Dunbar And Ross Kitchen Studio No Longer In Business

I cannot emphasize enough the frustration that you will experience if you use Dunbar and Ross to complete your renovation. I recently renovated my entire house and employed at least ten independent contractors, none of whom, were even close to being as difficult to deal with as Humberto. He began eagerly and with comprehensive drawings but upon receiving a sizable deposit was torturous to contact. We had to hound him in order to receive any information about the expected delivery of our kitchen. The installation, when finally arranged, was done piecemeal and unprofessionally, leaving many deficiencies that were never modified. His seemingly accurate drawings created many flaws that would have entailed a complete redesign to eliminate.The most disturbing part of the process was that, in the end, Humberto became insulting, rude, surly, and more than a little scary. All in all, a most unfortunate experience.

While we are (finally) happy with our (almost complete) renovated kitchen - I would have to agree with previous reviews. We took over three months and had at least 4 different tenders on our renovation but finally decided based on price, and creativity of design, to go with Dunbar and Ross. We checked references and relied on website reviews (like Homestars) to justify our choice - Dunbar and Ross had been in business over 20 years and clients we spoke to were thrilled with the personal service that Humberto provided.
Intially Humberto (the proprietor) was a patient and creative entreprenuer, but he bit off way more than he could chew and while he could come up with wonderful ideas, when push came to shove (and we had to finally push), he had great difficulty delivering what he promised.
Timeframes were not met (by a longshot) and promises remain broken (to this day). We lucked out by getting the most of our kitchen but it took an incredible amount of cajoling and truly, I think we are fortunate that we got our kitchen before he went deep into hiding (fromt he sounds of it - there are lots of other unhappy clients).
We were promised 6 weeks to complete - it took over 12 weeks -nearly 8 weeks longer than what we were promised and we were living in and eating out of our basement......boxes, dust and dirt were everywhere.
Whereas before the order and before the deadline, we got phonecalls returned immediately - this ceased once the deadline passed. Humberto became impatient, rude and hard to reach. We are still missing major portions of our kitchen and promises made upon installation were never followed up...once Humberto got the majority of money owed he stopped contacting us entirely and never returned our calls. We have decided to pursue other avenues to retain our sanity....great ideas, but we should have contracted someone else to do the job.
We are happy with the kitchen but would be happier if the person who promised a multi-year guarantee on the end product was still talking to us and returning our phonecalls

I met with Unberto and he seemed to be clear and helpful about the work to be done to renovate my kitchen, but now I am out of my money and my kitchen renovation has not been done and Unberto and his company is nowhere to be found. Beware of this man.I have left numerous phone calls and messages for him, but to no avail. No response.

On March 28, 2012, the owner of Dunbar and Ross, Kitchen Studio took measurements and discussed with me a kitchen renovation + some cabinet work in a bathroom. Workers first arrived May 15 to dismantel my old small galley kitchen.This is now Fri. Sept. 14/12 - 18 weeks later. I still have no kitchen or bathroom - am living in the basement. All sits in chaos: sinks have no plumbing, walls are unfinished, all appliances remain uninstalled, electrical outlets are unfinished, lights are hanging by wires from the ceiling, cookbook shelving is the wrong size, holes in the walls are letting in bugs of all kinds. No worker has shown since August Aug.6. and I've learned why - workers have not been paid and refuse to return until they are. Unfortunately, I've already paid a goodly sum. Office staff is very negative regarding the company's future.

I cannot say enough about Dunbar and Ross! My new kitchen is beyond stunning as well as being above and beyond functional. Humberto was simply amazing to work with and made this whole process a dream!!! I have and will continue to recommend them to everyone I know!

I met with several contractors for my kitchen renovation before I decided on Dunbar and Ross. Initially, I thought I couldn't go wrong..I had read decent reviews (though old), I visited the kitchen studio just at Yonge/Lawrence close to where I live, member of the BBB and Humberto (the relatively new owner) seemed nice, at first. Don't be fooled with any of these things. When it came time to deliver, there was delay upon delay upon delay with no good reasons. More than 8 weeks. He has no control over his trades. Poor project management skills, if any. When his trades did show up (a day here and a day there) work was done piecemeal and workmanship was extremely sloppy, to say the least. Unfortunately, I paid money upfront and during the process as requested, trusting Humberto and just hoping in the end it would all be worth it. When I voiced my concerns he literally screamed at me on the phone, not once but a few times. Beware of this contractor. Don't use this company for any renovations.
I've edited my review to address the response from Dunbar and Ross.
1) "We went above and beyond the work agreed". I did not agree to 8+ weeks delay and sloppy work.
2) As for not paying the final installment. This is why there is a thing called "hold back" with contractors. Only when all work is done to the customer's satisfaction does the balance get paid.
3) Whether minor or major deficiencies- it's important to the paying customer and a good business will do what it takes to please the customer (at no extra costs).
4) Dunbar and Ross has distorted the information around services listed and monies owing.
5) A good business would try to make things right and not respond as Dunbar and Ross did.

Umberto and his team made our kitchen renovation a pleasure. Umberto was eager to please right from the start. He supplied a high quality product at a very competitive price, worked with our construction team effectively, made timely deliveries, and his installation contractors were incredibly precise and easy to have in the house.

We love our new kitchen! It's both functional and beautiful.

It was a fairly small kitchen-17 feet long and 9 feet wide. Humberto did a great job coming up with a design to make best use of the space. I now have lots of counter and cupboard space and room to eat at the counter looking out at the garden. The estimate was very detailed and the work was completed on schedule. I get lots of compliments on my new kitchen and am very happy with it.Brigitte

My husband and I bought an old house and wanted to re-do the kitchen. We asked the previous owners who had done their kitchen because to be an old kitchen, it still looked good and well maintained. However, the style was old fashioned and did not match our home decor. The owners mentioned Dunbar and Ross Kitchen Studio on Yonge st. The owners told us they had re-done their kitchen 20 years ago and knew that the company was still in business. We gave them a call and to our surprise Humberto visited our house and walked all the way through the renovation steps. We were amazed at his knowledge and how quickly he understood what we wanted. Few days later, we visited the studio and were given three amazing kitchen designs to choose from and we were delighted at the choices. Needless to say we got our kitchen from Dunbar and Ross and were very happy with the results. I highly recommend anyone looking to renovate their kitchen to talk to Humberto, at Dunbar and Ross Kitche Studio.

Our experience with the installation of a new kitchen through Dunbar and Ross was first class. Humberto’s design achieved exactly what we wanted, did so with style, and reflected a high attention to detail. Excellent craftsmanship by the installers ensured the end product looked wonderful, and the quality of the cabinets has exceeded our expectations. While we encountered the usual challenges during the preliminary renovation work, all questions were dealt with capably and promptly, and were satisfactorily resolved. This is the third kitchen we have renovated over the years, so we know all about the downsides inherent in this process. We would not hesitate to work with Humberto and Dunbar and Ross again, and would recommend them very highly to others.