Mrs. G in Ajax

I have a 22 year old Jenn-Aire refrigerator that stopped cooling about 2 weeks ago. I called AA Major Appliances late yesterday afternoon and the repair man came this morning. He was fast, professional and was able to repair my fridge in less than half an hour. He told me that if it had been the compressor I would have had to replace the fridge because they don't make the compressors any more but fortunately since he was able to repair it with three parts that control the compressor I did not have to buy a new fridge. This fridge has never cost me a cent until this incident and was well worth the extra money I paid when I bought it. Thank-you AA Major Appliances for running an excellent business and being there when I needed you. I will not hesitate to call them again.

This service occurred in July 2010. I had been losing water from my 16 x 32ft Inground pool at the rate of an inch or two a day during the summer of 2009. The water loss had increased to approximately 3 inches per day after the pool was opened in June 2010. I knew I had to do something about the water loss as my water bill had increased by almost $200 so I called Rand Pools, who I've dealt with for a number of years. They were able to locate the leak which was under the concrete deck, close to the shallow end water jet. They arrived when they said they would and cut a 1 1/2 square foot hole in the concrete deck, repaired the leaking pool line and then filled the hole in the deck with concrete and covered it so that it would set and dry without causing any safety issues. The job was completed in one day and the area left clean and tidy. They removed all of the concrete they had removed and any garbage that their repair had created. I was very happy with the speed they completed the job, as well as the price they charged me for work under the concrete deck. I had been expecting a much higher bill for the job they completed. I would not hesitate to have Rand Pools service my pool whenever it becomes necessary again.

My next door neighbour has a tree which overhangs our pool and property. Earlier this fall the owners had their half of the tree pruned and it left the tree severely lopsided so I thought it might fall on the house if there was a strong wind. I asked 3 companies for estimates to cut my side of the tree back as much as possible. I gave the same instructions to all three companies when I asked for the estimates but 2 of them gave estimates that included cutting the actual tree down so it was no more than 20 ft above both properties. The 2 estimates were between $150 and $225 higher than Uxbridge Tree Service. I was not prepared to pay to have my neighbours tree cut down so instead of asking the 2 companies for new estimates for what I wanted done, I chose Uxbridge Tree Service because their estimate only included what I wanted done and they indicated that would make the tree safe and limit its growth over my property. They came the day after I obtained a release from the owner of the property next door. The other 2 companies had told me they would not be able to prune the tree for at least a few weeks. They had completed the job in less than an hour and cleaned up all the wood and leaves they had taken down. They removed a few entire limbs on my side of the tree and cut back some of the higher branches as well. They did a professional job that I was very please with. Next year the tree should not grow over my property except toward the top of the tree. In the past this tree has grown very quickly and now the branches that were overhanging my property were completely gone. If I have to have this tree or any other pruned again, I will hire this company for their honesty, speed and professionalism. This company is a member of Landscape Ontario

In 2006 I found this ad in the yellow pages and decided to try him out for a leaky toilet. He came on time, did the work professionally, gave me instructions on how to fix the problem if it happened again and charged what I considered to be a very low fee for his service of less than $100. In December 2010 my sink was leaking under the counter and it appeared to be coming from the pipes running between the faucet and main pipes. Years ago my kitchen faucets had been replaced by another contractor. I called Plumber on the Go again and he showed up in record time, Spent about an hour under the sink replacing the plastic connections that had been placed between the faucet and the down pipe for both hot and cold water taps. He told me that this often happened when plastic pipe was used between sections of copper pipe. He said anyone with copper pipes should always make sure any alterations to the pipes were done with copper pipe. The cost fpr this visit was just over $100. He cleaned up after himself and left the area clean and neat. I am thoroughly improseed with Paul and will definitely have him back again.

I was having a possible electric problem that was causing a low grade current to flow through the metal surfaces in the house. I found him in the Goldbook and then again here on Homestars. Mr. McAllister arrived when he said he would, after calling ahead of time to make sure we knew how long he thought it would be before he arrived. He was very professional and used a drop cloth and booties in my home. He came and checked several outlets to make sure all the wiring in the house was copper and that there was a ground wire in all the electric outlets he tested. He also repaired an outlet that needed a new anchor screw. When he checked the breaker panel he found a few loose ground wires, and he tightened all of them. He told me that the house ground was fine and well attached. His charge was reasonable for what he did and I would use him again. However, when I tried to contact him the following week about another electrical problem that had appeared I was unable to reach him and ended up calling another electrical contractor.

