Elwin from Vaughan

I dealt with Adel for quoting, Q&A, and scheduling. He was prompt in responding and I liked that we could use What's App chat as well. He called and we talked when details were easier to be discussed rather than typed. The two technicians arrived on time. Based on the business card left, their names are Ibrahim & Abed. They were both friendly, professional and helpful.

Jose provided the quote and was also the person who did the work. We communicated via email in a timely manner. He did arrive a few minutes late but I did appreciate him explaining why (accident on the highway). Jose was able to figure out the best & most cost efficient manner to get an electrical hook-up working for the hardwired Ring Video Doorbel Pro 2. This cost excludes installation of the video doorbell. We liked how Jose & his helper had booties to wear while they were indoors.

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.

Peter was great. He is a courteous and professional human being. He was quick and responsive throughout the process from the quotation through to the installation. He was patient with us with all our questions during the quotation phase. The installation was delayed longer than he anticipated due to the manufacturer. Peter did provide updates throughout the manufacturer delayed timeframe. To provide a better idea of the timeline: a) June 17, 2019 for in-home free consultation b) June 29, 2019 for written quote c) July 2, 2019 – signed back quote and 50% deposit paid d) Aug. 6, 2019 for installation & final payment. Peter is the gentleman that came to do the quote and I was surprised that he was also the person doing the installation, especially given that he did it alone. I would have thought that the job would be at least a 2-person job given that the blackout drapes are quite heavy. In case you like the aesthetic look seen in the pictures & you want to select the same options, the bedroom with the bunk bed has blackout drapes with the Lounge pattern & B1258 Zinc colour. The other room with the two side windows without any drapes has blackout drapes in the Aussie pattern & Stone colour. And the “finials”, which are those things at the end of the bars holding the drapes up, is the “Bird Cage” option. Although 100% better than the room darkening drapes (DIY job) we had previously in the bunk bedroom, I still wish that the blackout drapes were better at blocking all the sunlight. For both those rooms, those windows face West and since the bunk bedroom is a kids’ room, it is difficult for them to sleep as the room can still be fairly bright. I understand Peter’s physics explanation that light does not bend around corners. And I know I do have high expectations, but I do feel like the sunlight is reflecting off the walls & ceiling especially near the top and letting in more light than I would like. The drapes were a bit wrinkled upon installation and Peter did state that the wrinkles would naturally come out over time especially for the blackout drapes that we got since the weight of them would naturally pull the fabric down and flatten out the wrinkles. After about 1-year since the drapes were installed, the wrinkles are less, but I still notice some wrinkles that have not come out.

Back in Oct. 2017, we were very excited about this service and product. We still believe it is great in concept, but could not recommend this specific Company due to poor execution and customer service so far. We liked the product as it is not slippery in the winter like Epoxy floors or Epoxy floors with the sand/grip added and because it could be applied vertically to the cement exposed walls in the garage, which Epoxy coatings could not do, which meant that it is easier for us to spray out the garage with a normal water hose or a pressure washer. We have two main issues relating to product discolouration and the product coming off of the garage floor. We have discolouration issues in both areas, which are the garage & the front porch. Luckily we have a 5-year warranty on the garage work and a 10-year warranty on the Front Porch work and I’m still hoping that the repair and fix work will be done. Rubaroc has poor execution and customer service because of the following main reasons. Each of the reasons are elaborated below: 1) Installation not done professionally 2) Administrative Office not organized 3) Customer Service non-existent 1) Installation Day: Although homeowners do not need to be home during installation (as long as the installers have access to the area in question), I wanted to see and talk to the installers before they started their work. I waited until 9:55 am but no one showed up at the 9 am scheduled & expected time. I thought they were running late so I left for work. We left both the garage doors open for them to do the work while we were at work. Mid-morning, I called the Rubaroc office and our assigned Office Representative, Smeakings, was not in the office but his colleague said that she would call him to get an update and that our Office Rep would call us back shortly. I reconfirmed my cell # with her but no one called me back. Upon return home, we were disappointed to see that nothing was done. I did not receive any communication from Rubaroc about the installation needing to be rescheduled. I called Rubaroc again to ask about the installation. They said that they needed to reschedule as the labourers were not available for my scheduled installation. They did apologize and did reschedule the installation date. However, they could not explain why there was no communication about the install not happening on the initially scheduled date. I feel like even if a reschedule was needed, they should have initiated the communication with me and not the other way around. Also, when the installers did show up on the rescheduled date, they needed me to tell them what exactly was to be done and where even though we were told that no one needed to be home to meet with the installers. The installers told me that all they get is a work order saying something vague like “square footage of X work to be done in the garage and front porch”. To make matters worse for this 1-day job, the installers said that they only had about 85%-90% of the needed materials to finish the job. And they said that it was up to me to contact the Company to figure out when the remaining 10%-15% of the materials would be available and the workers could be rescheduled. They said that they go to the warehouse in the morning to obtain the materials set aside for each job. They said that from experience that they could tell right away that my job did not have enough material, especially the special glue that they use. The 10-15% part of the job was done at a later date. There is a slight colour difference in the materials used between the 1st main portion of the job versus the 2nd smaller portion of the job. I feel that Rubaroc should have provided their installers with the proper amount of materials, if not slightly extra in case of any job site issues. And also, if Rubaroc was short of materials that they should have initiated the communication about the shortage and the reschedule. I do not think that it should be the homeowner finding out from the labourers that the homeowner needs to reach out to Rubaroc to try to reschedule the job to be finished. We do like our Sales Representative (Holly). She came out and did the quote. Her attitude and communication were good and she gave good suggestions on colour. She tried as much as possible to assist in the installation and scheduling issues that we had. The only thing I would recommend is that Holly and the installers have better communication. For the 1-step in the garage to enter the house, the small vertical area in between the garage doors and the small vertical corners in the garage, Holly recommended that before installation that I box it up with wood to make better complete shapes as that would be better for the installers. However, the installers said the opposite. They said it would have been better for me to leave the wood pieces out for them to cover in the product and after the product was cured then it would have been better for me to insert into those respective areas, especially the corners and the small vertical area between the garage doors. 2) Unorganized Administrative Office: In addition to the communication and scheduling issues stated in the Installation section #1 above, there were multiple examples of an unorganized administrative office. An example related to our final instalment payment which was just under $4,000. The Sales Representative came to our house to collect the final instalment payment cheque. Holly was on her way to the office and said that she would give them the cheque to finalize & close off our project. She did do that as I saw that Rubaroc did cash the cheque and that it successfully cleared my bank account. To my surprise, a couple of weeks after the cheque cleared at the bank I got a call from the Administrative Office asking me to pay the final instalment payment as soon as possible to avoid late fees/penalties and implied that further collections procedures may start if I did not pay. I did not want any negative impact to my credit score so I had to communicate to them that the final cheque payment was already physically given to their Sales Representative and that it had even already cleared the bank several weeks prior. 3) Poor Customer Service: The work was completed mid. Oct. 2017. Within 1-year the product appeared discoloured on the covered front porch and there was a bubble on the garage floor with the product sticking up off the floor. Especially for the discolouring, we were very surprised given that they verbally stated and also shown in their product brochure they gave us that the product is “high quality color-fast rubber granules” and “UV resistant”. Although Rubaroc’s maintenance & cleaning guide says that a simple water hose spray should clean most areas, it did say that a power washer could be used. I initially tried to clean with the hose. Since there was no success, I tried power washing. Assuming the pictures I attached are included in this Homestars review, you will notice the discolouration closest to the door. By the door, the colour is brighter, which is what we like and better matches the rest of our exterior house colour. The discoloured part looks dirty and more whitewashed with white streaks. These pictures are after my cleaning attempts and the colour difference is greater in real life than what the pictures show. The garage was also slightly discoloured but was less noticeable since we chose a dark black-ish colour for the garage floor. The “bubble” sticking up off the garage floor is harder to see in pictures as the black colour of everything blurs together in photos. If Homestars allows the “bubble” photo, hopefully, you can see what I mean. In Oct. 2018, I contacted our Office Representative, Smeakings, via email and followed up with a voicemail. At that same time, I also submitted the query through Rubaroc website “contact us” section. Unfortunately, there was no response. In May 2019, I followed-up with our Office Representative again and another submission through the Rubaroc website. No response. On June 5, 2019, I was able to get an alternative contact at Rubaroc named Doreen. We discussed the issues via phone along with the requested follow-up email with pictures to ensure that we were all on the same page. Rubaroc had various explanations and excuses for not fixing the problems during the 2019 season. Their last 2019 communication in Sept. 2019 was that they were “testing a new procedure to remove the shading on the Rubaroc surfaces” and would get back to me within 1-week. That led me to believe that multiple customers were having discolouration issues. Unfortunately, I heard nothing back. Jan 2020 - I followed up via email to try to get us scheduled into their calendar first-thing in the 2020 Season. No response. I understand that in March 2020, we all experienced the unprecedented COVID-19 situation. May 2020 - I followed-up again via phone & email and spoke to Doreen in May 2020. She stated that they had all the pictures needed and similar to what she told me in 2019, that she would contact the appropriate supervisor again to get our issues resolved. Currently mid-July 2020 – and no further progress or communication.

