Menkes Developments Ltd

After owning our previous homes, my wife and i had a great idea of what exactly we were looking for. We purchased the home in 2011 and Menkes has been great. We visited the site daily and even raised our concerns during the construction process which they rectified quickly! (brick pattern was incorrect). Even after closing they took care of all of our concerns and even to this day, we still email their customer service (Dana) who is very helpful with supplying (which contractors did what so we can have certain projects continued by them) Like mentioned we were on the site on a regular basis and compared to our other house (during construction) the site was always kept clean. When we took possession we did have a home inspector in just to double check and we were happy that everything was good (with some minor fixes). Altogether we liked the entire process we had with Menkes and would buy from them again.

Bought a townhouse in Oct 2009. Roof was leaking after just 3 years. Menkes (specifically Christine with Customer Care) blamed the roofing contractors and offered no assistance. I've heard many horror stories about this builder that I wish I had of known before buying.

Its funny how they make you feel so taken care of and show how much quality they have in their buildings, but when you finally get your product, eg home, its the opposite. Leaky basement after a few years of ownership, bad craftsmanship with flooring and kitchen. The list goes on.

I moved in this condo last year. My experience has been horrible with management in this building. You will need to book the elevator to move even a chair in your unit. In order to book an elevator you need to deposit a money order of $500 (cost approx $10 to make a money order) in the management office between 9 to 4 pm during weekdays. You can't move anything after 5 pm during weekdays and whole day on Sunday. This is a height of stupidity. You can't bring new furniture with ease or sell old furniture to anyone. I just want to move out from here as soon as possible. Please never move to this building as you will bring many troubles in your life. My example is just one of them.

Purchaed menkes in 2005 - still a problem home. List too long to show here but majors were holes in the walls - broken windows - broken countertop -debris left all over the roof and in the air vents - they flooded the upstairs 1 week before possession - they used the extra carpet that we bought and paid for, to replace the ruined upstairs carpet before we moved in - and it took us almost 2 years to get the carpet back from menkes - their reasoning was that the plumber flooded the upstairs, and if they gave us the carpet (that we bought extra) the plumber would have to pay for it - SO WHAT - the door to the basement was so out of line it stuck out 3 inches on the top - just terrible workmanship all over the house. They would make an appointment and not show up and when I would call they would say well who made the appointment - AAGH - Terrible follow service (non-existant really) absolute terrible workmanship - would NEVER buy from them again - Tarion was a joke and useless

My husband and I recently purchased a house by Menkes in Ajax in Oct 2011. While the sales office person, Lynn was great and very helpful, the customer care people (Carolyn and Christine) after moving in are a nightmare to deal with. They are nice as long as you never tell them anything is wrong. They refuse to deal with deficiency lists that I gave them and refused to provide upgrades stated in my paperwork "upgraded moldings are not for carpet" when my paperwork clearly states "upgraded throughout". The fireplace smells so bad even after allowing it to stay on for 12 hours a day for 4-5 days with all windows open. We had to call in another company who said it is combusting back into the house!! They are still claiming it is normal!! I reported wood floor problems to them on the day we moved into the house and they are saying the humidity in the house is too high! The wood floor manufacturers said 45-55% and we have around 45%. They are trying to say it should be at 35%. That is wrong. How is the wood floor issues before I moved in (and installed a humidifier on the furnace, as recommended) the home owner's issue? Tape record or video tape all walk throughs with them and everything they say! Stay away from Menkes!

My fiancee and I have just purchased our first home. We were quite meticulous in our research on the local builders in Ajax, Ontario. We also visited the model homes mulitple times before selecting our builder. What separated Menkes was their professionalism and customer service. The on-site sales representative, Pat Birch was amazing. She was so helpful and gave us tips for upgrades in the home that would be necessites for our lifestyle vs. things that could wait. We also met with Dawn, the Menkes Decor Specialist who was very helpful in assisting us with our decor/upgrade selections. Both Pat and Dawn are great for getting back to us in a timely fashion when we send them emails. We also spoke to the customer care center for Menkes and dealt with a representative named Jessica Grober who did a great job in answering our questions and getting back to us in a timely fashion as well. Menkes has definitely shown why they are one of the top building comapnies and their committment to customer service. I would refer them to any of my friends/family who are in the market for purchasing a new build.

Bought a townhome built by Menkes. Their condos are middle/upper end. Good or first time buyer. The choice of their locations are usually urban and centralized area. Should retain values over time. Don;t like their deposit structure as they now require 25% prior to closing. I thought is too much for some buyers. But in general, they are easier to deal with. They keep the process and paper work simple.

I find that their quality is very good, but the are unyielding in their choices in that you have few selections and they are not willing to change. They are very prompt via email, they will contact you quickly with answers and responses.

The building quality is not amazing, after only 5 years of use there are already numerous problems. For example, the tile floors are cracking, the engineered hard wood floors were easily scratched, the walls are thin and the cabinets are the thickness of paper. I would not recommend this builder, although if you are on a budget and cannot afford a tridel built home, it's still probably not your worst option.