The Master Craftsman

Saw TMC at the CNE in Toronto 2011. Had them come for a free estimate. As someone else mentioned in a review, we felt pressured into going with this company (before having a chance to investigate them). We found the price of $1700 QUITE expensive but decided to go with them anyway, again, after feeling pressured, but the salesman (Joe) mentioned they had done work for the Royal Ontario Museum and they had skilled Master Craftsman that worked there, so we were a little impressed. We handed over the chair in October 2011 and told them we were in no rush to have it back (afterall we needed to come up with the balance - as they don't take credit cards. Certified cheques, bank draft etc. only).
Finally in February we received the call to pick up the chair. I wish I had taken pictures at the time! I was appalled! The leather was not touched (by that I mean cleaned or moisturized), the wood had barely been cleaned and the finish on it was shiny, not matte, that I believe was agreed upon.
After speaking with the customer service rep (Michelle), she had tagged the spots we thought were not done and had it sent back. A few weeks later, I was called to pick up the chair. This time it was 100 times better and what I had expected from the job the first time. After foolishly paying them and taking the chair home, I had a better chance to look at it. While removing the chair from my car, I noticed underneath the arms was not complete!! It hadn't even been looked at!! It was not cleaned nor finished. Then I turned the chair over and found the same with the bottom of the wood, all over the whole thing!!! To me, this is INCOMPLETE and UNACCEPTABLE! It is half a job done! I contacted the company and was told that "within the industry standards furniture is not refinished underneath"!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!?!?! They say they will do a wipe stain on the underneath to give the area some colour but I really don't want them having my chair again. Is it really unreasonable to expect a job to be complete when paying $1700 or ANY amount for that matter?!?!?! I think they do as minimal as possible to try and get away with whatever they can.
Well I guess it serves me right for giving them my money (as now they could care less about my chair)!! I feel completely ripped off and am truly disapointed. You would think with this company having such a bad rap - as I have NOW come to see - you would think they would try to redeem themselves. Word of mouth is a powerful thing! DO YOUR RESEARCH AND FIND SOMEONE ELSE!

I had an extremely bad experience with this company: high pressure sales tactics, overcharging, not doing the job they promised, delays of months. I finally got a lawyer involved, and finally get my furniture back. I have no good things to say about this company. I find them to have highly questionable business practices. My experience was a "once in a lifetime" nightmare.

Very hard selling tactics, they get you excited to have beautiful fabric and colours. Push you to "improve your home" Tell you the "deal" is only good for the day as other sales ppl are out there getting other pieces and the warehouse is only able to accommodate so much furniture. She even made a "phone call" to warehouse to ensure still space or did they already take the last spot avail. for couch to be done. " They take your furniture, weeks go by with the only contact being them telling you what else you need jacking up the price each time. Basically bullying you to feel belittled, and like a moron if you pay to have it recovered and don't get these "extras" done (extra batting, tightening springs, re enforcing the legs etc).. . My furniture was only 1 yr old, heavy and solid but I didn't like the material. She (Ursala) was so nice and friendly (Ive since learned she had us) we were sucked in, the guys on the phone were RUDE. Great con artists! Basically $1000.00/seat and ottomans are classed as seats. Bullied into doubling the signed bill with "extras" I was pushed into adding. Re think taking it here, wish I had thought longer. Could have changed my furniture 4 times over by now. You'll get sick of the colour and style by the time its paid off. Horrible, rude, and take advantage of ppl. Lesson learned, word spread, NEVER AGAIN!! Think about it before you sign

Sofa looks great so primary goal achieved. However, the sales pitch was lengthy (almost 2 hours), and the first quoted price dropped down dramatically because I insisted on staying close to my pre-determined budget. After they took my sofa, I received multiple invitations to then pay more money for extra services not previously discussed during the sales pitch. To stick to budget, I firmly declined. Most disappointing that their "12 weeks" delivery time turned out to be 16 weeks, and only after multiple phone calls requesting for my sofa to be returned! Finally I was told that I was given all those upgrades "for free" - but was this truly goodwill? How can I ever verify that my "springs were indeed retensioned" and/or my "sofa was sprayed with leather protection"? Funny how they NEVER mentioned that the springs were already retensioned during the ealier phone calls I'd made to check on progress (and told that delivery would be on time); I was told only during the final phone call, during my complaint of late delivery. I think they'll get the job done, but interaction with this company required significant time and energy; be sure to take meticulous notes, call to check progress, and be "on guard" or you'll be easily taken advantage of.

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!

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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.

Very slow and poor inconsistent workmanship.
Their customer service people are nice enough and try their best to fix factory screw-ups but are sabotaged by the sheer incompetence of the factory workforce.
This company is completely useless and to be avoided at all cost.

They refinished furniture for me and during the process they called and increased their quote twice - it actually doubled in price. Then they brought a piece of furniture back damaged and would not give it t me off the truck before I paid them in cash! They after gave cash they gave me the damaged product. I fought them and they would not reimburse me any money whatsoever. I would never refer them and I have heard similar stories from many other people since then.

I am heartbroken after a horrible experience with TMC. They have destroyed my great great aunt's buffet. First, we agreed to the contract then were called two or three times so they could beat more money out of us. Bryan the sales man assured us the scratch coat was included in the quote, but oh no it was not.

When the buffet was delivered it was missing some hardware. Two months later the veneer started peeling, so I sent it back. It was delivered last night and it's in even worse shape. The peeling is still obvious,and a piece of the drawer had been chipped out/broken and replaced with wood that doesn't match the rest of the drawer.

I feel sorry for the lovely deliveryman who tolerated my tears last night.

I am furious, and will be following up with TMC personally. I want my money back. They destroyed, not restored, my heirloom.