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So often we're annoyed with customer service. You know what I'm talking about: the lazy cashier who doesn't say hello and watches you while you bag your groceries with the bag that you thoughtfully brought from home; the pushy salesman who convinces you to buy widget XYZ and then when it breaks s/he doesn't answer your calls; or maybe it's the snow removal company that you hired as a Christmas gift for your parents so they would have a stress-free winter that doesn't bother to remove the snow.
Stress free and snow removal -- sounds like an oxymoron, doesn't it? I've never heard of anyone say they're thrilled with their snow removal company. As a Christmas present for my parents we hired Ace of Blades in Ottawa. They suck and here's why...
Initially when there was a light dusting Ace of Blades came by and cleared the snow. However, as the winter progressed every time we had an accumulation of snow the service worsened leaving my parents snowed in. Sometimes the snow was almost knee deep.
I complained to Ace of Blades a couple of times (and a couple of times I let it slide) because it was obvious that no snow had been removed or several hours (more than indicated on their website) had gone by with no second clearing, leaving snow that was nearly impossible to drive or walk through. Whenever I did get a hold of someone I was told that someone had been by. However, my parents are up pretty early (no one should argue with a senior's keen eye and the early hours they keep) and would see/hear snow being removed (if someone actually did come by). My parents were unable to leave the house because they were snowed in so they patiently waited to see someone. Sadly, this happened on a few occasions.
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| Photo taken on December 27th. Love that they're advertising who not to hire. Yes, we leave customers snowed in. Hire us! |
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| Another angle on December 27th. |
I complained to Ace of Blades a couple of times (and a couple of times I let it slide) because it was obvious that no snow had been removed or several hours (more than indicated on their website) had gone by with no second clearing, leaving snow that was nearly impossible to drive or walk through. Whenever I did get a hold of someone I was told that someone had been by. However, my parents are up pretty early (no one should argue with a senior's keen eye and the early hours they keep) and would see/hear snow being removed (if someone actually did come by). My parents were unable to leave the house because they were snowed in so they patiently waited to see someone. Sadly, this happened on a few occasions.
The last opportunity for Ace of Blades to redeem themselves was on Friday February 8.
I went by my parents' house at 7:30 pm and the snow was knee deep (see above). It was clear that no one had been by at any point during the day. Just after 8 pm Ace of Blades did come by and only cleared HALF the driveway and left the snow behind my father's car! I'm assuming the thinking behind this logic is that they expect him to move his car and then they'll come by at some point (one can only hope) and clear the remaining half. Sadly, he can only move his car if he removes the snow behind it. Seriously, what kind of operation is Ace of Blades running leaving seniors to remove the snow themselves that the company has been paid to remove, leaving people snowed in?
Ace of Blades indicates on their website
(http://aceofbladessnow.com/snowfaq.html) that it has been background checked
by the Guardian Association and is "licensed, insured, litigation free
with a clean history and no complaint." Clearly Ace of
Blades doesn't live up to what it claims on its website and this is where the Guardian Association comes in.
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| February 8th at approximately 7:30 pm. Doesn't look like someone has been by at all during the day...(I agree, my parents should remove the Christmas decorations.) |
I'm not even sure what the Guardian Association does. When I asked the Ace of Blades salesperson if they were a member of the Better Business Bureau. He said no, but that Ace of Blades was a member of the Guardian Association, which according to him is the same thing. Doesn't sound like it. According to the Guardian Association's website,
"The Guardian Association is a consumer savings program that helps you SAVE. Your Guardian Association savings card is good on any and all of the 100′s of companies signed up. All of our participating companies have passed a qualification process ensuring they are great companies providing great service. All are licenced, insured, litigation free with a clean history. We have done the research so you do not have to."
After my final complaint to Ace of Blades demanding a refund I gave the company over a week to respond. No surprise I didn't get a response -- no apology, no refund, nothing. So then I decided to take it up with the Guardian Association who I thought might be able to help me out since Ace of Blades brags about their spotless reputation with this association.
I was happy to see a response from the association's president apologizing for my less-than-stellar experience. He wrote that his staff would look into the situation and I would hear back within a few days. In his e-mail to me he asked if I was a member of the association, which I'm not. I haven't heard back from the Guardian Association, which I can only assume is because of my lack of allegiance to this association.