Overall I’m happy with the BBQ cleaning (May 9, 2019) and would use them again. There was an issue with this 2019 cleaning and after calling them, they came back out to fix and provided a $50 credit towards my 2020 BBQ cleaning, if I chose to use them again, which I did. They only offer full & complete detailed cleaning. Our BBQ isn’t used that much each year so I was hoping for a more basic or partial cleaning option that was a bit less expensive but that isn’t offered. I also purchased 2 cedar plank BBQ cleaners since the traditional wire brushes used to clean BBQ's have been getting a lot of negative press in the last several years relating to the metal bristles coming off and people swallowing them and getting injured or worse.

We had previously used Continental Brothers to finish our basement back in Sept'2017 - see my previous review titled "950 Sq Ft Finished Basement". It is currently Mar'19, but back on Jan. 11, 2019 and I had Victor (the owner) return to install a toilet in the upstairs Master Bathroom. He brought Benny to assist him as well. We recognized Benny from when they were here before doing the basement and that was nice to see a familiar and trusted face as well. Victor and Benny had a tough task as the toilet's water line was installed very tight to both the wall and more importantly (in a negative manner) the mid-line of the toilet. [see the picture with measuring tape] It should be made clear that the toilet's water line was done by the builder's plumber [the home is 6-years old] & not Contintential Brothers. This made finding a new toilet and getting it installed difficult. We even got quotes from various plumbing specific only type Companies. Most recommended not changing the toilet as it wasn't worth the extra cost to re-do the plumbing in the master bathroom, which would include breaking through tiles in the bathroom and even potentially the drywall ceiling on the main floor below. However, Victor was willing to take a look including moving the heavy 1-piece toilet from the front foyer upstairs and tried installing it. It was a tight fit and Victor and Benny were able to find an alternative solution that did not require breaking tile or drywall or re-running plumbing. This was a huge relief and huge savings to the $$$ pocketbook. So a positive thing on both fronts. Victor even helped me by moving the old toilet out to the street's curb. The toilet was installed successfully [see 2nd picture attached]. It has been about 3-months and we are still happy and no plumbing/toilet issues. Thanks again Continental Brothers, especially Victor & Benny.

