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Two Ottawa-area homeowners found themselves locked in bitter disputes with a home-appliance-rental company over its door-to-door sales.

Man Guo and Diane Cousineau are accusing Ontario Safety Standards, which has offices in Ottawa and Toronto, of misrepresenting itself at their doorsteps and employing high-pressure sales tactics to get them to sign up for expensive, long-term rental contracts.

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The two women tell similar stories, writes Vito Pilieci.

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Photo by Errol McGihon / Postmedia

‘You’re going to save all this money’

“You have no idea how embarrassing this is,” says Diane Cousineau. “You keep kicking yourself.”

Cousineau says a representative from a company called Ontario Safety Standards was canvassing homes in Russell, just outside the city limits of Ottawa, on the evening of Dec. 9.

Cousineau runs her own business these days, after retiring from a career as a professional.

When the representative got to Cousineau, he asked her about the age of her furnace and air conditioning unit. He told her he was travelling with a supervisor and said he’d be back shortly to discuss their offerings, she told the Citizen.