F in Toronto

Simple: my garage door cable broke just as the snow started to fall and I needed quick help. I called Steve, he arrived a day later, fixed it while I wasn't even there, charged me fairly. Best contractor ever!

We had Open Sesame install our garage door opener a few years ago when no one else would or could. We called a few days ago to have them install a keypad on the garage for our kids. Again, for price and service, this is one of the best contracting experiences we've ever had. Fast, cheap, super high quality, friendly. The best.

We ordered a vanity many weeks ago for installation in our new bathroom. When we called a few days prior to the intended install date, they claimed the product was double back-ordered and wouldnt be available. They obviously were not organized enough to call us when they first ordered the peice to let us now we couldn't have it. Very frustrating as we're now scrambling to find another vanity!

When the leading garage door company cancelled our contract because they "just couldn't make it fit", we called another company off Homestars. That company said they'd have to custom cut our door at a cost of over $2000 because of the odd shape of our badly built garage. Then we called Open Sesame. We were told "no problem" from the beginning. We didn't pay until the job was done, and it was done on time and absolutely perfectly. Perfect service, perfect job- one of the best overall service experiences I've ever had. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

I contacted Dodd's Doors to do an installation on my detached garage door. Their salesperson was professional and courteous and came to my property quickly when asked. He measured my door, and although there was some plywood blocking his access to the ceiling, I removed a piece and he felt comfortable saying there was enough clearance. He asked me to remove all of the plywood from the walls and ceiling of the garage which I did over the course of an afternoon, then paid to have all of the waste removed. I also removed all of the existing rails of the old garage door anticipating that the install would be done. On the date the installation was to be done, we came home to find out nothing had happened. NO ONE called on that date or for several days after to explain why the work was not done. I had to make two calls before someone explained that they realized that their measurements were incorrect, and that they could not install the door. They were looking for a new door. A week and a half passed and I heard nothing. Finally, after contacting the manager, my sales rep called me to say nothing could be done and they will be refunding our deposit. While our sales rep was polite, no one ever apologized to us for demo-ing our garage and having to make several calls just to find out they could do nothing for us. The service as a whole left much to be desired, and while Dodd's will no doubt have a legitimate explanation for their mistake, they did not do nearly enough to be communicative with us or to apologize. The whole episode has cost us approximately $250 in expenses because of their mistake. Very unhappy.

We recruited this company to fashion our interior firm name signage behind our reception desk. The look is astonishingly metallic looking, though it is actually a brushed plastic finish. Installed to perfection at a great price. Excellent work!

I purchased an old rosewood boardroom table off the internet classifieds. When I came to pick it up, it was scratched and gouged throughout and had a dull, patchy finish. For $800, these guys converted a piece of trash to a stunning centerpiece of our firm. People though we'd spent thousands of dollars on the table when they saw it at our recent launch. I am extremely satisfied with the results and how quickly they were able to get it done. Bravo!

They were professional and on-time, and cleaned the evestroughs and gutters ably. Was unsettling, however, when a guy came 'round the next day and offered to clean my troughs for less than half the price. But then again, the guy looked like he'd just stepped out of the Bermondsey transfer station...

Not to judge a book by its cover, or a contractor by his rough presentation, but we were a little wary of these city contractors when obtaining an estimate to have our lead pipe replaced. We couldn't find them anywhere -- on google, the BBB, or the phonebook -- and they "didn't have time" to give us references. But after the rep from New Canadian Plumbing quite fairly told us we should go with the city contractor (I will definitely use NCP in future considering how ethical they were with us) we gave the mysterious JVA a shot. Their price was excellent, they did the work on time and professionally, and they cleaned up superbly. All in all a 10 on 10 performance.

We purchased some custom furniture and a floor model item on one day, then got cold feet and chose to cancel on the next. The salesperson was nice but aggressive and insisted that a sale was ending and we had to buy that day. When we got home, we realised the furniture wouldn't fit in our livingroom. We literally went the next morning, less than 18 hours after our purchase, to cancel and they intially refused to take back the floor model furniture. I had to stand their and bargain through the sales lady with some phantom manager just to get a return and a store credit. In fairness, I did know what the terms of sale were--essentially no cancellations, exchanges or refunds on anything, period--but still thought they'd have given us a break since we had just ordered the furniture a day before. One has the sense that their strategy is to pressure sell the furniture then defend themselves against returns when the customer realises their mistake. It's also quite expensive and most of the furniture is made in China. When you question them about this, the standard line is that "most furniture these days is assembled in China, though the materials are from North America". Yeah, most crappy furniture is assembled there. The good stuff, like the kind that warrants the Decorium price tag, is made here or in Europe. This store feels like it is at war with its customers. STAY AWAY FROM IT!

We hired Demetris as the cheaper of two quotations we'd received from contractors reviewed on this site. We booked our date well in advance, and Demetris advised us to call him a day before he was scheduled to begin. This made us a bit apprehensive, owing to past experience, but when we called him he said he'd be there as promised. He arrived exactly when he said he would, completed the job in exactly the time he had estimated and charged the very reasonable price he quoted. The result on our 20 year old hardwood is dreamlike. Viewed in the reflection of the sunlight, the wood is perfectly even and smooth with a homogeneous colour throughout. We had no idea our floor could look this good, and the value add is many times its cost. There was no mess whatsoever. He sanded around our very narrowly spaced banisters, under our stairs, under our fireplace hearth and in our tiny broom closet, places a lesser contractor would have ignored. All of the work was done without us ever being home--we entrusted him correctly with our key. What a success! We would recommend him to anyone.

