Toronto Clear View Window Cleaning, Inc.

Rating: 4.9 out of 5

Toronto Clear View Window Cleaning, Inc. reviews (284)

  • Review from HomeOwner
    Rating: 2 out of 5
    Review left on 30 Jul 2014

    eaves cleaning

    I can't verify the quality of their work since the eaves are too high for me to check...but their estimate calculator is very poorly designed. They ask for square footage of the house but don't consider the length of the eaves since gable roof lines have 2 sets of eaves and cottage roof lines have eaves all around. The estimate calculator isn't clear as to the amount of eaves to be cleaned since the length of eaves would be the same for a one storey bungalow as for a two storey bungalow but costs vary a great deal. Nobody bothered to point out the difference between the estimate and the actual bill until after the work was completed and the bill submitted. From the small amount of debris left in the bag at the curb, it appears our eaves were fairly clean yet the report states they were full or half full. In addition, I specifically asked that they not clean the verandah eaves as I do that myself and did so a few days before their arrival. Their report stated that they were "half full", the honesty of which I question. (They did, however plan, by email, to reduce the bill by $12. for work done but not authorized..but in phone conversation, they still wanted me to pay the original total.) While I did hear directly by phone and email, the misunderstanding was never resolved. In summary, better customer communications is essential for repeat business and for referrals and while the website was flashy and colourful, it certainly wasn't clear to me.

    Answer from pro:

    Our apparent, "poorly designed" Estimate Calculator has been praised over the years by many, including our competition, so while it can't please everyone, based on the vast majority, we have no intention on making changes to it. The problem in this particular case simply centres on the fact that the Estimate Calculator very clearly asks for the TOTAL square footage of living space for the house, excluding the basement, but for whatever reason, this client, Rick, only provided the calculation for one floor. I tried very hard to explain why the TOTAL is required, but Rick consistently feels that it should not make a difference what the ENTIRE house measures. We obviously ask for the TOTAL for a reason, namely because the calculator takes into account many factors and will then determine the actual size of the house PER FLOOR. In other words, a 3 story, 3,000 square foot house would be approximately 1,000 square feet for one floor. While it is true that the eaves could be on the 1st, 2nd or 3rd floor and vary on location, the height and roof pitch also play a vital role in calculating the cost due to the increased risks of cleaning higher positioned eaves and for steeper pitched roofs. We've been in business for over 25 years and know very well what information we need in order to determine the cost, but Rick expressed himself over the phone as knowing best due to his background credentials. Something else that should be mentioned is that had the client, Rick, indicated the ACURATE measurements, in other words, simply answering the question asked instead of providing the information he feels we needed, the quote would have been much more than what was originally presented. We can only quote based on the information we are provided and have no reason question what details are entered. For the record, had the client indicated the correct information, the total cost would have been $228, but instead, we adjusted the amount to only $175, generously providing a $53 discount . However, because Rick was so adamant about this not being enough of a discount, we provided a further $12 discount, for a total of $65. It seems strange that Rick only mentions the $12 figure and not the full story. We encourage everyone to browse through ALL our reviews which should make one wonder why Rick indicates the lowest review we have ever had. The question should then be, is the problem with Toronto Clear View, or with the client, Rick?

    Reply created 31 Jul 2014
  • Review from HomeOwner
    Rating: 5 out of 5
    Review left on 10 Jun 2014

    window cleaning

    Fantastic job. My windows look awesome. Andre was extremely personable, very professional, helpful and friendly. It was well worth the long wait (due to rain) and I shall certainly use this company again. Thank you Brian and Andre.
  • Review from HomeOwner
    Rating: 3 out of 5
    Review left on 27 Aug 2013

    Eavestrough Cleaning

    This service was booked and we also requested a quote for Gutterfilter. We never received the quote, and our house was left a mess. Having paid almost $200, I did not expect the mess from the gutter to end up on our the ground. We compared this service to our neighbors and we paid roughly 20% more AND their house was left clean. I recommend shopping around.

