Reviews

10/10

I would just like to say that I told everyone I knew about MAGIC. No one, I knew, had even heard about MAGIC in my search of looking for anyone I may have known that had any experiences with MAGIC. I did my research and asked my next door neighbour if they wanted to try MAGIC as well since they too were looking into changing their windows as well. My neighbours had never heard of MAGIC either. Once they looked into the product and other companies, my neighbours agreed to give MAGIC a go. Please allow me to set the stage here ... 2 houses with a combination of close to $100K in revenues easy. Also, with the 2 projects completed now, I now know of 3 other neighbours on our street who made (or will be making) inquiries to MAGIC, plus acquaintances at work and family who also did or are doing the same. Not to mention anyone else my neighbour may have spread the word to. YOU ARE WELCOME MAGIC! I would also just like to point out that I told MAGIC this would happen and requested a goodwill discount for the 2 projects since I had no doubt that these 2 projects might start a snowball effect...but alas, we were SHUTDOWN, MAGIC would not hear any of it, which was SUPER disappointing. They allowed me to say my peace but kindly said NO. Let's face it, they had a product I wanted and they knew it. I wasn't getting it from anywhere else, so they didn't have to entertain anything, but I had to try. On to the experience ... at first I was very happy ... but upon reflecting back, I can now say that I didn't care much for Tracy's 'project management' approach, it is more like a car salesman approach (sorry Tracy). Tracy did put in the time, I'll give him that, and he did say all the right things and stayed with us for hours as we had some concerns. Tracy did answer everything he could, he really couldn't answer everything as we had installation concerns and I did feel at times, perhaps, he was blowing smoke up our butts just to ease our mind to sign. Well, I can't say it didn't work, we did sign but as soon as we signed and paid the deposit, he did nothing much after. Said he would be there every step of the way through the project because he was the 'project manager', but he could careless ... as soon as he made the commission, he did nothing. I received no updates from him and the automatic emails I received from MAGIC in regards to the progress were WAY OFF. I was still getting progress emails after the installation was finished. Just putting on the hardware on the windows, are you? Funny ... what am I currently opening my new windows with? HAHA, I always get a good laugh at the progress emails. Clearly, no one is monitoring them. I also gave MAGIC 4 months to get everything prepared for my chosen installation week and Tracy told me it would not be a problem. I had given them enough notice and he told me it shouldn't be a problem. So, guess what happened? I did NOT get the installation week I requested 4 months prior. Had I not brought up the fact that my chosen installation week was coming up quick and questioned why I hadn't heard anything, I would probably still be waiting for the windows. My neighbours project went on without a hitch (insert Corey's name here). I signed & paid the deposit a few days earlier than my neighbours, yet nothing went according to plan with Tracy, even with 4 months notice. My neighbours got theirs in less than 3 months (I think it was closer to 2 or 2.5 months). I originally requested for Corey (even said I would wait for him as he wasn't available right away), as that's who I read in all the reviews about and everyone had great experiences dealing with Corey. MAGIC would not allow me to get Corey, really pushed Tracy on us. Told us Tracy was just as good, blah, blah, blah (no Lior, Tracy is nothing like Corey from what I heard and saw). My next door neighbour had Corey as their project manager and they were very pleased with him. Corey even followed up with them after (like a true Project Manager should). I also found out after talking with a few neighbours that Tracy left out a few minor options that were available from MAGIC but are only available before manufacturing. Had I known about those, I may have selected those minor options. Corey did not forget to mention those little minor details to all my neighbours that he spoke to, so, I feel pretty stupid that they got options we were not privy to and I was the one that introduced MAGIC to the street. I was not pleased. SUPER disappointed in the lack of knowledge to remember to mention a few things I would have liked to have had the option of choosing. Now - the reason why I gave them a 10/10 is not for the SALES (duh) ... I wish I could rate different aspects of the project. I gave MAGIC a 10/10 for the things that mattered to us ... I didn't think it was fair to give a lessor rating just because the 'project manager' we got was not very good in following up with the project, as everything else went well, actually, it was better once I stopped asking Tracy anything (just a waste of my time) ... the product, the INSTALLERS and the INITIAL SERVICE VISIT ... of which, TRACY had no dealings with ... I dealt with 3 departments; the OFFICE for booking (including delays) and final payment questions, the INSTALLERS and the SERVICE MANAGER as those are the persons that seem to care about our project and got things done and knew exactly what was going on and how to get it done. SHAI was our lead installer of his installation team ... really fantastic person. Very friendly and took care and patience to get our project done correctly. I was delayed 2 days due to rain but the first day they were able to start was SUPER hot, felt like 40C, so I really felt for his team. It was very hot and a difficult day to work in the labour intensive job they were doing. But they didn't delay me again and made it through the day and did a fantastic job, as uncomfortable as they were with the weather. I can't imagine how hard that must have been for them. I did offer whatever I could to help them get through the day, but they came well prepared with their own water and whatever else to help get them through the insanely hot day. MAGIC did miss a component on the manufacturing of one of the windows, but I caught it right away and was able to inform them in time for them to correct the issue while they were still there during the next 2 days. MAGIC designs and manufacturers their windows so well that the component that was missing was easy to add on and no removal of the initial new window was necessary. It was perfect. I'll admit, I was a little worried. I thought they would have to re-manufacture the window with the right components and re-install the window at a later date but thank goodness they didn't have to do any of that ... Shai was experienced enough to wait for all the things he needed before closing up the window, so he didn't have to redo anything. He just popped in the additional component, added the installation foam and closed up the window. You can't even tell that they added the missing component and the important part was I didn't need to under go further delays...AWESOME! The same installers measured everything repeatedly at different points of the project so that was reassuring. I liked that they weren't over confident and didn't take anything for granted...measure, measure, measure. I liked that they took pride in checking everything repeatedly and told you that they would. That was a nice touch. A little goes a long way with keeping nerves down during a renovation. We did have a minor cosmetic issue on the window wall and functional issues with some of the accessories but MAGIC sent a SERVICE technician, KONG, and he was fantastic. Knew all the tricks and quick fixes to get everything running smoothly and looking fantastic. I can't even tell what the original issue was, he did a great job. Super nice and friendly as well. KONG did a fantastic job, we are very happy with the SERVICE and now we are SUPER happy with the functionality of the accessories. SHAI & KONG both gave us some tricks of the trade to keep the windows and accessories looking great and functioning well for years to come. That too was a nice touch, again, a little effort goes along way to keeping customers happy with the product and services they received. My only advice is to LISTEN carefully to anything the INSTALLERS and/or SERVICE guys tell you on how to use the windows and accessories as I guarantee you will forget 2 seconds later. You will nod your head and think you will remember because it seems so simple but you will forget and when it happens to you, that's when you might realize, oh that's what he must have meant. Bells eventually go off and the issue you thought you had wasn't an issue at all, it was just you forgetting what they told you. Another thing worth mentioning is that this product is not a common innovation and will take time to adjust. The windows we selected are not sliders and the accessories are not the blinds we were accustom to for our whole life. The windows open differently and the accessories open differently, but I can happily say that I love the new innovations and will in time adjust to the operation being automatic. I know it sounds stupid, but when you get the windows and/or accessories it will all make sense. One more point to make is dust from window replacement is UNFORGIVING ... sticks to the walls and furniture ... take the time to invest in covers for as much as you can ... I only had covers for the significantly important things and they covered as much as they could but even the unimportant things are a pain to clean. Cover, cover, cover. It will make cleaning that much easier. I also was expecting the accessories to be of better quality but perhaps I had high expectations. The accessories are very nice and 1000% better than the awful (super expensive customized) blinds I had before. My windows look much more cleaner and crisp without the annoyance of dated or broken blinds...I don't like my windows when they are too busy. I like clean, crisp and most of all no hassle window decor, which MAGIC has succeeded in achieving. The windows are better at keeping the outside street noise out than our last set of windows. Also, SHAI does a great job in the interior but an even better job on the exterior. I can't tell you how impressed at how we were with how the windows look from the outside perspective. Due to the age of the house (~20 years), SHAI had to fix a few exterior items to complete the closure of the windows on the outside and let me tell you, he blew us out of the water. Super impressed with the care and patience he had and how he fixed the exterior look that the windows required. I was very naïve and worried how he was going to finish everything, having left those items to the last day. I now see that perhaps he just needed the time to take care in finishing it off correctly without rushing it and also probably needed the weather to cool off, which it did on the last day. Shai really made the MAGIC windows pop by his excellent skill and knowledge. We are SUPER happy and proud to show off the exterior look of the house with the new windows thanks to SHAI. After I finish caulking and painting the trim on the inside and clean the windows, I will be just as proud of the interior as I am of the exterior. Overall, we love the products, the installers did a fantastic job and the service technician is just as knowledgeable and experienced as the installers when it comes to the accessories. The windows are larger and let more light in, look cosmetically better than any other windows I've seen (yes, there is a difference) and function very well when it comes to home energy efficiency. We are extremely happy with the end result. 9 WINDOWS (WHITE EXTERIOR) 1 WINDOW WALL (BLACK EXTERIOR) ALL THE BELLS AND WHISTLES $32,100 BEFORE TAXES

