Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Alana Campbell on January 9, 2012 at 12:14pm

My husband and I just had Lucas from PTI paint our entire house, based on reviews we saw here. He and his team did a fantastic job within tight timelines, and we are thrilled with their work. We had Lucas back a couple of weeks later to clean our eavestroughs and he did a very thorough job. His prices are completely reasonable as well. Highly recommended!

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Permalink Reply by Steve Coulter on January 31, 2012 at 11:24pm

Hey guys, thought I would join in this thread.

I found Lucas from PTI as a result of this thread and we are very happy with his work. His rates are competitive, and he is a reliable, friendly guy. In fact, we're having him come back to do more work for us! Best of all, he does high quality work, and he finishes the job quickly. Highly recommended.

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Permalink Reply by Clyde Ambrose on June 4, 2012 at 10:57pm

Recently I received top notch professional service from PTI (Perfect Touch Interiors) painters. Service so good I decided to "TIP" and i never do that but my expectations were meet and I was a happy client. I totally recommend these guys as they are fast, clean and sharp with the cuts. What can I say call them up and get a quote and they'll do the rest; the best.

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Permalink Reply by Woman Touch Painting on June 13, 2012 at 10:41am

Please see our page for more details WOMAN TOUCH PAINTING...

http://leslieviller.com/profile/Angel

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Permalink Reply by Janet A. on June 30, 2012 at 10:30pm

Based on the recommendations here, we used Perfect Touch Interiors as well - and I'm so glad we did! Lucas & his team did an amazing job. Lucas gave great advice & his team was very efficient (& managed to squeeze us in during a very busy time). PTI did both interior & exterior work for us and I would definitely recommend them for either.

Janet

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Permalink Reply by Gina on August 24, 2012 at 9:44am

Hi, I read these reviews and went with Lucas at PTI Painting.  Unfortunately, I didn't have the same experience.

The true measure of a good service provider is how they treat you and resolve the situation when they make a mistake.  If you need a Toronto painter, I would NOT recommend Lucas at PTI Painting.  I hired Personal Touch Interiors to paint my new condo before I moved in.  Pre-sales service was excellent.  Calls and texts were returned promptly.  About a week after the job was completed, I noticed that the colours in my bedrooms didn't seem quite right.  I thought it strange that the fancy new linens and furniture I invested in didn't quite match as well as I thought they did.  It is only when I went to do a touch up on a wall that I realized that the colours in the bedrooms had been switched.  They were both shades of grey (but different).  I immediately called Lucas when I confirmed that it simply wasn't an error of the wrong lid being on the wrong can.  I didn't hear back from him for days.  I tried reaching him via text and email as well.  Strange, since he was so responsive before he had been paid in full.  He finally responded and came over to confirm the error.  I asked him via email how many hours it would take to redo both rooms, and he estimated about 6 hours.  I contemplated having it redone, but realized that the inconvenience of having the bedrooms - which were heavily furnished, had original artwork hung on almost every wall, custom blinds with blackout panels fitted into the frame, a heavy mirror and shelving hung (all of which I had to hire someone to do), would be a huge hassle.  Plus I have a dog that isn't good with strangers that I'd have to figure out what to do with.

 

So I decided that I would live with the error and get a refund for the labour and materials it would cost to repaint those rooms.  That's when the problems really began.  Lucas at PTI Painting offered me a refund, which I felt was a good starting point for negotiation.  I felt that under the circumstances and the inconvenience, a bit more would have been reasonable.   This clearly upset him, and his emails became very petty, and he felt the need to raise a host of completely irrelevant points, including sharing  a conversation he had with another trade that said I "beat them up" over the price.  When I pointed out that I didn't think that was relevant, he said (and this is a copy paste)  "The reason it was brought up is to depict a common thread in my experience. Perhaps it something you don't want to hear, but its relevant.".  The interesting thing is that when he quoted the job, I accepted it.  He had to re quote because of the number of different paints I used and it increased the labour to change paint.  Again, I accepted it and said nothing.  At all.  Never once tried to negotiate price.  Our first point of negotiation on anything was the refund.   He also made the following comment (another direct quote)  when I felt compelled to respond to other comments he was making and share the experience with my last painter:   "Also, if the other company you used in the past was so wonderful, why didn't you use them again? Or did they refuse to work with you?"  Insulting once again.  I let him know that  the last painter I used moved back to Europe, but not before I referred him to family and friends. 