Similar to my previous review, the total cost was not $1, but this purchase was a gift for my parents so I do not want to show the pricing. The cost of the TV was still one of the best that I could find. I purchased the Samsung UN43NU6900. That's why I rated 3/5 for recommending this Company. However, their level of customer service [as of Dec. 2018] has drastically decreased since my previous review [mid-May 2018]. I do not know/understand why. The delivery person kept trying to get incremental cash from my parents. The driver likely saw them as "easy" targets for more cash. I hope other customers, especially senior citizens, do not have this similar situation happen to them. Hence I rated my satisfaction with the Company to be 3/5 for a total of 6/10. I believe their customer service has decreased and I would describe it as awful because: a) In advance of delivery, Teletime was made clear that the delivery was to my parents' condo which had a specific delivery time between 4pm-8pm as the delivery people would need to use the delivery elevator. After 8pm, the Condo rules state that the building no longer accepts deliveries. Teletime stated that this would not be a problem and that they would call me 1-hour before delivery. b) Around 6:45 pm, given that 1 more hour would put us close to the cut-off delivery ending time at 8pm, I called Teletime asking for an update on status. They stated that the driver should arrive around 7pm and not to worry and that they did not know why the driver did not call me at 6pm to let me know that the delivery would occur around 7:15pm. c) Around 7pm, the driver (Balraj) called saying that he would arrive shortly at 7:15pm. This aligned with the timing that Teletime gave me, as stated in (b) above. d) Unfortunately, this was not true. The driver & the store did not communicate any updated timing to me. I waited & waited, and was getting worried so I called the driver at 7:45pm asking when he would arrive as I stated that he previously told me that he would arrive around 7:15pm. The driver's response was "so what?". I did not like that attitude and thought that it was rude. I then reminded him that delivery was needed to occur before 8pm, as that's when the condo stops accepting deliveries. The driver's only response was "we are in the area" and then abruptly hung up. e) At 7:56pm, the driver called me (I do not live with my parents, which I previously told Teletime & driver as well), asking me to ask my senior citizen parents to come down and help him. I told him he could ask the 24/7 condo security/concierge for directions to the delivery elevator and that my senior citizen parents would not help with delivery as delivery was included in the price. That's one of the reasons I picked Teletime. f) After much stress (for both me & my parents), and pressure from the delivery guy for my parents to pay extra cash, the delivery did happen successfully. However, the driver asked my parents for extra cash to take away the old TV away even though that was agreed upon as part of the pre-paid pricing. I had to call the store who had to try to reach the driver to try to convince the driver to take the old TV away, as per the agreement. The driver told the store that the TV was heavier than expected and that he could not take it away by himself. Once the driver was no longer on the phone with Teletime, he told my parents that he had a co-worker waiting in the delivery truck that could come up and help him take the old TV away but that my parents would need to pay cash for that to happen. Obviously, the driver with his co-worker could physically take the old TV away since he offered to do so (for more cash). He likely didn't expect my parents to tell me about that cash offer and didn't expect me to call Teletime again to complain right away. After much further negotiation between Teletime and the driver, the driver agreed to take the old TV away with help from his co-worker. g) To make matters worse, on the way out with the old TV, the two delivery people asked my parents if the old TV worked or not (it still worked without any issues), and since it worked, the delivery guys asked my parents for their digital box as well that was used with the old TV. The delivery guys wanted the digital box for free. Luckily, my parents said "NO" as the digital box is a rental from Rogers. h) The driver then tried to pressure my parents into trying to pay more cash to the delivery driver to install the TV into the stand that came with the TV. He kept telling my parents that installing the TV into the stand is very hard and that if you install it wrong, that the TV will break easily and it voids all warranties. This is not true, as installation into the TV stand is easy. Even JD from Teletime agreed with me that installation was easy & also suggested that my parents install the TV into the stand themselves. My parents were able to install it themselves without any issues. We did not like that "pressure" tactic of trying to extract more cash money from my senior citizen parents. Hopefully, those delivery issues & lack of communication issues from both the store & delivery people were isolated. The other issue is that Teletime does not help you select any products even if you give them an idea of what you are looking for. They do not reply to your requests. They only reply once you give them a specific brand & model # that you are looking for and then they will give you a price quote. Perhaps that's how they keep their pricing down, but I would have preferred if they tell me they won't help me with selecting any products rather just "radio-silence" and no communication.

As of Mar. 2019, I have been a client of Orkin Canada's Mississauga branch location for about 2-years. I signed up for the HPP [I believe it stands for Home Protection Program], which includes 4 visits per year for check-ups. My HPP specifically targets mice & wasps, which are a problem for my property. The HPP includes unlimited "emergency" visits but dead mice on the property are not considered an "emergency" so I had to deal with that on my own. That was disappointing that I had to deal with that on my own since I have a dog and toddler so I didn't want to have dead mice on the property and would have preferred Orkin deal with the dead mice bodies given possible diseases/bacteria, etc. In addition, bird nests are also not included in the HPP. I had birds make a nest at my front porch's light (see picture attached, which hopefully posts properly once this review is approved by Homestars as the thumbnail seems to have rotated the picture). When I called Orkin, they said it wasn't included in my HPP and that it would be an incremental charge. I did not get Orkin to come in for the bird's nest removal as I wasn't willing to pay more for that service, over and above my HPP cost. Overall, I think the value of the service is good and would recommend the Company. The customer service by the service technicians sometimes feels a bit rushed/rude. I understand that they are busy and just want to pop-pop-pop from one client to another. Whenever I have questions, I feel that the verbal answers are not complete and not clearly answering my questions. In the backyard, they put two mouse traps inside my BBQ. I wish there was an alternative as this makes the mice go into my BBQ to eat the bait, but then the mice poop inside my BBQ leaving a mess for me to clean up, which is another hassle that I would prefer to avoid.

In late Nov. 2018, we decided that we wanted to decorate our house with exterior Christmas lights. Apparently [albeit understandably] this was late in the game for the industry so it was tough to obtain quotes. Shack Shine was reasonable in their timing to get back to us with a quote. Sanda (a co-owner) was good at communicating with us relating to our choices. The quote included an on-site meeting to physically see the various lights available. She was also able to send us some pictures afterwards as well to better help us visualize the options. We ended up choosing their LED lights including a timer (the price includes the LED lights & the timer since we own them). The installation was done on Dec. 3, 2018 by Bryan (the other co-owner) and one other staff worker. The installation was done without any issues. We found Bryan a little rougher-around-the-edges in terms of dealing with him/communication style; however, no issues with the quality of work. Take-down service is included in the shown price. Take-down was scheduled for Mar. 18, 2019. Some people think that is late for take-down but that was our choice, so not a negative point against Shack Shine. I wanted to point it out as I can not comment on take-down service yet as it hasn't yet happened. I have attached two photos showing the before and after the lights were installed. I feel that the lights look even better in person.

In mid-Dec. 2018, Dennis came to my home to help me hang a new coat hook (the previous ones kept falling down leaving holes in the wall making it too hard for me to hang the new coat hook on my own). He was able to properly hang the coat hook securely (it is now mid-Mar. 2019 - so about 3 months later) and the coat hook has survived daily use with heavy winter coats without falling. I've attached 3 pictures of the process pre, during & afterwards. In addition, Dennis helped me to hang 2 photos in an awkward area to reach (behind a heavy office desk that couldn't be moved). Dennis was a professional as witnessed by his behaviour such as: arrived on time, charged the same $ amount that was agreed upon during the quoting process, open communication during the quoting process, arranging logistics/scheduling & during the work, kept the workspaces clean, etc. I would use Dennis again.

