TMC Restoration

This was the worst consumer experience of my life. If you decide to deal with this company you should expect the following.
The salesman will tell you how beautiful and valuable all your furniture is. Then he will then quote you a price 4 to 5 times greater than the job should really cost. However, you will likely negotiate a "better" deal. Then as you sign the contract he wil add these extra stickers that will give the company the ability to charge you all kinds of extras down the road. Your furniture will then be picked up within hours of signing the contract and prior to leaving the you will be asked to deface your on furniture by writing your name on it with permenant marker (so it can be identified). You will then wait for a response from the company that won't come until after the mandatory 10 day coolling off period has expired. Following which you will get a call telling you how beautiful your furniture is but also informing you that some integral part of the furniture needs to be repaired for an additional cost. At this point you will likely begin to get the feeling that your family heirlooms are being held ransom and you will do anything to get them back in one piece. But don't fear you will still receive further calls to tell you that additional cost are required for finishing or protectant treatments etc.
Finally by the time you have your furniture delivered for $200-$300 you will be so anxious to get it off their trucks that you will overlook the loose parts and other issues. But don't worry if you don't want topay in full they will be happy enough to take it back to their shop and charge you storage costs.
You may also want to Google "The Master Craftsman" as that was at least one of the names that they previously ripped people off under. DON"T MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE I DID.

The sales representative (Al Barnes) of TMC provided us with a quote for re-furbishing our kitchen cupboards. Initially, arrangements were made for TMC to pick up the doors and drawers on the same day. Al assured us that since we were not changing the colour of our cabinets; that the frames of the cupboards, kick-plates and pantry door could be done at our house by TMC. Al also explained that the procedure for re-furbishing the doors and drawers would be:
1) dipping doors and drawers in a solution tank to remove the old finish;
2) hydration of the wood (???); and
3) exact colour match as determined by their lab.
As far as we could determine none of the three embellishments occurred. The cupboard drawers and doors were sanded, stained, varnished and/or lacquered.
When we called to see if the work to be done at our house could be moved up to facilitate our granite-top supplier the situation suddenly got worse. We were now told that TMC does not do any refurbishing work in people’s homes. After some discussion, it was decided that TMC would come and take out the frames and have them refurbished in their shop. The two people they sent had no idea on how to take out the frames. They acknowledged that they basically just picked up and made deliveries. They spent approximately one hour spinning screws, removing the microwave and left with just the pantry door. As a result we took down the frames and made arrangements to have everything put in the garage for the next pick-up.
Additionally, we were told that we would receive a quote for extending the one cabinet by 3” within the next few days. Al’s guesstimate was that it would cost approximately $200-$300. Obviously, this was a huge mistake on our part by not getting a complete quote initially. When Tino of TMC called us to discuss the cost of this project, he informed us that he is from the “old school” and that the work has to be done properly. At this point Tino advises us that the job will cost an additional $1,780.00. He now has the cupboards, we have paid 50% ($2410.00) of the cost we originally agreed to ($4,820.00) and we are getting the impression that the cupboards are being held ransom. After much discussion we settled on an additional $1,500.00.
When the work at TMC was completed and ready for delivery we were instructed by Natasha that we must provide a certified cheque before anything can come off the truck. We found this to be unusual and somewhat bizarre, however, we proceeded to get a certified cheque.
The cabinet which was extended by 3” was a patch-work effort and did not match the colour of the other cabinets and thereby rejected. This was not what we expected from Tino and his “old school” approach to doing a job properly. They finally added a complete sheet of veneer along both sides of the cabinet to finish it off. The remaining cupboards were very dirty inside from the sanding dust thus leaving one to wonder about TMC’s professionalism or “old school” approach.
We must compliment Natasha Audet, the service representative, who was extremely skillful at putting a positive spin on TMC’s short-comings that would put most politicians to shame.
Over the years we have been involved in several renovating projects but we have never encountered such questionable practices as this. This exercise has certainly brought home the concept of “BUYER BEWARE”
Diane & Terry

My dad has parked himself on his LazyBoy recliner in front of the TV for as long as I can remember. This chair was once the adored by all but now its rejected by everyone expect my dad. The leather was cracking and the foam felt like it was nearly gone. We accepted delivery of our new LazyBoy and we couldn’t be happier, the LazyBoy has become the highlight of the room again. The fabric matches the decor in the living room and it’s so comfortable, it even smells new! Joe was right it’s like exchanging the old and getting a new piece of furniture back. Thank you TMC for a wonderful job and to Joe for being so patient as my parents bickered over fabric.

