Gludwig in Toronto

This is the second time I've had CAS in to repair an appliance. The first time was my oven and CAS did such a great job I figured I'd try them again. We had an annoying but intermittent leak in our dishwasher. While it was under warranty we had a tech out at least 3 times. He thought it might be the float switch, but he didn't seem to think he could really do anything about it because it wasn't actively leaking at the time. Once it was out of warranty I called CAS and Etgar came by to look at it. My, but he's thorough. The warranty guy basically looked inside, jiggled the switch, and scratched his head. Etgar (and his assistant) pulled out the dishwasher to check the integrity of all the connections to make sure it wasn't something else, then he disassembled the float switch and found a misaligned rubber washer where water might get out. He reseated it properly, added extra sealing to the inside of the switch, and there you have it. I was confident he'd solved the problem but I thought it only fair to wait a reasonable length of time (a month) before writing a review to make sure there was no reoccurrence. Not a drop. It was enjoyable to watch Etgar coaching his assistant through the process. He has what seems to be an encyclopedic knowledge of how appliances are built. I figured he couldn't know as much detail about my dishwasher as he seemed to about my oven, but I was wrong. I'm convinced he can fix anything.

Like most people, I've worked with good technicians and bad technicians. Over the last few months I found myself paying other technicians hundreds of dollars for bad advice and questionable parts that didn't fix a major problem I was having with my oven. Fortunately, I eventually found CAS. Edgar is definitely one of the best technicians I've ever worked with. He's a patient, friendly, skillful, efficient perfectionist and all at a very fair price. He takes his time and makes sure the job is done to his standard. It makes me feel confident that when, in the future, I have an appliance issue I won't have to shop around I know who to call.

When I have a plumbing issue I never bother calling around for quotes, I just call Plumbers Direct and, once again, they've proven why. An ancient garden spigot was leaking but was attached by some weird plastic compression fitting from a bygone era, and I couldn't figure it out to save my life. Tenzin came by, offered great advice, replaced the old mess with a shiny, new quarter-turn valve in his usual impeccable way, at a great price, and it all happened start to finish within about 90 minutes of my calling them. What more do you want?

(Sorry, this is a bit long) I hired EnergyTech to figure out what was wrong with my gas oven broiler, as there started to be an ongoing series of small, but disturbing, explosions of gas inside my oven when the broiler was used. EnergyTech came in, reported I needed a new igniter, and I agreed to have one installed. The new igniter did not solve the problem. They returned to look at it again but didn't stay long enough for the oven to heat up to the point where the explosions happened, so later that day I sent them a video clearly showing the explosions still happening when the broiler reached temperature. After not hearing from them for a day, EnergyTech called to say they had no idea what was wrong with my oven, they couldn't repair it, and that I should contact the manufacturer. At this point, I had paid EnergyTech just under $300 to not fix my oven. The manufacturer's service technicians determined three things: 1.) It was not the igniter, but another faulty part; 2.) The igniter that had been installed by EnergyTech was not recommended for my model of oven and should be replaced. I contacted EnergyTech who refuted that assessment but said they would buy back the igniter they had installed once it was replaced. I sent them two messages once the new igniter was installed to see about following up on their offer, but I have never heard back from them. Oh, the third thing the manufacturer's technician found? The issue was actually being caused by a corroded part letting gas escape unevenly, which would build up and explode, over and over. The corroded metal was literally RIGHT UNDER the igniter EnergyTech removed to install the new one, but they never noticed. EnergyTech did not have the knowledge to understand what was wrong with my oven when it was literally right in front of their face, charged me for a part that was not the problem, and then did not have the decency to keep their word about making good on the offer they made to me. I would never use this company again. UPDATE: I've read the owner's response. He is ignoring key facts. The broiler never reached the proper temperature, otherwise, it would have exhibited the problem that I showed him in my video and that the manufacturer's techs saw as well. The gas explosions were NOT a different issue, they WERE the issue. My original service request stated "there is often a loud "POOF" of late-igniting gas when we are heating the broiler" but I hired EnergyTech because I'm no expert and while I said the igniter may have been an issue I can't be sure. I'm not a technician, and in their response to my service request, they stated they would send a "technician to your place and doing a diagnosis of the problem. After diagnosis, we will let you know what exactly is wrong with your machine and give you an estimate for the repair." Clearly, their diagnosis was wrong. And they have not addressed the fact that THEY told me they had no idea what was wrong or how to fix it, and that I should contact the manufacturer. After that, I didn't "wait" to replace anything. It sometimes takes time for technicians to get parts and schedule appointments. I took EnergyTech at their word this was the correct part required (how would I know differently?). The manufacturer agreed it was an OEM part, just not for my oven. Whatever parts may have been replaced in the past are irrelevant to this situation. Again, I did NOT ask EnergyTech to refund the cost of the igniter, they offered to do so. I'm sorry if they feel frustrated, but I did what they advised me to do when they had no other answers. I'm also frustrated because they caused me to pay twice for the same part and then they ignored the messages I've sent them since they made the offer to reimburse me for the part.

After a big wind storm tore off some of our tired, old shingles I called Joe to come redo the roof (he had done my front porch last year). You always hope this kind of thing will go perfectly, but sometimes things don't. I noticed something that didn't look 100%, so Joe came over and inspected the job top to bottom and pointed out a few things he felt didn't met his standard. He showed me pictures of a couple of issues way up on top of the house I would never have seen (and even if I had, it was technical stuff I might not have known weren't OK). So he ended up sending his people back twice (at no extra charge to his already very reasonable quote) until he felt we had gotten a result that lived up to his expectations and that I was happy with. Everyone makes mistakes, but what often separates us is how we address them. I can confidently say I've never worked with someone who was as committed to making things right as Joe is. I would work with him again anytime.

Great people, great service. Speaking to companies to try and get a quote on this was painful. In the end, they were the only company I felt really confident about. They knew what I needed, and were quick to respond with accurate information about what was involved. They gave me a quote and stuck to it. I also loved the fact that – because the mixer would look essentially the same once it was fixed – they sent me photos of the work in progress. And, they're generally just super nice people. 10/10.

The roof on our extension sprung a leak and we literally had water running on to our kitchen floor through a window frame. We called a number of people (one of which we'd worked with before) and were told it would take anywhere from a couple of days to as long as a week to even get a quote, but Arian was super responsive. He came out that same day with a small crew. He identified where the problem was, and completely stripped and reshingled the roof (with new barrier material, flashing, caulking, and high-quality 30-year shingles) and removed all debris in record time at a great price. They were so clean that when they were done it was as though no one had ever been there. I plan to definitely be using them again to redo the rest of the roof in the near future.