TMC Restoration

Thank you T.M.C. for taking care of the problems we had initially with the re-upholstering of our sofa and loveseat. I am glad to see you now have a customer service department that cares for the customer.

3. Was the Estimator knowledgeable? Yes
4. Did the work get completed on time? Yes
5. Did the work get completed within your budget? Yes
6. Is there anything that sets our staff apart from other furniture restoration companies you have dealt with in the past? Great staff.

7. What could we have done to serve your needs better? Nothing.

3. Was the Estimator knowledgeable? Yes
4. Did the work get completed on time? Yes
5. Did the work get completed within your budget? Yes
6. Is there anything that sets our staff apart from other furniture restoration companies you have dealt with in the past?

7. What could we have done to serve your needs better?

Better packing upon delivery... had to send some stuff back to get redone twice before everything was all good as it was chipped every time they delivered it.

I feel as though my furniture was held hostage for three months. I was so happy when the delivery truck arrived and my table was returned that I just paid the exorbitant fee. I am dissatisifed with the result. The stain they used does not match the set. They only accepted payment in the form of a certified cheque, which is not what I was told initially. And they only deliver between the hours of 3 and 11pm. Rather late. Buyer beware. I wish I had read the comments on this site before I ever dealt with this company. Please do your homework. Their work is overpriced and their business practices are very suspect.

ripped off! 30 year old classic modern set beautiful lines, Tino at tmc ruined them. called me up blabbering about the beautiful set, and recommended jute lining at his cost of $1000. I agreed. when the set was delivered, I had to install the arms, and noticed that instead of jute he used scraps of leftover materials.the set is overstuffed, the stitching is crooked, and the workmanship substandard. They even reused some of the foam which they were supposed to replace..I wouldn't let these people reupholster a bean bag. I read some of the reviews, and noticed a pattern here. From the over priced estimate to the drop in price, then the phone call to the office to consult on a better deal, to the follow up calls raving about the great piece then the upsell for "better quality"...It's a con! don't use this company. If you have an eye for detail, you will be disappointed with the results.These people do not deal in good faith. I would have been better off dumping the set and buying a new one.The whole experience has left me feeling violated.

I saw TMC's display in a mall and arranged for someone from TMC to give me a quote to reupholster my sofa. When the salesman came to my home, he claimed that he was also an antique appraiser for Antiques Roadshow. He admired my sofa and asked me what I thought it was worth. I told him that it had been given to me and I had no idea what it was worth. He then told me that to buy a sofa of such quality would cost me close to $8,000. He then said that the regular price to reupholster the sofa would be close to $6,000, but since he was “corporate” and did not rely on commissions, he was willing to give me a deal for $4,800. Needless to say, I was totally shocked and told him so. He asked me how much I thought it would cost and I told him that I didn’t know. When I told him that I could not afford anywhere near $4,800, he said that he would call his boss to find out if he could reduce the price. He them called his boss (or at least he sounded like he was speaking to someone on his cell) and said that although TMC mainly did high end furniture refinishing, they didn’t have a lot of reupholstery work at the moment so they might consider doing it for less. He hung up and told me he had great, news – the boss said he would do it for $3,600, providing I agreed to write a letter of recommendation to the company after the job was done. He went on and on about what a fantastic deal this was and I found myself signing a contract and giving him a cheque for a deposit of 50%, which he said was standard.

As soon as I had signed the contract, he took out a pair of scissors and cut a piece of fabric out of the sofa and then took out a permanent marker and wrote my name on the sofa in big black letters. I was shocked and said “well, I guess I’m committed now”, to which he replied “of course you are committed, you just signed a contract”. (I later learned that there are consumer protection laws in place in Ontario that allow you to change your mind within 10 days of signing any such contract, and in fact, this is stated in the fine print on the back of the contract). Then the salesman told me that as luck would have it, they had a truck in the area picking up someone else’s furniture and they could pick up my sofa within the hour. Sure enough, as soon as the salesman left my home, the truck showed up.

During the following weekend, I had a very uneasy feeling about the whole thing. I strongly suspected that I had been scammed. So I went online and found some reviews of the company. Some customers sounded happy, but many more of them didn’t. Other people had experienced the same slick sales pitch that I had, and some people complained about the poor quality of the workmanship. I then called another upholstery company in my area, described my sofa, and asked them what they would charge me. I was told that it would cost between $1,200 and $1,500, depending on the quality of the fabric. The following Monday I called my bank and found out that my cheque had not yet been cashed by TMC. I put a stop payment on it and sent TMC a registered letter advising that I was canceling the order. I was relieved that I had gotten out of the contract and decided to just forget about my destroyed sofa and buy a new one.