Last week, I had received back my antique dresser and high boy set that I had refinished at TMC Restoration and was blown away by the quality of work that was done. These pieces are very important to me as they have been in the family for quite a long time and I was very reluctant to get them refinished because of the uncertainty of what would actually be done to my furniture. I finally contacted TMC Restoration who sent over a fine salesman to give me a quote on my furniture. We talked for nearly two hours about what would exactly be done to my pieces and quickly the fears I had were put to ease. I decided to get the work done (a tad on the upside) but with everything that was being promised to me I felt that the benefits of having these very important pieces restored properly far outweighed its cost. It did take a little longer than what the salesman promised but I was contacted by customer service on a number of occasions informing me of these delays. They ensured me that the reasons for the delays were justified and that because of the nature of the pieces they didn’t want to substitute quality of work for on-time delivery. I agreed, and shortly thereafter I received my furniture and was very impressed and proud of the pieces that stood before me. In many cases TMC Restoration went above and beyond my expectations. TMC Restoration beautifully restored my furniture while maintaining the integrity of the antiques. I cannot thank TMC Restoration enough and would recommend them to anyone that is looking to get their furniture meticulously restored!

K. Kristofferson

Not impressed with this company AT ALL!!!! Picked up our furniture Dec 27,2010 and still waiting for delivery. We have made several calls to them and nothing but the run around. First they called to ask to update the padding and increase the price another $1000.00, I said no at first because they wanted to much, and again they call and said that they can do it for $500.00. Inwhich we agreed. Now at the end of March we're starting to be concerned, which we were also told that we could come in anytime and see how they were doing. So down we went only to have a girl come out from the factory with a wooden stool and say to us "Bet you don't recognize this..." Inwhich we didn't because IT WASN'T OURS! and she disappear in a flash. Where two to other woman came out to explain that they have legal right to have the furniture for 4months and the furniture was in Quality Control and that we had to give them 24hrs notice to see it, and it was not in there warehouse at this time. She also told us that we need not be concerned it's not like there going to keep it. I found that very rude and accussing. We were not accusing anyone of anything YET! Had to change the word Keep for the four letter word starting with s...l.

So we received a phone call from a woman to tell us that she was very sorry that she had mixed our filed up with someone elses and that our furniture wasn't done and was not in qualtiy Control!!! It's been another two weeks and were almost in the middle of April and have not heard anything!!!!
An AWFUL company to have to deal with. Would never do business with them again or recommend them . Now we're at the point of praying that our furniture will arrive back home to us soon in good condition!!!!!
Should've have READ THE REVIEWS FIRST!!!!!!

Saw TMC at a home show in April 2010, they called and called incessantly until I finally agreed to have a rep come out. On July 22 2010 a Doug C from TMC showed up at my house to appraise a chest of drawers.(after reading other reviews I now find it odd that the reps have no last names) He seemed to be very knowledgeable about old furniture. He kept on going back to how lovely and well made my old sofa bed was. I kept on telling him I could only afford to do the chest as I was in the middle of major home renos and that in the spring of 2011 maybe then. He asked that if they would defer the payments until then would it work for me? I asked what the interest would be after the deferment time, just in case I could not have it all paid for by then? He made a couple of phone calls and told me it would be 14%. I agreed to have the sofa bed done under these arrangements. A couple of hours later the furniture was picked up. a couple of weeks later I get a call saying that the sofa bed needed extra supports and the chest needed to be all reglued. This came with a much extra price tag added. Then there was the call about the fabric care application. Yes and the extra cost as well. I came across club chair that matched the sofa so I had them pick up and add to the order on August 10. Furniture finally arrives in November. The chest had a flaw on the top of it, it had to go back. The sofa bed came back with the same old mattress and the arms were not equal in size and the very expensive bolster cushions were lumpy, also sent back. Then I got the bill from the finance co for immediate payments at 29.9% financing. Did I mention I was budgeting very carefully and this was a total surprise after the agreement I had made with Doug "C". NO amount of phone calls to Wayne (supposedly a big cheese with company) would get them to honor what was agreed on. I told him I would have laughed Doug "C" down my driveway had he of mentioned 29.9% never mind payments starting right away. I also told Wayne that I have a house full of decent old furniture from the late 1800s and early 1900s that they would be losing any and all future business. They didn't care. December furniture comes back again sofa bed okay and chest of drawers are wobbly. It goes back again. March 29 2011 chest finally comes back. I have been put into the position of frantically trying to pay off the balance with the ridiculous financing as nothing was ever done to correct it. But now that my furniture is finally home and out of their hands I can say that I WOULD NEVER EVER DEAL WITH THIS COMPANY AGAIN

Our advice to those reading this is: DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH TMC RESTORATION! Our experience with TMC began just after Christmas 2010, when we saw a display at the Woodbine Centre in Etobicoke. We put our name on a sheet to get an estimate regarding our dining room table because of a small mark on it. A day or two later, we got a call for a representative to come to our place.

