Mr. O'Leary showed up early (about 10 min.) for a junk removal job at my father's old house in the Annex area of Toronto. This involved some furniture and miscellaneous items.
He lowered the dumpster attached to his truck and opened its front doors, and together we loaded it until it was full. (He had asked me if I could help him. Otherwise, hiring another pair of hands would have cost an extra $100.) Mr. O'Leary made every endeavour to make everything fit into the dumpster. He broke big pieces down with a sledge hammer (or, when possible, dismantled them carefully with tools) and carried the bulk of the heavy pieces.
When the dumpster was loaded to capacity (we had just made it! I had started to worry that the job would require two trips), we closed its two front doors and spread and secured a tarp over the top.
I ended up owing him only $350 though I thought he'd cited an extra $50 dumpster fee--maybe it was included, or maybe he decided to forgo it. Because I paid in cash, he waived the HST. All in all, Mr. O'Leary was a straightforward, amicable, sincere and industrious gentleman.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $350.00
- What could this company do to improve their services?
- Mr. O'Leary website is very well-put-together (and certainly not created by him). The problem is, there seems to be a gulf of disparity between the info on the website and Mr. O'Leary's own policies. When I mentioned that the website said 1/2 a truckload is $200, he said it's actually $250. Nor does the website explicitly mention labour fees, or dump or landfill site fees.
- Any advice to offer fellow homeowners facing a similar project?
- Bear in mind that Mr. O'Leary is first and foremost a provider of dumpsters for construction and renovation contractors. Actual removing of junk is his secondary line of work.