Aikenheads Construction & Design Inc-No Longer in Business

I don't even know where to start... I found out after my project had started that John was the owner of Aikenheads Construction & Design Inc which has two terrible reviews on homestars.com and is currently listed on here as "no longer in business". My experience was very similar to the last review on Aikenheads Construction & Design Inc. so read that one too. John was delayed over and over again, and would insist that he was on site working overtime to meet deadlines, but he still wasn't getting anything done. It got to a point where he was blatantly fabricating issues and trying to pass the blame on to his trades. Also, he always seemed to need to go to his cottage for a previous commitment... Every time myself or my family would stop by on site to check in on how things were going, he'd be not working or not even there. John refused to properly invoice me for his services and would just shoot me messages saying "in order to keep the ball rolling with the electrician we'll need another $2000". In hindsight I realize he's an adept manipulator and he knew that I would delay receiving a proper invoice so long as it came along with a passive threat that the project would get even more delayed if we had to wait for invoices and time sheets. I could continue on with all the itemized issues but to save everyone time I'll fast forward to the point where he snapped and threatened to put a lien on my house, cease all work and take all the materials I had already paid for. This man is unstable and is un fit for any business, let alone general contracting. His volatile nature is actually frightening and the reason I'm writing this review is because I'm genuinely scared of what he's capable of and want to do my best to warn others.

John completed 1/4 of the project in 4.5 weeks. The original deadline was 3 weeks. All of the work done except for the portion of tiles his trades managed to complete is well below par. All of the electrical work that was done has had to be pulled out due to buried junction boxes behind walls with no possible access and many other lazy and hazardous choices made by John. He is currently threatening to take me to court (which I know will never happen). And for the icing on the cake, once I fired him and had the police guard my house and belongings while he removed his tools, he managed to sprinkle about 80 screws and nails throughout my parking space and driveway. An absolute nightmare! I've had to leave out a lot of the ugly insults and threats he said to me due to the review guidelines. Steer clear of John and DL Home Services

Similar to the other review available for view on this site, I find it difficult to really describe how stressful and unhappy my experience working with John was.

This project, which was slated to take a little over a week, was terminated by me in week five after the project was still incomplete. Some of the problems with this project include: unexplained and inexcusable absences (like not showing up for work because he decided last minute to stay at the cottage an extra day, or take a day to repair his telecommunication infrastructure...!), abhorrent communication (like never calling to explain any of these absences), incredibly short work days, and very poor business management. He required an enormous amount of babysitting every day from me to ensure the project from mistakes. The reasons I got for the delays and problems started off pulling my heart strings (car accidents and stomach flus) but when piled so deeply they just became a completely cruel joke.

I wouldn't recommend this man's work to anyone at all.

I can't stress how bad I feel when i talk about this company. My wife and I had a terrible experience. Even the employees would complain about the company they worked for. I'm still left with unfinished and shoddy workmanship that I paid a lot for. Broken titles, holes in the ceiling, doors that will not shut properly, etc, etc... Poorly managed. Look elsewhere.