General contractors servicing Ottawa since 2000.
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We also saw the long review below and wanted to weigh in with our experience, which was nothing but positive. We couldn't have been happier with the work done by Austin and his crew. They were very hands-on, and had some great advice about how to fix up our kitchen when we had it renovated in 2010. Communication was excellent, and the quality of their work was first-rate.
Just today some friends asked us for a contractor recommendation. We didn't hesitate for a moment to recommend Austin.
Thank you for your review and referral Blayne.
We're very pleased that you and Natasha were happy with the services we provided you and have been able to enjoy the renovations for all these years.
Cheers! Austin and Jen
After reading the lengthy negative review offered by another client, I feel compelled to share my experience. I was elated with the work done by Austin Toms and the tradesmen he brought in to assist with the work. Austin listened intently to all of my requirements and when completing the work offered design improvements. I loved everything. While I have since sold my home, I received many positive comments from prospective buyers. My backyard once completed was an absolute paradise and my kitchen a joy to use.
The estimate was spot on and no cost over runs were incurred.
In my experience, this contractor is honest, reliable, and delivers.
In regards to other reviewers, it seems they have been prompted to provide a review. I wonder if they got quotes/references from other tradespeople? This is a good practice to follow, but their posts do not mention this. It is also interesting that there are no reviews from within Carleton Place, where Toms & Co. is based.
In the 7 years after they quit we are still repairing problems that Toms & Co. undertook themselves or while they were managing this project.
In regards to their response, it would appear Toms & Co.’s writing skills are on par with their construction and project management abilities. Their rebuttal is a tragic tale that would make Shakespeare himself shed a tear. Their response omits specific points in this review (i.e. specific dates, several lawyer's letters asking for receipts, Occupancy Inspection defects, deck boards lacking screws, having the local police intervene to get our house keys, ignoring requests to stop using images of our house in their advertising, etc.).
As the general contractor the role of Toms & Co. was to find the best quality products and services for the best price within an agreed-to schedule. The overall costing was based on pricing established by Toms & Co. The various pricing for service and materials were “placeholders” (the term they used) and subject to change as quotes were provided as the build progressed; this included the interior finishing costs. THIS IS WHERE THERE ROLES ENDED; they had no involvement in negotiating the financing for this build. All of this was known and agreed to by both parties at the onset of the project.
Throughout the process Toms & Co. presented us with quotes for approval from sub-contractors – we as the clients had final say on which companies were hired. However, in the Fall of 2017 there was a false assumption that they had the exclusive opportunity to complete the interior finishing. It is worth noting that work on the house came to a standstill at that time; several retired / work-from-home neighbours told us that they assumed that Toms & Co. had quit the project as they rarely saw them on site. Although we had full-time jobs, we started taking on the work ourselves to make up for lost time.
Toms & Co. presented us with extremely high prices for the interior finishing that provided no details on how the work to be undertaken (when we mentioned these quotes to other local contractors they literally laughed-out-loud in disbelief). We also received several emails from Toms & Co. suggesting that the costing of our house was on par with other local builds, which was not the case - we owned the property; logically the building costs should be lower than a new house for sale. As a generalist contractor they felt that their exorbitant pricing were justified because of the supposed superiority of their work (versus contractors that had decades more experience and were specialized in their trades). Please see attached pics of their 'expert' craftsmanship.
Considering these discrepancies we asked that all communication be in writing and that Toms & Co. as the general contractor get quotes for the interior finishing from specialized trades (we also did the same). The pricing from trade-specific contractors was 2-4 times less expensive than Toms & Co. As such, we asked Toms & Co. to price match or continue to act as the general contractor for the interior finishing. We were informed via email November 30, 2017, that Toms & Co. that they would no longer manage the interior finishing portion of the build. On December 18, 2017, they informed us by text message that they were no longer be engaging in any work related to our build (we were initially informed by the siding contractor, not Toms & Co., that they had left the project altogether).
We received a Termination Agreement from Toms & Co. on January 5, 2018, for our signature that would absolve them of any liability for the project. We were also informed that they would only provide the remaining material receipts for the build if we signed this document. Of course, we refused to sign - why would we willingly give up seeing the receipts for materials we paid for? Toms & Co. sent a retroactive Notice to Terminate letter on February 09, 2018, that did not request our consent or signature to end our agreement.
Following their departure from the project we were informed that Toms & Co. canceled a specialty siding order and had their payment refunded - without informing us or the contractor (we have written confirmation of this from the supplier, not Toms & Co.). Re-ordering the siding added an additional four weeks to the exterior finishing.
