Metro Snow & Ice Management reviews (438)

Excuse me? We went out and cleared your driveway and every other driveway starting at 2 pm ( the day before!) when every other snow contractor in Ottawa stayed home for New Years eve. Every client had a 'clearing pass' before 8 pm when 8 cm had fallen. We THEN went out again between 7am and 2 pm and did a second pass....(when the competition was just starting for the storm at 7am New Years Day) Sorry Ron, on this one you are off the mark. I follow my guys, Im out there during storms, I check off their progress and follow them on GPS. Basically....at 7am the next day our driveways had about 2 cm in them.....from after we started the day before. The comps driveways,yes, may have been slightly cleaner because...they were just finally showing up for the storm. If you were one of the few clients that may have been completely missed (yes there's always one or two inevitably missed or have their cars still in the driveway) then I apologies of course but lets get the true facts out there. Thanks Ken

(Read my other replies......maybe you will understand) "Not timely enough for you". We clear well within the times stated. Every time. Ken

I get it Gill. Its not 'growing pains'....we employ more 'technology' then any other snow contractor in the business to 'communicate' to our clients. The GPS alerts are a tricky science and constantly have to be tweaked. If you let me know your street I can reveiw your driver and his route and time records. Its rare he would ever 'miss' 4 houses on the same street? Id like to review this. Regarding 'phone messages' Ive stated upfront as many times as I can to clients..'we dont return phone calls'...email is the way we respond to issues and complaints. Here's the deal with 'phone calls' in the snow business......80% of clients DONT think to leave their address in the phone message! Cryptic phone messages like 'you missed me'? 'Are you coming?' Dont really help us...so...we have to take the time to "look up whoand where you live' based on name or phone number.......'call back'..(no awnsering machine available) ...nobody awnsers ect and we waste time playing 'phone tag' during a storm trying to answer someone's questions or figuring out who the person even is! Basically....email is faster, its in writing, we have a record and it's easier to print, hand to a Customer Rep and gets dealt with immediatley. I take a lot of heat for.....not calling back 'during a snowstorm' but most other companies....siimply leave a message and turn off their phones! Maybe thats the way to go? I don't believe so. We will try to do better.....send me your street or address. Ken Dale President

Sorry you feel you've had issues. Ive checked your address and the GPS records. You HAVE in fact even visited every single snow fall sir. Not just as 'quick as you demand'. Wjhike the competition may do your street before us, we are in anoither area before the competition. 284 cm? Hardly. If you exaggerate here with the snowfall amount, I'm sure your claims are exaggerated a bit too.

Sorry you had an issue. Either your driveway was missed by oversight or he was there very early into the storm and did not return. Do you have marker stakes in your driveway? No excuses on this one. We did everyone on your street so either he missed it, there were cars in your driveway or on the street preventing him. A little rash cancelling because he missed you once in 5 storms in successsion? But that's your right. If you change your mind, provide at least the street you are on then I can try to access the situation with the drive. Just a first name and last initial doesnt really help me. Ken Dale President Metro

Thanks for the balanced reveiw. Sorry your're not with us this winter. To answer your questions...over a 36 hr period 'every' driveway is cleared at least once. Its policy and if you are early in the route you were probably cleared near the beginning of his route and much more snow fell prior to his second visit. City grader dumps are unpredictable at the best times but they do their best to chase them. Regarding 'working flat out'. I work the drivers between 14-18 hours straight with small breaks. They need rest or they will miss driveways, possibly damage property and....it's the law! I do call in several 'backups' to drive through each zone looking for missed areas while your driver is taking a short 4 hour rest. We actually supply "sleeping bunk trailers' in our yards for 'quick naps'. Many drivers are rural farmers from out of town and to send them all the way back for a 4 hour rest is not practical. JWith very expensive equipment of course I want it out 'clearing snow' as much and as long as possible. It serves no one (including me) to have tractors sit idle in the yards. Lastly, TouchPlow is a completely different service and has no effect on our snow clearing. To be frank I can count on one hand in 2 years how many tractor drivers of mine have even accepted a job. These ' TouchPlow jobs' are usually picked up by a 'man with plow' who can drive quickly from job to job. My tractors cant and they are on a 'designated routes & timeline' so they simply cant do those jobs during storms. Hope this helps Ken Dale President

Thank Scott, sorry your are not happy with us thus far...we will improve each storm as every snow company does. I rebranded Appleseed to Metro not because of bad reviews Scot. (Appleseed has an A+ rating with the BBB) We 'don't gaurantee' clearing your driveway before 8am...never have, never will. This is a strong misconception amount 'new client' new to using a snow clearing service. If 5-8 cm of snow falls between 5am and 8 am how can any company possible clear everyone out by 8am? Our service contracts clearly state the Thresholds' we follow for timeline and clearing. People sign up last minute,sign contracts and simply fail to read ( or just ignore) the terms for clearing. They 'assume' it snows, bang, we're there. It depends on where you actuall fall on the drivers routes. We strive to get a clearing done for everyone by either 6am or 6 pm depending on the accumulation, timing and city graders. With a full name or even a street name I can reveiw where you are on the list and the service levels with the field manager and actual driver. Thanks Ken Dale President

How nice! Thanks so much Dianne. Nice to here from a long time client who 'gets it' with the timing and service delivery.

Many thanks Ahmed, Nice to see you receive and appreciate the various alerts we send to help during storms. Ken Dale President

No idea who you are...'Patricia in Toronto?'...If you actually 'leave an address' then I can actually 'try to help you'....people seem so quick to 'leave a 0 review, no address, no way to follow up' on Homestars. This is a site for 'constructive reveiws' not a 'message board. Don't 'hide behind' social media to vent or correct an isssue.....at least leave a 'street'?...every 0 review here wont even mention the 'street' they are on so I can review your file and complaint. We've stated openly and clearly....'email is the best way to communicate issues with us'...you don't mention emailing once? It leaves a 'paper trail' for us to track. Hardly seems fair does it? I'm not defensive here just realistic. We're not your small man with truck snow clearing company. We are large, very well organized and equipped snow organization. We service over 9,000 customers here in Ottawa through 6 different offices, (and very well! I might add) so a few 0 complaints from 'new customers' who 'don't get it' or 'how a snow clearing company operates' while frustrating doesnt imply any sort of 'trend' whatsoever. Ps: 5 times in 2 weeks?.....you were NOT missed! We simply didnt arrive at your home as 'fast as you wanted us there'! There's a big difference 'Patricia". BTW...unfair again!...I've responded to EVERY review on here...good OR bad so your opening statement is rather wrong. Ken