I made this purchase online & it was delivered in early April 2018. It is now mid-May 2018 and I'm still very happy. The price was not really $1. This was a gift for my wife who wanted a TV in the master bedroom, which I didn't want so I don't want her to know the actual price. However, I found the pricing from Teletime very reasonable including delivery. I dealt with Jasdeep A. (aka "JD") who has the title of Director of Operations. I was happy with their responsiveness to my request for a quote. I thought JD's customer service was good and he appropriately answered all of my detailed questions. I appreciated how we kept an open line of communication and that we worked well together to arrange for delivery. As I stated above, this was a gift and surprise for my wife, so I worked with JD to schedule the delivery of the TV while she was out of town for work. If anything, the only minor criticism would be that I was told that the delivery would consist of 2 people to handle the 65" TV and that I would not need to do anything. However, only 1-person showed up so I was a bit concerned about how that 1-person could handle the TV on their own without damaging it (even though it was still semi-protected in the box). It is not overly heavy since it is an OLED but just hard to manage alone due to its size while still in the box. I ended up helping out, but wanted to note this concern in the review as I can imagine a worst-case scenario of a senior citizen or pregnant lady who should not be lifting anything

This work was done in early April 2018 and now it is mid-May 2018 and I'm still very happy with the work. Denis is a one-man show for this company (in a good way). To wall mount a 65" TV and use the conduit we already had in place behind the wall was $160 including the full-motion wall mount, and to have Denis add the wall plate needed to make use of the conduit was $20. This was done in the master bedroom and he said he used the studs behind the drywall to properly anchor the mount, which is what I wanted him to do. He also cleaned up the wires and concealed them on my first-floor living room TV, which was $40. The work was done very efficiently. He was responsive to my quote request. He answered any of my detailed questions that I asked via email/phone/text, etc. prior to arrival. He arrived as scheduled. He was professional in his work. I would use Denis and his company again. If anything, I would have rated 9.9 instead of the full 10 stars. Only reason being is that the electrical cord was too short that came with the TV. I had sent pictures to Denis beforehand so although I didn't provide measurements of the wall area, I would have expected that he would have the expertise to warn me that I might need an extension cord for him to complete the work. He told me it was too short once he came on-site to my home. So I had to run out while he was in my home alone to go buy an extension cord. Although I was OK with this as I looked him in the eye and trusted him, I wanted to add this to my review as there may be some customers that might not be comfortable leaving a stranger home alone. I would have preferred that he warn me that I might need an extension cord and recommend the type/style and more importantly the minimum length to get prior to the scheduled appointment. That way, I could have gotten it in advance and if it was not needed, then I could have returned it after Denis completed his work. That way, there would have been no awkwardness of leaving a stranger in my home alone.

I had the Company come in to do a partial BBQ cleaning (I have Napolean Prestige Pro BBQ) and double-check the gas line hook-up as an annual safety precaution. They sent 2 people and the service took just over 1-hour. Pros: Did a really good job cleaning the BBQ. We had a nest that got built by some sort of animal/rodent/pest in the side infrared burner [see photo] that got cleaned out. The cleaning team (like always) seemed very friendly and professional. Neutral: They showed up 1-hour earlier than scheduled, which some people could perceive that to be a good thing. Others might perceive that to be a negative thing. So that depends on perspective and the customer's schedule. Cons (that led to their lower rating than previously): Their back or front office does not seem organized. I tried to call to make an appointment and left them a voicemail. No one called me back so I followed-up 1-week later with an email requesting confirmation of the date/time of my appointment and the cost. No one called or emailed me back so I emailed again another week later to follow-up and the response received back did not have any of the details that I asked for. They effectively just said "OK" to the appointment date that I proposed but did not confirm time nor the cost that was requested. I replied asking for clarification on the time and cost and did not get a response. I called one week prior to the scheduled appointment date to obtain a cost estimate and clarification of the appointment time. In my humble opinion, I do not believe this is an acceptable level of customer service. We finally did confirm the estimated appointment time to be around 12 pm to 2 pm. I was surprised when the service staff called to say that they could come around 11 am (1-hour earlier --> see "Neutral" section above).

We initially purchased a Toto concealed comfort height elongated toilet (Carlyle) to be installed in the 2nd floor upstairs master bathroom. Due to Plumbing pre-existing it would have been cost prohibitive to install as it would require breaking up the main floor ceiling and revising existing Plumbing lines. The toilet is NOT custom and has the standard 12-inch setup. We were able to get the toilet installed on the 1st floor main floor powder bathroom where the plumbing could be accessible from the basement which was unfinished under the powder bathroom. The cost was $400 for the concealed toilet install and $450 for the plumbing work all before HST taxes. Our only small complaints were 1) that during the quote, which included removal of existing 2-piece toilet, we were told that the toilet would be dismantled into the 2 pieces so that the city (York Region) would pick it up as part of our normal garbage pick up. And that was part of the "removal" service. However, the toilet was not dismantled. I'm sure the Company would have sent someone to do it, but I was able to figure it out and use a tool that didn't quite fit to do the job. I just think that the work should have been done initially as promised. It should be noted that removal does not include removal off the property as that's an add on. 2) there was some pink Fibreglass Insulation in the unfinished basement area removed to do the plumbing in the basement ceiling for the main floor powder bathroom. It was left on top of the water heater so I'm not sure if that's a fire hazard or where/how to put the insulation back.