So now readers that's why I'm taking it to the Internet. I'm sick and tired of companies taking our money and not delivering a promised service. It's upsetting that snow removal was purchased on behalf of my parents and they've been snowed in not once, but many times, waiting for a plow to clear snow for them. How irresponsible and cruel!
This isn't a petty complaint. If Ace of Blades can't keep up with the demand
then the company should have let people know and refunded their money. We
politely asked Ace of Blades for a refund and gave time to respond.
However, they ignored our request and haven't been courteous enough to respond.
It's sad that in this day and age when word gets around so
quickly that a company should care so little about customer service. I may be just one person, but I will effectively spread the word through e-mail (and my contacts will spread the word too), my blog, Twitter, Facebook, the media and word of mouth that Ace of Blades isn't worthy of anyone's hard-earned money.[Update: March 25, 2013 / A complaint was filed with the Better Business Bureau in Ottawa. Ace of Blades had one month to respond to the complaint. Sadly, Ace of Blades chose to ignore the complaint. However, the snow removal company did remove snow the couple of times that we had a snowfall in the last month. It wasn't in a timely fashion, however, it was typical service from Ace of Blades.]
[Update: April 4, 2013 / I received an e-mail from the Better Business Bureau...
"The Better Business Bureau has made several attempts to contact the business regarding the above referenced complaint. We regret to inform you that we have not received a response from the company.
The Better Business Bureau develops and maintains Business Reviews on companies in our service area. This information is available to the public and is frequently used by potential customers. In the case of your complaint, the company's failure to promptly give attention to the matter will be reflected in the review we give to consumers about them."]
28 comments:
That's just horrible. They should be held accountable for this.
This company came to my door in the fall, too...very glad I didn't bite! I was too scared off from a similiar experience with 'Appleseed' in Ottawa...terrible service. I wonder if there's a company that actually shows up to clear your snow as indicated in the contract??
They have been thoroughly unreliable for us as well. They don't answer their phone much. Perhaps too many complaints. Good luck with the fight against these scammers.
I hired these kids too. They were nothing but trouble from the beginning. I have a bad back so there is no way I should be shovelling (which is why I hired them!). Not only was I blocked in my dirveway but I actually got the car stuck at the end of the driveway one day and had to shovel it out. That was the last straw for me. I told them never to come on my property again and to return my money because of no service. Never received a dime. I hired the guy I had from last year, Pierce Hill Farms, and he is fantastic. Comes twice as often as AOB (my neighbour still has them as their contractor). It is just awful that they can get away with taking our money and then not providing the service as described.
Thanks for the comments. Keep them coming and spread the word. There were no reviews when I was looking into them in the fall so we took a chance. Hopefully through this blog post and people spreading the word others won't get taken in.
I work for a landscaping/snow removal company in Ottawa,and while yes at times its hard to get all of the snow with a vehicle in the way but after you do behind the vehicle with your plow or snowblower it takes a matter of minutes to clear the last bit closest to the vehicle with a shovel. Then if you see the people at home and awake save yourself a trip and complaint call from then later and kindly ask them if they could move the vehicle to clear the rest. From the photo looks like they dont even bother shoveling the walkway to the door either,Hopefully they finish out the season and do some work but from the looks of it I doubt it.In the meantime for next year if you were to look for a company you have months ahead of time to check around,anyone that cant get with the Better Business Bureau is most likely not a Better Business.
Anonymous, Thanks for commenting. I wondered why someone didn't get out and shovel the remaining snow. Giving them the benefit of the doubt I thought that it was because they were busy and in a rush, but of course, that doesn't excuse them leaving people snowed in. Shoveling the snow on the walkway would have been a bonus, however, we only asked that they remove the snow on the driveway as per the contract. Thanks for the tip re: BBB, however, I don't think we'll ever invest in snow removal service again.
