Qualinet cannot have a blank check

When there are two feet of water in your basement, you want to resolve that as quickly as possible. So much so that we rarely take the time to shop around after disaster cleaning companies to obtain quotes and negotiate prices. But the urgency does not allow Qualinet to bill what it wants, when it wants.

“They take advantage of people in vulnerable and desperate situations” to charge “exorbitant” surprise amounts, believes lawyer Joey Zukran, of the LPC law firm.

Convinced that Qualinet has developed a business model that contravenes a series of rules and laws, he asked the Superior Court to authorize a class action. His request was filed in the last hours at the Montreal courthouse. In particular, he requests the cancellation of contracts concluded since October 7, 2021 and the imposition of punitive damages of $1,000 per customer.

The number of Quebecers affected by this action is expected to be in the tens of thousands. On Facebook, Qualinet mentioned having processed 7,000 files in the Montreal region alone between August 9 and September 4.

Joey Zukran sees several problems with the way the company does business.

As an itinerant merchant, Qualinet must have its customers sign a contract stating the total amount of the services that will be provided, he gives as an example. However, she instead provides them with a price list that the lawyer describes as a “menu with 50 different things”. It is only once the work is completed that the client discovers the final invoice.

This approach would contravene section 58(g) of the Consumer Protection Act (LPC). “They know how many people and equipment to send, so they should know more or less how much it’s going to cost.” They can’t have a blank check,” insists Joey Zukran. Moreover, the company was fined $5,302 in 2018 after contravening this specific article of the law and others.

But isn’t it difficult to assess the extent of the damage and the work to be done in the midst of a crisis when the situation can still evolve? No, at least two judges of the Court of Quebec have already ruled.

“Qualinet is used to such damage and in the opinion of the Court it can assess in advance, even approximately, the number of days required to dry the water, as well as the number of dryers that will be installed,” had for example writes judge Sylvie Lachapelle.

This is not what happened to victims of the flood that occurred in Baie-Saint-Paul on 1^is May, as evidenced by a report from Radio-Canada. Qualinet customers denounced the high amount of their invoice received after the cleaning work. They did not at all expect to see sums of $7,000 to $14,000.

One of them said he hailed a company representative who was walking the flooded streets and quickly signed a contract without asking for a quote. The next day, two technicians removed the mud from his basement and disinfected the area. The work lasted a day. A technician then came by to perform a humidity test. His bill: $8,000.

“We were not there to take advantage of people, far from it,” defended the director of operations of Qualinet, Roger Vigneault¹.

A sense of urgency does not justify everything. A company can always take a few minutes to write a quote, insists Joey Zukran. “Qualinet, they catch people who are vulnerable in a moment of desperation. But it is not firefighters, police officers or plumbers who will close the valves. When they arrive, the damage is already there. They come to clean. At this stage, there is no urgency. »

The lawyer who specializes in class actions finds it shocking that Qualinet has initiated 593 legal actions over the years. He describes the company established in Quebec as “litigious” and writes that its “modus operandi consists of sending bailiff’s letters to its clients and taking them to court, while knowing full well that their contracts are not valid.”

In Charlevoix, customers were startled when they saw a 10% “administration fee” and an 8% “profit” fee on their bill. With good reason, believes Joey Zukran, since section 224c) of the CPA prohibits fragmented pricing. In other words, merchants cannot charge a higher price than advertised by adding fees. This is also an element mentioned in the request for collective action.

Qualinet would also continue to charge interest of 2% per month on unpaid balances, which would be illegal under the Interest lawaccording to LPC Avocats. At least two judgments from the Court of Quebec, rendered in 2022 and 2023, mention the illegality of this practice which ensures that the client “pays interest on the interest of 2%”, noted Judge Suzanne Paradis. Since then, according to Joey Zukran, Qualinet instead uses the expression “administrative fees”, but that does not make these fees “any less illegal”.

I was unable to speak to the founding president of Qualinet, Éric Pichette, to find out his reaction to this new legal procedure which will undoubtedly be closely followed given the amount of the invoices in question. Speaking of bills, these are sometimes largely paid off by Quebec, which thus finds itself involved in the affair.

Let’s hope that this gives him the idea to look into the practices of the post-disaster cleaning industry to better supervise it, as he has already done with mechanics, obliged to write an estimate for any repair of more than $100. This reflection is all the more necessary as climate change and water damage caused by burst pipes increase.

1. Watch the Radio-Canada report

Visit the LPC Avocats firm website