Customer from Calgary

We hired Russel, owner of Crossline Developments, on the recommendation of a mutual acquaintance. Russel is a real charmer and a great salesman, and he sold me on hiring him to renovate my basement. He requested a very large deposit, and despite my misgivings, I gave him approximately $8000. Huge mistake! I found out after the fact that he does not have a pre-paid contractor lisence, even though he assured me that he would have it all in place before the work started. I trusted a con-artist! Do not hire this man or his company. Once he has the money, he shows up very sporadically to work, does a very sub-standard workmanship, and claims he has a plumbers lisence and a carpenter's lisence when he does not. Do not beleive anything he tells you, he doesn't know what he is doing. The bathtub was all roughed in incorrectly, and the faucet and walls had to be removed and done correctly, the electricain that he hired to rough in the wiring did a very poor job and the wiring had to be completely redone, just to give a small example of the very bad workmanship. The drywall was hung incorrectly, and the mud/tape job looked like it was done by a child. There was so mud on the joints that it cost twice as much to fix it, as what i paid Russel to do the work in the firat place. The plumbing that he did had to be all torn out and redone properly, and the toilet that he removed by smashing it with a hammer caused pieces of toilet porcelein to go into the drain and had to be removed with a scope. He patched holes in the drywall by putting a layer of tape over them, and then a layer of mud. It only took a finger to poke right through these patches in the walls. His crew left windows wide open in the winter, when they left, cigarette butts covered the driveway, and the basement was left in a dirty mess at the end of the workday- when they did actually show up. Russell also has a temper, and if you dare to ask him any questions about the renovation, or when he will next be showing up on the jobsite, be prepared for a meltdown of temper. Stay away from this company is the advice that I give. Also, check out the reviews of his previous company, KJK Builders. There are many people that have been ripped off by Russel , as far as I have been told and have read. Do your research, and do not give a deposit for any reason!