After they quit we took over as the general contractor for this project and the pace of work increased exponentially. All subsequent contractors we hired in December, 2017 for interior finishing had decades of experience and were specialists in their chosen trades. All quotes clearly listed the work to be done and all invoices detailed what was completed along with the associated costing. They undertook their work professionally, on time and on budget; no excuses, no bundled quotes, no drama and no missed deadlines. It was very refreshing to work with professionals that clearly knew what they were doing.
Note that any commentary by Toms & Co. regarding the contractors hired, the quality of work completed or the pricing for the interior finishing is pure conjecture on their part – as stated, they had already quit the project well before this work commenced. They have not seen the finished interior during or after its completion.
In early 2018 we requested several times in writing that Toms & Co. return the house keys after they quit the project. These repeated requests were ignored until we had the local police intervene on our behalf - truly juvenile behaviour on their part.
The work Toms & Co. undertook on the build themselves was disappointing. On February 15, 2018, we were informed in writing by Toms & Co. that the front and rear decks met the Ontario Building Code (OBC) and would pass inspection. During the final Occupancy Inspection on February 21 the Building Official informed us the rear deck railing height was 36", not 42" high as per the OBC requirements. Toms & Co. refused to fix their error and informed us by email that we would have to undertake the deck railing modifications ourselves - they would not stand behind their work and we paid for these repairs.
In addition, the Building Inspector informed us that the basement windows were not boxed-in properly (see pics). Although we were told all fire blocking would pass Code (text message on November 27, 2017), and Toms & Co. had ample time to undertake this work in the Fall of 2017, this too had to be completed by other contractors at our expense.
Other work undertaken by Toms & Co. was substandard - twisted spindles installed on stair railings and bowed deck railings. We later found the rear deck had 20% of the screws missing from the decking boards (see pic). A previous email from Toms & Co. re: issues related to the Occupancy Inspection made it clear that they would not stand behind their work. As such we paid to have these repairs done.
Note that all images provided (other than the extended 42” deck railing, which shows the installed siding) were taken in late 2017 or early 2018; this is evident in the images by the Tyvek building wrap, gravel and unfinished sidewalk in the front yard, backyard landscaping/parging not completed.
During the interior finishing the plumber told us that he had informed Toms & Co. in the Fall of 2017 that the toilet flange was not installed. The HVAC contractor told us that plastic in the ducts had not been removed after drywall installation (this required holes being cut through already painted trim for its removal). We were informed by two finishing contractors (one with 30 years+ experience in renovations; the other a certified carpenter with 20 years experience) that the interior walls were not squared after framing (Google Winston Miller Construction who framed the house for reviews). A general contractor with experience would have dealt with this well in advance of the interior finishing. This added further costs / lost time to the build.
Note that although they did the measurements for the kitchen cabinets Toms & Co. failed to confirm the placement of the installed window. As such the kitchen cabinets did not fit properly. Toms & Co. took no responsibility for these issues as the project manager and we paid other trades for these repairs.
Note that as per their response we categorically DID NOT access or use Toms & Co. business / credit card accounts. We approached the supplier and they accessed the information on the kitchen cabinets based on our request. We paid for the kitchen cabinets ourselves and as such, our information was on file with the supplier. We used this information to verify measurements and troubleshoot possible solutions for the improperly measured cabinets. If Toms & Co. had issues with this it would be best that they took their complaints directly to the supplier.
Although requested many times from Toms & Co. we are still missing tens of thousands of dollars in receipts for this build. We were informed in writing on February 02 and 09, 2018 that they would return all paperwork, but only received a small portion of this documentation (we had most of these already). We sent multiple registered letters and lawyer’s letters specifying the missing receipts for each invoice received from Toms & Co. Note that we would not have gone to the time, trouble and expense of hiring a lawyer to assist us if we already had the missing receipts in our possession. Also, we did not receive a response to our written offer to Toms & Co. of $300 for the receipts. In addition, we requested that would like the associated building expenses to be audited by a third-party certified accountant at our expense to verify its validity / thoroughness. We did not receive a response to this offer – IF THEY HAVE NOTHING TO HIDE, THEN THEY HAVE NOTHING TO FEAR.
In one of their emails Toms & Co. mentioned they had trouble getting quotes from local contactors. We have since had the opportunity to speak to these individuals; what we were told did not put this company in a very good light. There are very distinct reasons why contractors would not bid on this project - which had nothing to do with the build itself.