The most important thing that you’ll want to know: 1. YES, we would recommend Victor M. & Continental Brothers to family & friends and 2. YES, we would use them again to finish basements in any of our future homes. Overall, we are very happy. We went from an unfinished basement in a 4-year old detached home to a 950 sq ft stunning finished basement. It has a 3-piece bathroom (shower, toilet, vanity), den with lovely frosted glass French Doors and the rest is an open concept floorplan, which is what we wanted. Timing: The job took about 8-calendar weeks from the start time to end time. However, 1-week was lost while we did spray foam insulation (done via a separate Company that I already wrote a review on) and 1-week while we were out of town. Thus, about 6-working weeks for Victor & team. The 6-weeks was the time estimate that Victor provided when he did our quote so the job did not have any time delays and potentially, more importantly, we did not have any cost overruns. We paid what was quoted. That seems to be quite rare as we see reviews from others where customers need to pay contractors extra compared to the quoted price. Personnel & Leadership: Victor is the owner of the Company and is the person that does the quote, does the work, Project manages the team & sub-trades, and more importantly, is your “go to” person for questions and comments. Communication: Victor was always open for communication. As Type-A personalities, we liked how he would ask us for input on a daily basis for certain decisions. We appreciated that even though the work day was done and the rest of the workers had left for home that Victor would stay behind and wait for us to get home after work to walk us through what had been done, check-in with us to see if we had questions and ask us for any further input. Flexibility: Victor was flexible with us. Although his quote includes insulation and laminate flooring, we wanted to do spray foam insulation and vinyl plank flooring instead. Victor was able to work with the different materials and was able to work with the timeline needs for the separate spray foam company. The quote includes the bathroom exhaust vent and Victor installed a different vent for us that I had selected instead of his standard exhaust vent. Pricing & all-inclusive Quote: One of the reasons why we picked Victor was that his quote was all-inclusive. So we did not have to worry about [or pay for] extra materials, parts, labour, etc. For example, it included a high-efficiency American Standard Toilet and Moen bathroom hardware. We recognized those brands so we were comfortable with them. We did not want inferior products. We were able to select the styles that we wanted. Further examples of the all-inclusive quote are that it includes LED potlights, all the porcelain tiling including grout [some other basement quotes we received charged extra for grout! Or extra costs to upgrade from ceramic to porcelain], doors including all door hardware [we had one basement quote that required us to purchase our own door jambs, which we didn’t even know what that was until we Googled it. That was very surprising for us]. Payment terms are very favourable. Most contractors’ quotes needed an upfront payment as high as 50% of the quoted price. Victor’s payment terms are weekly once the job starts. For example, if the job is $100 after HST tax for 10 weeks, then you pay $10 a week on Friday each week. Extras: In addition, without any delays to the quoted timeline, Victor & team were willing to do extra minor stuff and repairs/maintenance around the house. We offered to pay extra for the extra work, but since they were minor, they were kind enough to do it for free. Please understand that if you ask for extra work to be done that is more significant, then you should expect to pay as that’s only fair. At least it will be at a reasonable extra rate/charge. Minor Constructive Feedback: If anything, the only minor constructive feedback that we have, especially as non-smokers, was that we did not appreciate members of Victor’s team smoking outside on our property and occasionally leaving cigarette butts on the ground or in our compost bin [cigarette butts are NOT compostable in our area]. It should be noted that Victor does NOT smoke. And especially impressive was that once we raised the issue to Victor, he personally went out and picked up the cigarette butts left by his team. That is such a gross & dirty task, that I really appreciated that he did that to ensure that he addressed our concerns. Feeback from Friends & Family: Everyone that has seen the new basement so far has really been impressed by both the overall look and quality construction & materials. I've attached some before and after photos. Apologies that Homestars does not let me rotate photos.

For our basement, we did R20 on the foundation walls and R24 in the Rim Joists. We excluded the mechanical/furnace room as we did not want to incur additional costs [from our general contractor- GC] for the existing batt insulation removal, framing, and then drywalling over the spray foam since you can not leave the spray foam exposed. It should be noted that GNI can remove existing insulation for you, but it will likely cost you more to use them for removal since their labour rate is likely higher than a regular GC. Our basement is about 950 sq ft in area, but the quote was based on linear feet (as were all our quotes for Spray foam). Hopefully providing you the sq footage will give you an idea of your expected costs. We selected the closed cell BASF (purple) Walltite Eco Polyurethane Spray foam. Alana C. was easy to deal with. She is the one the came on-site to do the quote. We had her come back an extra time after our general contractor completed the framing/electrical/plumbing as we had some concerns that there may be some areas that would not be accessible to GNI. We dealt with Nick in the back-office for scheduling the work appointment (1-day of work) and payment including 20% deposit. For the deposit, you also need to pay the HST on the 20% deposit at the time. The $3,395 costs noted is before HST. Both Alana/Nick were reasonable in answering questions. The one thing I didn't like is that I had emailed both at the same time asking about energy rebates available for us in the area. One replied saying there was none and another replied saying that there were rebates available. So it was confusing to get contrasting responses. The actual work was done reasonably well. My GC who does a lot of basements and has seen other spray foam Companies as well has no concerns with the quality of the work. Two younger guys came to do the spraying work. They did leave a bit of a mess. For example, 1) bits of broken off spray foam on the main floor inside the house even though they were only working in the basement; 2) a few spray foam pieces that I had to clean up from the front yard; 3) a couple of good-sized rocks left in the basement. No idea where the rocks came from but perhaps they use the rocks to keep some protective equipment in place. I had to throw these rocks out on garbage day; 4) the left the mesh screen off when the closed the basement window. The popped it off to bring equipment into the basement but never put the screen mesh back when they were done. Overall, I'm still happy with the work done.

Back in April 2013, I used Hotwire for multiple items (main floor pot lights, timers on exhaust bathroom vents, external light fixture installation and kitchen pendant light installation) including adding a whole home surge protection on a 200 amp electrical box. The surge protection service was about $715 before HST. Everything was done well. In Summer 2017, there were some concerns that another licensed electrician had with the Surge Protector (while we are finishing our basement) and Hotwire was quick to help after I contacted them by sending a photo with the instructions highlighted from the surge protector's manufacturer [see picture]. As well as having Oris (Hotwire's Master Electrician) being available for a conference call with me, my basement general contractor and the licensed electrician that my GC was using that had the concerns. I appreciated how even after 4 years, Hotwire was willing to stand by their work and support their customer. I have previous reviews of Hotwire on Homestars for you to read as well.

I had the Company come in to do a full BBQ cleaning (I have Napolean Prestige Pro BBQ) and double-check the gas line hook-up as an annual safety precaution. They sent 2 people and the service took just over 1-hour. Pros: Did a really good job cleaning the BBQ. It was very thorough. Neutral: They showed up 30 minutes earlier than schedule, which some people could perceive that to be a good thing. Others might perceive that to be a negative thing. So that depends on perspective. Slight Con: Potentially due to the strength of their cleaning chemicals, I noticed that some of the symbols/graphics and labels on the BBQ near the knobs were scrubbed off.

On Nov. 11, 2016, I had 6 units of the Haven Fire Suppression System installed. The installer (Jason) was nice but not experienced. He was trained at his headoffice, but this installation was his first installation outside of training. The installation was supposed to take about 5 minutes per unit. It took 6 hours in total so about 1 hour per unit. Jason showed up without an extension power cord so needed to run out to Home Depot to get one. Jason said his Company did not provide him with the proper tools where he could cut into the drywall ceiling and suck up the dust & the mess at the same time. He did his best to dust up afterwards but it was still very messy despite his best effort. We were hoping that they would have the proper tools as when we had potlights installed by a different Company they came with a tool that also cut holes into the drywall ceiling but it simultanously sucked up the dust to prevent the mess.

