Reviews

10/10

Needed to build a small deck to make an unusable back yard into a fully functioning extension to the home. Contacted Hickory Dickory Decks and met Geoff who came over and provided a detailed quote and timeline. We discussed all the options available for my price range and it was obvious that Geoff is is very knowledgable in his craft. Rob was the deck builder and did a spectacular job. In and out in three days and left us with a beautiful product with no mess and no trace of any contractors being on site. Geoff and Rob, I couldn't be happier with the work you did. Professional, tidy, quick and great communication throughout the entire process. I've told everyone who built this. Great job and thanks again.

Approximate cost of services:
$10,000.00
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Company Response

Hi Steve,

Thanks for your great review and for letting us build your project. I hope you enjoyed it this Summer and will continue to for many years. Take care!

Geoff Aucoin with Hickory Dickory Decks Scarborough

0/10

Found Lemon Tree Landscapes here on Homestars and was impressed by the reviews. I contacted them for a quote in late March to remove and replace the sod at the front of my home. They gave me a quote that was competitive and we decided we would go ahead with the project. The date of the project was scheduled for early May on a specific date. That day came and went and nobody showed up. I sent them an email and their response to me was that they were behind by a couple of days but would call me the next day to re-book. I was completely fine with that and understand the beginning of the season is busy. I waited three more days and sent another email. They never got back to me after subsequently sending three more emails and we're now at the end of May. I called the phone numbers on their website and eventually got through to someone. They had my information and told me someone would call me tomorrow. No call. We desperately tried to book the project with anther company and was advised it wouldn't be until the end of summer. I committed to Lemon Tree and they left us high and dry. Fortunately we contacted a company who committed to mid July. They called us and advised they had a cancellation and could be at my place the next day at 9am. They showed up at 9am, completed the job in four hours and left no trace of them being there other than a fantastic looking lawn. The price was competitive and their communication was great. Lemon Tree I'm not sure what happened. Not sure how you get 10/10 and then leave a customer high and dry with no response. I committed to your service and you left me scrambling in the end. I felt I needed to write this as it was the appropriate thing to do.

Approximate cost of services:
$1.00
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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1/10

Hired Those Repair Guys to complete a main floor over haul. Met with Albert who gave us the standard contractor lingo of how he doesn't like to work for free, does it right the first time and stands behind his work with his warranty. We decided to hire him and it didn't take long to realize this company is certainly made up of amateurs and not contractors. Not only do they not like to work for free but they don't like to work while getting paid. This job was suppose to be completed in two months and actually was completed in 4 months. He decided to take a 3 week holiday in the middle of the project. No respect for our living situation. The main floor is 1100 sq/ft. We had Albert install a new washroom. The tiling work was horrible and non symmetrical in the shower. There is silicone caked all over the shower due to faulty measurements. Asked him to redo some of the tiles that were popping but did little to help over all. Installed a bathtub and freestanding faucet that drips onto the lip of the tub. Again, due to faulty measurements. We had all the doors replaced none of which close anymore. They are all on an angle striking the jambs. The openings were re-framed and the doors were new. Brought in a contractor who said they need to be taken down and re-jammed. We had the flooring replaced with hardwood from carpet. Approaching door frames and vents the measurements fell short and filled with wood filler to compensate for poor measurements. Received faulty excuses as to why this happened. The reason we see it happened is because these guys choose to converse on their phones while measuring. We removed the carpet from the stairs to be replaced by hardwood. Well, they actually installed strip hardwood and nosing on the stairs and not stair treads. The strip flooring failed immediately after it was installed. Demanded that it be removed and replaced with the proper application of stair treads. Albert tried to bill us $1200 extra for the removal and installation of the new tread. It was their incompetence that thought this was a good idea. We paid for all material costs, the entire $2500 in wood and nosing was simply discarded. At no point did a tape measure hit the floor to determine how much material was needed. We ended up with so much excess hardwood. The flooring company wouldn't take it back because it was a custom order. Albert simply told us to put it online to sell it. Easy to say when we paid for it. We had a contractor come in and quoted us almost $10, 000 to fix the mess left by Albert and Those Repair Guys. There was never any quality assurance throughout the entire job. Once final payment was obtained he never turned back. He refused to address any issues with his work siting we owed him the $1200 worth of work on the stairs. We absorbed thousands of dollars worth of extras simply due to his negligence. We are writing this to assist anyone contemplating using Those Repair Guys. Do yourselves a favour and hire professionals. Rest to sure when something goes wrong Those Repair Guys will run the other way. The home was butchered. We are currently in the rebuilding process with a professional contractor who employs finish carpenters to reframe and rehang the new doors we need to re-purchase. As you can see from the photos some of the these doors were planed to fit the horrible framing job and cannot be reused. This includes replacing Jambs, stops, trim and baseboard. They will also be recutting the floor vents as they are all different sizes. We will be ripping out the shower wall and have it done professionally as we can no longer look at the slop of shower caulking and the unsymmetrical tile setting dominating the eye line. We are on the hook for thousands of dollars due to Albert and his crews incompetence. This was suppose to be our dream home. Does this look like a fictional story? The bill was paid in full, completely. I threw out $3500 in excess flooring ordered by Albert. Am I getting that back? Incompetent measuring was the standard with these guys. On time, on budget every time... Complete fail. I would move on as well Albert however we are straddled with a 17 year debt to pay for your incompetence and lack of leadership and integrity you have for your own company. These photos are a depiction of the product Albert was proud to deliver to us after spending $100K. Notice the doors were hung with not a single shim? Couldn't even bother to router the hinges. They all fell into the jambs and couldn't close. We just threw out $1200 in trim and doors just to repurchase new ones. On a final note, during the re-demolition we did get the homophobic note written on the back of our new trim in the bedroom. We simply refuse to pass that photo along to anyone in any credible forum. That was not expected but not surprised. Just a class act through and through.