We have been explicitly clear with Toms & Co. that they cannot use images of our house to advertise their business on TrustedPros. Note that we had to ask TrustedPros to remove these images on THREE separate occasions. Our request to Toms & Co. to remove images of our house from Facebook and other sites continues to be ignored. However, if you look closely at the deck on their Facebook page you can see the bowing in the railing that was installed by Toms & Co. shortly before the picture was taken.
Before reading their response consider the following questions:
- If they have countless evidentiary documents and communications that support the case that contract was breached why have they not sought litigation?
- If we had accessed their credit accounts illegally why did they not contact the vendor?
- If they were subject to harassment why did they not pursue the matter with the local police or legal counsel?
We worked closely with your wife to extensively plan the project based on the plans provided, including the budget and finance portion with your wife and lender and renegotiated our fees and the costs for the agreed-upon finishing portion of the build, coming to a final agreement before the project commenced. Despite providing you with costing for the entire project well below the multiple other bids you received from local builders you were never comfortable with the cost of any of the services or materials and early in the project you actively worked to sabotage our progress through multiple unnecessary work stoppages and long delays that caused major disruptions to the schedule. We implored you to join in meetings and shopping for materials with us and your wife to allow the project to run smoother but you refused, preferring to spend more time on your hobbies. You sent an email connecting us with a coworker to whom you bragged that your entire new home build was less than his renovation, when it was coming up to the finishing stage, the point you felt you could take over the project since you assumed managing the project from that point would be simple, you breached our contract and gave us an ultimatum to either substantially lower our already low prices or to leave the project altogether. Despite being more than 10% under budget, for weeks you refused to meet or provide us with the decisions or funds to allow us to begin with the interior finishing work. Since it was coming up to Christmas, we could not let the many local tradespeople we scheduled for your project languish without work while you dangled your ultimatum, therefore, our only choice (save litigation) was to leave your project. Unfortunately, since you chose to be your own general contractor with no experience and chose a very low-cost flooring contractor from Quebec to complete your build, many unnecessary issues arose with your build through your own mistakes that could have easily been avoided through allowing us to complete our contracted duties.
We had hoped that you would have trusted and allowed us to perform our work to the best of our abilities to deliver you a home of excellent quality at a much lower than normal cost. This was obviously never a possibility since you stated often that your primary desire was to always have the lowest price for any service or materials (regardless of style or quality) and all this could have been avoided if instead of choosing a company to complete your build start to finish as your wife wanted, you had chosen an hourly labourer that you always stated you wanted. Instead you derailed the entire project and defamed a small business to get what you wanted in the first place. Like many legitimate Ontario construction businesses, we are unable to compete with either workers from Quebec who come to work in Ontario during the winter season or with the underground economy.
After you broke our contract and refused to pay for services we were unable to fulfill all of your many requests and give your project the attention that you came to expect while we were engaged, to make modifications or complete work yet to be done at the time of the forced work stoppage (not yet paid for). Both during and since our leaving your project you have slandered and caused libel to us personally and our business, paid trades directly to defraud us from our contracted fees, accessed our business credit accounts and used them for your project, threatened us with legal action despite us completing everything we had been contracted to do, and harrassed us in person with threatening gestures and foul language.
Your review is extremely untruthful and we have countless documents and communications to prove this. Since you complained extensively to TrustedPros our written rebuttal space is limited at 4000 characters and our rebuttal photos no longer display. They show both an excellent jobsite and build and disprove the photos you have posted.
Toms & Co. General Contracting has a TrustScore™ of 2.5. The average TrustScore™ for other businesses providing similar services in Carleton Place and the surrounding areas is 2.7. For detailed information on how TrustScore is calculated, click here to learn more.
The following elements are used to calculate TrustScore:
Customer Reviews | Last 12 Months | All Time |
---|---|---|
Total Received | 0 | 3 |
Approved | 0 | 3 |
Unverified | 0 | 0 |
Suspicious | 0 | 0 |
Overall Rating | 3.7/5 |
Complaints Received | Last 12 Months | Last 3 Years |
---|---|---|
Suppliers & Creditors | 0 | 0 |
Employees & Sub-Contractors | 0 | 0 |
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General contractors servicing Ottawa since 2000.
Main contact(s) | Austin Toms |
Listed with TrustedPros since: | 2016 |
Residential work | Yes |
Commercial work | Yes |
Warranty | No |
Accepts credit cards | No |
Year established | 2000 |
Offers financing | No |
24 Hour emergency service | No |
Legal structure | Partnership |
Licensing information | Business does not require a trade license |
Insurance information | Insurance information available upon request |
Check local laws pertaining to license requirements and verify license and insurance details provided by the contractor prior to hiring.