 

Then, after several messages back and forth, after I had agreed to his proposed payment, he then starts telling me that he did extras and he charges $100/hr for them.  These extras included taking a medicine cabinet off the wall (I was there when he did it, took 2 seconds and it was like removing a picture from a wall) and removing a light fixture and towel bar and patching the wall.  Before the job started, we walked through and he asked, I did say that I needed those things done.  He absolutely did these things, and I thanked him at the time.  He agreed to do them and did not advise me of any additional charge to do so.  It would have been the perfect opportunity to do so, since I was standing right there in front of him and he removed the medicine cabinet with me standing there.  He also could have added up the "extras" and let me know before I paid him.  Again nothing.  It was only after the mistake was pointed out, that he brought this extra work to the table, as a way to minimize the amount he'd have to pay out.  In the end, he deducted his labour charge for the "extras" which he admitted he usually throws in, from the amount he refunded me, which ended up being approximately 14%.  Does that seem a reasonable discount or rebate to have two entire rooms painted the wrong colours?

 

A very disappointing experience, but you really only find out what a trade is like to work with when something goes wrong.  I would steer clear of PTI Painting if you're looking for a Toronto painter.

 

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Permalink Reply by Lucas on August 26, 2012 at 7:38am

Hi Leslieville,

I can’t say I’m surprised to read the review added by Gina Bowen. Since I started serving Leslieville over 5 years ago, my experience with Gina has had to be the most challenging thus far.

Gina received my contact from the local Benny Moore vendor at Queen/Carlaw. The local paint stores have been kind enough to recommend my services as over the past few years as they trust that my services and professionalism will take care of their clients to their standards. Furthermore, since I live in the neighbourhood and raise my family here, its extremely important to me that my neighbourhood receives a great experience every time.

I received a call from Gina asking me to have her new condo painted within a day as she had booked the movers in the second day after taking possession.  I negotiated a price over the phone after reviewing the scope and specs that she had emailed me. It was a simple project indicating two colours (both grey). However, after I had requested the paint schedule, Gina failed to mention on the phone that the job actually called for 10 colours/sheens (yes 10 different paints), all slightly different shades of grey. I let Gina know that the original estimate was for 2 grey colours, and although they were all very similar, a small charge had to be added to apply 10 separate products. Gina agreed with the revision of the original estimate and felt it was fair. Gina agreed to a labour estimate as she wanted to purchase the paints and provide them for me. I offered to pick the paints up at the Benjamin Moore vendor and offered her my contractor preferred pricing on all products (saving her roughly $90) and delivered them for her with the notion she would reimburse me for the paint costs. Gina gladly agreed to this.

I made arrangements to meet with Gina at 8pm on the day she received her keys in order for me to accept them and start the next morning. When I arrived in the condo at 8pm, Gina advised me that she had not yet made duplicates of the keys and stated I would have to come back after she runs out and has the keys cut. I came back at 9:30pm and received the keys for the unit. After doing a walkthrough of the unit, the scope that Gina had sent me was not exactly accurate. Gina told me that she wanted the medicine cabinet removed, the towel bar, the light scone, all the anchors pulled and patched with the addition of all the curtain rods and blinds in every bedroom removed.  All these items were not in the estimate Gina agreed too. I advised Gina that the holes in the medicine cabinet and curtain rods would be so deep that they would require multiple skim coats before paint, and required me to start immediately so the first coat would dry overnight. Gina fully endorsed the idea of starting on the repair work and left me at the condo to begin the work. I started to do the repairs and left her condo at 11:30pm that night.

