Metro Snow & Ice Management

Rating: 2.7 out of 5

Metro Snow & Ice Management reviews (438)

  • Review from HomeOwner
    Rating: 4 out of 5
    Review left on 19 Apr 2019

    Snow removal

    I have been using Metro for a number of years and I have been very pleased with their service. Always there to ensure I can get out of my driveway and are right behind the city ploughs to ensure that I do not have rot deal with the pile of snow at the end of the driveway. Would certainly use them again!
  • Review from HomeOwner
    Rating: 1 out of 5
    Review left on 19 Mar 2019

    Metro NO Plow

    They habitually wait until the end of snowfall even if it's more than a day often arriving 2 days later and nowhere in between. Can't get to work, can't enter the driveway, not safe and no communications. Will not renew, ever, even free. Maybe all snowplow businesses are this bad.
  • Review from HomeOwner
    Rating: 5 out of 5
    Review left on 18 Mar 2019

    Snow and ice clearing

    This is my second year with Metro and I was very pleased with their work. They certainly were much better than the previous snow removal company that I used. I particularly like the email alerts which give me an idea of what is happening each snowfall. I would recommend them.

    Answer from pro:

    Great to hear Daniel and I'm thrilled you are pleased with our efforts. Ken Dale President

    Reply created 18 Apr 2019
  • Review from Customer of Metro Snow & Ice Management
    Rating: 4 out of 5
    Review left on 11 Mar 2019

    Good service most of the time

    Good service most of the time. However once in a while this year, the driveway was not cleared when they said it would be cleared. I guess a large amount of snow might explain this. However, they are pretty good 90% percent of the time.

    Answer from pro:

    Many thanks for this review. Men's a lot to all of us here at Metro. Ken

    Reply created 18 Apr 2019
  • Review from HomeOwner
    Rating: 5 out of 5
    Review left on 6 Mar 2019

    Driveway Snow Removal

    Metro is outstanding in the service they provide. All to often the only clients you hear from are the few disgruntled ones who complain and not the silent majority who are very satisfied with their service. Sure mistakes happen sometimes (rarely) as with any business, but when they do Metro has always been very quick to address them. In this day and age it is very rare to find someone like Ken and his crew who are very caring and dedicated to the work they do, and are always seeking ways to improve their service! John N

    Answer from pro:

    Thanks so much for this John. Always nice to hear! Ken

    Reply created 18 Apr 2019
  • Review from Customer of Metro Snow & Ice Management
    Rating: 0 out of 5
    Review left on 14 Feb 2019

    Snow Clearing Service that does not show up when you most needed them

    6 months ago, I wrote a review about Metro Snow and contemplated changing service and I regretted not doing so. I had been with Appleseed since 2009 and continued to use them when they changed their name to Metro Snow in 2015. Their service has deteriorated since they changed to Metro Snow. It is the same owner but the service is just never the same. During the big storm on January 23, 2019 on a weekday, they did not clear the driveway till 10.45pm that day, 10 hours after the snow had stopped. I had to shovel the driveway so that I could park my car in the garage. I waited patiently till 9pm before I sent an email about the issue. Then yesterday (February 12, 2019), there was 35cm snow storm that started in the evening and ended this morning around 12 noon. Metro did not come to clear the driveway even once. As I type this review (11.30pm), my driveway is still not cleared and the snow bank at the end of the driveway was more than 2 feet high, and packed. In anticipation that my driveway may not be cleared tomorrow morning, I plan to wake up earlier than usual to take the bus. Sigh... what happened to the great service Appleseed provided? It is just a name change and the owner is still Ken Dale. I don't understand why he was able to do such a great job then and not now, just in a period of 2 years.