This Company approached our neighbourhood of all detached homes, which was a new development area from various builders so there were no fences up. The quality of work (done in Summer 2014 - currently Oct'2016) seems OK but not great. I know I wanted the sono tubes (spelling?) with concrete done for each post to make them more secure and long lasting as that's what some other Fence Companies suggested, but this Company said they didn't do that except for the properties that have backyards that touch the street. That is, an end unit house. To be fair, it has been two years since they installed and the fence is still standing [HAHA]. There was a meeting set-up by the Company one day at 5pm in the backyard of someone's house in the neighbourhood. It was too early in the evening (in my opinion, as most people are not home from work by 5pm) and it ended up raining that day so most neighbours did not attend the meeting. Therefore, most people did not hear what the Company had to say. I did attend the meeting and I was not impressed. This is my first detached home (previously I lived in a Condo), so I did not know anything about fences. When I asked questions, the representative (he might have been the owner) did not seem to want to answer my questions and kept trying to brush me off. I remember him even saying "a fence is a fence, it's not that hard. Don't ask so many questions". Also, I found that they used pressure tactics where they would tell people that their three neighbours all signed on to use the Company (three neighbours = two next door neighbours plus the one backyard neighbour) and said that you had to sign-on as well and pay or else they couldn't start working and the rest of the neighbours would blame us. I call this a pressure tactic, because I didn't sign right away and instead talked to my neighbours first, and they told me that they hadn't yet signed anything either, but were given the same hard-sell. The quality of the work is OK - as I stated above. My biggest pet peeve with the work so far is that the two simple gates (their basic model without any windows/iron work within the door), which each costs $150 + HST, does not fit the frame that well. I know that there is contraction & expansion of wood as the weather & temperature changes, but I'm sure these "fence experts" should have taken that into account. There are times where you can not open or close a gate. Luckily I've got two gates (one on each side of the house), so that one time when I was stuck on one side, I looped around to the other side of the house to use the other gate. They were priced reasonably, but not the lowest and I used them only because all the others in the neighbourhood ended up using them as well. I did get other price quotes and the lowest quote was $1,189 + HST for the fence.

I like to use HomeStars as a starting point for checking out potential service providers & contractors for home related items. I like how I've done reviews for Companies and HomeStars has contacted me (I believe at least 3 or 4 different times) for additional information and to ensure my reviews are valid. (They were all approved as valid, by the way). I know they can not do this for all reviewers for every review, but at least there's an audit of reviews to ensure they are valid. That makes me feel like the reviews on HomeStars are more valid then some reviews on other websites.

We use Valentina's cleaning services every other month (on average). There's 3 main reasons we like their services: Reason #1: We like the service because they are fully licensed, bonded & insured. There are other cleaners out there for cheaper, but you take that risk as they are likely not properly bonded/insured. Reason #2: The cleaning products that they provide & use are safe for kids & pets (we have a small dog), eco-friendly, natural and hypo-allergenic. It's also not a harsh chemical so it is safe to use on our Ceasar Stone kitchen counter top. Reason #3: I only need to provide my own vacuum cleaner and a large black garbage bag and paper towels to the cleaner. They bring the other cleaning supplies (like mop, bucket, rubber gloves, cleaning products & solution). Based upon our house size (detached home with 4 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms), we had the option of having 2 cleaners at a time, which cuts down the total time by half or having 1 cleaner each time, which means the overall cleaning time takes longer. The price is the same regardless of which option is selected. We've done both options. *note* - we have an unfinished basement for storage and the cleaners do not go down there.

BBQ Assembly and initial gas line hook up was done in June 2015. I thought they did a good job and everything was done professionally. The gas line was already "roughed-in" by the builder, so BBQ Boy just needed to connect it to the new Gas BBQ that I also had them assemble. This was $181. In June 2016, due to some repairs I needed to the landscaping in my backyard (not due to BBQ Boys), I needed the gas line unhooked for several days so that the landscapers could fix their work. Then BBQ Boy had to come back a re-hookup the BBQ to the Gas Line. Since they were on-site, I pre-arranged it so that on the re-connection to the gas line that they also did a BBQ Cleaning. This disconnection, re-connection, and BBQ Cleaning was $130. I was happy with all their services to date (currently Aug'16).

I first contacted LawnSavers in May'16. So it has been less than one year of service so far [currently early Aug'16]. I initially dealt with Pam T, but she's on vacation during Summer 2016 so my file has been handed off to another Service Representative. We paid for the Protector Plus Package, but due to some severe bare patches in our lawn, it was recommended that we also purchase the Restoration Package. We did that as I needed professional help to resurrect my front lawn. The Restoration is not yet completed as the grass is still growing in and the Company did tell us in advance that it will take awhile and even next season to get rid of all the weeds and have the new grass completely fill in the bare patches. I've been happy with their Customer Service and I'm usually pretty picky (high expectations) with Customer Service. They reply promptly to questions via e-mail and/or phone. I don't have to wait on-hold too long usually when I have to call in, which is a nice change compared to other companies. I've attached a June'16 picture (before the Restoration work) and also a July'16 picture (after Restoration work). The pictures were taken about 30 days apart. You can see that there's still some filling in required for the grass, but compared to the original picture, it is so much better. I need to note that we've been following Lawnsavers instructions to the letter, which included watering 3 times per day after the Restoration Package, so although I'm happy with the results, I'm not looking forward to my next water utility bill. The price is also only for the front lawn as I did not do anything in my back yard.

You'll find my earlier review from when I purchased this system back in Aug'2014 (but I only did the review of that in late 2015/early 2016). The Kinetico K5GX reverse osmosis water system installed under our kitchen sink started to leak in late Dec'15, which is less than two years so I was pretty surprised / disappointed that happened. However, I was able to get a hold of Aquareal to schedule a service appointment for them to come fix it in early Jan'16. I was hoping it would be covered under warranty but apparently not since I had to pay about $200 CDN. They were able to fix and we have not had any further issues since (currently Aug. 5/16). The thing we did not like was the repair/service technician (although seemed very nice) smelled really bad with cigarette smoke [not body odour issues]. We especially did not like this since we have a new born baby in the house and I'm allergic & therefore sensitive to cigarette smoke. To be clear, obviously the tech did not smoke inside the house. Even after he left, the cigarette smoke smell lingered in our home.