I arrived with my crew at 5:30am the next morning to begin the painting. I received numerous calls from Gina over the course of the day letting me know that the movers, and other trades will be arriving earlier then she had originally scheduled.  She instructed me to give her condo keys to the brick layer (other trade) as they would be working in the condo also. I assured her I would stay with my crew as late as we had too in order to finish on schedule. We stayed until 9:30pm that evening to complete the job for Gina.

The next morning we were back at 5:30am to do a walkthrough, touch-ups and remove our tools. I made arrangements with Gina to meet with her at the condo mid day. When the brick layers arrived that morning, I gave them the condo keys as per Ginas request. The trades for some reason started to volunteer  and voice his frustration with Gina over the pricing of his job and cautioned me not to let her take advantage of me as he felt she “beat him up on price”. I listened to his warning, didn’t participate in the conversation and left until the condo until I was too meet with Gina for the walkthrough.  

When I arrived for my meeting with Gina, she had the movers, and two other trades working inside her condo. I spoke to her briefly and she was delighted that we pulled off the entire paint job with that many colours within the time frame she had. I gave her the receipts for the paints and Gina cut me a cheque for the revised estimate including the use of 10paints.

I mentioned to Gina that I would send her a formal paid in full invoice as soon as I got back to the office.

Before I left, Gina mentioned to me that she noticed a few small scratches in the floors in various spots in the condo. She did not accuse me of putting the scratches there but rather asked me what she can do to remove them. I called the Benjamin Moore vendor and they advised me of a great product that would remove/hind small scratch’s in hardwood. Within 20min, I drove to the paint store, bought the product out of pocket, came back to Gina’s, and got on my knees to buff out the few scratches she pointed out. I left the remaining product I bought for her for future use.

Later that day, I sent Gina a receipt of payment and a link to the Leslieviller.com which I do with all my Leslieville clients to check out our community site and post a review of the experience she had with PTI.

A few days later I received a call from Gina indicating that there was a piece of wall that was missed in the bathroom and requested that I send out someone from my crew to touch it up. I was certain that no wall was missed in the bathroom as I myself did a walkthrough and inspected every element that we painted. Nonetheless, I sent out a painter from my crew the next day after Gina had called me. There was no wall that was missed rather a thin strip of vinyl that was not drywall and correctly should have not been painted. Gina did ask that we paint it regardless for her and we did without hesitation. Again, Gina seemed pleased with the response time and effort.

A week later I received an email from Gina stating that she pulled out one of the bedroom colour paints  to do a touch up on a wall repair (that was not our fault) and noticed the colours did not match up exactly. She concluded that the two bedroom walls were painted in reverse order. I also received a text message urging me to read her email. A day later another email came through from Gina indicating that she would rather been refunded money then the rooms repainted. She mentioned in the email that she hopes we can come to a resolution quickly and ended with the email stating that “I have not yet posted a review” on the Leslieviller.

I called Gina back within 2 days of receiving the emails and made an appointment to come to her condo and have a look at the rooms. After applying the paints, the two rooms were in fact painted in reverse. Gina was right and I apologized for the error and immediately offered to repaint both rooms at absolutely no cost to her. She insisted on a cash refund as repainting the rooms would simply be too inconvenient for her. I explained to her that I would calculate my cost on repainting the rooms in the correct colour and refund her that amount.

After calculating my cost for repainting the rooms, I actually added more to the refund as the rooms were no longer empty but furnished with Gina’s belongings. I emailed Gina my offer to refund her 17% of the total labour cost of the job.

I received a response from Gina that the offer was too low. She told me that 20% was the lowest refund she would accept. She sent me inaccurate percentages and  measurements of her bedroom walls in relation to what the refund price should be.

Also, in the interest of fairness I went back to the Benjamin Moore paint store where I was recommend too Gina and spoke with the dealer principle about this situation. I wanted his input before I made my refund offer to Gina and also wanted some feedback as this was the first time I had made a colour error and wanted to confirm my recourse was in line with industry standards. To say the least, the paint store felt I was fair with the amount I offered for the error (especially after I offered to repaint the error at no cost). In addition, I received a second option from another local paint store....they all shared the same view.

