Bill Fairbairn

UPDATE: I originally wrote the following review expressing dissatisfaction over an experience with this company. To my great surprise, the company contacted me, discussed the issue with me, explained their perspective (which was understandable) and fully refunded the amount I had paid. My conversation with their staff was very pleasant and I felt that they had totally understood the issue and were sensitive to my concerns. Based on this extremely positive experience I am reassessing my rating and would definitely give them 10 points for honesty and integrity. I would absolutely recommend them now. THIS WAS MY INITIAL REVIEW: I recently hired GNA Appliances to come to my house in Toronto after my tenant informed me that the Fridgedair combo washing machine was making a chugging sound and there was a smell of something burning. The technician (who I understand was very pleasant BTW) came by the house and identified "the" problem which was that the belt was old and had cracked. He replaced the belt which ended up costing $300. I had hoped the problem was resolved. However on the very first attempt to use the machine, the tenant informed me that the machine was still not working properly. It was giving a high pitched sound and there was a burning smell. The technician returned several days later and was able to identify other, more serious problems which would have cost much more than what I was prepared to pay given the age of the unit. In the end, I had to buy an entire new washer/dryer unit from another company (over $2,000) and throw away the old machine (brand new belt included). I have no doubt that the belt did need replacing as noted by the technician. But had the company provided a full diagnosis of the problems (all of them) or at the very least indicated that there may be other more serious issues, I would have wanted to know that from the outset and I would not have proceeded with the first repair which did not fully address the issue. As a result I feel I threw $300 out the door. I see this company has very good reviews, which is why I decided to hire them initially but based on this experience I will not hire them again.

I live and work in Ottawa but my house is in Toronto and is currently being rented. Living so far away, it is important for me to find honest, professional contractors to deal with the odd problems that arise. I found Gianfranco to be very responsive, professional and easy to deal with. Not only did he do the jobs I needed done in a timely way, but he was proactive in indicating and providing a remedy to things that could cause me problems moving forward. His rates are reasonable and I would definitely recommend and contract him again.

I live in Ottawa but own a house in Toronto. My tenant called me in a panic around 6PM as the outside water valve was leaking in a big way. I searched online and found Drain King Plumbers. They responded quickly and were at the house within 2 hours. They didn't demand cash upfront (an experience I have had with other places) but did the work and then called me the next day to finalize payment using my credit card. The plumber, Jon, explained to me over the phone what the situation was and offered useful information. Pleasant, professional and competent. Many thanks!

This company responded immediately to my request for a quote, offering me a competitive price and a fast turnaround to complete the work. The technicians were very polite and professional. Would absolutely recommend them.

I hired M&M Handyman on short notice to complete a variety of tasks after the previous contractor who was renovating my basement apartment unexpectedly had to leave the country to attend to some personal matters in his home country. Most of the work had been finished but I still needed someone to install drywall and a backsplash in the kitchen area, install a drain and connect taps for the kitchen sink, do some re-wiring for the stove, install a new exhaust fan and vent, build a few small doors for the electrical box and fix the shower tap which was stuck on hot (ouch). Living in Ottawa, I had to come into Toronto with a small window of opportunity to find a reliable contractor and have the work done. The timeline was tight given my own availability and the fact that I have a new tenant moving into the apartment by July 1. Marlon responded quickly to my ad on Homestars and met me at the house early on Friday June 22. He took his time to carefully review each job with me, giving helpful suggestions about ways to improve the look and picking up on some details that I had not noticed. Given the tight timeline, he indicated the material I could buy to make the job go more quickly and promised to send me a quote within a few hours - something that he did. Marlon's quote was very reasonable and to my delight he was able to have a coworker, Yuri, come to start the drywalling and backsplash installation the very next morning. Yuri did a great professional job and was very quick. Marlon subsequently managed to finish all of the other work today, June 25 with the exception of the small doors on the electrical panel which he committed to complete shortly. I have no doubt that he will follow through. I would have no hesitation at all to hire Marlon and his company again. He is very pleasant, trustworthy, honest and professional. He was also open to various consultations I made over the weekend and, following the job, sent photos to me after the work was completed. It meant a lot to me to be able to count on Marlon to complete all these tasks and I am very pleased with the results.

I live in Ottawa but needed a reliable company in Toronto to do repairs to my evestroughs in my Toronto rental property. Patrick gave the best quote and proved to be a dependable and professional service provider. Immediately after completing the work, he sent me photos to show the work done. I had initially hired Magic Monkey just to do the repairs but decided to get them to do the additional work of installing a filter on the eavestroughs - something that will ensure that I won't have to worry about cleaning leaves again in the fall. I would totally recommend Magic Monkey to anyone who needs work done.