Fred has serviced our appliances for 7 or 8 years now - a Subzero refrigerator and a Maytag dishwasher (both in their 30th year!). He isn't "cheap" but he is fair, methodical and efficient and stands by his work. Although a kitchen reno is on the horizon, Fred has helped us extract unexpected longevity and value from these appliances.
The values and ethics of a company are measured when things go wrong --- not just when they go right. From this perspective A1 are outstanding. I have been a client for 25 years (3 complete HVAC systems purchased + installed) and this past year upgraded the humidifiers to 2 Aprilaire 800 steam units at a total cost of $3,700. Their performance was a real let-down --- no real improvement in humidification. A1 sent techs Robert and Theo who determined that the water conditions in downtown Toronto were not conducive to this model (needed more salt in the water) and recommended changing to a Generalaire Elite unit. Ralf approved the swap to this more expensive machine at no extra cost to me + extended the warranty. The machines humidified beautifully and I highly recommend them. A special thank you to Emily Messenger.
Thank you for your review, we are happy that you are enjoying your new equipment!
I built my home 22 years ago and installed a brick-pattern concrete driveway from a company that was essentially spoofing Patterned Concrete. Within 3 years cracks appeared. I replaced the driveway in 2004 with an authentic 'Belgian Block' Patterned Concrete product and there is no comparison --- the quality is excellent (proper half-inch interlaced rebar, concrete thickness, colour fastness) and the look is outstanding. As the driveway is electrically heated the integrity and stability of the structure was essential. Visually, it is virtually indistinguishable from real brick pavers --- unlike most other stamped concrete products. Their stamps are simply superior to the competition. Every 2 years I have the company powerwash and reseal the driveway and it is as good as new. Carlos is great as is Connie. No company is "perfect" and I had a few communication issues when the original installation was underway but in the end they performed and are worth the small premium.
We built our home some 20 years ago and have tried various garage floor coatings such as epoxy (eventually peels) and "GemStone" (it looks great but it's porous so oil and even a decaying tree leaf will stain it). I did a bit of research and visited Garage Living's showroom. Met with Aaron who patiently sold us on their "Rhino" floor product. One year later and I can say it's an outstanding product and great value for the price. The floor looks great and maintenance is easy. The installation (including new coated floorboards) was professionally done and took one day (with a few hours of prep the day before). A follow-up to handle a small outstanding matter was done quickly and with no fuss. I highly recommend this product and Garage Living.
My wife and I have been doing extensive updates to a home we built some 20 years ago. We have a fairly large laundry room which we wanted to transform into something more modern and functional. We discovered Organized Interiors after visiting "Garage Living" a sister company that shares the same showroom. (We've posted a review on GL also). As our vision for the laundry involved extensive specialized storage and a contemporary look, we were somewhat caught between using "custom" cabinet makers and the expense that entails --- and more generic closet organizers. In the end, Organized Interiors were able to provide us a highly customized solution at a reasonable price --- they have the advantage of their own manufacturing plant on site. We are extremely happy with the outcome and want to acknowledge Dino for his design work, and his patience and attentiveness, Tim Luckese who dealt with the manufacturing and installation side of things and ensured things flowed smoothly and as planned, and Selcuk the installer whose skill gave us a flawless custom look. There was a small glitch with the late arrival of certain materials from the USA that delayed the installation a week or so but the way Tim handled this demonstrated a real commitment to customer service.
We used Home Stars to research suppliers and visited 5. Select won on the basis of: 1. Superior Product. They almost universally use 1.25 inch thick slabs versus the others who used 3/4 inch. This is a significant advantage if you are looking for a clean, more modern look without the need for a built-up nose. Tip: Whomever you buy from, visit the warehouse and pick the actual slab you want. Select encourages this; if your supplier doesn't, walk away. Also, a few of the bigger suppliers have outstanding showrooms with granite + marble samples that are very extensive. HOWEVER, when it comes to actually choosing a sample, we heard on multiple occasions "out of stock" and were steered to the supply they had . Again, with Select what you see is what you get. 2. Price. In spite of using premium slabs, their prices were competitive with --- and sometimes superior to --- the competition using thinner slab. One competitor had 1.25 inch slab but wanted a price approx. 25% higher than Select's quote. 3. Service. Tony and his colleagues were great and worked as a team --- accommodating us twice at the showroom and in multiple phone calls (to ensure we received exactly what we sought.) We had a small glitch at installation and it was quickly remedied at their cost. In conclusion, the installed work looks great and we'd go back. Had I realized they also supply and install plumbing fixtures we would have used them for that too.
