James in Richmond Hill

This is actually an older review. I and my siblings have used Armando several times in the last 10 or so years and they've been fast and flawless. I'm writing this review now because my most recent move was originally with Armando but I had to re-schedule and Armando wasn't available. I ended up using another mover and boy do I regret it. I should have just waited until Armando was available. I have another move (for my mom) coming up and this time it will be Armando or nothing. Armando is #1 for us and has been for years. 4 great experiences and more to come.

Moved from 1300 sq ft townhouse to larger condo apartment. Most of the stuff was in our garage. What was left inside the house was on the main level. We took everything from the top and bottom levels to the main floor. 11.5 Hours. Didn't realize everything was being wrapped - including stuff I would never have wrapped - and was told at the end I had the option of not wrapping things. At the end. Original estimate was 7.25 hours and because there was construction at the new place (extra 40-50 ft of walking to get into building) I did expect it to take longer but the process was glacially slow. To put into perspective the moving company our whole family normally uses (don't think I can name names but happy to refer on request) but was not available to us this time (booking conflict) took just over 5 hours to go from our 15th floor previous condo apartment which was almost 1200 sq ft into the townhouse. I was simply stunned at the length of time required. The whole "you could have told us not to wrap stuff" after the fact was just brutal. Roughly twice the cost quoted and extra costs levied by the new building because we held the elevator well beyond the cutoff. The process was just abysmal and I feel I was grossly taken advantage of. The main moving guy on the truck plainly admitted "I could have told you it would take longer" but what can you do when all your stuff is in someone's truck - they kinda have you over a barrel. I chose them because of all the good ratings on Homestars. I've used Homestars for other referrals with great results and this is the first time I wasn't happy. Had I know the real time required I would most definitely have chosen other options. Others have had good results - good for them - but if you use these guys do so with your eyes open and don't get caught like I did. If you use them you'll have to play a more active role in what gets wrapped or not and keep an eye on the time. Good luck.

Update: Brandon came back and was on time. Solid work that exceeded expectations and a price that was very reasonable and blow what I thought I might have to pay. Installed new home opener system , 2 car remotes, an external keypad, internal control, and a little doohickey that lets me know if my door was closed (YAY! - you have no idea how many times I wearily stumbled down the stairs after going to bed to verify I had in fact closed it) - what a Godsend. They were awesome last time and the second experience was completely consistent with the first. (Read on for the original posting) My garage door jammed today at the worst possible time. I called Chris at Markham Garage doors (who I found through Homestars) and because of my situation they did their best to get out and help. In less than an hour Brandon showed up and unmangled my wires which had popped off and got wound up. He was fast and informative and I I asked him about replacement openers (both mine died) and I knew the opener was 20 years old so now he'll be back tomorrow to replace the whole unit as well. He gave me a great product suggestion and covered every aspect - easy to make a decision with a knowledgeable, low pressure hands on chap. Excellent communication, very reasonable prices and exceptional service. Thanks to Homestars these guys were my first call and I had to look no further. Chris - Brandon - thanks for bailing me out!!! I highly recommend these guys - even if they can't help you immediately they're worth waiting for - simply from a trust and workmanship perspective. James

Spectacular results - nothing less. After a bad experience with another refinishing company that advertises in malls I was wary of everyone in this business. Jeff changed all that. The previous company worked me over pretty good but Jeff was very fair and did a better job than a company that charged 4x. The result was so good it makes the other job look average at best. Jeff communicated very well, is very knowledgeable - he made some recommendations (which we took) that really helped - and didn't charge us more for them. Professional, low pressure, respectful, and simply top notch work. You cannot beat this man's work and we absolutely will be using him for 3 other projects - another armoire and 2 antique repairs. All four projects will end up costing less than 1 project done by those other guys who send high pressure sales guys to your house and advertise in malls. I might burn a few 100 bills to make it feel like I considered the others. Am I being dramatic? No friends, Wood Specialities (Jeff) drives excellent work and a great value. Worth every penny and then some. Thanks Jeff for taking great care of us. My name is James (in Richmond Hill) and I will provide references upon request I think that highly of this company and how they treated us and our beloved armoire!

Update from November 2012 on some work done back in 2010. The work is still good, the claim by the rep of a scratch resistant coating turned out to be false - we are very very gentle with our stuff but the smaller piece picked up a nasty little mark along the way (I used a wood pencil to blend it out, looks fine .. still...). Now that I have another experience to compare against let me tell you - save money, get a better result, use Homestars and only pick companies with consistent top marks and read all the comments. I didn't the first time and got taken to the cleaners. I did the second time and found a professional I can trust. Homestars! If only I had found you sooner! ------- Here is the original post. High pressure sales, distorted facts (sales rep said my dresser was from the 20s, lady at TMC said 50s or 60s), extremely expensive - astonishingly so. Also, even though the sales rep said I'd get some really great and tough scratch resistant coating the TMC people tried to sell me one as an upsell. I don't know if I got what he promised or not actually. In fact, they tried the old upsell thing a few times after the fact. They demanded a certified cheque which I didn't understand and they couldn't explain except to say "you agreed to it". I checked and I did (mea culpa) so fine but still can't understand why after billing my credit card with no issues for 3k they couldn't just bill the rest. Delivery was booked by a very cranky lady although I suspect by this time I was quite tired of dealing with them. Delivery guys were great. Having said that I was happy with the result - very much so but have 3 other pieces to refinish and will be looking elsewhere. I can't recommend these guys. Had I read all these reviews first I would have done tings very differently. If you do choose to use them don't buy into anything while the sales guy is there. Give it some thought. Checked with a antique dealer friend and was told not many people dip anymore and I overpaid. Based on other comments I probably could have got a much better price. Take it for what it's worth - great work - the piece looks great - but not too ethical to deal with. Check the BBB. I'm not too hung up about the extra couple K I spent, I love this piece to be sure - but the rest will be shopped around more wisely on my part.