I received an electric shock on two separate occasions from the Fridge when I touched both the Fridge and another item eg: while touching the counter beside the sink, or the stove handle. If I touched only the fridge I did not receive a shock. I called two separate appliance repair places and each told me that the Fridge itself was probably not the problem, because to receive the shock I had to be touching two things. I looked for an electrician on Homestars and found Captain Electric are a local electrical contractor so I called them and they made an appt for 2 days later. Dave and Kevin arrived 1 1/2 hours early from the time I'd been given after I received a phone call from their office telling me they were on their way. They were very professional, showed me a binder with information about each of them, their company, their qualifications, the fact they were ESA certified and that Dave was a Master Electrician. After I described the problem, they gave me a quote before starting work, after asking me what I wanted included today, and stuck to that quote. Initially they ran a tester between the Fridge and the counter beside the sink, and again between the Fridge and the Stove. They found that there was 115Volts being sent between these items when tested. After pulling out the Fridge they did indeed find that it was not the Fridge that had a problem, but the electric outlet the Fridge was plugged into had been installed by an amateur and was unsafe. They traced the wiring from the other available outlet behind the fridge to the breaker panel, to make sure it was on a dedicated circuit, then removed and sealed off the unsafe outlet. They wore booties in my house to protect my floors and after completing the job, made some recommendations about the light fixtures in the basement. I was thoroughly impressed with Dave and Kevin, their knowledge and the professionalism they showed, as well as Captain Electric and have nothing but good things to say about them. I will use them again and recommend them to anyone who asks if I know a good electrical contractor. I found the price a little high, but I did receive a Seniors Discount from them.

We had the motor replaced on my 13 yr old Carrier furnace in June 2010 after it had seized when being cleaned by another company. The motor on the furnace had not worked properly since a few weeks after it was installed only working on the 'Auto' setting of the thermostat when it was set in the 'ON' position. We have an Electronic Air Cleaner installed in the ductwork which to function properly the furnace fan needs to be running all the time ie: in the 'ON' position. I had the company that installed the motor in to check it and they told me the problem was a dirty filter. I changed the filter and there was no change in the function of the motor. I decided to change companies and called Advantage Airtech instead because they are a Carrier Dealer as I wanted the furnace checked out including the motor. The serviceman could not find anything wrong with the fan motor or any of the other furnace components as the furnace was functioning perfectly while they were here with the fan motor running when the burner wasn't lit. He told me that the problem was probably a failing circuit board which would cost approx $500. He recommended that we not bother replacing the circuit board because of the cost,and also the house was heating according to the setting on the Thermostat and the fan motor was functioning to keep the house warm. The serviceman was very pleasant and did an excellent job checking the function of the furnace components and so I agreed with the serviceman that at this time the circuit board shouldn't be changed. I was very pleased with this company.

I called Paul yesterday when we noticed there was a slow leak from the kitchen cold water pipe into the basement. We had determined that the leak was coming from the cold water pipe just below the faucet. Paul arrived in a timely manner the next day and found that both connections from the hot and cold copper pipes to the single handle with spray arm faucet were plastic. He told me that when the faucet was installed,the connections should have been copper and proceeded to change both hot and cold connections between the faucet and the copper pipes, from plastic to copper. The leak from the cold water connection was fixed and and I was impressed that he had also done the hot water connection as well. He completed all work in under half an hour, His bill was extremely reasonable and he cleaned up after himself. I can't say enough good things about Paul and would recommend him to anyone needing plumbing in Durham Region.

I called this company to replace my kitchen counter and floor in 2003 and 2005. They sent a man called Randy both times and he did a great job. The one thing that really impressed me was his attention to detail and finishing. Instead of just installing the tile directly over the previous tile, he layed a sub floor and then installed the tile so that it was completely level. There had been a 'bump' in the floor where the previous floor had been installed and when he was finished it looked great! He was very professional and so was the company when I spoke to them on the phone.

I hired Durham Lawn Care in 2005 to till my rose bush bed and cut my lawn. The lawn area is 900 sq ft and the rose bush bed is 40 sq ft. The quote was for $100 and after signing the contract I realized that it was for $100 a month not $100 for the summer. They were nice enough to cancel the contract after 1 month because of my mistake. Their equipment was rather large for the size of my rose bed and front lawn and would have been better used on a large piece of property.

