In July of 2017 I entered into a contract with Durham Region Contracting for an interlocking patio in the backyard. The contract included valentia steps and armour stones. I originally called Whitby Landscaping and Gardening, they sent over Durgham Region Contracting. The owner, Jonathan, came to provide me with a quote in June. Great salesman and really made me feel great in giving my business to him. BIG mistake!
There was no communication between himself and his staff. The project manager, if you can call him that, looked like he was trying to get an extra dollar in his own pocket. They didn’t work weekends and took over 5 weeks to complete a small 18x16 patio. We didn’t complain about the time at all, offered food and drinks to the workers and were always pleasant and cooperative.
We ended up extending the patio by a couple of feet and adding an extra step. We of course paid for the extra work. Once everything was laid, came the armour stones on the sides of the stairs. My contract noted 2 large armour stones. As you’ll see from the pictures, this is not what I was expecting or would agree too. This caused a rift as the project manager Kyle wasn’t happy with my objection to the stones. I involved the owner Jonathan, who fully agreed with me and in fact said: this is brutal, get Kyle to fix it”. Because we added the extra step, they had to add smaller armour stones in the front. They didn’t plan for this nor account for it. I have no issues to pay for something extra that I asked, but my expectation is to have something look decent. A lot of back and forth happened and I was told that they can only switch the stones once as that’s the agreement they had with the vendor when they originally picked them up that day and that I had to make my final decision that same day. I was at work and obviously could not take half a day off from my job in Toronto to come back to Brooklin to choose a stone, right then and there. This is something that they should have planned for and talk to me about. It was pretty obvious to me that I was dealing with inexperienced and hot headed employees who complained and whined about their job, dealing with customers and their boss. In the end, I had to settle.
As you’ll note from the other picture, the ugliest and most used stones made their way into my patio which cost me over $7,000. The worst of it, is this. I come home from work, dealing with my daughter and I get a phone call from the Jonathan yelling and screaming at me, stating, “why the hell aren’t you paying my guys? We finished the job and now you’re not paying?” I won’t bother writing the entire conversation. First, all of the tools, wagons, etc was at my house, when the workers left for the day, they didn’t advise my mother who was there watching my daughter that they were finished. There was no inspection nor did they power wash the patio. It was a difficult time for me personally and after he continued to yell, I hung up the phone on him. My biggest mistake, I paid him to get him out of my hair due to the personal issues going on in my life, the next day. While he apologized, the amount of stress that I endured from Jonathan, was and is unacceptable. He’s obviously not fit to do the work he sells or be an owner of anything. Once I ended the conversation, he continued by text – like a teenager would do when fighting with their partner or friend. I accepted his apology and told him there are 3 stones that are loose in the border. He told me he would send the guys to fix it. I followed up a week later, they said they would come after the August long weekend to fix it. Again nothing. I wrote telling Jonathan that I have a contract and I want this fixed. He has ignored my email and text messages and obviously asked Kyle and his assistant not to respond. I have a lot more landscaping to do on my property and I will not use Durham Region Contracting. Please beware. He himself told me several times that this business is hard, he’s having issues with his staff and will be out of this business soon and before next spring/summer. He told me I have a 4 year warranty but refuses to fix the 3 stones that are loose. Very disappointed.
