I first met with Bruno back in Nov/Dec 2021 when he came to see my kitchen condo to provide me a quote. I had told him I would be using Ikea for the cabinets but needed the scope of work to be done ( removing a wall, electrical, plumbing..etc). He inspected everything and assured me he has completed renovations in many condos and has also installed many Ikea kitchens so he would be able to install my cabinets instead of using Ikea installers. My first thoughts of Bruno was that he was friendly, professional and seemed like a trustworthy person. He had great 5 star reviews and was a bit more reasonably priced compared to some other quotes I got, so I decided to go ahead with Bruno for my condo kitchen reno. Well what a nightmare.......
To start with, my reno started July 4th and I just recently finished... Almost 5 months later I have a COMPLETED kitchen!
Here's a long list of issues I had with Bruno:
He had electricians that didn't want to do the job stating there was 'too much' concrete - it's a condo building! .. he finally had an electrician do the job a week later which delayed the renovation.
Only once Bruno started my job did he tell me I had to upgrade my electrical panel, which was not part of the initial quote. He had been at my condo intially and saw my panel, you would think he would have advised me of this initially and the new panel would have been factored in the cost.
Throughout the whole process of installing my cabinets, I was told there were missing cabinets/items and I took time off work going back and forth to Ikea to get the missing items only to have confirmed with his crew after that the items were actually there all along they just didn't know how to install them and thought they were the wrong items. I took unnecessary time off work and wasted my time and gas money.
I was also told that my pantry didn't fit with my fridge and Bruno was frustrated telling me Ikea's measurements were incorrect so I down sized my pantry to make things work. Now the scope of the work provided to him had that a 3" built out wall was to be installed behind the cabinets to run the electrical and plumbing, I came to find out myself later that he actually did a 5" built out, therefore the reason my initial pantry didn't work.
And although Bruno was not involved in the measurements and design planning with Ikea, he did take measurements of my kitchen himself and also had a copy of Ikea's measurements and design so had there been any discrepancies you would think as a professional contractor he would have advised me initially so there wouldn't be any issue during the process.
He had poor communication, didn't explain to his crew that my laundry pantry needed a modification to fit my laundry machines; his crew had to redo it 3*!
Yet Bruno put blame on me for delays...
I had a sink catcher I paid extra for, yet Bruno
took it upon himself to change it because he states it didn't fit. And although I was home he didn't think it was necessary to advise me, the homeowner of this change. I only noticed this later myself.
He knew my kitchen island was navy blue and was supposed to provide the outlets/plates for my island... Yet he was going to install white ones. As a professional contractor you would think he knows he needs to match the color of the cabinets.. I had to find and purchase blue ones myself. His electrician accidentally punctured a hole in my island. To save on his labour cost he advised me to just add another outlet yet didn't pay for the cost of me having to purchase another blue outlet & plate.
My design which Bruno had, stated I had a cooktop and separate built-in oven, he failed to communicate that to the electrician who only installed 1 outlet. Although I was assured this was fine there should have been 2 outlets to support both units. My under cabinet lighting had to be runned through some of my cabinets because his crew didn't do the job correctly.
An electrical outlet was installed above my cooktop, and when the quartz backsplash was being measured, the workers had expressed concerns with that outlet being there, I spoke to Bruno who assured me this outlet was fine and they can go ahead and install the backsplash as it was. Well I was later told by 2 electricians this was not by code and when I advised Bruno of my concerns, his solution was to cover the outlet with a blank plate! I told him that was not acceptable as I've spent a lot of money. Instead of taking ownership of his mistakes, he told his crew to pack up and leave and he would not be finishing the job as my job was 'costing him too much money'. His mistake, yet didn't want to take ownership, just wanted to walk away from an incomplete job after I had already paid him for most of the job.
I also had a flood in my condo which was due to a pipe he did not solder properly. I had to pay another plumbing company to inspect where the water was coming from because Bruno had already walked out on my job and was not responding to my emails.
It was not until I submitted a complaint through the Better Business Bureau that I received a response from Bruno that he would send his crew to fix the water leak, remove the outlet above my cooktop and replace the quartz backsplash. There was water damage to my baseboards which he didn't replace, and there was still work that was not completed in my kitchen and I had to pay someone else to finish the job
I also had multiple knicks and scratches to my interior doors which were newly installed and painted.
Through all of this he not once apologized for anything.
I was nothing by respectful and kind to him and his crew and he took advantage of my niceness.
He even blocked me on WhatsApp after he walked out on my job. Claims I was not respecting his business hours yet he himself messaged me after business hours many times. Completely unnecessary and unprofessional.
Working with Bruno was a horrible experience.
After going through a bad seperation, my kitchen renovation represented a new positive beginning yet Bruno just made it a horrible negative experience and yet his response on the BBB was that I was difficult and how he never wants to deal with 'this type of client again'.
Anyone looking at this company for your next project, good luck!