I have had Weed Man fertilize and do weed control on my front lawn for 5 years now and they do an adequate job. I ask for a minimum job each year because I water the grass very little in the summer and it goes brown. Up until 2 years ago I was happy with them but in the last 2 years they have started calling me many times during the season to add different services, like aerating, extra fertilizer, extra weed control. They become downright irritating with their constant calls even though I keep telling them NO. I finally got them to stop calling last year by asking the person how many times I had to tell them NO before they stopped calling. I continue to use them because they do a good job with the lawn. Another problem last year was the lawn was very burned out in July and they insisted on Fertilizing it anyway. The Fertilizer burned what grass there was as I had told them it would. I had to resod part of the lawn this spring because of it. This year I will not fall prey to their "This is the last week for your summer fertilization and if you don't have it done, you will lose the money you paid". If they insist, I will cancel their services.

5 years ago I hired International Pools to install a new pool liner. They were replacing a 20 year old liner that had seen better days. The entire transaction took place in the store and being new pool owners we didn't realize they should have measured for the new liner. We chose a plain blue liner because of the cost and they arrived a week later to install the new liner at the beginning of the pool season in May. In the fall there were two areas that the liner had come out of the coping and they told us that this was normal for a new liner and they would fix it when they opened the pool in the spring. Came the spring, 4 areas needed to be put back in the coping but one of them wouldn't go back in completely. To make a long story short, every year more of the liner was out of the coping in the spring, some of which could be put back in, some left just bulging out a little. We complained every year but kept getting told that this was normal. Last year when I had switched to another pool company I was told that all this was NOT normal and the liner would probably need to be replaced in the spring. Spring arrived and as well as hanging out of the coping in several large areas, there were two rips in the liner that I was told were a result of the liner being too small for the pool. Finally I had an answer to my repeated questions, they had not measured and therefore had installed a liner that did not fit. I am replacing the liner this spring but the new one won't be here for at least 3 weeks because they have to make the liner to fit the measurements. Over the time I used International Pools I had nothing but problems with them but figured that all pool companies were the same. I was totally wrong and will never use them again not even to buy pool chemicals from. I have a good pool company now and will continue to use them instead. I wouldn't recommend International Pool and Spa to my worst enemy.

I needed two chain link gates built to replace the wooden gates being used in my carport to give the dog a place to run. The carport is her kennel when she is outside. The space was 11 feet across and I wanted one large gate and a pedestrian gate. Mike came out to quote on the job as well as several other companies. His quote was not the best but I thought he would be the best to hire. This quote was given on a Tuesday and by Friday Mike was there to build the gate. He did an excellent job putting in exactly what I wanted. Painted the parts all black as I wanted and they function well. I would not hesitate to use them again. The quality of the project was excellent. I have another fencing job that needs to be done this summer and will likely use Roma Fence for that but I need the neighbours agreement on that project.

Last year in May 2008 I turned on our 21 year old central A/C for the first time that season and found that it no longer worked. Rodman's had installed our furnace in the late 1990's, so I chose them. I called them to send a repairman to fix it and they responded the same day despite it being the first very hot day of the season when everyone would be calling for help with their A/C. The necessary part was ordered but I was told it might be difficult to obtain, due to the age of the system. I thought this over for a day or so, while waiting for the part to arrive and decided to cancel the order for the part and ask them about replacing the entire system because it was nearing the end of it's useful life. Their salesman gave me a choice between two units by the same manufacturer and I chose a system that I thought would be suitable. After placing the order, I went to the manufacturer's website to look at the other units they had available and realized that another system which was a bit more expensive but had a better warranty would be a better choice. I then called Rodman's to ask if the order could be changed to another system I had found on the manufacturer's website, while maintaining the same installation date. Fortunately for me they agreed to the change. On the day of installation they arrived on time, were quick, efficient and professional and cleaned up after themselves. The installation went very smoothly. A few days later, after checking over the installation I had a few questions and an unrealistic complaint. Their response was timely and professional, and they reinspected the entire system installation. They were very responsive to my complaints and questions leaving me satisfied. I would definitely deal with them again as well as recommend them to anyone who needs a Heating or Air Conditioning contractor. They are a family business with a long history of satisfied customers.

