An assisted review is collected by a contractor on behalf of the homeowner after their work is completed. The homeowner must confirm the text of the review and may make any changes she or he deems appropriate. The homeowner then assigns the contractor a review score out of 10. Assisted reviews receive the same scrutiny as other reviews and must follow our review guidelines.
Yuri was called to inspect the work done on the roof shingles replacement. He charged me $200 and spent approximately 5-10 minutes on the roof. He issued a report, which turned out to be not correct, namely: the number of air vents he claimed were 5 when in fact there are 6 (this was important b/c the roofers were employed to install 6, and Yuri was specifically asked, more then once, to confirm that), he reported one broken shingle on the porch (an area maybe 1x1.5m in size), which could not be found by the roofers afterwards, even though located at such a tiny area. When I asked him to come over and mark the broken shingle (so that the roofers can replace it, roofers asked for that) and to back up his report that there were 5 air vents and not 6 (so that I get the roofers to install the 6th one, as the contract stipulated), Yuri said "he had no desire to came again", and that for $200 he did more then enough. He even said it was not up to him to count down the air vents (?!?) The most interesting thing is Yuri's obsession with this site, the homestars.com. He started coercing me to come here and commend his work even when he was here, and then he continued by emails when he went home. He was upset that I didn't come to praise him, so, unbelievably enough, he WROTE A REPORT BY HIMSELF FOR ME TO APPROVE (that report is below this message). And when I still didn't approve it he sent me another email, telling me that I "was requested" to do so, and in the commanding tone he told me to make sure to check the spam folder b/c the notification from the homestars.com might have gone there. In that report (pls see below), he also said that thanks to him the roofers came back to fix the work, which did not happen by the time he wrote the praise for himself, and therefore he made a false claim. In summary: Yuri didn't do a proper job, didn't come to back up his report when challenged by the roofers, and didn't come for a follow up visit (which would be for an additional fee) after the roofers did the corrections. He was reluctant to climb on the roof, showing other houses around which have "easier" access to the roof, and even asked "should I have to climb to the roof again after the roofers do the corrections?". I therefore do not recommend Yuri's Home Inspections 4U services. Below is the message Yuri wrote for me to approve: I had new roof installed and I wanted to verify the quality of the work. I contacted Home Inspections 4U. Yuri was able to find time to come the same day. He climbed on the roof and inspected everything. He found that some of the flashing was not replaced and few shingles were broken. He also noted few other deficiencies. Thanks to Yuri I was able to get a contractor back to repair everything. I'm very grateful to Yuri for the honest and professional work. Thank you, Yuri.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $200.00
- Company Response
Dear Mr. Vladimir Novakovic:
I was sincerely disappointed to see your review. It was the first negative review for my company among more than 50 other responses, and I was honestly shocked to read it.
First, let me just say that, if you leave a negative comment, I believe it is only fair to other customers to identify yourself by full name instead of commenting anonymously. The City of Richmond Hill ought to know its heroes.
Second, it is never sensible to start with a blatant lie. You write that I spent 5-10 minutes on your roof. Unless you used a stop-watch during the inspection, you truly have no way of knowing the exact time I spent on the roof. According to my watch and the total time spent on the inspection, I spent more like 25-30 minutes on the roof examination.
Next, you said that I indicated in my report that there were 5 air vents on the roof. If you review your report, you will see that there is absolutely nothing in it about the vents (it is always a good idea to refer back to your report when you are in doubt; if you wish, I can publish your report here for other people to see). You did not mention your concern with the number of vents during the inspection; you inquired about them in a separate email after I sent you the report. I replied that I thought there were 5 vents on the roof but I did not remember exactly. It turns out that there are indeed 5 air vents on the main roof, plus one additional on a separate garage roof. However, it seems that you are still failing to understand the main point, which I explained in the aforementioned email – that the exact number of air vents is IRRELEVANT for proper attic ventilation. It does not matter whether you have 5 or 6 vents for the attic to be ventilated properly. You never indicated that you wanted the exact number of vents documented in the report to be reviewed by roofers– I was not privy to your contract and the number of vents stipulated in it.
Your next point is the cracked shingle, which I photographed, included in the report and pointed out to you (I am sure it takes a very careless inspector to notice such a small crack). It was on a porch roof and you clearly saw it when I showed it to you. I am not sure why the roofers could not see it. The photo evidence of the crack taken during my inspection is in the report, and your roofers can refer to it at their convenience.
You have expressed dissatisfaction with the fact that I refused to return to back up my findings to the roofers. I politely remind you that in our society, there is a fee for every service, and each service should be done, in your own words, on a professional’s “own free will, certainly not pushed or coerced to do it”. In your email, instead of politely asking me whether I was able and willing to do this ADDITIONAL service for you, you wrote in a demanding tone “When can you come to check their fixes? I presume a fair price for this would be a $100 as this is the continuation and not an additional work from your side.” I cannot remember a case of customers setting a fee for the professional’s services. I am not obliged, in your case, to follow up on my work, and, if I do decide to do it, it would be quite a bit of ‘additional work on my side’ and certainly not a ‘continuation’. I decided to forgo your generous offer of $100 for my services, and politely declined in my email response.
I always conduct my inspections in good faith. The good faith towards yourself was that I arrived at your place almost immediately, within an hour of your request, even though I was busy with preparing a report for another inspection. You made it sound important and urgent – I came and did everything and beyond to help you. By the Home Inspections Standards of Practice, NO INSPECTOR is required to climb roofs – I did it as a courtesy to you, in good faith, offering you high-quality customer service.
As you “complain” about my inspection here for other people to see, did you mention my findings about old flashings, which your roofers did not change, and which could cause problems with your roof in the future, because old flashings do not perform well with new shingles? Did you tell people about my recommendations regarding downspouts discharging on the lower roof, tree branches being too close to the roof, caulking used in places where it does not belong, and other relevant deficiencies, which would not be revealed without a Home Inspection? Instead, you were upset over having to pay $25 for the 6th vent, which is no more than another hole in the roof.
Finally, you write about my “obsession” with Home Stars. This is not an obsession, Mr. Novakovic. Home Stars is a very reputable referral site, and I am proud to have a rating on it. I am indeed obsessed – with delivering the best quality care to homeowners and educating people about houses they live in. And when customers share their positive experience on a site such as Home Stars with other people, they are taking the first step in this education process. This is the reason I politely sent you a few reminders to leave your feedback on this site. Unfortunately, in your extensive review, you expressed utter frustration – and not with my quality of work but rather with my unwillingness to perform a cheap service. As you can see, more than 50 people have expressed their genuine appreciation of my work – I hope that new customers will draw the correct conclusions from your post.
My motto is Honesty, Decency and Quality. I stand by these principles for more than 10 years, conducting residential property inspections full time, and will continue to stand by them. Home Inspections 4U is and always will be All About YOU.