Where to start. The stress with this company started over a year ago. I walked in with my mom and was approached by a sales man who said he would take care of us. Knowing my father had passed and I was a single girl, completing renovations on my own was a scary thought. "The salesperson" Manny reassured me that he would look after everything and make sure I got the best deal for the best price. Of course you had to pay upfront for the "sale" which I did. I presented the sales person with a quote from another company and he said he would do better with the price and give me everything included, because he "wanted to take care of me" and that "I should trust him". I came home and started looking at reviews of this company (which I know I should have done first) and I started to panic. I called Manny and he reassured me that i will have a seamless installation (no pun intended)
Now we move to measurements. Khameron "measurer" (and thats all I will call him, because apparently he has no OTHER role) arrived. Like many reviews here, he started with the extra costs, I needed to pay for the sub flooring to be nailed it, a new noising piece and the furniture to be moved. He started to tell me that they didn't include the nosing costs where the banister needed to be replaced. I tried to be fair with them and agreed that the noising was not included and I would pay for that but everything else was to be included .
Install:
Hardwood: they did arrive on he scheduled day, the completing the install removing every last piece of wood. The account for 10% extra in their measurements which they should leave behind, They don't tell you the number of boxes you receive and me have no knowledge of any of this (yes my fault) never questioned when they said "they had NOTHING left".
Carpet:
The first scheduled date I removed all the drawers to make it easier for the furniture to be moved, and I sat there and waited. No one showed up. I spend two hours calling people to find the installer "had a family emergency".. right .. No one had the decency to call and let me know so I could continue on with my day. Next install day I again removed all the drawers in both rooms and waited. After an hour of waiting I start calling the office again. I am now told "sorry he cut his finger and cannot come today. You need to reschedule". Needless to say i was NOT pleased. The girls in the office (poor things have to deal with angry customers all day, because of everyone else's incompetence), told me they would compensate me and did what she could to get an early rescheduled date based on my availability. The guys show up tell and me my under pad is BETTER (12 years old) then the one i purchased. I went to check it and they are right. I call the office, say i don't want the under pad. After some back and forth I agreed that there would be no warranty on the carpet for stains and that I would received a refund of the cost (approx $300). She then tells me I owe money for the noising ($600). I agree and say no problem, talk to your manager and offer me some compensation for have to empty the rooms 3 times for the install and lets come to the number which includes the compensation minus the refund of the underpaid. NO CALL BACK.
In the next few months I think things are great, until my boyfriend realizes that they put spindles were installed with the incorrect spacing, there all at 5 1/2 at centre except for the last two which were 2" on centre, they also left two huge holes in the wall where the old bannister was installed. That same weekend we are moving furniture around to find that they put 3 friggen seams in the master bedroom to install this carpet and were short a 2 1/2 x 2 1/2 ft piece so they decided to use a slightly darker patch. They moved my furniture over it so i wouldn't see.
The is where it gets worse. I call the company and after 5 emails with pictures supplied of the crappy install, and several messages they finally call me back. The "Measurer" (remember him) comes over on Good Friday (March) to check things out. We walk him around and show him all the defects and he agrees that it was done incorrectly. He then asks me why I waited do long which i advised until we moved the furniture I did notice, and why is there no one who comes to get our your sub contractors work? No comment to that question. He then presents me which a bill for the $600 owing, which i refuse to even discuss at this point. He says we will hear from someone in a week. 2 weeks go by I call him he tells me its not his job, he gave his report in and its now the office job. So I call the office. The girls again have no clue what i am talking about.
Then one of them goes on vacation and my file is missing... convenient huh?
Once i get a hold of them again in May they have to send someone else to look at the carpet work. He comes out, agrees and writes a report. "You will hear from someone at the end of the week"... Crickets... I start my usual calling now we are preparing to put our place on the market. They agree to have someone come out right away to install the new nosing. The guys show up at 7pm on a Sunday, with an unstained piece. They laugh at how it was installed and said they will take care of it. We find them now on their knees scrubbing the front stairs because they have dropped the stain. They didn't bother to stain on the grass or even use a drop cloth. They ask my BF if he has anything to remove it. He said no and offered to go buy something. We were told don't worry we will be back tomorrow to clean it. They install the wood and off they go. They do return the next day with a cleaner that is only smearing the stain. When my BF suggests they needed something with acid as it has now sat for 24 hours he installer looks at him and says "well you said you were going to take care of it". They were then asked to leave right away as we had had it.
On yeah.. still no carpet. The "measurer" comes out again saying. Now he needs a sample of the carpet. After the house is sold (late June) he takes the piece from the cupboard. Says it takes 3 weeks to order. We advise of our closing date, are told NO PROBLEM once again. After three weeks I start to call. No one seems to know what I am talking about and I have to wait until they speak to the "measurer". Come now August 9th. Someone shows up with the carpet.. YAHOO!!! its the wrong colour and size. At this point we are fed up. I am surprised I can still type. The installer starts laughing and him himself (who is doing a favour for a friend to install this) comments on the crappy work and service we have received. He then says and "they are asking for you to pay an outstanding balance of $600". Now we have no choice but to all laugh, including the installer. That Sunday Giant Hardwood was having their "BIG SALE". We make our way to the head office, the Mississauga Store (which by the way is not called Giant Hardwood, its a family company so they spilt costs. There way of taking more money from people), Burlington store and called the Scarborough one.. we can't find the "measurer" or the sales guy anywhere. We are now closing in 5 days. MY BF drives back to Brampton and asks for the closet piece back, no one knows where it is. Oh to add I have been calling along with my BF prior to the visit for some answers. He sits there for 3 hours because the "measurer" starts at 5pm. At 6:45 he is told, "this is not an excuse but the "measurer" was in a car accident and will not be in". When he left he told the girls (again who know NOTHING about anything) to have him call us and deliver our piece (which we paid for) for the closet, and that we were done. For two days we hear nothing, other then excuses every time we call. My BF makes a surprise visit on the Wednesday (2 days before closing). The "measurer" is there and acts as if he has no idea of what we are talking about. Another gentleman there states that he will look after us. No one knows why the measurements are off or why the wrong colour was sent. But he will call the warehouse and have it done before we close. In the meantime he sent my BF home with the closet piece which was not filthy, as they had it in the warehouse, amongst the crap and had forklifts driving over it... Awesome.
To end this nightmare of service story, we have moved to our new place. NO replacement carpet was ever installed and are investigating our options with with smalls claims court.
Apologies for the long winded rant.... but that is how long we have been dealing with this horrible, horrible company. Please if you want to save yourself the hassles, pay the extra money and don't trust these guys.
I have included several pictures from the install, to the stain of the stairs, replacement carpet etc.. Enjoy
- Approximate cost of services:
- $5,200.00