I needed a mountbatten juniper trimmed as it had lost its shape after not being trimmed for 5 years. I wanted to make sure it was well cared for while being trimmed so I hired Upper Canada Tree services after estimates from 3 other tree service companies. They arrived when they said they would and trimmed my tree, They gave me hints on keeping the tree in shape and care of the tree as it had not grown evenly. I was very pleased with job they did though they couldn't cut it back as far as I would have liked. They were pleasant and friendly and more than happy to give me advice on tree care. The price was right for what needed to be done and cheaper than other tree services.

I booked online, they answered by phone. I had to cancel twice before they came because of other work I was having done and they had no problem with rescheduling. They sealed the driveway as requested and did a superb job on a driveway that hadn't been sealed in 8 years. They were pleasant, accomodating and I'd have them back without hesitation. The price was right as well.

I wanted a Bay Window in my Living Room primarily and to replace the side door with Transom. I chose 7 companies to do this job after checking with Home Stars and the BBB, selecting the companies with good reputations. Beverley Hills was the last one to give me a quote and I had to wait almost a month for their salesman. The other companies were either higher priced, wanted to do all my windows and doors, or were only going to replace the existing Living Room window, not do a full tear out down to the bricks. Beverley Hills was one of only two who would do a tear-out. For the price, Beverley Hills would give me triple pane glass which none of the others were offering,the full tear out of both window and door, a coating on the window that allows the window to clean itself and the grills in the window to make it look colonial. The other companies didn't want to add the grills for some reason. The price Beverley Hills gave me was the lowest of all. On the day when they arrived to do the window, they were punctual, they worked quickly but had to return the next day to finish the inside of the window. They gave me a beautiful solid wood seat with no seams in the bay window and did an excellent job on the door. The workers spoke little English they were European but they did such a fabulous job I didn't care. They cleaned up after themselves both inside and outside. Excellent workmen. When they were done I realized the panes of glass in the Bay window did not have the grills I ordered. I phoned them and was immediately told that it was the manufacturers fault and they would notify Vinyl Window Designs and have them fix the problem. I thought it would be a long wait, but within a few days I received a call from the manufacturer, and they said it would be about 3 weeks before I had my new window panes with grills. Exactly 3 weeks later the manufacturer had their installer here with my new panes of glass. It took him half a day to replace the panes but he did an excellent job too. I would definitely use both Beverley Hills and buy Vinyl Window Designs windows again. Errors occur sometimes but the way the error was handled was professional and I quickly received my replacement glass. I can't say enough good things about these two companies.

I own a semi-detached bungalow and needed 2/3 of my roof replaced. The other 1/3 had been done 5 years ago. I went looking for a roofer who was a member of the BBB in good standing, with a good reputation in the community and would give me a reasonable price. I had 7 estimates done for the roof from the top of the line businesses who quoted $3000 to the fly by nighters who wanted $1200. I chose Travis of Ajax roofing because the price was good and he knew what he was doing and would use the top of the line shingles. On the day of the roofing Travis and his crew arrived on time, tore off the two old roofs, replaced the shingles, cleaned up all the nails and other garbage, and were gone in just over half a day. Travis came back to check on the roof and that his crew were satisfactory. His crew were very professional while they were here and there was no damage done to my swimming pool. Travis has agreed to come and check my roof annually to make sure it is in good shape. It was a great experience for me at a reasonable cost. I would definitely use them again. Ajax Roofing and Repairs has been a member of the BBB since August 2006 with no complaints at all.

I have dealt with the company for over 10 years and though I have used other companies with lower prices at times, I always return to this company because of the quality of their service, the trust I can place in them and how knowledgeable they are. Their prices tend to be on the slightly high side of average, but I can trust them to do what they say they will without incident. All of my pool equipment has been purchased from them and any warranty work has been done without a problem. They have been in business for many years and deserve the good reputation they enjoy.

C & R were hired to do another driveway in neighbourhood and offered to do ours at a discount. Their quote was excellent when I compared it to other neighbourhood driveways that had been re-surfaced by other companies. For less than what my neighbour paid another company for his shorter and narrower driveway they excavated our 70 foot driveway and widened it one car width, laid stone and then returned in a timely fashion to lay the asphalt. They were professional but friendly and cleaned up after themselves leaving our property in excellent condition. The job they did was uncomparable. I would hire these contractors again if I needed asphalt work done.