We are airing our dirty laundry!
At North Shore, we are quite pleased with our many terrific reviews as it shows that most of our customers are very satisfied. On HomeStars.com we have received 115 reviews from our customers in the past 2 years. 111 of our customers gave us a 10 out of 10! Today, let's look at the other 4 reviews; the less than perfect reviews. It is not only potential customers that learn from these. We always strive to improve and so we study these, too. When I read through these, I see our customers are satisfied with the products and installations.
Laura Hope, Estimator and Office Manager, laura@eavestrough.ca
We will save you time by consolidating our 2 years worth of "bad" reviews as well as our responses below.
1) 2 out of 10 Heater Cableby Nicole from TorontoMarch 3, 2015
North Shore installed a heater
cable in our gutter a few years ago. It was great in preventing ice dams, but
this summer, a squirrel chewed through the cable. I have been trying for months
for them to reply to me about a fix/solution, but my requests keep going
unheeded. I give up. Approximate cost
of services:$1,100.00
Company Response:Hi Nicole, thanks for letting us know how you feel about the service you have received from us. First off we are glad to hear that you are happy with our original work we did in 2011! We do not take a 2 out of 10 lightly and realize you must be extremely frustrated. Having a hard to get rid of squirrel chewing through parts of your home can be a real nightmare. Seeing an ice dam on your home which needs a working heater cable can be trying. We have looked back through our correspondence and can see where we dropped the ball in a couple of places with all the back in forth, with you receiving a quote for the new heater cable and also with you presenting an idea for putting the new heater cable in copper conduit. The first error on our end was sending the quote for a new heater cable to your old email address. That caused a delay of a few weeks. Sorry! With that being said you contacted us late in the season, Dec 4th to be exact, I am not sure we would have been able to complete the work before the ice dams set in. I can also see where I could have been faster giving Laura the information you were looking for in terms of a squirrel proof heater cable system. I had dragged my feet a bit because I honestly did not know what the best solution was for this situation. That is why we sent a quote for a new heater cable as the solution. I am not comfortable designing a new system of conduit etc. for the first time and having our client pay for it. There is the risk it may not perform like we intend and we would feel terrible in that case. Also it would cost you extra to construct this conduit system. We also feel that putting the heater cable down in the eavestroughs, under the leaf guard may not be the best option as the snow and ice may bridge right over the leaf guard. I understand that a lot of people seek us out because we are experts and go above and beyond to alleviate homeowners frustrations with their eavestroughs but in this case I do not have the answer you were hoping for. I followed up with a phone call to your home today.
On our visit to your home in 2011 we did some leaf guard and downpipe work and the cost for the actual cable in question was $650.00.
I do feel the review is harsh but it taught us a few things and I am thankful for that. Its the bumps along the way that show a companies true colors.
I hope you accepted my apology by phone last week for lack our promptness in a couple of our emails. Darren
I called this company because
it had good reviews, but it took a while to get a response from them as they
we're really busy. Nonetheless, everything seemed to work out fine. So far, so
good!!
Approximate cost
of services:$900.00
Company Response: Thank you for the review. We
do our best to give realistic timelines at all stages in the process. We also
book installation dates to suit our customer's schedules. Enjoy the gutterclean
leaf guard. It should mean less home maintenance for you! Laura
3) 9 out of 10 Misc. Projectsby Marcy from North York2 July 29, 2013
I was very pleased with the
service and final product provided by North Shore Eavestoughing. Laura in the
office was efficient and although they were quite busy (I called after the big
May rain), she was able to schedule an estimator within a week. Nick was honest
and only suggested changes that were necessary (redirecting a downspout,
disconnecting a downspout, aluminum capping under a bay window). It took
another 5 weeks before the work was completed (would have given 5 stars for a
bit more
notice - they called the morning of the work). Nick was very knowledgeable and
fast. He remembered all the work we requested and completed it fast and 100% to
our satisfaction.
Approximate cost
of services:$536.00
Company Response: Thanks Marcy for the nice
review! Glad you are 100% satisfied with our work. In construction and working
outdoors there can somtimes be delays when 100 year storms come through the
city. We appreciate your patience. We do always give our customers a choice in
when we come to do the work and sorry that you felt that we had to come that
day. We could have postponed to another day as we want your experience to be as
great as possible. Thanks Darren
My next-door neighbour had
Darren and his crew at North Shore install new eavestroughs on her house a year
ago. I met Darren and was impressed with his demeanour. And I watched with envy
for the next few months as her eavestroughs were leak- and icicle-free -- while
mine leaked like crazy and we had to knock the huge icicles off them in order
to avoid injury. So this spring I got three estimates, Darren's was in the
middle and his warranty period was good. And when his crew came and installed the
eavestroughs two weeks ago I was super-satisfied, and Darren came and did a
couple of little follow-up things for me. Now I love it when it rains, rather
than dreading it, because the new eavestroughs work so well!They're consummate
professionals and I highly recommend them. Approximate cost
of services: $2,700.00
Company Response:
Thanks Rosemary for the kind
words. We hope you enjoy the new set up for the rain barrel and the leaf guard.
We hope your ice problems are not significant moving forward however ice
damning is a result of poor ventilation or insulation in the attic. Of course
our new ones have no leaky joints so this may help in the winter. We thank you
for your time in writing this review and contributing to our excellent online
reputation. Darren