I dealt with Paul Hannah [the owner] who was the one that came to do the work at my home. The cost is low because luckily [for my pocket book] after the inspection, Paul recommend that I do not have to do the Duct Cleaning service since my ducts were clean enough and that Duct Cleaning at this point in time would not be value add. He showed me how to properly clean my HRV & Whole Home air purifier. For the HRV, he also showed me how to check the inflow vent on the outside of the house. He checked out the A/C unit, and it did not need to be cleaned. He showed me the humidifier filter and recommended that I get a new one for the next winter. For the dryer vent, he inspected it and it was not clogged. He showed me some techniques for me to check and keep it clean myself. He recommended that I get a 3rd party HVAC maintenance plan, which I appreciated. I thought front-office scheduling went well along with the pre-visit initial questions & answers.

I had 3 small items for the Plumbing Company to review. 1) Outdoor garage tap seems to be leaking 2) Upstairs master bathroom sink has a bad poop smell coming out of it 3) Unfinished basement drain seems to be partially clogged with rust. I was charged the minimum service charge for a visit which was $150 + HST. The Company was able to fix item #1 quickly. Item #2 - they said they could change out the pipe but that it would not fix the problem and that the smell would likely come back in 2-3 weeks. So I liked how they were honest and didn't just "hose" me to do work that would not fix the problem and just be a temporary band-aid solution. They recommended that I try baking soda & vinegar as my best bet for a solution. Item #3 - the tech took a picture to send to the Company's drain specialist who called me back later that same day. They said they could come in and excavate to fix, but that it would be too much money for me. They said they see this a lot in new build homes and unfortunately, the builders do not install the basement drain properly. And that's what causes the rust build-up within the drain the eventually blocks the drain. I like instead of trying to get me to sign up for an expensive excavating job, they were honest and gave me a more financially reasonable alternative. The alternative was just trying to chisel out the rust from the old pipe (being careful not to allow any rust to fall down into the pipe by using crumpled newspaper to block the pipe while I was chiseling) and putting in a new drain cover [the one the came from the builder was supposed to be stainless steel, but after 3 years, it's already all rusted and breaking apart]. I bought a new plastic drain cover from Home Depot. I thought the technician was reliable and professional. My only complaint - and it is a small one - is that they told me that they would arrive between 3-5pm on a Friday, but would call me on my cellphone before they started to come to give me a time estimate as to when they would actually arrive. However, on the Friday of my scheduled appointment, they just showed up and I never got a call (no missed calls & no voicemails) on my cell phone to give me the heads up of the timing. Luckily I was home already that day on vacation and was waiting for them. But I can see how it could have been different where timing did not work out since they did not do what they said they were going to do. That is, call before coming.

We purchased our A/C unit from A Plus Air last year. It is a Trane XR13 2.5 Ton up to 14.5 Seer with matching high efficiency coil. For whatever reason, it stopped working this year [1-year later]. The fan was still going as we could feel air coming out of the vents, but it just was not cool air. I called (on a Monday) and understandably the service team was busy as it was a heatwave in Toronto and they were able to send someone out on Wednesday afternoon. Although not ideal timing for me especially since I have a baby boy and a pet dog at home, so I thought that was too long to go without A/C especially during the day. But I understand that was the earliest that they could send someone out to my home. The person that came was professional and had the technical expertise required to fix the issue.

In Aug'2014, we had the Kinetico Q850 water softener installed in our basement for whole-home softer water. It is now Jan'16. So far so good. We just had to change our filter for the water softener. It is "maintenance-free" other than having to re-fill the salt periodically. We don't seem to go through it that fast, which is good as the bags are heavy for me to bring home from the store (Wal-Mart). We had Aquareal change the filter for the water softener. We also got the Kinetico K5GX reverse osmosis water system installed under our kitchen sink and also connected to our fridge's water line. The water does seems to be more purified. Our dog only drinks the purified water and not the normal water from the tap.

Mike DaSilva and his crew worked on-site. They did a good job and we got compliments from a wide variety of people (including other trades), which was a great sign. They were good with clean-up as well. Mike also did the concrete pad for our Shed's location and drilled the holes for the gazebo's posts so that it was very secure. They did not build the shed or the gazebo shown in the picture. They started April 27, 2015 and this "final" picture was taken May 7, 2015. The time taken to complete the job matched our expectations.

