District Stairs is no more than a middle man between customer and average contractor and not trained group of professionals as we were let to believe. Their show room is just that for show. If customer is unhappy and asks for refund, mr Marlon forces them to finish the project by claiming breach of contract. If a review is posted, he simply requests Google to remove it. On the other websites his way of damage control is to discredit the reviewer. Thankfully we did stair treads and risers ourselves, so at least we were left with the damage that is fixable. Question remains why mr Marlon, as a stair professional, didn't let us know that the posts we picked aren't compatible with old fillet, instead posts were forcefully connected to metal or wooden rails pulling them away from pickets. We have to hire welding company to manufacture new posts connectors and steel fillet extensions and to fill extra holes. On a top of that every stair picket is burned from cutting them with the wrong saw. Replacing them could cause tread damage..
We picked this company for impressive portfolio and spotless reputation on Google, we signed a contract In February2022 and scheduled to start after Easter. We since then have changed our mind about expensive metal railings and requested wooden railings instead. We had to source hardwood ourselves as D.S.wasn't able to provide the one we choose on signing.We had to wait 4months for hardwood to arrive. D.S. installed originally requested oak treads on basement stairs.We didn't like how wood grain looked with light stain colour. We requested to change to maple treads and risers for the main staircase. While sampling stain
we've learnt that maple doesn't stain consistently. We then researched a
technique which require sanding first layer of stain off. This extra work
wasn't in the D.S. contract, so we decided to source, fit, stain and install
treads and risers for main staircase ourselves.
We then requested D.S. to install the supplied hardwood floors, install newel posts, pickets and railings. Given our changes, we suggested either
return deposit minus work done on basement stairs, or complete work
that was requested and still remains part of the contract. It took several
phone calls to schedule floor install, it then took 2months for D.S.to
come to make a template for custom curved nosings.
While installing newel posts at the top, one post wasn't in line with the other, moving it left marks. The custom curved railing didn't fit
correctly/was misaligned and needed to be re-cut. Finishing piece were
2pieces and were falling apart, we asked for new railing so we can find
the way to cover groove on the end of railing properly.
A different team came to install stair railings and pickets. After they left we didn't even receive a phone call from D.S. to check on the work done.I
then emailed a pic of defective part and they apologized and assured
someone will come shortly to fix It. I requested new part to be made.
Instead of advising new steel fillet was required, the old one was
modified. It doesn't fit properly under new railing and looks incomplete.
To be fair most of the defects were resolved after debate, but I don't feel they should have happened in the first place.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $25,000.00
- Company Response
District Stairs is not in business to have unhappy customers; Nataliya and her husband Chris Devadason are no exceptions. District Stairs exists to please our customers and we continue to have extremely satisfied customers. This job had been ongoing for about a year through no fault of District Stairs. We will refrain from stating all the facts for now, as Chris Devadason personal communication with us is just that, private. Suffice it to say that these clients decided to do a large part of the work on their own, like installing the wooden railings, as if they were stairs and railings professionals, which they clearly were not, and which in itself was a breach. There were multiple other breaches by Chris Devadason and his wife Nataliya . Because, they insisted that they did a large part of the work themselves, which DIstrict Stairs had originally been contracted to do, the kind of completed quality work that District Stairs is known for was not attained by them. Yet, they have proceeded to present this mishmash of work as if their hands were not in it and as if District Stairs was not hindered from doing its work. In fact, from the moment the contract was signed, the nightmare started with scores of emails coming in each day, with numerous changes. As could be imagined, it was very frustrating to work with Chris Devadason and his wife Nataliya and the trades also complained of his wife screaming at them repeatedly. We tried our best to work with them in spite of the hellish challenges because it’s our duty to serve the customer and to serve the customer well, but, in spite of our efforts, the tyranny was persistent. They have posted reviews and removed reviews and keep posting and removing reviews when we reply to them. It’s a sort of destructively obsessive attempt to slander the name of District Stairs. We understand fully and we know fully that there is an issue that we can’t talk about as yet, because of privacy reasons, so we have to contend with the slander for the time being.