Reviews

3/10

We live in a row of townhomes. We hired Oasis Complete Landscaping and Snow Services to remove the snow out front. They came by with a 4-wheel drive truck. They didn't shovel the sidewalk along the street. Instead, they drove their truck onto it, and ploughed the sidewalk. I'm not sure if they're licensed for that, or even if it's legal. But it does create a mess where they drive up and over the snow bank. which they leave for the neighbours to clean up. When one of the neighbours asked their driver (Dave) not to do that, please -- not to drive his plough on the sidewalk like that, he received a rude reply. The neighbour called the company, and spoke with someone who claimed to be one of the owners, but refused to give his name. The owner said he intended to continue driving the plough on the front sidewalk. He said there wasn't anything he could do about the mess it left behind, either, because he wasn't actually there, in person, to see it. (?) So I decided to post this review. I'll forward a copy of it to my neighbours. I hope they agree with me, that we ought to be using HomeStars to find a better company. If you are thinking of hiring Oasis, please be forewarned: they're inconsiderate, unprofessional and their owners have a preference for remaining anonymous. You might want to think twice about doing business with them.

Approximate cost of services:
$1,200.00
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Company Response

Im going to respond by dispelling some of the false statements I see although I understand everyone has an interpretation of the facts. First of all the cost of your service was $400 not $1200. Secondly, your sidewalks were shoveled every time with exclusion of once where the incident you refer to occured, however the incident isnt quite how I remember it. Yes one of our opperators used the plow to clear the sidewalk however this was a sidewalk butted up against the street and was unobstructed by vehicles and pedestrians. As for the rude reply, I believe this was your interpretation, however, I was not there personally to witness it. I find it difficult to believe as I havent had that complaint before. The reason we didnt bother fixing the mess around the sidewalk on the street is simple. You failed to mention that your street hadnt been plowed, this was a major storm and your street was basically down to one lane. The city had made an enormous mess on your street and made our work even more difficult then it normally is. As for legal and license for plowing sidewalks. There is no such thing as a license to plow sidewalks. Not for us ~ or for the city. Its a matter of safety. If us or anyone else including the city ever hits someone on a sidewalk they are completely liable. However, on a clear street at 3 am if the need arises which is rare, its not the end of the world. Lastly, when I did finally touch base with you I did not hide my name and I identified myself as one of the owners. I didnt have to do this, however, I was more then happy to listen to your concerns and address them however I could.

Last year was the worst snow winter in modern times and we made every effort to service our clients as consistently and courteously as possible. As a new company last year I believe we managed this quite well. We received very few complaints in an industry where most companies telephones are ringing off the hook with concerns. Those few concerns that customers had we dealt with swiftly and amicably.

I am trully sorry your experience was unpleasant, however, in this industry as many other service industries, not everyone is happy all of the time. We continue to strive to meet the expectations of our customers and are always open to hearing how we can improve our services and customer relations.

9/10

Diligent and professional service from Mike and Eric at DrainWorks. They were able to think backwards and solve a problem upstream of the drain. Here's the story: A spill of paint thinner (2L) occurred in the basement entrance way. Apparently it had flushed clean through the drain system. Nevertheless it was still generating fumes, and the house is uninhabitable without special ventilation. They inspected the drains with a video camera, and figured it out. The fumes are probably coming from the foundation wall and floor. They found that the drains themselves were OK all the way to the street. Out back where the spill occurred, the S-trap under the inlet was full of sediment, and therefore draining slowly. So the large volumes of water that were originally used to clean up the spill must have caused the drain to back up somewhat, at that time. A line of 'weeping tiles' runs into the same inlet, just beneath the surface. It drains the foundation. When the water backed up, it must have backed up onto the weeping tiles, carrying the paint thinner with it. The weeping tiles are semi-permeable. So the paint thinner has probably seeped into the foundation wall and adjoining floor. From there it is evaporating into the house. Good detective work. (Now, if anyone knows how to neutralize paint thinner that's soaked into the foundation, please let me know. :) -- Mike Allan, mike@zelea.com

Approximate cost of services:
$265.00
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Company Response

**Thanks Michael** We appreciate your review. At DrainWorks we understand how essential a good problem solver is to address your concerns. And in this situation, using our equipment and problem solving skills, we were able to pin point the probable source of your problem. When assessing a situation like yours, an invisible fumes smell, pin pointing the source is somewhat based on logic and probability, which suggests that a possible course of action for a permanent solution must in it self be probable, an attempt at best. We did offer such an attempt in the form of a power flushing quote, but it was declined. In our opinion a power flushing of the weeping tile would be an attempt at alleviating the smell or at the very least lessening it. Although such a process could hold no guarantee for your unique situation, it would be the first step towards solving the problem.