A review for HomeStars

We bought the house in November 2008 and we wanted to redo it completely. That included: roof, gutters, all windows and patio door, ceramic floors, hardwood floors, replace the furnace and air conditioning, all bathrooms, kitchen, repaint all rooms, duct cleaning, chimney cleaning, some backyard work (tree pruning, etc). I had to deal with contractors before and I know how messy it can get. I was searching online and I came across Homestars. Later, a friend of mine told me about it too. I picked most of the contractors I used on Homestars and I got them right 90% of the time. I was so happy that I recommended Homstars to some of my friends who already used it. Also, I know that one of the friends I recommended it to, recommended them to one of his friends… So good job and kudos to you!

A review for Heating Plus Heating & Air Conditioning

I don’t even now where to start on these guys… I guess I should start by saying I am yet another “disgruntled former employee” as they use to tag anybody that gives them a bad review… And honestly, seeing the work they do I think there is no way their good reviews are real… I got a new house in Nov 2008 and I wanted to replace the A/C and furnace with new ones. I got a few quotes from a few companies including Heating Plus. I was attracted by the low price, this should have rung a bell to me but it didn’t. I paid cheap and I got cheap service. One of the reasons I was changing the whole system was because the old system was cycling too much, on and off and because the heat was not equally distributed in the whole house: some rooms were cooler and some warmer, with quite a difference in temperature. So with this service, I was assured the new system will be much more comfortable, less cycling, and that they’ll do an “air balance” to even out the heat throughout the entire house. First of all, the guys were not very experienced. They were nice and soft-spoken, but there were 2 technicians working and I learned one of them had no experience in the HVAC business, he started 1 week prior to this job. Angel, the other technician was more experienced but I don’t think one guy was enough for that job. Later, the owner, Paul Walters joined them, helped a bit and left. When Angel had tested the A/C, if was leaking big time. We looked together and found that the water supply was very badly connected by Paul, who is supposed to be very experienced (he also teaches at the Industrain college, or so he claimes, I am wondering what those poor kids are paying for). After finishing the job, I noticed the A/C unit was set very far from my house wall blocking partially the entrance into my backyard. I asked why, they told me it’s because they needed access to service it. I looked in the neighborhood at other houses, none of them had the A/C unit so far. On top of that, because the new unit was further from the wall than the old one, it could not sit properly on the concrete stone that was there as a base, so HALF OF THE UNIT WAS HANGING IN THE AIR! For the same reason, it was easy to tilt it which could potentially break the copper pipe. I had to prop it myself in the end with some pieces of wood. After expressing my concerns, they said “Ok, you are right we’ll come and re-position it”. My mistake was that I paid them the whole money, trusting that they’ll come and clean up their thing. They were supposed to come back and reposition the A/C and do the air balance, a 1 hr job for them. Soon after that, I realized the furnace was cycling as much as before. I spoke to Angel on the phone, he told me he left the company, because he could not work with Paul, claiming he was cheap, and did not want to pay to fix the broken heat in Angel’s van, he was freezing in the middle of the winter driving from here to there, plus there were some other issues. So I said to him: “OK, I’ll talk to them, I hired the company in the end, not you”. When I was talking to them about the too much cycling, again I realized they did not really know what they were doing because they started to guess why that was happening. Paul suggested to try a 2 stage thermostat. This was after themselves installed a new 1 stage thermostat. If they knew a 2 stage furnace is supposed to work with a 2 stage thermostat, I am wondering why didn’t they do it in the first place… I can’t even start to tell you how badly they installed the thermostat, they extended the wire like 5 times and they ran it outside the wall and through a vent in the house, it looked like crap and it was not safe either with the kids playing around. I had to re-do it myself which took me a lot of time. The Thermostat itself was left hanging on the wall. For the other 2 outstanding problems: reposition the A/C unit and air balance, I don’t exaggerate one bit, I called 100 times (I can attach my phone bill) and 2/3 of the time they did not reply. Every time I did get them on the phone (I had to hide my phone # to get them to answer) they were assuring me that they’ll come next week. This has been going on since winter!!! I told them: “Guys, I am getting frustrated, for a 1 hour job you’ll get a bad review, a record with the consumer protection agency, lose all the money on future service because sure as hell I won’t be calling you, etc. Are you sure that’s what you want?” They could not care less. A very common answer was that James, one of their contractors was not available. I learned that this James is not working for Heating Plus, but he is a subcontractor. Therefore, you hire Heating Plus to have the job done by a subcontractor, very much like Home Depot. To top this, my Cool Savings application was rejected because of their messed up paperwork and I lost $375 on that. When I told them that they admitted they were supposed to register with Cool Savings but they did it too late, but anyways, even without the $375 their price was still good! If you can believe that answer! So I am writing here hoping nobody will have to get scammed by these amateurs. I am also taking this affair with Consumer protection Agency, I don’t know how much they will solve but I am sure Heating Plus has a few bad records with them already and more records maybe will trigger an investigation on how they conduct business over there. I’ll also go over the Industrain college and talk to the people over there, tell them what kind of business he does… Response to their comment: [I don't know why my response was rejected, I did not post anything derogatory (unlike them). Trying again] I cannot believe you have the nerve to reply after what you guys put me through! I thought you’d put your head in the sand for feeling ashamed, knowing how lenient I was, how many phone calls I made, and how you addressed them. But thanks for your comments Lucy, they help me a lot actually. First of all, if I was you I’d go back to school, the number of misspellings and grammar mistakes would make my 5 years old blush. Also, based on the language you use, you are probably a regular on the Jerry Springer Show. I could replay on the same lines, but I am not going to lower myself to your level. Secondly, you mention yourself that I “was happy at the time of the install and sign that he was satisfied with the installation, pay in full and now five months later complain”. Why would I complain 5 months later, and take my time to scan documents, write review, if your work was so great? You think I have nothing else to do? Thirdly, I just want to remind you all this could have been avoided with a bit of will from you part to complete what you left unfinished, just doing what you were supposed to do in the first place. Fourthly, I’ll answer your post sentence to sentence, so other people don’t get trapped and have to deal with you amateurism the way I did. You called me an idi0t in your replay. I'll have to say YES, I was one! I was an idi0t for believing you are the kind of company that stands behind their work, one that offers any kind of guarantee for what they did. I mean, it says in the contract you offer 10 YEARS WARRANTY on labor, but this is worth nothing! Guys, don’t believe for a second that this company stands behind their work and they’ll actually do anything if problems come. Please pay a bit more and get