Were do I begin?
First of all, I am a real person & this is a real review. I took over a thousand pics to document the sub-par workmanship & disrespect this company paid towards my property. Unfortunately, Homestars limits the number of pics you can post.
Here's my story:
I hired WOW last fall to paint my entire home (walls, ceilings, trim, doors, rads, ext. bricks). I left my home in their hands for three days, which soon became four, while my dog & I stayed at a hotel. I entrusted these people w/my personal belongings & property.
On both the 2nd & 3rd day, I returned to my home to check-in. I was appalled at what I saw. Not only was my property (very expensive rug; hi-end computer equipment; dining room chairs; sofa; stereo; CDs; appliances etc.) not fully covered (in some cases not covered at all w/paint cans placed under exposed furniture) & protected from plaster dust & paint, I found workers paint covered tools & a soiled painter's canvas laying on top of a drawer containing MY CLOTHES (please refer to the second pic below). And, graffiti had been painted on the entrance wall leading up to my second floor. I felt sick to my stomach, disgusted & violated by these people. I thought to myself "what gives them the right to treat my belongings in such a disrespectful manner?"
Additionally, my home was an absolute mess; I could see there would have been no possible way for me to stay in it while the work was being completed. I was very upset when I spoke to the owner of the company (we only had one conversation over the phone during the entire process). He assured me that my home would be "spotless" when WOW completed the job. He offered to have my home professionally cleaned; I accepted his offer. He, however, was not willing to accept any responsibility for the unprofessional, disrespectful actions of his workers. I was soon to realize that being accountable was not something the owner was interested in nor did he really care about doing right by his customer.
During a subsequent email exchange w/the owner, I emphatically told him that some of the colors & finishes I had chosen were not being used. He outright refused to correct the mistake. I offered to extend my stay at the hotel for a few days longer in order to give his workers the time to redo the doors, rads & stairs. It should be noted that I clearly communicated my instructions to the sales person prior to the commencement of the work. I directed the owner to read the emails, but he refused to. He would not budge. Clearly, he didn't care about my satisfaction. He seemed to only care about the money he would lose by having to redo the work.
To back track just a bit. The sales person assured me the work would be completed in three days. By the second day, I could see that hardly anything had been done other than prep work. By the third day, I realized I would have to book an additional nite in the hotel I was staying at. All in all, I spent four days/nites in a hotel. My next door neighbor kept an eye on my home & the work being done. She reported to me each nite the goings on of the day.
On the fifth day, I returned home. As I walked up my street, I felt uneasy & worried. I really didn't know what to expect, but I feared the worst. As I got closer to my house, I could see the painted ext. bricks. The work was sloppy & uneven. I opened my front door; walked inside. I felt sick to my stomach. My house was a filthy mess (please refer to the first pic below). The owner had no intention of having my home cleaned professionally. I spent the next four days cleaning, scrubbing & vacuuming until I felt comfortable in my home again.
Rather than describe what I discovered thru the cleaning process, I will list everything.
Here we go:
1. Not all of my chosen colors & finishes were used.
2. Walls were painted in Eggshell, as I requested, yet light switches & the area surrounding them were painted over haphazardly in Hi-Gloss. I wish I could show you all how crazy this looks. Who does things like this? Oh! WOW painters do.
3. Not all of my ceilings were painted Chantilly White as I requested; some where painted the same color as the wall (Wind's Breath). And, some were not painted at all.
4. Paint was allowed to run off onto my hardwood floor in corners or at the bottom of door frames where it pooled into huge globs.
5. Disgusting pieces of hair, some very, very large (please refer to the third pic below) were painted over.
6. Rads were only partially painted. The insides & back legs were not touched. Black paint got on walls behind the rads. Very sloppy work.
7. Black paint was splattered on my expensive Duvet.
8. My very expensive rug was covered in plaster dust along w/everything else in my house that wasn't fully covered.
9. White paint was splattered on my stationary bike & the surface of my dresser. And, the workers broke my 4-poster bed; my bed has since been converted to a standard bed.
10. The black used to paint my stairs, rads & doors was not black at all; rather, it was a very dark grey. Benjamin Moore confirmed that the color was not a true black, which is what I requested. I purchased Leaside Black, a true black, & had everything painted over again.
11. Cans of paint were left in my basement. I was able to confirm that some of the colors & finishes I requested were not used. One label was painted over. I took the can back to Benjamin Moore to find out what it was. It was not a color or a finish I requested.
12. Where I requested Hi-Gloss be painted, I received Semi-Gloss & vice versa.
13. The trim is a mess, very sloppy, very uneven. It appears as though it was painted by hand w/o the use of tape.
14. Numerous cracks were not patched. The huge crack along my bedroom ceiling was shoddily patched. It looks absolutely terrible.
15. Black paint on my hardwood floor in numerous places.
16. Black paint all along the circumference of my antique glass door.
17. The area under window sills/ledges was left unpainted or done partially & very sloppily.
18. My stairs were painted black & white. The work is really messy & uneven w/numerous hairs painted over. No one bothered to make sure the surface was clean before paint was applied. And, my front door was painted black. I specifically asked that my front door be left as it is. Again, this company ignored my detailed instructions.
The list goes on...
To this day, whenever I think of the owner of the WOW Painters Toronto Franchise, I get sick to my stomach. The gall of this man & his workers to disrespect a customers' property is beyond my understanding. I cannot stress how violated I feel.
In Summary:
Do not believe what you read in WOW's promotional material.
1. They do not complete the customers' painting to the "highest standards". Their work is shoddy & messy at best.
2. Their "superstar estimators" are poor communicators, who do not ensure the customer gets what they asked for.
3. They do not "arrive at your home w/the paint colors & finishes you chose" because they didn't actually read the numerous detailed emails you sent them, which outlined your instructions.
4. They do not use "highly experienced" & "highly professional" painters. Their painters don't care about the work they are doing. You're just a number. Besides they're moving to fast to care or to produce quality work. Speedy = Sloppy!
5. They do not leave your home "spotless". My home was a filthy mess. It took me four days of continual cleaning to get things back to normal.
6. They do not "guarantee" customer satisfaction. The only guarantee I received was the guarantee of poor workmanship & unprofessional behaviour. They are all about the money, bottom-line. They didn't give a darn about satisfying me. In fact, the owner outright refused to correct the mistakes made by his workers.
7. They do not give you "the same quality painting you expect and deserve without disrupting your home". My home as well as life was disrupted for four days. I stayed in a hotel because of the disruption caused by WOW Painters.
8. They provide sloppy, messy, & poor workmanship. And, they do not respect your belongings & property by ensuring they are fully covered & protected from paint & plaster dust etc.
9. They do not "work from the proposal to ensure your project is done right". The lack of communication from the owner down means that you will NOT get what you expect & deserve. Make sure you document the process; keep detailed records of everything that happens because you may need it in court.
10. Speed + Poor Workmanship = Extreme Customer Dissatisfaction
Do NOT hire these people under any circumstances.
