Reviews

9/10

We were looking for an environmentally friendly carpet to have installed as a runner on our main staircase. Tony found the carpet we needed and arranged for the installation. There were a couple of small delays, but the work was completed in a timely manner and looks great. Our male dog and our toddler thank him very much as they are more confident when descending the stairs now.

Approximate cost of services:
$1,000.00
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Company Response

Hi David, Thank you for the review! It was our pleasure to help you out. Very nice meeting you. We look forward to seeing you again. Best of luck.Tony

1/10

Although the 2 guys assigned the work did a good job with the actual waterproofing, getting their boss, Vlad to arrive for any appointments was frustrating. No calls, he just didn't arrive when scheduled leaving me to track him down only to get the same excuse every time, "He's stuck at another job, the basement is filled with mud.". 2 different days with the exact same excuse. Finally, was able to secure them for the 2 day job, they arrived on the first day (Friday), but did not come back the next day. When I called they said the job wasn't for 2 days in a row as the sealant had to dry. Why they would agree to come 2 days in a row for this job is mind boggling. When I pressed Vlad about this he came to my house on the Sunday and was rude and verbally abusive to my wife and I. Our lawyer advised us to let him finish the job as there was a signed contract, otherwise I would have fired Vlad and Umbrella on the spot. Completely unprofessional company. THE FOLLOWING HAS BEEN ADDED FOLLOWING THE COMPANIES RESPONSE: Once again Vlad has jumped to conclusions. To clarify, I had trouble tracking Vlad down once for his initial quote... which is forgivable, but the 2nd time I had trouble tracking him down was after the job had been started, this is where I noticed the pattern but, it was too late, he had been hired already. The 2 day job was told verbally to my by Vlad, if he meant 2 - 4 days, neither myself or Bodana (the person who answers the company's phone) were aware of this as when I booked the guys to come for the work, we booked them for 2 days in a row (Friday & Saturday) and this was the point I was trying to make to Vlad... that there had been a miscommunication. Instead of a simple apology, he felt the need to call me a name indicating that I was not telling the truth. The when I simply asked him if we could talk about a lower price to compensate for the inconvenience caused by this miscommunication as I had to take two days off work instead of just one... he chose to fly off in a rage and call me a thief and a person who doesn't tell the truth... when he could have just said, "I'm sorry for the inconvenience, but no I can't lower the price." That's all... I never refused to pay him, I never withheld payment or even threatened to. So, if your reading this and you want to know why I gave them such a low rating, it is because a customer should never be yelled at, threatened or called names. It is inexcusable and just to keep Vlad happy, I have corrected the approximate cost I quoted. I accidentally entered $5000 instead of $4000.

Approximate cost of services:
$4,000.00
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Company Response

Hi, my name is Vlad Zazheuski, and I am a co-owner of Umbrella Waterproofing & Plumbing Solutions. Over time we became a very successful company due to our flawless workmanship using the most advanced technologies, and due to superior customer service (70 % of all our clients are Referrals). Our client’s feedback is very important to us whether it is positive or negative - it helps us to evolve & to deliver the best. Therefore once I saw the review dated August 14, 2012 by the customer above we have done the job for on August 26th of 2011, I couldn’t help but to comment on it. As I stated before, any feedback is important to us but for false statements. Every single one of our jobs is being documented, pictures are taken, and we honour any sentence of the contract and follow it fully. We have attached in the picture gallery a copy of signed agreement between us & Mr. F, along with the pictures taken from the job site for everyone to be able to see. Let me sum the negatives that Mr. F saw to rate us so poorly - for all existent clients and for the future ones, honest & nice. 1) First is us not being punctual, ignoring his calls/appointments. 2) Second, the timing of the work. 3) Third, me being “rude & verbally abusive to him & his wife”. It seems there is nothing else, since there are no issue found job-wise because we did citing “a good job”.
1. “Getting their boss Vlad to arrive for any appointments was frustrating. No calls, he just did not arrive when scheduled leaving me to track him only to get the same excuse every time “He is stuck at another job, the basement is filled with mud…” Poor Mr. F being ignored, BUT, what a MIRACLE, despite being ignored and given such unbelievable excuses (I’ve been doing w/p diagnostics & plumbing estimates for over 10 years and have seen sewage back-ups or water bursts, but have never seen “basement filled with MUD” ?), he decides to Hire us –“Finally, was able to secure them for 2 day job”. Ask yourself, if you are being treated that bad before you even start dealing with that company as Mr. F states, would you hire that contractor??? Very unlikely.
1. Timing of work process. Mr. F states “Finally, was able to secure them for the 2 day job”. Below I attached copy of the contract and any one can go through it trying to find where that “2 days” time comes from - nowhere, in writing at least. First of all, in this case, we were dealing with underground repairs, which imply the possibility of extra work involved. The severe water damage on the outside may take extra time to deal with, the condition of the drainage cannot be checked until everything is exposed, ground stability, curing, et cetera vary. Plus we were doing 27 feet (!!!) of exterior work, partially under the back entrance (note, we kept entrance INTACT) & with some concrete that needed to be broken. Mr. F unfortunately was under the impression that all of those factors do not exist and when we mentioned that the job might take from 2 to 4 days (thoroughly explained why so) he heard only 2 days (although this is not mentioned on the contract) and the rest for him was “mind boggling”. Before I will comment on the last reason of Mr. F’s “frustration” with me personally being “rude & verbally abusive”, I would like you to hear my part of the story. Our company, our office staff, our work crew & I, did tremendous job by fixing the problem and by delivering results to Mr. F. Unfortunately, none of it was appreciated and we were attempted to be robbed. After the major part of the repair was done – our first coating (stabilizer is our know-how) was applied & the excavation was completed (70 % of the work completed) I was approached by Mr. F & his wife that for some (totally absurd) reasons like timing (please keep in mind that job WAS completed in 2 days – Friday & Monday, whereas Saturday & Sunday took time for the treatment to cure & Sunday is our day off) they would want to settle with us for a way less amount than agreement was for. We are very reputable company, fully licenced & insured, member of BBB and have very strong protection against any fraud. So when I heard that they were trying not to pay I still was as polite as possible even though I had a full right not to be. (Are you talking to thieves nicely?) Please note that Mr. F “made a mistake” by showing below his review the cost of the job, which is significantly higher than actual price we quote - as you may see in the contract $3580 before HST.
In conclusion, I’d like to address HomeStars. We are very thankful for all of your support in connecting us with our clients and for providing us with a platform to bring awareness to our company. You are very pleasant people to deal with. We have one small request. Since your policy does not allow promoting anyone’s’ rating by posting fraudulent reviews, therefore it also should not allow to depreciate anyone’s rating using the same means. We’d like to ask to keep the review, however to remove the rating so that it is fair. Sincerely, Vlad