A few days later I received a call from the salesman and he wanted to know why I cancelled the order. I didn’t really want to talk to him, but ended up telling him that I felt the price was too high and that I was worried about all the negative reviews. He told me that the negative reviews were not true and were written by ex employees who had been fired. Then a couple of weeks after that, I received a call from another man at TMC who wanted to know why I canceled the order. When I told him about my experience, he said he completely understood why I cancelled the order and he said that the reviews were all real and not written by disgruntled employees. He said that he was aware of the image problems the company was having and he had been hired to turn things around. He said that if I would give them another chance, they would reupholster my sofa for $1,500 + HST and that he would personally oversee the process and assure the quality. My hunch was that this man was on the level and based on my conversation with him, I agreed to proceed and to also pay another $180 + HST for Fabriguard. I was of course worried that I had made another bad decision, but within two weeks my sofa was returned to me and I must say it looks beautiful and I am very happy with it.

The reason I decided to write this review now is that tonight I watched a story on CTV news about an elderly woman who was charged over $14,000 by TMC to have a sofa and some chairs reupholstered. The Toronto School of Upholstery subsequently provided her with a quote in the $3,000 range. She apparently borrowed the money and was just sick about the fact that she had been overcharged so much. The CTV news team went to TMC’s offices with their cameras and the owner stated that they stood by the quality of their work, but there was no indication that they were going to do anything for this woman. It made me very angry to think that had I not done some investigation of my own and initially canceled the order, I too would have been overcharged. It is especially horrendous that this company is ripping off elderly people who can ill afford it – shame on TMC Restoration.

I had TMC refinish my dining room set and it came back looking like new again. I really love my dining room set and I’m so excited that TMC was able to restore it, I hadn’t realized that over the years the wood stain had discolored so much. Even though the price was a little high but with their discount it was definitely worth it instead of buying new at IKEA!

My Tea Cart was passed down to me from my grandmother and its been beautifully restored. It took me a while to find the right company to do the work but once I met with the sales estimator I knew that they were right for the job.He was very knowledgeable and helpful, the price was a little bit more then expected but well worth it. Thank you TMC, I would highly recommend you!

I contacted TMC restoration after seeing one of their mall displays in 2010. I had already had a quote to refinish 4 pieces of furniture, coming in at less than $3,000. I thought this to be too low, and because I didn't know the company, I decided to go with TMC. The salesperson was very nice, and showed up on time. He did tell me that the cost would be alot more the $3,000 I had previously been quoted, and he was right. He quoted close to $15,000, and I said no way...he went down to about $11,375 and asked for a 50% deposit upon pickup (which I found odd). I wanted to do this for a while though, so I went through with it and he also offered to fix up another piece for free. So they took my furniture away the same day with my certified cheque in hand.

A few weeks later, I got a call from Tino who said my furniture was beautiful, but needed some extra TLC - and it would cost about $1,500 - I said no. He came down to about $450 and said it was at cost...and to be honest he made me feel extremely guilty about this. I said ok and didn't hear out of them for another month or so.

I then heard out of another man, whose name I don't remember. He said my furniture was ready, but I needed to buy "protection" for it. I honestly remembered the salesperson telling me it would be protected at no cost, and I mentioned this. The man on the phone got upset and told me this salesman had made this mistake before and would hear about it - it was not in the contract. The protection would cost upwards of $5,000 to $6,000 extra. I said no way. He then came down to about $1,100 for a spray of some kind which would still be a protection but not the best. I said ok, and the phone call ended. Not 10 minutes later I called him back to say no, and he got very upset, saying the furniture had been done alread - now how could that have been? Anyway, I just wanted my furniture back, and I wasn't impressed with either person I had dealt with, so I said fine - I would pay the increase. In the matter of 6 weeks, they had upped the price by more than 10% - or about $1,500 on $11,000.

I finally was ready to take delivery of the furniture about a month later (my delay, not theirs - I was away) and it did look very good. Their delivery men were courteous and put the furniture when I wanted it. Of course they would not offload it until I gave them a certified cheque for the balance, which to be honest I did not like to do. But in the end I have beautiful furniture. I just think they need to work on their customer service skills to make people feel better about them as a company and not to try and get more money out of people for their beloved pieces of furniture - it's like preying on sick people really. You get nervous and just want it to be over....I have to admit I was glad when my furniture was back in my house and I don't think I would ever deal with TMC again. They did not give me a warm, fuzzy feeling.