Sometimes during storms we ARE in a rush yes,but you still get whats on the ground and move to the next property . It's like washing your hair..wash rinse repeat. Get more on your next stop in but from the looks there wasnt an initial stop in. Worst part about people being snowed in besides them stuck inside the house but if theres an emergency how is anyone supposed to get in there Ie : fire,ambulance,police.
just shameful.Not all companies are as careless as this 1 is though,ubfortunately it takes 1 bad apple to spoil the bunch
(not sure why it posted anon last post neither)
Ron, You're right -- doesn't look like there was even an initial cleaning. This didn't happen just once. It's not right to be snowed in. Like you said, there could be an emergency, but not only that, we paid for snow removal service. I hope there are reliable companies and employees out there since it's a service that people need.
If it snows 4cm, and the contract states that removal will only come if 5cm or more has fallen, they will not come. If 2 days later it snows 4cm again, making 8cm in your driveway, contract does not oblige them to come and remove it. As for no one ever saying that their snow removal is fantastic, definatley wrong on that assumption. As for looking for a comppany on the BBB, you are still taking cahnces, many people may have gotten poor service from these companies, but do not have the time to waste on complaining about the tea. Best recommendations come from people you know, that have had great experiences with the company they recommend. Good luck on your hunt.
My assumption was based on asking around for recommendations prior to booking and now based on my experience. If there are good snow removal companies out there let's hear about it.
You cant really track a company if they are with the BBB as they just pay to have there complaints removed from the record. It is a amazing how the companies that pay the BBB have great rating even tho I notice they are some of the worst companies. I do believe the BBB is the scam.
Even though AoB isn't registered with the BBB I have filed a complaint. AoB has until mid March to respond. If you had a bad experience you should file a complaint as well. Strength in numbers.
Theyre located at 54 louisa st near little italy, the sign says Holliday auto repair but its the ace of blades secret hideout, sketchy eh?
Does sound sketchy. That's the address that I put down for them when I filed my complaint with the BBB.
Last night Ace of Blades was going around our Kanata South Neighbourhood with a lawn aerator. I wasn't interested but our neighbour apparently was and I'm not sure if our neighbour was being kind and told them to do our yard too or if the kid doing it didn't realize it was shared. Well, he left dirt all over my driveway, I watched the poor kid struggle with it and i was convinced he was going to run it right into my car. In the end all that happened was that he essentially tore up my lawn. The neighbour's side is in worse shape, It looked like it was tilled as opposed to aerated. I almost wish I did pay for the service because then I could complain.
D,
I'm not surprised. Snow or dirt -- they can't do anything right.
My friends son is working for them and has been trated poorly - doppped off at one place and left for 12 hours.
They got a BAD rating from the better business Bureau:
http://www.bbb.org/ottawa/business-reviews/snow-removal-service/ace-of-blades-in-ottawa-on-46836
Fraud complaints from employees:
http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/ace-of-blades-fraud-c667920.html
Sad, but not surprising. I noticed that according to the BBB report they've had 5 complaints against them in the last year. Filing a complaint takes time so typically people who are really mad are the ones who file. There are plenty of upset customers out there who don't file.
Just a slight piece of information for you. IF you took the time to actually read your contract or do ANY sort of research on the machines used, you may have discovered that:
It IS the homeowners responsability to remove their vehicles from the driveway either prior to the snowfall or after the first pass to ensure that the entire driveway CAN be completed. FAILURE to do so results in your situation where a 9 foot wide blower cannot fit bweteen the bank and the van without damaging the side of the vehicle.
I say this as a snow removal operator myself. It is plainly listed in every companies agreement. It is not the operators responsability to get out n shovel, nor is it their responsability to make sure you move your vehicles in a timly fashion.
Regarding timing, you cannot complain there either, if its listed that an operator will be by for the service within 12-24 hours of the moment a MINIMUM of 5cm has accumulated then they will be by when they can. You are no different than anyone else out of the hundreds of people who they service.
I did a bit of research on this as well, and I did find out over 98% of the people covered by the operator you had with that company had no issues with the job done.
So who would you rather trust? 98% who where very happy with the service or the 2% who where too ignorant to read their contracts and expected unrealistic demands to be met?
Just some food for thought.
Mike,
Thank you for your comment, but any name calling (such as ignorant) is inappropriate. If you carefully read my post you will notice that I was respectful of Ace of Blades. I read the contract very carefully. I also asked the salesperson many questions regarding the service.
To touch on your points...
