Gwoonit from Old Toronto

Cannot say enough good things about my experience with Matt. From being the first to respond to my job on Homestar (well past 11pm) to having my old (leaking) water tank removed and brand new tankless heater installed was less than 48 hours - over the weekend! Matt realized how big of an inconvenience it was for a family with kids to be without hot water and really pulled out all the stops including making special arrangements with his supplier to make sure my family didnt have to wait through a whole weekend without hot water. The work itself was very well done - Matt had to reroute some of the piping on my existing water purification system in order to optimize the tankless install. Not only do I have a much more organized area but Matt helped me recover some very valuable floor space in my utility room! What he did was beyond my expectations and its clear to me he goes above and beyond because he takes a lot of pride in his work. I will no doubt be calling on my for future HVAC needs.

20+ year old garage door malfunctioned and needed repair or replacement. Al responded to my Homestars job request immediately and arranged to personally come and provide quotation within a day. Al explained the issue with our door, provided us with all the options with a new garage door and provided very transparent pricing as well as his honest recommendations. For example Al said our garage door opener is still in good shape and doesnt need replacement. Penguins pricing is better than other quotes we received; we also chose to work with Penguin because its a local small business where were dealing directly with the owner. On installation day, Al and his team were very professional and efficient; brand new door was installed by lunch time. The entire process took about one week. We are very happy with the final result and would work with Penguin again.

Oleg came and replaced my flat roof back in 2013. I remember being impressed with him and his crew even back then. Courteous, punctual and cleaned up well after the work was done. Fast forward to 2020. I had issues I suspected were roof related. I called Oleg at 9:30pm. Not only did he answer, he met me the next morning (less than 12 hours from my call, on a Saturday no less) to check the roof. The roof is still in terrific shape (see pic) but he did give us advice on what might need repairing (interior to the house unrelated to the roof). I offered to pay him for his visit since the issue isn’t related to his work. He refused to accept and just said this is part of his job to make sure he follows up with his customers; even 7 years later. Needless to say, I am thoroughly impressed by Oleg’s professionalism, and can also attest to the quality of his work having stood up well (7 years in). Wish home contractors are all like Oleg!

The actual work done was replacing a broken drain on a bathroom sink and snaking it to clear a clog. Barely 30 mins work for $400 which I find pricey, but at least from what I can tell the work was done well. The rest of this review is about the customer service provided post-repair. For repairs completed last Thursday afternoon, I have received no fewer than 10 (TEN!) phone calls (I checked my missed call logs) from Drain Rescue Plumbers as of the following Tuesday - including calls on Sunday morning - chasing payment. 10 phone calls in less than 3 business days. I work in a job when I can't always take phone calls. The constant phone calls bordered on harassment. The reason for the delay in payment is because of a question about the invoice. I've actually called to speak with someone at their office (Sonia I believe) twice. First, because I never received an invoice (the reason they said is because they don't have my email address, even though I submitted all my contact info via Homestars when I requested the job - that's the only way they would have contacted me!) and then we spoke a second time when I had a question about the amount being charged which needed to be resolved with the plumber. Next thing I know, I receive a call from another person at Drain Rescue, accusing me of dodging her calls and refusing to pay. Didn't matter to her the fact that I proactively called in the office and spoke with her colleague twice to clarify an issue because I wanted to settle the payment. Didn't matter to her that a customer had a question to be resolved. Even from a plumber, I expect more personable and cordial customer service. She then played the phone conversation I had with the plumber, again not in a helpful way, but in an accusatory way. While it did resolve the question I had (it was my mistake that I remembered the itemized costs of the repairs wrong, because the plumber had quoted a larger job which I did not proceed with), I was quite taken aback by the fact that my conversation with the plumber was recorded without consent or even the courtesy of letting me know while I was on the call. I have no problem with them recording, and in this case it was actually helpful, but I don't think it's right to record your customer without letting him or her know. What's to stop the plumber from taking videos and pictures of your home when he is in your house? How would one know how these recordings might be used or disposed of? What else might they be doing without your knowledge or consent when you're letting them into your home, your kitchens, your bathrooms? There are so many plumbers out there - if customer service, common courtesy and respect for your time and privacy are important to you, I'd go elsewhere.

I highly recommend Maret’s cleaning services. The entire process - from arranging the in-person estimate with Maret to coordinating the details of the job to actually getting the work done - was highly professional and went off without a hitch. We are a household of young kids and super busy parents - it was really important that the service was basically “turnkey”. Maret made the whole thing incredibly easy for us. She and her team were always punctual and totally reliable. And, the cleaning itself was so well done. Our basement hadn’t been used for a few years but we wanted to reclaim the space and had just installed new wall cabinets which were covered in sawdust. Maret’s crew, led by Marlene the supervisor, cleaned the entire basement thoroughly, including walls and ceilings, vents and window tracks, and wiped down contents and shelving to make sure everything was clean. I’m now completely comfortable letting my young kids play in the basement knowing how thoroughly it’s been cleaned by Maret’s team, who really cared about doing their work well because they knew the were making a space clean and safe for children! I have no reservations recommending Maret for any cleaning needs - in fact I’ll probably be calling her again soon to help clean other parts of my house!