Renaissance Painters painted our exterior shed including the double doors and standard window with flower box. I'm happy with their quality work. And they will willing to come back and fix/touch-up the couple of spots at the window that were required. I am happy with the work so I would likely use them again. I'm happy with Jason's (the owner) willingness to discuss feedback. We had a couple of e-mails back and forth along with at least two conference calls. This feedback was initiated when they asked me for a Homestars reference. Based upon this feedback, I think they will get better with the things that we did not like. Here's some of the items discussed: a. Pre-paint day --> I didn't like how the story/costs kept changing even though it was probably for the best and there always seemed to be an explanation. The initial phone quote for what Jason called a "simple job" was $600 for labour. That then turned into $850 for labour as the explanation then became that it would likely need 1.5 days or 2 people for 3/4 of a day. Then it turned into that the team would use a sprayer which normally has a $1,200 minimum charge but that we'd be able to keep our $850 quoted cost. Like I said this ended up being better as the work was done faster (only about 1/4 of a day with 2 people) and Jason says that the quality with the sprayer is better. b. Pre-Paint day --> I didn't like how we didn't get resolution [until after the job was completed] on how to handle the Cedar ledge for the Shed. I believe Jason was going to check with his supplier about what to do with that ledge (e.g. stain or paint with a different type of paint). However, I don't think we ever got an answer and we ended up leaving it alone. I'd rather leave it alone than do something to it that might potentially ruin it. I agree with Jason on that. However, if later on it turns out that we could have had an answer and something could have been done at the same time as painting the Shed then I would be disappointed as I wouldn't hire painters again to come in just to do the ledge (and I'm sure Renaissance Painters wouldn't want that job either as it's too small of a job). c. Pre-Paint Day --> Jason called me to ask me what colour we selected. However, we had already e-mailed him that info and Jason has already even provided us with an e-mail quote that re-stated the paint colour and even included the sheen. As per Jason's e-mail quote: " Paint all surfaces with CC470 Rocky Road top line Ben Moore Aura eggshell sheen." So I'm not sure why he had to call and ask me. I don't mind if it was a "confirmation" type call, but to me, it seemed like they were asking for the colour and that seemed to indicate a little bit of disorganization. To be fair, we are a "small simple job" and I'm sure they have many projects on-going. d. Pre-Paint Day --> it seem to me, from my humble opinion/perspective, that I had to follow-up with Jason to ensure that my job got booked while I think it should have been the other way around where the Company is trying to book a date with us. And Yes, I realize it's a small job compared to Renaissance Painters other projects, but I think that a Customer is a Customer/Client regardless of current project size, especially since we're in a new house and starting a new family so it is quite likely that I'll need future paint work & future paint projects going forwards. e. Paint Day --> I gave instructions to ring the door bell just so that my wife who is home with our new born baby would know that people are here to work and that the workers could then go ahead around back to work. However, my wife was disappointed as after ringing the door bell they just stood by the front door until she answered them. I thought my instructions were clear. I gave instructions that said: " You can ring the doorbell on arrival so that my wife knows that you are here to do the work. She likely won't answer the door bell, but by ringing it she knows you've arrived. Then you can go around to the back of the house and through the gate to start working." f. Paint Day --> The team needed to use our outdoor water hose, but needed my wife's help to turn it on and due to their need to disturb my wife, that ended up waking up our new born baby. The use of the water is OK as I previously had even offered to Jason that I would leave the outdoor water tap on so that the team could use it. However, Jason said that he didn't think it was required. Good thing I still left it on just in case as the team did need it. What if I had turned it off and the team needed access to water outside?? That potentially would have delayed our job?? g. Paint Day --> I'm not sure which worker (maybe both?) smoked cigarettes on our property in the back yard. To be fair, they were outside and they thought they were done working. But I'm allergic to cigarette smoke (so luckily I wasn't home), but my baby may also be allergic so we don't want anyone smoking near us. Regardless of allergies and what not, I don't think workers should smoke on our property. h. Paint Day --> the painters forgot to paint the cross beams of the window (see picture attached). We had to check to see if they did it and then when we realized they missed it, we had to ask them to paint that. i. Post-Paint Job --> I was sent an invoice that was dated wrong. Innocent mistake, but just one more iteration of administrative work that we have to deal with. All these items have been discussed with Jason (owner) and he was very receptive and he's going to make some changes to the process/procedures to make things better going forwards. I am happy with the work so I would likely use them again.

"Mass" is the owners name and he performed the work as well. We liked that he wanted to perform the job just like he was doing the work at his own house. That's what I think any homeowner would want. He arrived on time for all meetings (quotes, looking at potential hardware, work days, etc.) including being responsive with home visits when we needed some follow-up after the work was completed. His invoiced price was the same as the quote so we were not surprised by any additional costs.

Overall, I would NOT recommend this store to family and friends even though they do have a good selection and pricing. I would not feel comfortable referring anyone I know & care about because of the very poor after-purchase customer service - ranging from delivery, assembly and post-purchase customer service. I do not want anyone I know buying something (even though they might like the product and be able to buy it at a reasonable price) and having to go through the headaches and wasted efforts & time that we had to go through. I purchased multiple large items from the store (about $2,500) as they had a good selection and pricing seemed reasonable. One of the items we did buy, which made the overall pricing a lot lower than regularly, was a display floor model. Otherwise, our total purchase price would likely have been closer to $4,500-$5,000. The sales guy was not that knowledgeable as every time we had a question, he had to go ask his boss/manager. So our time in the store took too long. There seems to be a lot of confusion within the store [Woodbridge location]. Example #1: The sales person told us that the display floor model of the outdoor dining room set that we bought would have to be taken apart and then delivered to our home and then re-assembled [we had to pay for delivery & assembly]. We asked if they could just deliver it "as is" so that we did not have to pay for re-assembly, but he said "NO" because it would take up too much room in the delivery truck to deliver it assembled. However, when he redirected us to the front desk to complete our order and pay that front desk person said that since the floor model was already put together they could just deliver it as is. Example #2: We did pay the store for delivery of our various items but they said we had to be home during the delivery time window estimate to receive the items. Although this is a pain, we understood as this is quite common for anything that needs to be delivered especially physically large items. However on the delivery date, not every item we purchased at the same time and already paid for came together as we were told. We had to contact the store (they did not give us the heads up) to ask what happened. They said we had to be home another day to receive the remainder of our items. Therefore, we had to waste another 1/2 day vacation to wait for the 2nd delivery of our items. :( Example #3: One of our other large purchases [the display model dining room set - see Example #1 above was OK] was an outdoor Gazebo that we paid the store to assemble. Even if the store outsources the people they use to complete the Gazebo assembly, the store should be responsible to ensure (via the 3rd party they hired) it's done properly and correctly with the proper attention and care. However, the Gazebo had several broken parts that the assembly people did not tell us about and the assemblers just left after completing the assembly. However, as soon as we saw the completed Gazebo we noticed the broken parts. We contacted the store right away and they were responsive and said they would take care of it. I believe this was "lip service". As that was first week of May'15 and now it's mid-July'15 and after numerous follow-ups by us, we still have no resolution.

Irfan (sales guy) was good. He answered our questions and came to our home to check out the property. That was one of the main reasons why we picked the Company. Others were not very good at getting back to us on quotes and/or our questions relating to the quotes. My only surprise is on the day of install when the installers forgot to bring a ladder and needed to use mine.

The Hotwire team (we've used them several times now) always arrives a bit early, which is better than most other contractors who arrive late. They do the work in a professional manner plus they keep things clean as they work and do a good clean-up job afterwards to make sure that they leave the area in the same condition as when they arrived (as reasonable as possible). They usually give good recommendations and suggestions, without making us feel like they are always trying to up-sell or pressure us in any way.

Oris and his team did a great job with minimizing the mess from potlights and clean-up. In addition, Oris provided his suggestions on design and function on the location & placement of potlights, which we thought was really helpful. Hanna did a good job with the quotes/invoicing process and she was very helpful when we had follow-up issues/questions.

Angela Gontier was very patient & helpful with us re: wiring and was very good at responding to our e-mail questions. She helped us to select our locations for our various wiring (internet, cable tv, phone, etc) based upon our room layout. Amanda Powar from Grand Alarms handled all my queries in a professional manner, incl. all of our follow-up points.