We hired Chris at KP in part from recommendations and in part from this site to do our waterproofing after a terrible flood in our basement. His references were excellent (we called some of them, especially the old ones, to see if the waterproofing had held up---it had, obviously) and his knowledge of the problem and the solution was reassuring. We had considered interior waterproofing with another company, but that would have required demolition of the inside of our finished basement, and seemed like a band-aid solution. We settled on a complete outside wall job all the way around the house. Chris had the best price of the lot, offered to do the job without any payment up-front and offered a 10-year warranty. The work was done on time and professionally. The sub-contractors he hired (one to do the asphalt replacement and one to disconnect the air-conditioning) were top-notch and we'll use them again if we have the need. Chris was at the project site 90% of the time with a crew of very hard-working guys. Except for some small issues, the work was done on time, and they miraculously reasssembled our entire deck, patio stones and garden to their original state. All the small details were taken care of as well, including new eves extensions, patching our cracked concrete, filling and pounding the earth, etc. The work was completed at the end of July, 2008. I have waited until now (Sept 10, 2008) to provide this review to ensure we're still dry. I'm happy to say that we are, following very heavy rains over the past two days, as well as several between July and now.

Very happy with the product, not so much about the service. They sold my wife excellent laminate flooring at a very good price, and after we impressed upon them that we needed it the next day, assured us that it was in stock. The exact quote from the salesperson was, "We had 24,000 square feet in stock, we've now got about 700 square feet, so you're ok". I thought at the time it sounded like the old "while supplies last" pitch, but we put down a deposit anyway. We were told we could pick it up the next day, but not that night because the warehouse closed at 4:30. The next day we were told it was out of stock, but it would arrive by truck that night. Today a salesperson told my wife the product still wasn't there, but would be there tomorrow, without offering any apology. My wife complained, since we'd already booked help and taken off work to do the install, and this salesperson had the gall to insist that we actually hadn't been waiting as long as we were claiming. When my wife called head office to complain, the salesperson from the store called us shortly after and changed his story, saying that now the product is coming in. When I went to pick up the product, 50 cases or so, there was no one to assist me load it. I guess this is why the box stores are killing independents like this place. That said, the laminate they sold me was excellent at a very good price.

After hearing so many horror stories from friends (and after hiring one company that didn't even show up the day of our move), it was a relief to have Abbotsford moving handle our move overseas. They are affiliated with United Van Lines so can handle international moves, but operated as a small business so you get the friendly customer-is-king service. The quoted price was the price I paid, and was extremely reasonable. We had the good sense to have their movers pack our things and they arrived after travelling thousands of miles in perfect condition. Highly recommended.

I must say that Des O'Leary is all he's cracked up to be and more. Friendly, prompt, inexpensive and quick--he even raked up the leftover debris left on the grass. I too helped Des load, but I have the feeling he'd have made quick work of it if left to himself. Have confidence in this man!

Although they did accommodate us last minute on a Saturday--I was very impressed by their telephone order takers--this place is over-the-moon expensive. All they are there to do is take away a bunch of trash. I didn't think I had all that much. They said it would take between a quarter and half a truck, and of course it came out to a half at the end. The problem was, it was hard to tell how much truck my junk filled since there was already a load of junk in there from the last pick-up. When they showed me the truck, it was like ordering bad fast food--you think you've been given a massive portion until you realize the thin layer of meat sits on a mountain of rice. To add insult, they almost took away a number of items that weren't junk -- my son's stroller cover, a rake, a good tarp -- against my specific instructions to take only the rubbish. All that for $400. I was disappointed and will never use the service again.

Our 20 year old furnace died one night and since the clear Homestars.com choice is Heating Plus, we called them in. Paul came the next day, identified the problem and we decided to replace rather than fix. The price quoted was very competitive and came with a 10 year parts and labour warranty. The guys who came to do the replacement were very professional (and although they were late, Paul's wife was kind enough to call ahead and let us know, so there was little aggravation on our part). All in all, the furnace works great and we're very satisfied with the work and value for money. ------------------------ Since this review was posted, we've experienced some serious problems with our furnace, namely that it stopped working altogether. We had a professional HVAC contractor look at our furnace and he told us it was amateurishly installed. We also found out to our utter stuptefaction that our thermostat was set up for a single stage furnace, meaning that all of that energy savings from our double stage furnace were never realized. Then we checked the Better Business Bureau - they get an "F" grade (the lowest possible) and were suspended as members. STAY AWAY

I had a city approved water-meter installed in my basement. The work was done professionally, and he correctly advised that I had a lead pipe which needed to be replaced. He suggested I get a quote from the city contractor who would have to do the replacement from the mainline to our property. I thought that was honest, as he could have quoted me for the work himself, which would have cost more. Satisfied customer.

This is the "appliance" arm of Sobie's--there is a company by the same name that does BBQs which, I am told, separated from the appliance repair business. I can vouch for the latter business, which I and my family have used many times for various issues. These guys do not oversell, as most of the problems they have fixed for me were resolved within the first hour (for which there is a minimum fee anyhow). They are reasonably priced (not cheap) and clearly know appliances, old and new, and respond very quickly to a call.

We purchased Satin Finish hardwood flooring, a Canadian brand, from this store at a very good price. We'd been to a number of other stores (both high-end and low-end) and none had this store's combination of product knowledge and price. One really telling sign (and what sold it for me in the end) was when I suggested that we'd like to do one room at a time. I asked if the price would change if we'd just bought the whole lot at once. He said no, as the store always gives the best price no matter how large the project. At the other stores we'd been to, the price magically changed depending on the quantity ordered as well as whether we'd pay in "cash". Uh, no thanks.