Approximate cost of services:
$96,000.00
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Company Response

Wow!! Steve, you should give up your job and become an author! This is some of the best fiction (loosely based on truth) that I have read in some time. Then again, the entire truth wouldn't make for such a good story, would it?
Perhaps instead of pointing fingers, as hard as it may be, look in the mirror to see where your troubles start and you will have far fewer of them. When Patty (your girlfriend) texted me about the repairs needed, I replied and said that I would more than happy to book a date in as soon as you paid what you owed. That's all I ever ask and whether it be $1 or $10,000, I will not repair anything until I am paid what is owed. Once this happens, I am more than happy to address anything.
Please remember that it was your decision, against my recommendation I might add, to put the hardwood on the stairs instead of the treads as I suggested and your order to change it. You cited the 2 squeaks in the stairs at which point I offered to take them apart and re-install but let's be honest, you just didn't like the way that it looked and were too embarrassed to admit your mistake. As for the other shortcomings in our work that you listed, there were undeniably issues which I never disputed and would have come back to address. Even after I knew that you were not going to pay the extra money, I still worked for about 3 or 4 days to finish what we had originally discussed; that's what this company does. In the 10 years of running this TRGI, I have had 2 dissatisfied clients; you, and one other who told me that would pay for an invoice for upgrades and didn't. I paid that supplier because again, that is what we do. We do not solicit business, it is referred to us, and for very good reason; we do excellent work. I was genuinely hoping that you'd come to your senses and pay your debt as I really hate leaving my name on something incomplete but you made a choice and took that option away.
It really is a shame that things turned out as they did considering Patty and I had a friendship spanning over 15 years but I will not allow my company, or myself to be taken advantage of by any client, much less anyone that is particularly pompous.
To any contractors reading this, if you are contacted by Steve or Patty from Scarborough, a traffic cop and a teacher respectively, you might want to collect full payment up front or just to stay away from them all together and save yourself some potential grief.
Steve, whether or not you respond to this, this will be my only response in this matter. I will look ahead and put this sour experience behind me as you are not worth any more of my time or energy.

10/10

Found Consumers choice at the annual home show. Their sales staff were very informative and offered us a seamless appointment and consultation with Francis who was our sales representative. Francis came to our home and took inventory of our present windows and their condition. He explained to us the various options available regarding products and pricing. Francis was very knowledgable and left our home having armed us with the ability to make an educated decision on our needs. He was extremely polite and at no point did we feel pressured to sign on the dotted line. After shopping around with similar product it was evident that Consumers Choice was definitely the winner. One quote came in close and we called Francis who was more than happy to give Consumers Choice the edge. We were offered various flexible payment options which should suit the needs of everyone. We scheduled an install date and due to being December suffered a few delays due to bad weather. Consumers choice kept us in the loop with their revised schedule. The installers arrived and it took 3 days to install our windows. Two of them being large bays and one of them had to have the frame completely rebuilt. The installers were amazing and it was all done while we were at work. The weather was miserable outside and when we got home from work it appeared that nobody had been inside but we had new windows. Great installation. We also opted for the downspout change and gutters with the leaf guard system. All workers were great and the installation looks amazing. All the folks in the back office were always polite and made you feel like part of a large family. I would recommend Consumers Choice windows to everyone and in fact already have. Thanks for doing a great job. Steve and Patty

Approximate cost of services:
$18,000.00
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Company Response

Thanks Steve for your feedback it was our pleasure!
Regards
Management