C-A from London

We needed a fire exit in our basement and had Absolute dig down to our basement foundation, cut a 4' X3' exit window and a special deep window well with integrated steps. This provided an excellent amount of light into our rec room and a safe egress window should there be a fire. They did a great job and I would recommend them. They were on time and on budget.

Ordered kitchen cupboards through a big box store and had TSB Design & Build install both cupboards and counter-top. Their service was excellent starting off with meticulous measurements to ensure the ordered cupboards were going to fit, and following through with terrific craftsmanship in the installation of the units in our 65 year old house - adjusting for wonky walls and ceiling. Timm and his crew were friendly, personable and reassuring throughout. I would not hesitate to recommend them for any job -big or small.

We purchased a stove at Sears Outlet (with no extra warranty) and had problems with the light flashing on and off in the oven. It did take 2 visits by Sears Appliance Repair personnel to figure out the problem (the stove had been dropped prior to our purchase). Sears was extremely honourable and credited us with the money we had paid on the stove and worked out the best deal for us to trade the damaged stove for a new one. We did choose a more expensive model, and paid the difference. Repair was free each time, and the delivery and removal of the old stove was taken care of very professionally. It is not the first time we have purchased appliances at Sears, and it won't be the last.

I have shopped at Fabricland in London at the Wonderland Rd Location. They have an excellent selection of Draperies and home decor products as well as fabric of all descriptions - dressmaking to household use. They have great sales and I was able to get insulated curtains for my main floor windows at great savings. They carry different lines than you see elsewhere, and have a great selection of drapery rods and hardware as well as drapes. I am very happy with the drapes I have purchased there. They have a loyalty card which you can purchase which entitles you to discounts on many items.

When you need more than just supermarket-stock plants and shrubs, I would recommend Canadale Nurseries in St Thomas Ontario. The quality and variety of trees, shrubs, perennials, annuals etc is excellent. We were looking for a Witchhazel shrub that I had seen in a gardening magazine and they had one; we also have purchased several fruit trees, roses and miscellaneous plants. They are priced a bit higher than some garden centres, but you really get what you pay for - the plants are top quality, and they come with a guarantee. They are helpful on the phone and on-site and If you sign up for their email program, you get notification of their regular sales. I highly recommend them - worth the drive.

We hired RJ's Movers to move my mother-in-law from a large home to a seniors' apartment. They were very professional and reliable - a local family business that has a great reputation. We decided to have packers in and I was impressed by the service, the care taken, thoroughness and speed of packing - it cost a lot less than I expected and nothing was broken in the move. When it came to moving day, the men were very organized, putting down runners, and extremely careful with the furniture. Again - nothing was damaged in the move - they were pleasant, helpful and set everything up in the apartment. They also were on time and on budget - no surcharges or "hidden costs". A pleasure to deal with and I would certainly deal with them again.

We moved in to our neighbourhood near downtown London 18 months ago - within the first few months of moving in, we had an L shaped cut made in our dining room screen (luckily we have window stops), and our old basement window was jimmied to try and break in that way - we called a few alarm companies, but ADT was reasonably priced for our needs, and they came the next day and installed a basic alarm system - door monitoring, a window system on our basement windows, and a motion sensor for when we are out (works even with 3 pets). We liked the fact that we can upgrade or add to the system later, and that we could pay for the system plus the monitoring on a monthly fee. When the smoke alarm went off and my husband couldn't shut it off, the alarm personnel were very helpful over the phone. Excellent service all around. The system has been easy to use and reliable. We feel much safer, and haven't had any further break in attempts.

Older home in Old South London - original eavestroughs were constantly overflowing during heavy downpours when the water volume was high. On the heaviest downpours we were getting rain in our basement windows:( Lindsey (the owner) came over and advised us to go with 5" eaves, and adding an additional downspout. The work was completed quickly and professionally within the week...no more rain. As an added bonus, he set-up one of the downspouts for a (future purchase) rain barrel. We did buy a gutter guard -type product from him for our back troughs - but there was no pressure to buy etc. I would recommend him to anyone. He runs a small company and installs what he sells. He gave us a projected date and was right on target.

During a big wind-storm, we heard a loud crack in our backyard and saw that one of the main forks of the trunk had completely cracked and was hanging over our roof. We called Oxford Tree Service the next day and they checked the tree out and showed that the entire core was rotted out - unfortunately, our tree had to be taken down. We have a small yard with fencing all around and they managed to get the machinery into the back yard and take the tree down. The work was done within one week, and the stump ground down the following week. We requested that some wood be left for us for our fireplace, and the rest was removed by them.

Called Braun Stairs to get a quote on replacing our old original basement stairs with new paint-grade stairs. Steve Braun came out and measured, discussing several options and considerations and quoted a reasonable price. We visited their workshop/office and paid a deposit. I was impressed that they did not try to "up-sell" us - they do beautiful work in hardwood with elaborate railings etc - but this was not what we wanted and they respected that. The work was completed and installed within 2 weeks of ordering. We would not hesitate to recommend their work.

After having our A/C fail in our new (older) home, I called Home Comfort to see if they could figure it out (it was hot outside and inside). They came over right away and diagnosed the problem quickly - the A/C unit had never been hooked up to the thermostat, the unit was old (we knew that part), leaking freon, and although they offered to try and get it going, we opted for a new A/C and furnace (original with the 1953 house). They came back to install within less than a week, and were pleasant, helpful and very reliable. They have been back for a follow-up, and were again excellent to work with. I would not hesitate to recommend John and his company - London owned and operated for more than 20 years.

Seemed very genuine and knowledgeable while we went through...after we moved in we found that the air vent to the kitchen was cut off in the attic (so the kitchen drain was very slow and could not drain a whole sink in a reasonable amount of time. The A/C, which we knew was older, was never wired into the thermostat (it was a 3-wire only, not a 5 wire - i.e. had never been installed.) If we had known that, we would have negotiated a discount...instead we had to install a brand new A/C - it never worked in the first place. The dryer plug was not grounded (probably was ground to copper pipe originally, but they had replaced with Pex, and had not re-ground)...the list of disasters goes on... Run, don't walk, to another inspector.