Dan Haber in Thornhill

Good electricians aren't cheap. So you'd better be sure to call in an excellent one if you're going to spend the money. When the lights in my dining room, kitchen and backyard stopped working, I called in Matthew from Hi-Lite. It took him just over an hour to track down the source of the outage and it was far from where I expected it to be. He replaced a plug upstairs that was causing the problem downstairs, put everything he'd taken apart back where it belonged, and the lights came back on. It's the second time I've need Hi-Lite's help in a few years and the second time they came on the same day. It was an expensive lesson about running a heater that burned out the outlet, but now I know how to prevent it from happening again. I would not hesitate to call in Hi-Lite if another problem literally comes to light.

When a late April ice storm led to my garage door opener and door malfunctioning, I needed it fixed ASAP. I called Markham Garage Doors Ltd. and two of their repair guys arrived not long after they said they would - always a big thing with me. They examined the problem, realized a piece of the door had broken off as it struggled to lift up in the frozen ice and repaired it quickly and efficiently. I expected this would cost me a lot of money, but the fact it was under $150 was a pleasant surprise. I would certainly be "open" to using this garage door firm again if needed and I appreciated their willingness to answer my questions, do the job quickly, arrive on time and not overcharge.

I had a lot of little jobs that I couldn't seem to fix, but fortunately I found someone who could - Dave Symons of DMS. He fixed a toilet that wouldn't stop running, repaired a light fixture that wasn't burning bright, rehung a gate that wouldn't open, straightened a stair on my deck that had come loose and showed me what was wrong with a furnace vent I couldn't seem to pry loose. Not only was he fast - like most handymen, he charges by the hour and finished within 90 minutes - but he was also honest, looking at an outdoor plug that he confessed would need a full electrician's skill to properly repair. I appreciated him being so frank about it, since his candor saved me some money on his time. In addition, his rates were more than fair, he was very efficient and my dog loved him - and he's a great judge of character! I will definitely call him back again when my next "to do" list gets long. Thanks Dave for doing such a great job in such a short time! I appreciated your time and your trouble.

Charlie arrived on time and ready to work, as promised – something I consider a big plus. I primarily hired him to fix a problem with mould in some downstairs drywall. He quickly discovered there was a bigger problem, in that the water leak that caused it was actually coming from the upstairs kitchen sink dripping down into the basement. He fixed it with relative ease, replaced the rotted out area, repainted it and fixed the source of the leak. As usual with a handyman, I quickly found him a lot of other little chores to do, including fixing a long troublesome gate, replacing a cracked fencepost, repairing some side molding on a door and more. There were a few of those repairs that were so minor and so quick he was nice enough not to even charge for them. I appreciated his professionalism and his efficiency. Charlie may not be the cheapest handyman out there, but I've found it’s generally worth paying a bit more to get the best. “Mr. Rescue” certainly fits that designation and I won't think twice about hiring him again. Plus, my dog really liked him – which was an immediate recommendation I couldn’t ignore!

I have mixed emotions about my experience with Reliance. On the positive side, they were the only ones of all the companies I called – many listed on Homestars – who came out within minutes of my call, after I’d been without a functioning A/C unit for five sweltering days in late June and early July. My old machine was 25 years old and needed to be replaced and the average temperature in my house had soared to 31C. Hirad quoted me what I felt was a much higher price than his competitors, but we eventually negotiated a more reasonable amount. The fact that they would be willing to come early the next day and get the job done right away and the fact they were well regarded on Homestars was what eventually sold me on them. They showed up when they said they would, always a plus, they installed and tested the unit and everything seems to be working very well. Overall, that end of things was great. The two men they sent over to do the installation were quite competent and pleasant guys and answered all my questions. But this is also where I have my mostly minor issues. For one thing, they failed to adequately clean up my backyard easement area and my basement furnace room before rushing off to their next appointment. I was forced to clean up tubing, a fair amount of black and silver electrical tape – some of it stuck to my basement floor rug - and some very sticky instructions about brass valves that were left crumpled near the new unit. I also had to turn out several lights they'd left on in the basement. I provided them with some bottled water as they worked, but I found them left behind, along with a fast food coffee cup they brought with them, carelessly tossed and left near my gate. I had to pick these up, too. I know they needed access to my basement and were up and down the stairs, but they continually left the side door wide open, allowing any flying insects that might like to wander into my house a new place to live. And to top it off, I have rugs on my stairs, and there was mud on some of them as they went back and forth. It wasn't easily cleaned off, but I think I got rid of most of it. These are little things, but they make a big difference to the customer and they affected what would otherwise have been a higher rating. I think Reliance would be advised to let their installers know that the little things really do count. I will give them extra points for a follow-up phone call I received from Hirad minutes after their departure, who wanted to know how things went. I advised him of my concerns and he said he'd address them, which I believe he will. So you can't ask for more than that. Otherwise, I'm happy with my new A/C and look forward to it keeping its cool for many years to come. Despite my minor complaints, I think they did a good job for a decent price.

When part of my backyard fence blew over in a wicked wind storm, I knew I had to start looking for someone to take down some of the still standing skeleton and put up a new privacy and sound barrier fence. I called a lot of companies for quotes, including FG Fencing. Their price was higher than some but less than others. But stories I’d read about the quality of their service tipped the scales in their favour. John came to my house, gave me a quote and was very good about answering all my follow-up questions via both the phone and email. Mark and his crew arrived on the appointed day at the appointed time, did the work efficiently, cleaned up a substantial mess, came back the following day as promised and despite a steady drizzle, completed the job in a timely manner. There was one hitch, which John actually turned into a positive, explaining my “10” rating. During the construction, the workers were using a chain saw, which they plugged into my one outside outlet. A few minutes later, one of the guys politely tapped on my door to tell me the power wasn’t working. So I plugged it into the nearest outlet inside – my stove – and they proceeded again. A few minutes later, the saw stopped working and again I had to change to a different plug. What I didn’t know was that their equipment had blown two fuses in the stove and the box downstairs. Despite my best efforts to locate the problem, I couldn’t find any evidence that those fuses had died. So I wrote John and asked him if the company would fix it, fearing I might have to hire someone at my own expense to trace the problem. In some of the best customer service I’ve ever received, John sent his own company electrician to my house the same day, and Lloyd was able to trace the trouble and fix it within 15 minutes at no additional charge. That’s the extra mile (or kilometre) I’d heard about and while I’m happy with the fence, it was that last gesture that really made the experience memorable. Bravo to John and his crew. Customer service is too often just a slogan that’s not backed up by action for too many companies these days. He helped prove, to paraphrase the old cliché, “good fences make good neighbours – and in this case, a good company, too.”