Jon was friendly, knowledgeable, and quick. He pointed out some mistakes that were made by our contractor and had answers to resolve the issue. Overall a great experience.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $200.00
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Reviews
This review has taken some time to compile as overall I like the design of my new kitchen but I feel its important for people to know our experience with Doug and Big City Developments. We hired Doug at Big City developments Inc. to do a main floor and kitchen renovation. We have an older (1974 built) small house and only asked for approximately 650 sq. ft. to be completed. After our initial meeting I thought Doug and his company were the perfect fit for us, turns out I was incorrect. First of all, I asked for 2 quotes, one with a support beam and one without the support beam, my mistake for not making sure I got this as it definitely bit us in the end. The first 4 weeks went well and then we noticed some issues arising. I called a meeting to discuss. Doug was there with his wife and son and said all my concerns would be addressed. He always had the right answer. Drywall was a major concern and was not completed until 8 weeks into our 9-week project (which went 11 weeks and 2 days with his less then promised work hours) and still to this day is not properly finished or sanded. You can see corner beads, patches of drywall and incomplete corners throughout. Painting is not complete as I believe only one coat was applied, I can see the primer in many areas of my home which with completing many paint projects in my home myself, I know disappear with a second coat. When I questioned the one coat he never replied to my email. Doug constantly told how he was taking a “hit” on our project but nothing outside of our contract was ever added, to be honest even things that were in the contract and not completed were not credited properly. Doug just added the credit into things that he was supposed to do regardless but could not complete himself. When questioned on the structural beam credit (never installed as it was not required) he said that the flat ceiling he promised me took all the credit as he could not complete this himself and had to hire outside as I had complained about the look of what was done. He also mentioned in an email request about the credit that our house was a quoted renovation and not a cost-plus job and he owed us nothing. I paid him for “Dolly Parton hours” and was lucky to get more then a 6-hour work day. Once our project was complete to his standards, he wanted payment. I arrived home from work and inspected everything that had been completed and had a list of things that still needed to be addressed before I paid him his final payment, at which time he became quite defensive, accusing me of making negative comments and attacking his character to which I never did (I have the emails to prove this) and wanted to give us a credit to fix it ourselves. If I wanted to fix everything myself, I wouldn’t have hired a contractor. In the end Doug came back to our house as I refused his offer of credit to fix his imperfections and fixed 2 of the 5 things I requested and sent an email stating all was complete. I paid him, as honestly, I was done with his version of perfect reno’s and ended up fixing a number of small details that he had no interest in making perfect, such as filling holes in all trim and baseboards, painting trim as he used a brush and all strokes were visible, painting the trim under the stairs, and a number of other things. I have numerous photo’s that show defects after he said all was complete and I wish I could share them all. The kicker of how unprofessional he behaved was when my backordered cupboard doors arrived, he was to contact me to install them (addressed in an email that he agreed to), instead he sent a message to my husband that he left the cupboards covered in plastic on my doorstep (during the May Calgary rain) for us to install and when I questioned about the install, he offered a credit so he didn’t have to deal with me as he had nothing to say to me. I don’t know where the hostility came from but I don’t think that it is showing any type of professionalism. I was never difficult to deal with but did expect my renovation to be perfect as honestly that is what Doug told me he could do and that is what I paid for. I would never recommend him for any project as he doesn’t seem to understand the meaning of quality work, attention to detail, timelines or customer service. I will enjoy the new kitchen I received with our fixes but would never recommend Big City Developments for any renovation needs.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $10,000.00
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- Company Response
Customer comments are not accurate at all.
She says we did no extra work over and above contract agreement:
List of additional work done.
Removed closet and wall and installed 24x90" pantry - quoted and approved.
Enlarged island - quoted and approved.
Island secured in place for 4 weeks- templated ready for counter tops and asked to move it 8". We had to disassemble the island, electrical, base etc and rebuilt it.
Requested to change out all switches and plugs on main level.
Customer assumed we would do all trim around 7 hallway doors. This was not part of the contract. Customer had just done trims, but did a poor job of it, so we did it to keep her happy.
Added extra set of cabinet drawers as she wanted more. We Replaced door with drawers - costly and no charge
Exterior stucco finish on an inside wall - removed and installed drywall - minimal charge
We made over 20 additional trips to kitchen supplier to secure items as they came in. - No Charge
We ended up doing the entire job for less than contract agreement amount even with the above upgrades.
All Credits and charges were applied as the job proceeded. They were given credit for the beam and other items.
We gave them a granite budget that was generous and we gave them credit for the difference. Nicole agreed to all credits and charges as job proceeded.
We provided engineering report and letter regarding wall removal.After the half way point she sent a nasty and unfair confrontational email. I called her husband and we agreed he would be the communication person from that point until the end of the renovation. She had signed his name on email, but he hadn't read it and agreed with me on her inaccurate and unfair comments.
Highest quality of the work was performed on the renovation. We had a 35 year master carpenter do all the custom railings and kitchen trims. We did 3 coats of paint, not one like she said.
Our last day there Husband thanked us for all the extra work we had done, our honesty and quality of the work we did. He was impressed that we got the job done in a timely manner with cabinet shortages etc. He shook my hand and thanked me again.
Then Nicole sent another couple nasty emails. She also had a small list of things she wanted me to look at. I completed the list and she said she was happy with the work and would leave cheque in the mail box. She said she would deal with anything else that may come up. We picked up the last 2 doors for the kitchen and dropped them off on the covered porchas i understood they were dealing with popping them on. It wasn't raining and Nicole was home, but didn't answer the door.
We had 2 or 3 people working every single day. We did not miss a day. We always tried to leave by 4 pm as Customer came home at that time. We worked 12 to 21 man hours per day... everyday
Big City Developments tried to make this an easy renovation on the homeowners and did everything and more to do a top quality job. Big city developments is a family run business and we take pride in all the work we do.
Very upsetting when someone outright makes stuff up. At least 2 of the pictures provided were of the basement reno they did. I was unaware we missed the pin holes on the one baseboard. I would have filled in.