proper installation and service… When I signed the paper (big mistake and it is my fault), I agreed with Angel that you guys will come back and do what had to be done. It was the Dec 23rd, and Angel had worked on a pretty bad rainy day. I was not in a rush and I told him to do it after the holidays, when the weather was better. But I guess you had to do it as quick as you can so you don’t miss an opportunity in case my mind got clear and realize who in fact you were. So I felt bad not to pay, he was saying “C’mon, we need the money for the holydays…” and other cheap tricks which I fell for. Nevertheless, he assured me countless times that you guys will come back and finish the work: re-position the A/C, do the air balance and fix the thermostat (which at the time was not the one in the picture but a one stage thermostat. Other companies actually don’t collect the final money until a month after so one can make sure that everything is smooth and runs as expected. They charge a bit more but you get quality service. As I said before I was lured by the cheap price and sweet talk and all I got was cheap work and sweet talk. After a while I noticed the system was cycling too much. I spoke on the phone with Heating Plus and that’s when you guys started to guess: maybe is because of this, maybe because of that, maybe you need a two stage thermostat, etc. Ask Paul or Angel, they’ll tell you this is true (you say you don’t remember, maybe, because I did not talk to you on this issue but with Angel, not sure he told you or not but for sure he consulted your husband, Paul Walters. Which is also the owner of the company and supposedly the most experienced of the 2 guys or so working there). Angel brought a two stages thermostat (which I had to pay for and extra $80) and installed it, in the condition depicted in my posting. And yes, the system can work with the one stage thermostat you guys put initially but it is not the same, it has limitations. And it was YOU guys who suggested to try a two stage one because you had a similar problem (system cycling too much) with a previous customer and that’s what fixed her problem. I had to install it properly myself, as I said and it took me a lot of time. The photo is taken right before I started to do it, after I took the cover thermostat off. But I don’t know how this is relevant and how does it change the fact that you guys had no idea what was needed and were so sloppy in installing it (the wrong one too). Also, what you did not tell the readers of this forum is why I’d install the thermostat myself since you claim you give 10 years warranty! I could have simply called you and do it for me for free. WHICH I DID! But you warranty is ZERO, as I said, soon as you get the money you don’t care about anything. Also, do you expect people to believe that I’d run the wire through the vent in my own house, with kids running around? What a lame explanation… I am attaching the estimate and the proposal. The proposal says clearly the t-stat is free. The proposal also shows the thermostat. The extras are listed after (venting pipe, boot, humidifier, media filter). Any dumb reader knows when a new system gets installed, the thermostat comes with it, it is not extra. But nice try… Regarding the A/C unit, either you want to distract the attention from the issue or you don’t think because you’re saying the obvious. I put the brick under it on purpose: to show how half of its base is hanging out and how easy is to tilt it. No, it was not installed on a slant but it was installed improperly, 1/3 of its base is hanging out, in the air. And it’s easy to tilt. Even a strong wind will make it shake and move, it is not stable. A properly installed A/C cannot be moved so easy and the photo is just showing that. If I wanted to misinform and say you did not install it level to the ground, don’t you think I could have done a better job and airbrush the brick I put under? I work in computers after all… I am glad you write that nothing was mentioned in the proposal about the rebates, because I am attaching the form that YOU submitted to cool savings, bearing Paul’s signature… Plus the proposal, plus the estimate. They all are mentioning the rebates. OPA shows $125 and t-stat shows $40. But I was told by Angel that I’d get an extra $200 for the A/C unit and also YOU SAID that that’s true, but you guys did not register on time with the OPA. Is that not true? Here is the link with the Cool Savings rebates: http://everykilowattcounts.ca/residential/coolsavings/ And I got nothing! Also, in the form you filed, for OPA, bearing Paul’s signature, there is no info about the A/C, because you knew I am not going to get one! Why was I told that I will get the money? Probably that’s your aggressive marketing cheap strategy. So what are you going to say now? Anyways, talk is cheap, the fact is that I’ve never met somebody more carless and sloppy in doing their work… For the people that might consider these guys, I urge you again: pay a bit extra and get proper service and proper warranty… -------------------------------------------------- My last reply on this issue (you’ll hear from me next through the Consumer Protection Agency and I’ll also come at the Industrain College where you claim you are teaching. You really messed with the wrong guy, Paul. And all this for a bit of will on your side and maybe a couple of hours of work to fix your own mess): The irony is that I picked you on Homestars because of your good score. Now I know it’s mostly fake, you probably created accounts and gave yourself a good review. It’s also probably part of the job description for your 2 employees to write reviews (Like Mark and Serge do on this posting and others). So I don’t know why you are b1tching about Homestars! I am very curious, after the viral attacks on your customers and Homestars itself how much business you will get going forward. Because people are smarter today and they get even smarter: they read reviews, like I did. Ask yourself if you‘d hire somebody that wrote what you wrote… You added to your reply testimonials from your employees, that’s nice. Mark says: “ I was one of the installers, and that job was done perfect”. How would you know Mark when you told me you just started in this business that week and had no experience at all, as I mentioned in my original posting? And I am not trashing all you guys did, the work on the furnace was OK (apart from Angel fixing the hose that Paul installed and was leaking [the word is really pouring]). I gave you a bad review for the reasons I listed (A/C not properly positioned, system cycling too much, not installing the proper thermostat and installing it improperly, no air balance done as promised) and mostly because you customer service is ZERO, same as your 10 years warranty! Angel came in his own time to install the thermostat because he felt bad for me and for you guys not doing what you were supposed to do, simply your job. You also say “keeps editing his post to make it look good in resonse to ours”. First of all, since you mention my typo “holydays”, it’s “response”, not “resonse”. Secondly, again, you are saying obvious things and try to make them look like bad things. Editing your own posting is the only way to reply on Homestars, and I did not change a word in my previous postings. You would do anything to try to come clean out of this mess, you have no responsibility for the work you do, take no pride in it… And last thing for the readers of this guy’s reviews: you FAILED to reply why would I go through this trouble and post reviews, take time to read your dirt, and get even more upset than I already am with you? Why? If you say the work you did is complete and good, why would I do that? I didn’t like your face? I do this to random people, for fun? Look at all the reviews I gave on Homestars, there are 6 or 7 of them. All are 10 except yours. And I gave them before I gave yours. You have the guts to say you positioned the A/C correctly? You did the air balance? You didn’t make me call your wife/secretary Lucy 50 times (and this is not a metaphorical figure, it’s literally 50 times)? As I said in the beginning, this is my last comment, no matter what other dirt you want to say after…