    Answer from pro:

    For the record, the cleaning was actually $165. It seems apparent that the client's frustration is causing an exaggeration on matters which seems to be influenced on the apparent lack on our part of not providing a quote for a product installation. What actually happened is that we received an enquiry about a cleaning request via email. We read over the email and the client's wording was, "I am considering adding the gutter filter as well to all the Eavestroughs on my roof. I only need the eavestroughs cleaned" at this time. Obviously there is no mention about a request for a quote here and thus why we did not include one in addition to our cleaning the eavestroughs. Apparently the client says that there was also a phone conversation earlier enquiring about a quote, but no appointment was ever made for arranging one. It was simply a discussion explaining the details about how to proceed with whichever way they wished to pursue. The client thereafter simply sent an online request for only the eavestroughs to be cleaned, as per the email wording above. Consequently, we only did what was requested. Unfortunately, the client obviously assumes that we should have somehow linked his separate phone enquiry with the separate online request, however, realistically, it would be impossible for us to do so since the phone enquiry was just an enquiry and not a request to provide a quote. The client should have also included a quote request with his online submission if that is what he also wanted. Instead, he simply asked for us to proceed with a cleaning, which we did. Had he ask for a quote, everything would have been handled properly. As for the mess left behind, we always clean up after the work is completed. If the eavestroughs at a property have been neglected for a while, it certainly is impossible to leave no visible signs of our presence. Considering that human error is possible, had we received a call to resolve the mater, we certainly would have done so, but nothing was mentioned until over 1 month after the fact. Therefore, based on all the particulars, namely, the exaggerated price we charged, the apparent request for a quote AND the mess we left behind, we can only relay the details as we have them and leave the rest to whomever reads this post. Lastly, if the neighbors eavestrough cleaning service was so outstanding and reasonably priced, we wonder why they were not called as opposed to us.

    Reply created 28 Aug 2013
  • Review from HomeOwner
    Rating: 5 out of 5
    Review left on 17 Jun 2013

    Window cleaning

    Very professional company. Kevin did an amazing job, he showed up on time and worked very well. I will use this company for future window cleaning, it was money well spent. I also was impressed with the follow up phone call to make sure all was good. cheers Sandra
  • Review from HomeOwner
    Rating: 5 out of 5
    Review left on 17 Dec 2012

    Eavestrough and Window Cleaning

    Clear View gave us everything you could ask for in this kind of work: a courteous and professional manner, a thorough job and proper clean-up, and a reasonable price. (Price shown includes HST.) We will definitely use them again!
  • Review from HomeOwner
    Rating: 3 out of 5
    Review left on 3 Dec 2012

    gutter cleaning

    Clear View performed the work to a high standard and cleaned up afterwards. The online booking tool has no real value, as Brian and his team will perform the work when they are next in your neighbourhood. Homeowners do not have to be present. Brian left an invoice for $90, but in a follow-up email, revised this up to $144 which I didn't really appreciate. The service is good, but not cheap.

    Answer from pro:

    We do appreciate the mention about the quality of our work as this is something we pride ourselves on and believe this has gotten us to where we are today having literally thousands of happy repeat clients. As for the 6 star rating, there are some very important details omitted in the reviewer comments that, we believe, would provide a very different picture. Firstly, the cost confusion Andrew mentions is about a simple error made on the invoice left at the property when the workers misread the work order details. Another important factor not mentioned by Andrew is that the total was actually $141.25, or more specifically, $125.00 before tax and that we only charged $122.00 before tax almost 1/2 decade ago. In other words, a total increase of only just over 2%...much, much less than the inflation costs of just about anything else, including gas costs, etc. during the same period of time. Additionally, Andrew was told via his neighbor that he will be getting a $10 discount off the next cleaning due to the error we made on the invoice left at the property, which means the subsequent cleaning cost will actually be quite a bit less than what it was 1/2 a decade ago. When all these additional factors are considered, hopefully a clearer picture can be seen that a 6 star rating is a little misleading, but we do understand that the rating obviously reflects Andrew's feelings. Unfortunately a human mistake occured on the invoice. We acknowledged this, explained everything as clearly as we could, and even provided what we felt was a substantial future discount as our means of saying, "sorry". As for the "Online Booking Tool", it's purpose is to schedule jobs whereby we need access inside the house, such as for inside window cleaning. Outside work, such as Gutter Cleaning, does not require anyone to be present. This method of scheduling greatly improves the efficiency of how jobs are completed and gives homeowners the freedom of not having to schedule time off for something that does not require them to do so. We have found that clients overwhelmingly prefer this method because they have their own lives to live. In view of all the above, hopefully anyone who takes the time to read our reply can determine for themself whether they too would have rated our service as 6 stars due to a simple invoicing error that was caught on the very same day the service was rendered.

