Neil in Etobicoke

We were doing a major kitchen renovation and ordered a fridge, stove, dishwasher, and outdoor BBQ. The salesman was very friendly and helpful, and didn’t try to upsell us on anything. We hadn’t considered how to vent the stove, but didn’t want a big hood hanging down in the middle of the room, so the salesman showed us this nifty vent that mounts behind the stove and rises/retracts as needed. We were thrilled. It turned out that the vent he sold us only works with stovetops – there is a boxlike section where the blower motor is which juts out below the counter, right where the oven would be. There is a store policy against returning or refunding venting products, but since it was the salesman who recommended it to us in the first place, and it hadn’t been installed, I didn’t think there would be a problem. I went back and spoke to the store manager, and he ran us around for about two weeks claiming that he was trying to find out what to do from “head office”. I finally told him that either they would take back the vent with a full refund, or we would cancel the appliances that were still on order ($5000 worth). They tried to stick us with a 20% restocking fee on the vent, but I refused to pay for their mistake, so we wound up cancelling the remaining appliances on order and keeping the vent. (I went into a competing store that same evening with the invoice and said “match these prices” – “SOLD!”, they said). After a few weeks I wrote a letter to their service department explaining in minute detail how things played out, and how they let a solid deal fall through for the sake of a small restocking charge. The next afternoon I got a call from the store manager, who admitted that they had handled everything completely wrong, and offering to take the vent back for a full refund. So in the end the store made everything right, but I suspect it was only because somebody fell on them from a great height. Honestly, from other things I’ve read about the store and their customer service, I think we just hit them the wrong way on the wrong day. But for something that seemed to me like a no-brainer, it sure turned into an ugly, needlessly dragged-out experience. Use your own judgment.

We hired Gem to install a patio door with a retractable screen door in our kitchen. The work on the installation was excellent, but the salesman (Seymour) was a complete loss. We pointed out a handle that we liked, but asked for one without a key-lock on the outside which he happily sold us. As it turns out, that style only comes with a key-lock. Even at that, they didn't have the right handle when they came to install the first time, so they had to come back when it finally came in. We also had problems with the quality of the retractable screen. The one in the showroom was very sturdy and had protective tape at the top and bottom of the screen, and that is what we pointed to when we ordered one. The one they installed was a different style, with a tendency to twist when you open/close it and with no protective tape, so I expect the screen will start to fray before long as it occasionally gets pulled out of the track. When we complained about this, Seymour's attitude was very condescending and rude. He wouldn't return phone calls, or get back to us when he said he would, ever, so I kept having to go back down to the store to try and get him to correct the situation. Every time he'd find some new excuse and say he'd look into it and get back to us, and he never did. Eventually the screen door was replaced (due to a minor flaw) with the exact same model, but slightly sturdier, so we decided to take it as a learning experience. They got our money on this deal, but we've got more doors and windows to replace next year, and they won't be seeing another cent from us.