hentrink

I did not like the service we got from Milani. I know their quality of service varies widely because it all depends on your particular installer, but in my case he wasn't very good. We had him install a new whole-home shutoff valve and a freeze-proof hose tap. The end result is ok, but sloppy. He dripped a LOT of solder all over and didn't clean up all of it. He forgot to install a rubber washer in the shutoff valve, which caused it to leak, which he didn't notice until I pointed it out. The freeze-proof tap was not installed perfectly vertically; it's at a moderate angle facing towards the door right next to it, which, again, he didn't notice. Also, the flow rate of the freeze-proof tap is much less than the old one, which would have been nice to know ahead of time. It's so weak that it's barely usable in the garden anymore. The actual quality of his work (in terms of soldering joints, etc) seemed pretty good, but considering his poor attention to detail in the other things mentioned above, I do wonder about his workmanship. So again, it's functional, but sloppy. I wouldn't recommend Milani. Although I have heard some good stories about them, it's really a toss-up as to who you get as an installer and how good they are. I would much rather find an individual plumber whom I can trust every time. Or, in my case because I am fairly handy, I'll just learn more about plumbing and do it myself.

We got Action Solarium to install an aluminum roof over half our newly-renovated deck. Overall we were quite satisfied with their work. The roof turned out very well: it's strong, looks good, and is still in excellent condition after almost 2 years. Also, his installer was competent, friendly, and clean. The owner, Jim, was the one who originally visited us to give us the estimate. Unlike some of the other patio roof installers we met, he was quite knowledgeable about what he was doing. He had a binder with a good portfolio of his work and details about the products. However, he wasn't really all that friendly, nor very helpful with deciding on the design style (maybe he was having a bad morning or something). Also, a communication issue ended up costing us about $150 more than we originally anticipated: I distinctly remember telling him we would not be supplying the wood for the beam for the roof, but he didn't seem to remember this, so the installer had to go get a 4x4 in the middle of the work day, which he of course had to charge extra labour for.

I had a back yard worth of branches that needed chipping, after I pruned a bunch of trees myself. It was a pile of about 1800 cu ft worth of branches stacked loosely. A Bartlett employee came to give me a quote for it. He was very pleasant and did not pressure me at all (ie, he did not come with his chipper ready to go, wanting me to let him do it right away, or something like that). I later decided to go with Bartlett and they came a few days later to chip the branches. They removed every single branch and twig, cleaned the yard very well, and afterwards it didn't even look like any branches had been in the yard. The clean-up job was amazing. Although this was a very simple job, I will most likely use them for future tree work, big or small.

They falsely advertise their price for concrete removal, and have refused to change the pricing information on their website despite several requests to do so. They also pressure you into using their service once they're at your place. I originally contacted them to remove some concrete debris from my property because they advertised the lowest price of any company I could find for concrete removal. They advertised $100/cu yd on their website, compared to $250 - $600/cu yd for other companies. However, when they got to my place they said it'd be about $400/cu yd. I said that their website states otherwise, but he kept giving excuses about it being really heavy, it's labour intensive, it's expensive to dispose of (which actually isn't true, as I found out later: there are very cheap ways to get rid of concrete), etc, etc. Unfortunately I needed the concrete gone really soon and he was pressuring me to do it, so I gave in, but instead just got them to take away half of it, for $450 with tax. I've e-mailed them multiple times requesting that they change the information on their website to reflect their true price of concrete removal, but I have never received a response. I also filed complaints with the Better Business Bureau and Advertising Standards Canada, but 604-RUBBISH ignored these associations' attempts to contact them. In short: they do false advertising, they ignore customer complaints, they ignore the BBB and ASC, and they pressure you once they get to your place. There's a reason they have a grade of F on BBB. DO NOT USE 604-RUBBISH!