Safari Plumbing Ltd.

I called the company for an estimate. Paid $49 for an estimate and after that they ghosted me. Tried to call them, emailed them and never seen an estimate from them. This delayed my works with two weeks. Stay away, dont recommend!

The whole experience was disappointing and frustrating. Don't let Daniel in your home or business. This is not the same Safari pre 2022.

I called Safari and Daniel was sent to assess my leaky outside faucet. He came to assess the problem on Aug 17th. He failed to show up for our first agreed date of repair and he finally came on Sept 7th. There were many communication failures and in hindsight I should have walked away at that point.

As you can see from the video on my Google review, the repair was well below standard. Daniel was aware of this but left it this way nonetheless. He said he was not able to anchor the faucet to the brick and so that was the way it is. The faucet was not straight (angled to the side by 15 degrees which looked weird), had a messy caulking job around it but more importantly the supply line twisted and turned when you turned the water on and off. It was just a matter of time that this would fail. I sent a copy of this video to the management and they must have agreed with my concerns as they offered to send Daniel back to improve upon his first attempt. I declined as Daniel had already displayed that he did not care about the quality of his work (thus he could not be trusted) so they sent Jovid who was the only bright spot of this interaction. Jovid was very competent and undid the poor work performed by Daniel. Jovid also noted that Dan placed the shutoff valve such that it cannot be accessed.... the duct work would have blocked anyone from being able to access the valve. (See the second video on my Google review). Jovid placed a new shutoff valve and I was thankful he caught that mistake. Poor Jovid as I think he gets alot of calls like this. Must be frustrating for him as he, unlike Daniel, does care about his craft.....

I originally went with Safari because I have seen the vans parked in my neighbourhood. I used to see the owners company van parked in the driveway on Evergreen Cres who evidently started the business. It turns out that this company was sold in 2022 and is now owned by Glenn and not the Evergreen Cres resident.

If you look at the most recent reviews, it's apparent that there has been change in the business culture since the ownership change. The reviews are lower and there is alot more criticism. The new theme is that Safari is high priced and more importantly low ethics as they overcharge and recommend unnecessary work. Look at the recent google reviews.....

My repair was expensive. I dont mind paying a little extra if you get good service but this is a reminder that you dont always get what you pay for. After this experience I reached out to Glenn (the owner) multiple times, but I never did hear back from him.

I felt it was important for me inform other consumers
about Safari Plumbing as I don't want the same thing to happen to you that happened to me.

Beware and stay away from Safari plumbing as Daniel and Glenn dont care about the work they do, they just want your money.

P.S. I had another faucet replaced in my backyard this spring by a different plumber who I found by word of mouth. It was done same day and professionally while being half the cost.

After having Safari repair taps and drains at our home over the last several years, we called for service to have two toilettes and an outside tap replaced. Daniel took the time to review the work and offer options on a first visit. Two days later, he and John returned and completed the work, with attention to detail, and explanation. Polite, professional and efficient service, from the office taking our call for an estimate, the calls to confirm when the plumber would arrive and follow up.
We feel like valued clients.

Sweet plumber, rude front office staff, charged $180 for first site visit to diagnose the problem. I picked up replacement parts and they quoted $350 to install a new handle and a new cartridge. Went somewhere else and got it done for half the price.

Safari plumbing was able to come immediately - other plumbers I had to wait for 2 days. There drop in fee was also more reasonable - $45 approximately. I thought my sink was leaking - it turned out to be the faucet. They said they had a high end faucet - it would be $800 plus taxes to install. I had a friend coming for dinner and needed my sink fixed that day. I later asked what model it was - a dealta 470 dst. I searched on line. Rona had that model for $263. Other stores had it for $300+. I realized at the time I would pay a premium but $300-$400 premium seems excessive. It took less than an hour to install. The plumbers themselves were very nice. If I did not feel ripped off, I would recommend them. I asked for an explanation but did not receive any feedback.