    Answer from pro:

    To the reader: While we take every negative review here on HomeStars very seriously, I think it imperative that these complaints be put in a proper perspective here. With over 6000 customers Metro is without a doubt the largest and most established residential snow clearing service in Ottawa. If we’ve had say 50 bad review this winter there are still 5,950 happy well served, satisfied customers very pleased with our service delivery this winter. Sadly, ‘happy clients’ see no need to provide a positive review. Basically 1% create 99% of the negative, sometimes hostile reviews. I am in no way diminishing or minimizing these complaints and we address them and try to learn from each and every one of them. We’ve experienced massive back to back continuous storms,broken several snowfall records yet have continually ‘been there’ every storm with effective service each time. Yes, ‘some clients’ will inevitably get missed the odd storm for whatever reason And every company has misses, breakdowns, tardiness on a few routes during the odd storm. By virtue of the fact we are the largest company it stands to reason we would have relatively more complaints from such a large clientele. Compared to other companies however our complaint ratio is lower then most. We are a highly organized, highly responsible and caring organization with great dedicated staff. Each year we sign up hundreds of ‘new, inexperienced’ customers who just don’t know how a ‘private service’ operates. Unrealistic expectations and timelines create unhappy clients. When assessing our efforts, please remember the 99% of our clients that have never complained or written negative reviews over the 25 years we;ce been serving them. Thanks for reading this general reply but I thought it proper to provide the ‘other side of the coin’ here. Ken Dale President Metro Snow and Ice

    Reply created 17 Feb 2019
  • Review from Gerry Corcoran
    Rating: 0 out of 5
    Review left on 13 Feb 2019

    Avoid This Company, You Will Be Ripped Off

    These people are a complete waste of your money. They are a rebranding of Appleseed, which was legendarily infamous. My Mom and several of her friends used them for a couple of years, generally without issue. I don't know if a staff revolt or something else happened there this year but their service has become an absolute joke. My Mom has an angled driveway and a garage at basement level. In the past, the guy who came to do the driveway would clear it in such a way that it didn't fill in the start of her walkway (she doesn't pay extra to have that cleared.) The person they're using this year is lazily doing it so that her walkway is always filled in, causing a major safety issue. My Mom is retired and has limited mobility and can't clear this herself. Every time he's done this, she has called them and they said they would send someone to fix it and tell the driver not to do it again. They never send anyone and it always happens again. One time, they sent the "Shovelling Manager" over, who offered no apologies, no help and just told my Mom that "the team saw how big a job it was and just left" (seriously), then sat in his car for half an hour and took off. Every time it snows, she makes this complaint and they don't deal with it. On top of that, they had the sheer gall to remind her that if we get more than 250cm total accumulation this year (likely), that she'll be charged an extra $10 per plow job, as per her contract. Never mind that they haven't been fulfilling their end of it at all. If they actually try to extract more money from her after this abysmal service, they'll be getting an in-person visit from me and quite possibly, a small claims suit. You do not screw over my family. According to my Mom, she's been lucky too. Several of her friends have just never had the plows show up at all, having to clear their own driveways and get absolutely no response whatsoever when they try to reach out to them. I don't know what's going on with this company but they deserve to (and likely will) fail. It's nothing less than a fraudulant operation at this point. AVOID AVOID AVOID!

    Answer from pro:

    To the reader: While we take every negative review here on HomeStars very seriously, I think it imperative that these complaints be put in a proper perspective here. With over 6000 customers Metro is without a doubt the largest and most established residential snow clearing service in Ottawa. If we’ve had say 50 bad review this winter there are still 5,950 happy well served, satisfied customers very pleased with our service delivery this winter. Sadly, ‘happy clients’ see no need to provide a positive review. Basically 1% create 99% of the negative, sometimes hostile reviews. I am in no way diminishing or minimizing these complaints and we address them and try to learn from each and every one of them. We’ve experienced massive back to back continuous storms,broken several snowfall records yet have continually ‘been there’ every storm with effective service each time. Yes, ‘some clients’ will inevitably get missed the odd storm for whatever reason And every company has misses, breakdowns, tardiness on a few routes during the odd storm. By virtue of the fact we are the largest company it stands to reason we would have relatively more complaints from such a large clientele. Compared to other companies however our complaint ratio is lower then most. We are a highly organized, highly responsible and caring organization with great dedicated staff. Each year we sign up hundreds of ‘new, inexperienced’ customers who just don’t know how a ‘private service’ operates. Unrealistic expectations and timelines create unhappy clients. When assessing our efforts, please remember the 99% of our clients that have never complained or written negative reviews over the 25 years we;ce been serving them. Thanks for reading this general reply but I thought it proper to provide the ‘other side of the coin’ here. Ken Dale President Metro Snow and Ice

    Reply created 17 Feb 2019
  • Review from HomeOwner
    Rating: 2 out of 5
    Review left on 11 Feb 2019