On January 5, 2011, a salesman named Ed H. arrived at our place. He actually appeared to be quite knowledgeable. We had a discussion and agreed that the damage to the table was so minor that it didn't justify refinishing. Before leaving, however, he looked at our Rockwood Maple kitchen table and chairs which we have used for over 35 years. He gave us a price and started filling out forms. For some reason, we didn't follow our usual practice of comparison shopping. We signed the invoice and gave him a substantial deposit in the form of a cheque. Within a couple of hours a truck came by and a man took some photos of the furniture and carted it off. I guess it's hard to change your mind once the furniture is taken away.

Among the things that Ed, the salesman, told us was:
- refinishing work was to be done by highly-skilled people who took great care in what they did,
- the company did not use the faster, but inferior, "dip and strip" method, but did everything by hand,
- the end result, we were assured, would be "as good as when it was new",
- about 4 weeks after delivery, someone would come to our home to make sure we were totally satisfied.

A couple of weeks later, a woman named Sharon called to have us come in and make sure the colour of the stain was O.K. We live fairly close to their Brampton location, so we went over and said the colour was O.K. but the finish was rough, but we were assured that it would be much smoother when finished - it was just the colour we were there for.

Then, a few days later (Jan. 19, 2011) a man named Wayne called to say that the minor re-gluing of the chairs that Ed had noted on the invoice was really insufficient and that MAJOR re-gluing was needed to improve the structure of the chairs so that the full warranty could apply to the structure, as well as the finish. This involved an additional cost, which is not insignificant to seniors like us! Wayne gave the impression of being in some position of authority but he may have been just some "call-centre type guy", based on the "AUTHORIZED ADDITIONAL WORK CONFIRMATION" copy attached to the invoice on delivery. This form included instructions to ask us very specific questions over the phone to confirm our agreement to pay more money. It even noted the recording on their Tape #4B.

Then, again, in early February, a man named John K. called to try to get us to agree to have an additional "brand new" spray applied to harden the surface - for additional longevity, he kept saying. He said Ed, the salesman, wouldn't have been aware of this new finish. He was quite insistent and somewhat pushy but we refused to pay anything more. We were fed up and had enough by this time. This seems to be something this company likes to do - once they have your stuff, they keep finding ways of getting more money out of you.

On February 8, 2011, a woman named Kelly called to arrange delivery. When the furniture arrived on February 10th, we had a few concerns. The delivery man suggested we call the office. Our dissatisfaction came from the fact that the furniture was not as smooth as we expected and, in fact, was quite rough in a few places. It was NOT "as good as when it was new". In fact, we suspect that they DID use the "inferior dip & strip" method, because the grain on the underside of all the furniture was very rough. We wanted someone knowledgeable to come to our home (not far away) for a follow-up which was something we expected anyway. This still hasn't happened.

On Monday, February 14th, 2011, we spoke to Linda, who told us no one would be available for 3 weeks (!?) On March 7, 2011 (3 weeks later) we called Linda again. She said she would speak to her supervisor and get back to us. She called back to say a service guy would call us. We ended up having to call him. A man named Roy was supposed to come by on the afternoon of Sunday, March 13th. He did not show up or call! We spoke to Linda again the next day. Apparently Roy could only come late afternoon or early evening on Fridays only! Friday, March 18th didn't work for us so Linda left us a message saying Roy would be at our place at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, March 25th. We were here . . . Roy did not show up again! Not even a phone call!

TMC is very quick to respond to get your money. Once they have your money, forget about it! You won't see them again. As we said at the beginning, DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH TMC RESTORATION.

The quality of the work was amazing excellent job.. it was a pattern ..everything matched up perfectly, it was restuffed and re sprung it is like new. A little pricy but maybe you get what you pay for

I bargained for this antique radio at a garage sale and my wife would only let me bring it in the house if it was cleaned up. So reluctantly I searched for a refinisher that would not ruin my radio and I finally found TMC. Pleased with their knowledge and service I handed over my antique radio to be restored. 8 weeks later, just as promised I had my radio delivered back to me in pristine condition. Not only am I happy but most importantly, so is my wife!

We had TMC’s JOE come to our home to talk to us about refinishing and upholstering in August 2010. Initially we had some issues related to quality, but TMC heard our opinion, addressed our concerns and worked with us to deliver a quality final product.