Needing to replace the roof on our flat-top house in Penticton, we received a glowing review of Unit Roofing from a neighbour who had hired John and his partner Richelle to do the replacement roof on their flat-roof house, using Malarkey Omni Seal roofing. And his online reviews were all five stars – praising his communication, hard work, and honesty. So we felt confident proceeding with the project. What transpired from day one was the opposite! In fact this has turned into a nightmare.
While all the other reviews praised John’s swift communication, we cannot say enough about the sorry lack of proper and professional communication from him. Once he had our down payment, things went downhill from there. Little to no communication started on the day he was to show up for the job. We couldn’t get a confirmation from him. For example, his phone’s mailbox was full and there was no response from repeated emails and texts. When he finally responded, he said he would be showing up the first day at 8 AM. 9 AM came around. Then 10 AM. Then 10:30. He showed up closer to 11.
What was promised to be a two day job – with a half third day to tie up loose ends – turned into a four day job. And it’s still unfinished. Promises are at the heart of this deplorable experience. Be aware that John over-promises and under-delivers! Two examples: a promotional solar vent from his rep was promised but suddenly not available, and his “gutter guy that can do the a solid length of replacement gutter” also never materialized.
But so much worse is that John never showed up to put the finishing touches on our new roof. He promised to show up two days after "completion" to do the finishing touches last Thursday, but an email explaining another fiasco at another job – he seems to be plagued with tragedies – he wanted to show up late on the Friday, or giving us a choice, he could come by on the Saturday to “ .... We agreed on Saturday.
Saturday rolled along. We waited all day. He never showed. We couldn’t get a hold of him: mailbox full, no response to emails, no response to texts.
To add insult to injury, what has transpired during this frustrating time was rain. The rain showed pooling along the edge of the back roof slope. The pooling has been caused by the fact that existing flashing from the previous tar-and-gravel roofing was not removed and was creating a dam, retaining water from flowing over into the gutter. Worse, at each corner end, rainwater drips behind the flashing/gutter! My husband had brought this concern up to John during the roofing job, but John passed it off, saying that the water will flow over the edge into the gutter (wrong!)
We unwisely paid the balance of the payment the day he was finishing up, with his promise to return in two days to tie ends up: heat torch any unsealed edges, caulk flashing, etc. He never showed.
After contacting his partner, Richelle (Office Manager), and John’s mother, who lives in Penticton and had visited the job site several times, he contacted us via text with an angry note, stating out of the blue that we had already received a $2750., discount and that we would have to pay for any further work. WHAT? AT NO TIME WAS A DISCOUNT EVER DISCUSSED! AND HE ACCUSED US OF BEING UNPROFESSIONAL IN TRYING TO CONTACT HIM!
He then stated he would show up Sunday (yesterday) at 1 PM. No show. No email, no text, no phone call. No response.
We are sick to our stomachs and completely frustrated that we are left with an unfinished job, no recourse for compensation and a roof that in all likelhood will have to be repaired.
We have had to hire another company to help us navigate us through this mess!
Also of note: During the roofing job, our plumbing went haywire and we had to have a major auguring job done, and in retrospect, this was mostly likely caused by the old tar and gravel being slung over the roof and over the vent stack.
During the first day, without permission, John brought his dog, and the next day another one on to our property. Bad protocol.
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