My parents live on a very busy street making it difficult to just park on the street. The plan was that they would move their car after the first pass, which is something that I discussed with the salesperson. If AoB had an issue with the car being parked in the driveway then they should have called us so we would have made alternate arrangements.
My contract states that "Snow removal will commence after a snowfall of 5cm or more. A follow up visit will commence once city plows have passed. During prolonged snow storms additional cleanings will occur once sidewalk cleaners have passed. The timing of your snow removal varies and depends on the time of the snow fall." Nothing about 12-24 hours (which you claim is typical of companies). I would have never signed something that indicated snow removal between 12 - 24 hours as it’s important that my father be able to get out as he cares for my niece with a disability.
AoB’s website indicates that, “We would love to guarantee a 6:30 am arrival time, this is impossible for any company as we do not always know when the snow will start falling. To predict our arrival time assume we wait at least 2 hrs. for the snow to fall (at least 3cms) we then send our tractors out. You can then add a max 5 hrs onto this time if you are the end of the drivers route. This is the latest you can expect to have your first cleaning. If it snows before midnight most driveways will be cleared by 6:30 am. If it snows after midnight or tractors don't leave for 2 hrs. (3cm) and some will not be cleaned by 6:30 am. If it starts snowing between 3-4am most people can expect to not have their driveways cleared by 6:30am usually 2 hrs. of snow isn't enough to stop anyone from leaving their driveway. In the event of an emergency and our tractor has not passed by give us a call.”
Sounds promising, doesn’t it?
We diligently did our homework and aren’t ignorant. As for your research, do you care to share it? Ninety eight percent? Seriously?! How did you come by this research? If you work for AoB then maybe you should have responded to the BBB complaint to increase the rating and responded to the five complaints that were received this winter.
Mike....it would be interesting to know from you that as a snow removal operator did you ever have any situations where you simply didn't show up despite way more than the 5cm requirement falling?
AoB left us in that situation multiple times this past winter.
As an operator, I have never had a situation where I did not show up at all. There have been numerous situations where I've shown up to the persons house and only been able to do a very very limited portion of the driveway simply because I'm in a massive machine with a 9 ft inverted snowblower and cannot risk damaging homeowner properity dispite being fully insured while operating. its an unfortunate reality that the machine can only fit so far and that it does leave that little bit of snow between the blade drop and the vehicle, however my customers have never had an issue with that (and i covered a lot of inner ottawa -Sherwood, Carling, Baseline, and many people down around Mrs. Moffats area)
The only times that i have shown up and Not done the work is if: The customer had not paid the remainder of their dues for their contract, has had false claims stating I damaged their properity (when it is blatiently obivous that the damage was homeowner inflicted), or if the customer personally comes outside, blocks my path and harasses me over and over for issues beyond my controll.
I don't like doing such things, however I am only human, I take pride in what i can do with that machine and i do feel bad if i am not able to finish the rest of a driveway on my seccond pass if no vehicles have been moved.
And Stef, you do have my absolute apology on how my original post came across, ive been re reading it and I did write it quite poorly and definitely not in a professional manner as should be expected from myself.
Moving the car after the first pass is usually the plan. However the issue i see that arised was the timing between the operators passes. It is an unfortunate reality that the dirst pass almost always comes in the middle of the night, and if it continues to snow while the operator is finishing his route and begining the (roughly) 6- 12 hour run again it can pile up to as much as what appears in your photos before the seccond pass is completed (keeping in mind the snowstorms we did get where bigger than the normal in past years). There was an individual on Four Seasons Drive that experienced the same unfortunate timing issue. The reality is, the operator gets his list, and runs it as is, wether its 80 houses or 200 houses, its do what we can on the first pass and hope for the vehicles to be moved for the seccond. Unfortunately we do not have time to make a call to the homeowner to organize an alternative method, and definitely are far too tired at the end of the storm to remember which house had what issue (unless it was something major like hitting the house or a car)
The 12 - 24 hour time period encompasses the city plow timing as well as sidewalk/ graders. The problem being was that if you leave before the city trucks, you get massive snow dumps, and then more complaints. If you leave after they go by then it saves a bit of headache, however by the time you start your seccond pass you run into the problem of sidewalk runners and graders. which is always a hit or miss for timing. I personally have numerous times where ive gone back out long after my two passes where complete to check up on numerous properties because of the odd inner city timing between city plow trucks, sidewalk runners and graders.
