B from Mississauga

This was our first renovation/upgradation project in our life. We wanted to have a Sunroom which would provide us with some additional floor space on the main floor and some extra living space during the winter season. We did some online research and decided to call in Four Seasons Sunroom company as they were one of the biggest in the business. When we called their 1 800 customer service number they asked our address and said that their local office will be in contact with us and will visit us to discuss and provide us with a quote. Their representative visited us in June 2012, discussed all the options with us and then provided us with a quote. The sunroom project was priced at about $44,000. They wanted a 30% deposit of approx. $13,000 - asked us to pay this amount immideately. As per them this deal was 'time limited' and their "Head office" wanted to see the signed contract in order to provide us with this deal. We paid them the 30% deposit of approx. $13,000 on the same day and they said that they'll start working on the project soon and the project will be completed by Oct 2012. We followed up with them several times as we didn't see things moving. Later, we found that they closed down and vanished. We contacted their Head Office. The Head office said" We do not have any knowledge about this". After some time they sent us a letter about their closure - asking us to contact their Corporate office in Toronto and their Head office in the US. The Head office (US) and the corporate office (Toronto) does not want to refund our money or honor the contract saying that we had signed a contract with their franchisee which was independentely owned and operated. The head office wants to sell the products to the franchisee and wants to see the signed contract between us and the franchisee to give us the deal but when the franchisee closes down they do not want to refund our money or honor our contract. They want us to sign a new contract with the corporate office. This is not a fair practice - The new quote is very high which i cannot afford to pay. I hope the company reconsiders its decision and refunds us our deposit or honors our contract.