Mike Mella in East york

I had problems getting my Nest thermostat working. Ed gave me a quote for the work, and was able to come over and get it going in under two hours. Recommended!

When I opened my front door to greet Kevin, he was shoveling the snow off my front step for me. Their service just got better from there! Kevin is very personable and easy to get along with. He did a great job explaining exactly what the problem was and how to solve it. I actually learned a lot about pest control from these guys. When he came back a few weeks later to check on us, we learned that the mice had taken all the bait in our attic. Kevin refilled the bait station at no charge. He really went over an above what was required for the job. Seriously, just go with these guys. You won't be sorry.

We hired these guys to install a stainless steel liner in our chimney. I tried to get this done with another company last year (http://homestars.com/reviews/59853?company_id=227484) but called it off altogether because they were such a pain to work with. Bill and his crew came in and gave a free estimate, something the other company had charged me for last year. The estimate was cheaper than the one from the other company, so I hired them. They came in and did the work quickly, and charged me exactly the amount they estimated. The fireplace works great now. We've had a lot of problems with service providers in Toronto, so it's nice to see a business that has their stuff together like The Chimney Company. Be sure to check out their website. They keep it up-to-date and full of helpful information, which is also nice to see.

We called these guys to have a small spruce removed from our front yard. We did some shopping around, and these guys were both the nicest on the phone and the highest-rated on this site, so we called for an estimate. They came and gave an estimate, which ended up being cheaper than the others we got. They even offered to do the work on the spot, but I needed to consult with my wife first. We called them back on a Saturday, expecting to leave a message, but they answered. They were able to come and do the work within an hour of our call (on Saturday). We called the other companies back to say we went with someone else, and got voicemail for all of them - none were working on Saturday. After the work was done, they were even able to give us tips on how to do some of the ongoing maintenance ourselves to save from paying someone else to do it. Go with these guys, trust me.

We have two fireplaces in our new house. I wanted to get them both to code before using them, because I'd had a house fire when I was growing up. When the guy showed up, he smelled like booze. He gave me a review of what he recommended to get the chimneys to code and said another guy would call me with an estimate for getting it to code. He charged me $65 for that. Two weeks go by, no call from the other guy. I called the head office and mention all this. He gave me the number of the estimate guy (apparently they sub-contract all these people, so they don't actually work for the company). I called him and left a message asking him to call back. When he does, he has no idea what was in the review from the first guy. So basically he just gave me prices for various types of work that I may or may not want to do. He had no idea that we even have two fireplaces - I had to remind him of that. I said "I'd just like to know what it will cost to get these fireplaces insurable." He didn't seem able to tell me that. He even told me that I needed a liner in the chimney, even though the first guy told me I don't. Consequently I didn't get them to do work. Six months later, the owner called me and asked why I changed my mind. I told him all this and that I'd be hiring someone else.