Ease Up – The Organizing Experts

Overall, we are happy with the service and would use them again. They organized & created a system in our basement in Aug. 2019. More than 1-year later (Oct. 2020), we are still keeping with their organization system. Next time, we would use them to help organize our kitchen. We were hesitant to use their services due to the high cost but in the end, we agreed that the results were good even though we still think it is too expensive.

The in-home quote process went smoothly. The one-day (2 people * 7 hours) of organization happened without serious issues, meaning they arrived and left on time and no mess was left.

There was a $20 extra charge compared to the quote, which was for 4 containers that they used and left for us.

The team was nice and put the items for donation inside my vehicle. We also had 1 black garbage bag for disposal that was not a problem. The only minor issues we had related to the 3 clear bags for recycling. We were surprised that Ease Up was not already aware of certain policies for York Region/Vaughan. At the same time, we understand that every region is a bit different. Hence we deemed the following as minor issues.

A) After the team left, we noticed non-recyclables in the clear plastic bags (like styrofoam and plastic bags/wrapping). Those items are not recyclable at curbside pickup. In Vaughan/Woodbridge, Styrofoam is recyclable for free but needs to be dropped off at the McCleary Court Community Environmental Center. Plastic bags & wrapping are garbage. Since those items were mixed together I had to get a different bag and open up the clear bags to sort out the recyclables from the non-recyclables.

B) Although we had never tried to put cardboard and other recyclables into clear plastic bags for recycling we assumed it would be OK as we figured Ease Up had done that before without any issues. So we put out the properly sorted recyclables in the clear plastic bags for recycling and it was rejected as recycling and only accepted as garbage. The transparency of the bag did not seem to have a positive impact in terms of recycling acceptance, and it seems that anything in a plastic bag becomes garbage as plastic bags themselves are considered garbage. Luckily, from a financial perspective, we didn't have to pay extra as the day we put the items out to the curb happened to be double-up garbage day. We didn't plan or schedule our Ease Up appointment that way as it was purely coincidental. On the other hand, unfortunately, from an environmental perspective, we would have prefered to have the recyclables accepted rather than them going to a garbage landfill.

We also had a minor issue relating to luggage. To be fair to both parties, Ease Up didn’t ask us if it was OK or not to put the small luggage inside the larger luggage & we, as the homeowners, also did not specify that we did not want that done.

We understand the space-saving concept of putting the small luggage inside the larger luggage. We just did not think of it in advance to be able to instruct it not to be done that way for us. Luggage is usually packed and sold this way in stores. However, when Sandra showed us that they did that it was a bittersweet reaction.

Pro: Yes, it did save space for us.

Con: However since this was not brand new luggage and was clearly used, the small luggage's exterior was dirtier especially their wheels which touch the ground while travelling in airports, public bathrooms, etc. and then those would then be touching the inside of the larger luggage where we pack our clean clothes, toiletries, PJs, etc. That was not ideal for us from a cleanliness & hygiene standpoint. I know our small luggage is not visibly super dirty so it is reasonable that Sandra didn't consider this reaction. We did not say anything at the time, as it was already done and inside the bigger luggage by the time she showed us. So what was done was done and the inside of the bigger luggage was dirtied from the smaller luggage so there was no point to have the smaller luggage taken out.

Subsequently, I discovered that Ease Up would have been willing to clean the inside of the larger luggage. That is a good attitude that they have overall to keep the clients happy. The cleaning would have taken away from time spent organizing so I recommend that you let them organize (their speciality) and the homeowners do the minor cleaning.

I have attached one before and two after photos so that you can see the difference.