clairefangmu in Toronto

This was my first time dealing with North Wind. My A/C was running, but there was a sound that came on once in a while. I was guided by the home star rating when I called North Wind HVAC. I called Alex on May 22. I told him that my A/C was old, but I wanted to see if it could be fixed economically so it could last another season. Alex sent Oleksandr, his technician, over on May 24. The initial time window provided to me for the repair was 12-3 pm. I called several times on May 24 after 12 pm because I did not hear from Alex, and I was told that the new timeline was now 3 to 6 pm. Oleksandr came around 6 pm and examined the outdoor condenser and the indoor unit and said it was too dirty, but with a cleanup, it should still work. However, the cleanup must be on Monday, May 27, because he did not have the right supply. I asked Alex and Oleksandr roughly how much, they said about $400. I told them to go ahead. Oleksandr showed up on Monday at the agreed upon time and cleaned the A/C. But the sound did not stop. Oleksandr and Alex told me that the sound came from the water pump, and the water pump had to be ordered. I asked them how much it would cost. Alex said that the water pump costs between $200 to $400. I was disappointed but hoped they could order the water pump and replace it. Meanwhile, they provided me with a bill of $802.31. This bill consisted of a service call on May 24 for $110, a cleanup for $450, and a top-up of freon after the HST and the related HST. I was very surprised at the large bill but paid it right away. I thought nothing was done on May 24, and nothing should be charged. I did not think Alex gave me a full picture. I would have chosen to replace the unit if I knew that spending $802 would not get it fixed. After I paid the bill, I asked when they could come to replace the water pump; Alex said that he needed to order it. It is now June 1, and I have not heard from Alex. I called Alex often in between May 27 and Jun 1, and my calls went to messages. I managed to get hold of Alex on Friday, May 31; he said he had the supplier's email, but he was outside and would forward the quote to me when he got home. I asked him how much, he said he did not read the message. On Saturday, Jun 1, having not received anything from him, I called him a total of 4 times and texted him once. I got no response. This experience was a great letdown for me. Northwind should have provided me with a full picture, not charged me when the problem was not fixed, and returned me with a replacement water pump right away. I get it that they are busy with the weater suddenly got warm and many people are looking for A/C repair. However, this experience told me Alex/Northwind does not care about my A/C problem. At this point, I am looking for a refund of the $802. I could have replaced the system with the best brand name, Mitsubishi Heat Pump, for $4000. On Jun 2, I notified Alex of my pending google and homestars review. Alex finally got back to me via text message on the cost of the water pump: $275. I provided Alex with two options: to either refund the total amount of $802 because the issue had not been fixed or deduct $200 from my last bill and install the water pump at a total cost of $603 since the water pump and NOT Cleaning is the problem. Alex declined my proposal.

This is my first year working with Julian and his company on snow shoveling. When I called, he came on the same day to provide an estimate. His prices were on the higher side but overall, he and his crew did a great job shoveling snow and salting the walkways. He also left extra salt for us each time when his crew visited. Since this was my first year working with him, I also asked him to call me and let me know if his crew had been at my properties or were not able to make it due to other emergencies. He has done a good job keeping me informed. I have noted that his crew tended to use a lot of salt. But I found him respectful and receptive to my feedback. I am very likely to use his snow shoveling service again in the future.

I recently hired Artmetal to design and fabricate an iron gate for the side of my house. I started working with Artmetal in Jul and it just got installed this past week. Looks great! Just what I wanted and worth the waiting. It was a pleasure working with Claudia, Iryna, and Ryan. Thank you guys! Claire