Hi Pro Railing

Horror story! We hired Sam at Hi-​Pro Railing on August 24^th to fabricate and install railing on our new front stairs. We were very specific in what we wanted — it had to match the railing on our back deck (which he was shown), and it absolutely had to be completed before Sept. 19^th because of a large party we were hosting. We paid him a $ 933 deposit — our bad, for sure. Problems started from the get-​go. We didn’t hear anything and couldn’t get ahold of him for a couple of weeks after his onsite visit. Finally tracked him down on his cell, and was told «oh yes, yes, no problem». He shows up the morning of the party and mounts half of the railing, then with no explanation jumps in his truck and leaves. We’re forced to have 70 guests come in through our basement that evening because the railing is incomplete and hence unsafe. To compound matters, the work he did do was both incorrect and incredibly substandard. I have pictures! Wrong railing type going down the stairs, every post wildly out of plumb, wrong anchor plates — it was like a catalog of how not do railing. Utterly laughable. A WEEK goes by and we’re unable to reach him despite calling every day. We had no choice but to call another railing contractor to come out and do the job. «Sam» finally calls us 8 days later, claiming illness. We explained to him that we didn’t think we were ever going to hear from him again, and had to hire another contractor. We told him that quite naturally, we expected our money back! «Oh no, no no — I don’t have it», he says! I suggested — quite emphatically — that he GET the money, after which he asked for two weeks in which to come up with the sum. That two weeks was up 9 days ago. No word from Sam, and of course we can’t reach him by phone. My wife finally gets through to him this evening during the dinner hour, and after identifying herself, he promptly says «f*ck you» and hangs up on her. This guy is a thief and fraudster. If you’ve had a similar experience with him, contact the RCMP.