Paul from Markham

Woke up to no heat so I called Unionville. Two hours later Brenson arrived for a quick diagnosis. Evidently my furnace is old, works fine but the thermostat doesn't like us anymore. Replacement thermostat in and the furnace is pumping heat. Brenson was efficient, really knew his stuff and pleasant to deal with, we talked about the furnace and its age /reduced efficiency and Unionville will be installing a new furnace.

Made the mistake of buying a living room set for my daughter here. She found a set that she liked and we bought it as a house warming / Christmas present. The delivery crew arrived, said 'it doesn't fit in the elevator and we don't do stairs” and left with the set. Called Leon's and were told that they deliver up to three stories on stairs (my daughter is on the second) They set up a new delivery date and another crew delivered the set complete with a ripped couch. After some discussion they agreed to replace the couch. The new couch arrived and was so poorly assembled that it rocked and squeaked when you tried to use it. Called Leon's yet again and they got another couch delivered. There was supervisor with the installers videoing the delivery. As they unwrapped the couch a hole in the fabric was immediately visible. The video guy turned around and walked away without saying a thing. Back to Leon's again, talked to S***d the manager yet again. This time he told us that our standards are too high and he would refund the purchase price. He said that we should buy elsewhere. We were astounded – did he seriously feel that the consumer should just accept a couch with holes in the fabric? Says a lot about a company that would hire a manager like this. Pickup was promised the following day by 2:00. Delivery called to say that they would try to get there between 12 and 3. My daughter told them that the pickup was promised by 2:00 and she needed to go out. They said that the store couldn't promise time but they would try to get the drivers there. My daughter told them that she couldn't sit around for another afternoon hoping that they would show up. She called the store and told them to pick the set up the following morning by noon with their own truck or she'd hire movers, have the set taken downstairs to the curb and sue Leon's. They made it.

After 20 years of neglect our back yard was a disaster area. It looked awful as we'd been too busy with work and life to keep the cedars and weeds in check. Aislyn, our landscape technician recommended Jack's Landscaping and after meeting Jack we felt confident in giving him the job. We're glad we did, they exceeded our expectations in every way. Jack's son James oversaw the hard working crew. The guys just dug in and kept working through the brutally hot heat wave. The workmanship is great and the only time we heard voices getting louder was when they were laughing. Just a really good bunch of guys. One day it started pouring and they were trying to shelter beside the house, under the eaves, my wife asked them inside to stay dry and they refused because "company policy doesn't allow us to go inside the clients home." They were extremely aware of boundaries and respectfully followed them. The yard looks phenomenal. Aislyn's plan was followed to the letter except for a few minor changes that we wanted or Jack suggested. Next year when we do the front yard we'll be calling Jack again. It's really a no brainer.

USE SOMEONE ELSE! Metropolitan Moving services was contracted to move us from Welland ON to Oshawa ON. They quoted a $150 truck charge plus $95 per hour for three men or a flat rate of $460 for the first four hours which would include the truck charge. Additional hours were then to be charged at the $95.00. We booked the job at the flat rate with them for 09:00. At 09:00 a truck arrived and told us the job had been subcontracted to them by Metropolitan. Calling Metropolitan to confirm got us voice mail. The truck was loaded and we left. We followed the loaded truck which was stopped for inspection at an MTO station at about 12:45 and was held by the officer. We were told by the movers that they were stopped as the driver had an incorrect license. The MTO officer I spoke to said that the truck required a “D” licensed driver in order to leave. While waiting at the MTO we saw many other trucks take 15 to 20 minutes to go through. A new driver arrived and left MTO at about 16:10. They finally arrived in Oshawa and started unloading. The original driver presented the bill with an extra “truck charge” of $150 (specifically included in flat rate by Nicole from Metropolitan). He also only allowed 2 hours for the 3.5 hour halt. Unloading was halted and a signature was coerced to get the balance of the property unloaded. The overcharge was $276.85 – over 30%. Calls to Metropolitan went unanswered and I had to sign the credit slip to get our stuff unloaded. It also started to sleet during last half hour of unloading - boxes were thrown, items broken.  If the drive hadn't been delayed the move would have been finished before the weather changed. Driver mentioned having instructions to drive around weigh scales and had only gone through this one as he didn't know the area.

Had a new fireplace installed by someone else as part of a major reno in 2009. It stopped working in the first winter so we had the original installer repair, upgrade (blower fan) and clean it. It quit again at the end of 2010 so I decided to check with Homestars for someone else. Luckily I called Imran hoping to have him come within a week or two as it was the start of heating season. He told me that he was really busy and and heavily scheduled but then asked if it would be all right if he came by early the following morning as he had a later call nearby. He was here bright and early and proceeded to completely disassemble the fireplace, showing me that it had not only had it not been cleaned during the other guys previous service call but it still had construction debris inside from the installation! He proceeded to clean up the burner and the fireplace worked perfectly - no parts required and he improved the flame so that it looks much better now. All the way through he explained exactly what was being done and why. Couldn't ask for a better job or a better serviceman. Before he left I made sure that he'd be around next year for the annual cleaning. Thanks again Imran, see you in 2013.

Thorough professionals. Price in line, workmanship was outstanding and quick. My next door neighbour who is a builder came over, looked at the job and asked for a card. They've done several jobs for him with the same great results. Highly recommended!

Arrived home to find that the furnace was squealing loudly and heat was limited. I tried lubricating the fan bearings, but it didn't help so I called Enbridge as I had a service contract with them. After nearly an hour on the phone listening to a repeated recording about “how important my call was to Enbridge” the call was cut off. Another hour on the phone and finally talked to someone who told me that they would have a technician at my house between 12 and 5 the following day. They told me that they only came out immediately for no heat calls. Took the afternoon off work and listened to the sound going on and on. Phoned Enbridge at 5:00 (45 minutes waiting) and asked where the technician was. They told me that they were very busy and would get to me when able. The twit finally rolled in after 8:30, told me I shouldn't be calling to see where he was, went downstairs to the furnace and then walked out saying “I don't have the parts for your furnace. They will have to be ordered” Called Enbridge yet again – the usual wait - and was told that they would have to have someone else out tomorrow. By this point the noise was so loud we couldn't sleep so I turned off the furnace and tried to make sure the kids were warm enough with baseboards. It didn't work due to the cold snap so on the phone to Enbridge again. Another tech and this one just turned on the heat and told me that the fan shaft was worn through due to the bearings wearing out. He said he had the bearings and a shaft, but the shaft was too long and he couldn't cut it. I offered to loan a hack saw or even to cut it myself. He told me that they didn't do that as the shafts were balanced and left. By this point we needed the heat so badly I called an emergency service and paid to have the furnace repaired. It took about 45 minutes for the technician to arrive, he tossed in two bearings and cut a shaft to fit in about 15 minutes. When I asked about the “balanced shaft” the other technician had described he told me that it was standard steel rod and there was no balancing required. The entire process cost me less than one year of Enbridge's contract. Canceled the "service" contract and when it was time buy a new furnace I stayed far away from Enbridge. Looking to replace my air now, again not from Enbridge. Now if there was only some way to buy natural gas so that Enbridge didn't handle it. Oh yeah, almost forgot. Enbridge's service people - Fletcher I think - called me 10 days later to make an appointment as the parts had finally arrived. I have to confess I wasn't very polite.