We had a small leak in the basement that came from the toilet in the powder room above. Thought was that the wax ring wasn't installed properly initially or wasn't tall enough to accommodate the new tile floor and subfloor. Safari came the day after my first call - and I was called in advance of their arrival. Excellent service overall - excellent communication and the work looks to be done well. The next week will determine if the leak issue is resolved. As I said, service was excellent - the only issue (albeit minor) was the pricing. A $50 service fee on top of another $380+ to remove a toilet, replace wax rings and reinstall the toilet is pricey compared to what I've experienced. Still, based on the excellent service received, I would use them again.

I noted some customers described Safari charges higher price / their bad experiences with Safari. I add my bad dealings with Safari that occurred a while ago, what I learnt from it so far and my recently-acquired knowledge of handling it. Safari got my credit card number beforehand and charged me about $1200 for clearing a blocked toilet drain in a condo terrace home. I had no plumbing knowledge and Safari was the 1st plumber I used. Safari plumber persuaded me to agree his work under his recommended Safari 1st option-snake through that he said would fix the blockage problem 99% of the time and would cost me about $300 including its $49 service fee and it's a good deal. But 20 minutes later, he asked me to go up to Safari 2nd option-toilet removal that cost me $1017 plus $49 service fee. I questioned Safari plumber that I relied/trusted his recommendation of the 1st option and had he told me in advance the 2nd option would cost me that much or recommended/quoted the 2nd option prior to the work, I definitely wouldn’t have agreed to his doing any work regardless it’s 1st or 2nd option and would have another plumber check the problem for a quote. As he didn't fix the problem, I asked if I disagreed with upgrading to Safari 2nd option, whether he’d only charge me $49 service fee. He firmly said if I disagreed, he’d leave and still charge me $300 1st option price even if he didn’t fix the problem, which I felt he held me to ransom. Under such pressure and in desperation, I had to agree to and pay $1200 for Safari 2nd option to clear the toilet drain.

3 months later, the same toilet backed up again. Water went down to lower unit house. I informed neighbour and condo property manager that I just paid Safari $1200 to fix backup problems. Shocked by such a high price, the property manager recommended Canada Plumbing Inc for a 2nd opinion. I described to Canada Plumbing and sent them Safari’s invoice that also described what Safar did. I understood then Safari would recommend its 1st option even if knowing it wouldn’t fix the problem and then ask customers to and customers usually have to go up to its 2nd option as Safari still charges its 1st option work if customers don’t accept its 2nd option. I knew then based on the problem description/onsite inspection, a slightly-experienced plumber would go straight with the work under Safari 2nd option and quote accordingly. I asked how much Canada Plumbing would charge for the same work done by Safari and they’d charge me $595 stated in writing.

Canada Plumbing was professional and advised me to contact Safari first as had I hired them, they’d have owed me a duty to check what caused toilet backups just 3 months after they’d fixed it. So I called Safari again. Mr. Sparling came for 5 minutes, said no toilet backups and would charge $49 service fee. I asked him what caused the toilet backups. He said he didn't know but insisted on charging $49 and would send it to collection agency for collection if I refused to pay. I reasoned with him I already paid him almost $1200 and for $49, I’d pay but I felt it’s unfair he charged the fee but couldn't tell me what might cause the backups. I asked him for an invoice and I’d pay. I mentioned I never dealt with plumbers and Safari was the 1st plumber I hired and based on what I got from another company, Safari excessively overcharged me. Mr. Sparling was very angry saying he wouldn’t charge the $49 and told me to never call them again and hung up on me.

I had no knowledge on how to handle such situation that Safari excessively overcharged me and feeling being held to ransom, I agreed its 2nd option work under pressure. Recently, I found out that information/process on the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services website also govern plumbing services; I can and did write to Mr. Sparling 3 emails with Safari invoice and Canada Plumbing written quote for the same work done by Safari attached to resolve the overcharge. He ignored me and never responded

Drains in house totally plugged four girls...Not even ultra strength draino worked.

Safari was cost effective, polite and fast. Totally resolved the issue.

Highly recommend them To anyone with this kind of issue.

I was impressed by Dan Touchette's work and also his pleasant personality. I will use Safari from now on, even though cost was a bit higher than I expected, the professionalism was worth it.