A review for Smart Roofing Inc.

We needed to replace our 22 years old roof. We got a few quotes from a few companies, some we found on Homestars, some from referrals from friends. I had experience with people in the home renovation industry and I knew that no matter how careful one is, the experience can be painful. Jerry was great. Knowledgeable, not pushy, he gave me options and a good price. We also decided to replace the gutters and I am glad we did, they did a nice work on that too. All in all, everything went smooth and with no surprises. Thanks!

A review for Casa Bella Windows Inc.

We needed to replace all the windows on our home (25 in total) plus the patio door. I got a few quotes from companies I found on HomeStars, recommended by friends, or just come across. Steven was different than everybody else. I liked the fact that he was not putting pressure on me like others and he was very knowledgeable. He started with a lower quote for basic windows. We worked it up since we wanted better windows. The price was good, not the cheapest we found but not the most expensive either. He gained my trust. The crew was nice, did the job clean, and they seemed to know what they were doing. All in all was a great experience, even though I was afraid at the beginning, having dealt before with people in the home reno industry and finding the experience can be painful. Thanks for all Casabella.

A review for A-1 Heritage Chimney Sweeps

I just moved into a house that has wood fireplace. I've never used one before. Jeremy took time to explain me how to use it, some tricks and tips. He did a thorough inspection, cleaned the chimney and replaced the missing cage on the roof. All in all I was very satisfied.

A review for Top Line Air Duct Cleaning Inc.

They came on time, did a clean work, showed me how dirty some of the vents were before cleaning them, did everything with minimal disturbance. I was very satisfied with them.