of pipe comes with its own tool kit so installers can install it correctly, see attached picture. The installers only had the crimper. They didn't have the expander, and the rest of the tool kit that would be used to make a more secure connection. They didn't measure the length of the pipe and the recirculation run (the length of pipe used to churn the hot water through the tankless for a second time) was just spread out through a ridiculous path across my laundry room ceiling and around the furnace. The part of the plumbing involving copper was extremely sloppy and extremely rushed and hurried. Remember the installer openly admitted early on that he has no plumbing background. He used a high temperature flame (possibly a MAPP) directly on the pipe regardless of the surroundings. He had the solder in front of the flame thus melting it before the fitting was heated instead of placing the solder behind the fitting to utilize capillary action. He could have possibly overheated the fittings. He didn't clean the fittings with a wet cloth to cool them off and remove excess flux, instead he actually rubbed more flux onto the steaming hot fittings and the flux quickly melted and fizzled. They also didn't come prepared with enough solder so they used some of mine that I had laying around.

I wasn't there during the layout of the recirculation pipe. It didn't sit well with me once I saw it, and the next day after viewing the craters on the exterior walls from the drilling, as well as my doubt on the intake vent, I decided to call in about my concerns as well as asking for them to refit the recirculation pipe in a way that it doesn't take up such a large space (after all it is flexible and can be coiled). I work in a business environment, and I have a lot of experience dealing with people who are under pressure and/or not content with the status quo. So I also understand when someone is trying to deal effectively with those irked people and genuinely trying to resolve their situation. I asked to speak to someone with a technical background, and the person I spoke to came across like he has heard so many complaints that he was now indifferent to the whole thing. I told him about my concerns and he said he'll call me back that same day. He didn't call me back, so I called him at the end of the day in which time I'm sure he sent someone running to the bank to deposit my cheque that I handed to the installer so I couldn't back down. He actually forgot who I was and then said he completely forgot to call me back. To get to the point he offered his reassurance that the intake pipe can be flexible and that it doesn't affect the performance of the system. He seemed indifferent about the craters and said that they normally have a 3 inch mortar bit. He also promised to send a crew to do the minor and quick work involved with refitting the recirculation pipe. I told him to send a different crew; one that actually has the tools and the plumbing background to get the job done. Low and behold he sent the same crew, dressed in clubbing gear. They got the job done in no time. I thanked them and deep down I hoped that I never have any issues with my tankless so I never have to deal with that company again.

Very eager to install the unit(Noritz).Told me to send the paper to enbridge for rebate.I questioned them about Noritz not being mentioned in the enbridge brochure. Mr.Alex(Sales) said Noritz is made by Johnwood.I did sent the paper. Came back saying its not valid.Called Alex continously for 2 weeks(Day and night).It says he's busy with many calls.called the office/Frank.Told the same thing over for 2 weeks.Frank is always in a meeting.very busy. Finally he gave me some others serial number(Can you believe it??)This company should be blacklisted for fraud.Iam taking the matter to consumer protection department.Trying to make sure this company wont exist.People dont deal with this Mr.Tankless. thats all I have to say.

They did a very good job. Lowest price in town 23.95 per month. Very fast service. I would recomend them to everyone. Lots of gas saving. The best thing about it is that we never run out of hot water.

At the end of May, I had purchased and installed a tankless water heater from Mr. Tankless which is a division of Active Temp Control Inc. The installation was not done properly causing leaking water to run through the pipes and down the drain in my basement. The company did not come to look into the issue until several days later and only after repeated calls that I made to them. After a brief service call, they said that the problem had nothing to do with their installation and told me to call a plumber, even though the problem arose right after the installation was done.

I would NOT recommend this company.

I have outlined more details of the problems in a review under the company name "Active Temp Control Inc."

very good with sales and installation. Fast service and lowest rate in the gta. They also have special free service plan for consumer. I looked every where in toronto to find a low price and fast service like them.So far so good.

The price was good and the salesman was responsive. However, the installation was not good. Installation was performed by their parent company: Active Temp Control.

1. Called me on original confirmed installation date, at the time when the installer was to arrive to tell me that the unit was backordered.

2. Arrived 2 hrs early to the next appointment and we were not home. They returned after we called them but then left because it was raining.

3. Arrived 30 minutes early to next appt. Having inspected our installation site on visit #2 he was confident it was a 4 hr job. Part way through he cut a brass water pipe thinking it was copper and then spent 30 minutes trying to repair it. The installer was rude to my wife and did not listen to her request to keep the front door closed since our cat would otherwise get out. After 5hrs we announced that he was done but there was debris (cement rubble, plastic filings, fiberglass insulation, wire, etc) all around our laundry room and in the next room. My wife brought him a vacuum which he suggested she use until she asked that he clean up his mess himself. He vacuumed a bit but still left a lot of debris inside the house (including cement rubble and fiberglass and plastic filings on the carpet.

4. Later that day I inspected the work and found the following defects:
- the cement patchwork he had done did not seal around the exhaust pipes
- the air intake pipe was not connected properly - the main pipe was offset from the elbow into which it was supposed to connect
- the heater's drain hose leaked onto the floor
- he squeezed the exhaust pipe over the existing copper hot water pipe and stressed a solder joint which then began to leak.

5. Repeated calls to the service line always resulted in the response that "someone will call me back to set an appt". Three days later and no one has called back, despite me having called them four times.