Anne.x

Paid for priority snow removal service. Instead, what I've gotten is a giant pile of snow dumped in front of my garage, and one empty promise to remove it, with all subsequent emails and phone messages ignored for the last 48 hours. Note that the company website "offers a 100% NO RISK Guarantee. We are so confident that you will love our service that we will re-do it for free if you are not 100% satisfied. And if you aren't thrilled after that, you don't owe us a cent." This guarantee is meaningless because Mow It All already has my money (they insist on prepayment for service), they don't respond to emails (beyond sending an initial email promising and not delivering on a fix) and they don't answer their phones. Worse, their office is closed on weekends -- if snow removal service is missed on weekends, the customer is completely out of luck.

In addition to painting and wallpapering, this company does roof re-shingling and reflashing at a competitive price. They redid my sloped roof quickly and meticulously. I learned about them from a neighbour who was in the midst of installing new shingles too.

I have been using Home Service Club for a few years to get reliable plumbers, electricians, and tile guys for small jobs around my house. I have generally been happy with the folks they send over, and the work that gets done is done well. What I like about Home Service Club is that they guarantee satisfaction with the tradespeople and their work. This gives me peace of mind. I also like the fact that HSC can connect me with a plumber at short notice, like the time a pipe burst and I needed it dealt with ASAP. One last point -- every HSC customer service agent I have dealt with over the years has been very helpful, efficient and pleasant to deal with.

My seven year old air conditioner, sold and installed by Direct Energy, broke down during the worst of the heat wave this summer. To get the system fixed or replaced, my initlal dealings were with Direct Energy, Direct Energy's abysmal customer service, 4 hour waits, and hyper-inflated product and service charges made me vow to never deal with them again. I saw Reliable Home Comfort's stellar listing in Home Stars, and contacted Dave, the owner to discuss what could be done to salvage or replace the broken. Within a couple of days, I was able to get a brand new outdoor unit and indoor coil installed, and Reliable did a commendable job. - the Reliable Home Comfort supply and install was 50% cheaper than the Direct Energy quote - for the exact same air conditioner unit and coil. - there was no 4 hour window of waiting for someone to show up (Direct Energy style). The Reliable installation guys came when they said they would, and worked efficiently. - the owner was no-nonsense and straightforward, which I appreciated. I have already recommended Reliable to my next door neighbour.

Organized Zone helped me get a mess in the basement under control about a year and a half ago. Why am I reviewing them 1.5 years later? Simple. - because the organizing system they set up has endured and worked well over this time. They were a bit pricey, but they certainly were effective.

I was looking for a new washer and dryer pair. I visited many major appliance and home stores and scoured Kijiji. Through Kijiji, I learned about Pilo Appliances, and decided to pay them a visit. This appliance retailer seems to specialize in heavily discounted, high end, unboxed appliances. If any of it was "scratch and dent" it was hard to tell, because absolutely everything in the store looked pristine and unblemished. Pilo offered me an excellent deal - including a comprehensive extended warranty at no extra charge - and a very reasonable delivery fee. The service was very polite, delivery was flawless, and I am thrilled with the new appliances. There's a leap of faith involved in spending money on appliances at a business that isn't (yet) high profile... in this case, I'm very glad I did.

Have hired Rent-a-Son on three occasions so far, and have benefited greatly from their services. The sons are unfailingly punctual, energetic, polite and reliable, and have helped me with yard and garage tidying, and room clear-outs/furniture moves in advance of home renovation. Rent-a-Son provides good value for money, and I've recommended them to my friends and family.

At the time my wood floors were being installed (see another review of mine, for which the floor installers got 10 points), one of the circuits in my house failed... the floor nailer gun had drawn too much power off a particular circuit. I tried to reset the breaker but the power just wouldn't come on. I didn't have internet at home during the construction (modem went AWOL - got packed away inadvertently), so we couldn't look for an electrician on Homestars. We needed power a.s.a.p. I went to the Yellowpages and found Hi-lite. "Small jobs done immediately. Save money! Upfront pricing - no guessing." The person I spoke to on the phone told me that I would get things fixed in an $80 visit, and that was the beauty of the upfront pricing. "Would there be any additional costs?" I asked him. "I can't discuss that now," he said. "Wait till the electrician comes." That should have been a red flag for me. It cost me $80 to get the electrician to the door with a little presentation and a glossy menu of service levels; to actually do ANY work would cost more than the $80. I was already $80 in the hole, and trapped. $319 (yup) and 15 minutes later, I was told that one of the circuit breakers had a small flaw on it, and that it would cost another $600 to pop that switch out and put a new one in. Over $1,000 for this job!!! Shellshocked, I said: "No, thank you. I can't afford to have this work done by you. I'll have to get it done another way." (BTW, a new replacement circuit breaker costs around $40.) I cut things off at $430 ($80 + $319 + tax), paid the bill and couldn't get the serviceman out the door fast enough. Throughout, the serviceman was very polite and professional. However, his company is obviously laughing all the way to the bank. Shameful.

I'm very happy that Homestars exists, and has a lot of Toronto-based reviews. It has been an invaluable research tool for my home reno work & I don't like to make a move without consulting it. Using Homestars, my experience with the service providers listed has been very consistent with posted reviews. Re: posting: I don't hesitate to laud those who provide excellent materials and/or service. On the other side of the coin, it's an unpleasant task to give honest, critical feedback for those who take advantage, don't provide value for money, or do a lousy job - but I feel I've got to do it. Unfortunately, there is no shortage of those businesses - and they should be called to account. I had considered joining Angie's List at one point before I found Homestars, but it seemed (to me) to be biased to certain businesses, and wasn't free to join. Homestars is free and feels very impartial.

The best combination of price, quality of materials and quality of labour in Toronto (in my estimation). I was so impressed by this company that I have been recommending them, without hesitation, to friends and family.... and I will likely have them do more work for me soon.

Company was called in 2 years ago to repair hardwood floor. Applied high gloss urethane in patches... although the rest of the floor was distinctly a satin finish. As a result, I had to strip and redo the entire ground floor, using another refinisher.

Hardwood floor refinishing is all Don Armstrong does, and he does it with great expertise and exquisite results. I found him through the Yellow Pages... In the midst of a major renovation, I was in a panic to fix a floor that had been butchered by another refinishing "professional" (hah!) who had repaired a matte finish floor with high-gloss patches ("Trust me, I'm a professional", he insisted. But more about that in another review...). Don made everything right. And perfect. And he's a nice guy too.