I do have to apologize on your next paragraph, thats definitely a messed up timing estimation. And just from that I know exactly who wrote that portion and am shaking my head as i write this. For your area, your operator covered from Bronson area, Sherwood, Carling, Church hill, Merivale, Baseline, Fisher, Normandy and all inbetween those areas ending down in Wellsmere. Timing on the entire route if everything went well was 8-10 hours (with little traffic) with your location being 7/8ths through the route (of 98 houses). So you can immagine how traffic inner city as well as merivale area could be at any point (especially if the operator had to leave around 6am to start) There should have been more communication between upper management and you.
I do apologize for how i originally came across, i obtained my research because i personally know the operator who did take care of your properity (i have known him for many years and he has always been obsessive compulsive on doing a proper job. When I brought this up to him he laughed as he recalled the properity and stated "Its unfortunate, however what am I supposed to do when the vehicles never moved, and theres a retaining wall with 4x4 beams lining it and I cant get the blower level on the driveway without smoking the vehicle?" His comments did get a lot more agressive as he read on (not because of the initial statement). The 98% satisfaction rate was from his route (inner ottawa/ Merivale area) based on his discussions with almost every one of his customers as well as call history and complaint reccords. What drived operators like him insaine (as well as myself when i first started out working large runs in the far west end) was complaints comming in from so many different areas, and people not realizing your complaints come from Merivale area, and many others come from barrhaven (using AOB's two route lists for example) Two Seperate Operators, however one slaughterhouse of complaints (Barrhaven was another story in itself from what ive discovered, however it was a completely different operator that covered out there.)
From the Operators side thats the one thing that drives us off the wall. One or two complaints from our areas get blown out of proportion if another operator from the same company screws up. (I've dealt with it for years and it still gets to me once in a while) (while seemingly insiginificant it adds up)
Once again I do apologize for my preveous behaviour on the matter, i have no affiliation with the company and as a worker, wouldnt want to go within 100 ft of upper management BBB complaint issues (too much of a headache) Id be glad to anwser any other inquiries to the best of my abilities with the resources i do have.
-Mike
Mike....thanks for your response. We know that operators work hard, and outside of a few bad apples, no one is out to do a bad job.
Not once this winter did anyone from AoB contact my parents to say that there was an issue with the location (whether it be the truck in the driveway, or the width of the driveway). Yes, there are concrete curbs present, but not sure what 4X4 beams your friend is referring to.
I did actually witness one removal where the operator quite skillfully dropped his blower and cleaned the whole driveway (with the truck present). Yes, it's tight, but given that I saw him do it once, not sure why he couldn't get the blower down level again. Either way, had AoB never mentioned anything, so as the customer, how are we supposed to know?
The other huge issue is that they failed to show up on 2 occasions after significant snowfalls. Despite leaving a message at the number that never seems to get answered, we had to remove the snow ourselves....long after what is reasonably acceptable to wait for them to show.
At the end of the day, we brought up our concerns and our requirements, yet we were assured that AoB was able to provide the service, and they were paid for said service. With that, I believe that our expectations were not unreasonable. Our issue was never with the operator, but with the company itself. We tried on multiple occasions to rectify all of this by contacting AoB through various channels, and gave them every opportunity to make good on their side of the contract, but they simply decided to ignore the issue. It is with that in mind that we would highly recommend that no one use AoB for any kind of service.
I’ll let Stef chime in with anything else she feels is relevant.
Mike, Thanks for the apology. This was an unfortunate experience. If AoB was unable to provide a sufficient service because the driveway was too narrow, etc then we should have been told from the start and had our money refunded rather than having to expect good service and expect AoB to fulfill its contract.
We were very diligent before signing. We had reasonable expectations because of our contract, what was indicated on the website and my discussion with the salesperson.
Ace of Blades/Swift Seal sealed my driveway last week. Deal was made for $40 and a cheque was provided. They changed the amount on the cheque to $140 and the bank processed it. Ottawa Police have been notified.
Anonymous, That's a real shame. I hope it gets resolved.
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