    Left Holding The Shovel this season

    Metro Snow & Ice Management has left me shoveling my own lane way. The Barrhaven area was poorly serviced this season. False messages received of tractor in my area, that didn't show up. A lot of messages posted. "Expect Delay" with no service a day later. Other messages received were drivers booking off or tractor failure. This is Ottawa "Expect Snow" snow is your bread and butter. I've been a loyal happy customer for over 10 years. This will end if improvements are not done.
  • Review from Customer of Metro Snow & Ice Management
    Rating: 2 out of 5
    Review left on 11 Feb 2019

    left shuffling snow myself to get car back on driveway

    After snow fall on Jan 22/23, 2019, driveway was not cleared and I was stuck to clear the snow myself. Several emails raising the issue were sent to Metro requesting assistance with no response (as early as 5:17pm) I was stuck to clear the snow at 10pm as I cannot leave the car on the street (no overnight parking). Pictures showing before and after I cleared the snow were sent to Metro and did not get any response at all. Several neighbours did not get their driveway cleared until late afternoon of Jan 24. (more than 24 hours after snow stopped) Not impressed with the overall service. If you don't care when the snow removal happen, it may work for you. I expect snow removed no more than 4-6 hours after snow stopped. Many contractors come out to clear snow more than once for a heavy snow fall. Metro seems to wait for the snow to stop before dispatching their crew

    Answer from pro:

    To the reader: While we take every negative review here on HomeStars very seriously, I think it imperative that these complaints be put in a proper perspective here. With over 6000 customers Metro is without a doubt the largest and most established residential snow clearing service in Ottawa. If we’ve had say 50 bad review this winter there are still 5,950 happy well served, satisfied customers very pleased with our service delivery this winter. Sadly, ‘happy clients’ see no need to provide a positive review. Basically 1% create 99% of the negative, sometimes hostile reviews. I am in no way diminishing or minimizing these complaints and we address them and try to learn from each and every one of them. We’ve experienced massive back to back continuous storms,broken several snowfall records yet have continually ‘been there’ every storm with effective service each time. Yes, ‘some clients’ will inevitably get missed the odd storm for whatever reason And every company has misses, breakdowns, tardiness on a few routes during the odd storm. By virtue of the fact we are the largest company it stands to reason we would have relatively more complaints from such a large clientele. Compared to other companies however our complaint ratio is lower then most. We are a highly organized, highly responsible and caring organization with great dedicated staff. Each year we sign up hundreds of ‘new, inexperienced’ customers who just don’t know how a ‘private service’ operates. Unrealistic expectations and timelines create unhappy clients. When assessing our efforts, please remember the 99% of our clients that have never complained or written negative reviews over the 25 years we;ce been serving them. Thanks for reading this general reply but I thought it proper to provide the ‘other side of the coin’ here. Ken Dale President Metro Snow and Ice

    Reply created 17 Feb 2019
  • Review from John Murphy Murphy
    Rating: 0 out of 5
    Review left on 11 Feb 2019

    What Happened?

    Decent service as Appleseedbut has been deteriorating every year since the move to Metro. This season the service on my street in Barrhaven has been terrible. 20 customers on street so expect to be an easy part of the business. GPS tracking does not work, late, late , late service. City snow dumps left for days. Walkway clearing is a joke if ever completed. Only one pass of shovel. Emails and calls never answered. Now asking for greater than 250 cm surcharge. Claims 67 cms in November but only showed up once when there was 15 cms. Didn't bother to clear city dump or walkway for that one snowfall. Adding insult to injury. I gather that some areas get decent service but certainly not our street in Barrhaven. If you want to spend the winter shovelling your own driveway and walkway along with the frustration realizing that you were ripped off, even while paying $650... go with Metro. Otherwise save your money or get someone else. Owner appears genuine but obviously his drivers are not and are ripping him off as well.

    Answer from pro:

    Sorry you feel this way John. Nothing has changed except this has been the snowiest season in recent years. Our numbers for accumulation are taken from Environment Canada and recorded tractor info shoes you were in fact visited every storm. Possibly not as quickly as you like butt yes, your drive was cleared each storm. As per drivers ‘ripping me off’, I have an exceptio fleet of loyal, hardworking , honest people working in my employ. We pay more and only utilize the best. Ken

    Reply created 11 Feb 2019
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