I responded to Gina that my offer was firm and would gladly send her an electronic money transfer.

Gina responded by saying “I am asking for 20%. I will walk away feeling treated fairly and would be happy to write a positive review and be a reference”.

The difference between the 20% that Gina was asking for and the 17% I offered was only $45.

I this point I started to get a little bothered. I felt like I was being  bullied with the posting of a review and that all the goodwill that I had shown Gina was not being taken into consideration.

I explained to her that I was already refunding her twice the cost of me repainting the 2 bedrooms. I also asked to her look at the situation objectively. I started and completed her entire project without any deposit. Nor was there an advance made on the paints I purchased for her on her half at a discount price. I volunteered to save her money on her products;  spent 1.5hrs working at 9:30pm removing hardware and patching holes for her without being paid for it; tried to help resolve her floor issues by buying her product and buffing out a few scratch’s; came back within a day after being requested to touch up elements that shouldn’t have been painted, and made her a very reasonable/fair refund for the error.

But again, Gina wanted more. So I told her she can have the  extra $45 to give her the 20% that would make her happy. However, I told Gina that we both have to walk away from this being treated fairly and I would hold back 1.5hrs of labour that I did for her from 9:30-11pm.

Gina demanded she receives the EMT by Friday; it was sent 2 days earlier. I received confirmation that Gina accepted the refund. 2 days later she put up the above posting.

 

Looking back at this experience, I dont regret doing all the extras that I did for Gina because its the goodwill that has keep me in business over the years. I am bothered that the goodwill was ultimately overlooked and not appreciated. Furthermore I feel Gina’s posting was not a honest  review of her experience rather a direct backlash at the fact that I held back 1.5hr hours of labour conducted at 9:30pm the first evening. Also, I read Gina’s review twice and noticed she deliberately used key works as tags repeatedly in order to have her review visible by search engines when possible prospects are looking for local painters online. Again, not a very decent token taken on Gina’s part after the service she received.

 

Lastly, I wanted to say that Gina never had a issue with the work performed or the service received except for the refund she accepted which was $45 less then she wanted. I had a strong suspicion that a negative review would be posted however I did what I felt was ultimately fair for both of us.

Gina Bowen is new to Leslieville, and I welcome her to our amazing neighbourhood.

 

Lucas Siedleckza

PTI

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Permalink Reply by James D. on December 9, 2012 at 12:11pm

Hi there, I would just like to add yet another positive review for Lucas (Perfect Touch interiors).  They are local, very nice and easy to communicate with, and go out of their way to make sure you are happy.  They painted our house on Leslie Street and we are 100% happy with the way it turned out.  I recommend them and would definitely trust them again if we ever need any more painting work done.

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Permalink Reply by Jennifer S on December 14, 2012 at 10:03am

Hi - we've used Lucas from Perfect Touch Interiors three times now. He's amazing, best value for dollar and best quality. We first had him paint out Wrigley loft (1350 sq ft of space, huge walls with 14-foot ceilings) and he did a tremendous job, and faster than first expected.

He then painted our entire house earlier this year, again doing an amazing job on an older Leslieville home. And then this past week, he came in to paint the basement suite we're renting. Again, really affordable, and top-quality work. He also now offers eaves cleaning, which is great because based on how great of a job he does with painting, it was a no-brainer.

Anyway, very highly recommended, and also local, which never hurts!

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Permalink Reply by Cindy Crowe on February 11, 2013 at 12:10pm

I recently had my upstairs hallway and washroom painted by Lucas at Perfect Touch Interiors, and I am extremely happy with everything! Lucas was able to provide a very reasonable quote, and was able to schedule the work very quickly - within the week. I gave him my house key in the morning, and I came home that evening to a beautifully painted home. It was wonderful. There was no mess, no drips, and everything was put back into place. Lucas even touched up my ceiling without charge for the ceiling paint, which was quite nice. I would highly recommend Lucas at Perfect Touch.  

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