Approximate cost of services:
$32,100.00
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10/10

Tony from Ambia was great at answering all our questions, very patient and really helped us get the best products/materials for the best prices. Ambia has a great reputation for a reason, great pricing and great access to the best materials and products. Aldo has a great team of installers. Aldo came in to take the measurements to make sure everything would be sized properly and his installers did a great job making sure the doors were installed correctly and insulated all the gaps. Really great work, I had not realized how much air was leaking in from our old doors until the new doors were put in and now we have no drafts! Any imperfections of a cosmetic nature were addressed and corrected, really nice touch of customer service. They really want to make sure you are happy before you make the final payment. Never thought I would love looking at my doors so much, great work, thanks Ambia!

Approximate cost of services:
$10,500.00
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Company Response

Thanks for the nice compliments Jennifer , we are pleased that you love your new doors.

10/10

The Better Contracting Crew we had on our roof were very disciplined. The crew were down a few members due to illnesses working in this crazy weather and I felt very bad for the crew, having to make up for the missing members. Talking to them for 5 minutes I felt I was robbing them of very valuable working time. They were under pressure and just wanted to complete the job to the best of their ability. Working in the construction industry, I understand from an administrative perspective, that illnesses during the year are often a shortfall and something everyone else just has to suck up and make due to get the job done. We are very appreciative of the crew's great work ethic and ability to get the job done under the timeline pressures of daylight hours and minimum personnel. I was very honoured to have such a great crew working on our roof. A good work ethic is often hard to come by. Better contracting's commitment to getting the job done did not go unnoticed and they were commended on their efforts and quality of craftsmanship as no corners were cut to get the job done quicker. If there's any doubt in which company to hire, hire Better Contracting. I know its the best company decision I have ever made for home renovations thus far.

Approximate cost of services:
$9,000.00
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