    Reply created 7 Dec 2012
  • Review from HomeOwner
    Rating: 5 out of 5
    Review left on 24 Nov 2012

    Fall Eavestrough Cleaning

    We used this company for a second time. My husband was able to book online (very convenient), and they came and left their bill in our mailbox. Very easy and all done for another season! Thanks! Only suggestion - wish they had confirmed our online request so we knew that they were actually coming.

    Answer from pro:

    It seems a digit from a 10 star rating was deducted because of not having a confirmation of our coming to do the work. Note that our system does indeed provide an immediate "confirmation" of the job request into our schedule. The only thing it does not do is identify the "exact day" of our arrival since it is usually not necessary, especially for outside only type work, however, if someone needs to know exactly what day we are coming, that's not a problem....just ask and we will let you know.

    Reply created 7 Dec 2012
  • Review from HomeOwner
    Rating: 5 out of 5
    Review left on 11 Jun 2012

    Eavestrough Cleaning and Downspout Repair

    After calling a few handyman service providers and eavestrough/repair companies on homestars, I finally found Brian. He gave me the most honest quote of $100 to repair a disconnected downspout. I almost went with a highly rated repair person on homestars who quoted me $600 to replace the downspout or $1400 to replace the downspout and eaves after he looked at the job. Brian told me over the phone that the downspout sounded like it just needed to be repaired and most likely could be done for $100. When Brian's crew arrived, I asked them if my eaves/downspout needed to be replaced and they said that it would probably last another 100 years because they are galvanized steel and not aluminum. I am so glad that I trusted my gut and went with Toronto Clear View. I also had the eaves cleaned once they arrived because they were so honest, reasonably priced and reliable as well! I am a realtor and will recommend them to all my clients if they need work done one their eavestroughs. Thank you Brian and crew!

    Answer from pro:

    Thank you for the review! While I can't speak for other companies, I can only say that Toronto Clear View Window Cleaning Inc. is guided by principles that dictate we should always do business honestly. Sometimes it means losing business to some who may wish to cut corners and thus charge less, but we believe that for the most part, we benefit in the long run with happier clients and confident referrals.

    Reply created 7 Aug 2012
  • Review from HomeOwner
    Rating: 5 out of 5
    Review left on 4 Jun 2012

    eavestrough cleaning

    Effective worry-free cleaning. Scheduling and accurate quotes can be done entirely online. Helpful customer service by phone when I had a question. Great price. And I didn't even need to be home. Highly recommended.

    Answer from pro:

    Thanks for your expression!

    Reply created 7 Dec 2012
  • Review from David
    Rating: 5 out of 5
    Review left on 20 Jun 2011

    Gutter Cleaning

    Very convenient on-line service request option. Arrived within two weeks and cleaned the gutters, leaving an invoice in the mailbox. Noticed that one gutter on a small overhang had not been cleaned (probably the worst of them all, but not in the most obvious place) and contacted the company via email. The cleaner responded that he would be out on Monday to clear that one; today is Monday, and it was done thoroughly. Great service that I would recommend to anyone; great customer communication.