Editor:
A recent retirement renovation plan turned into a renovation nightmare.
We had everything when we lived in the UK. I owned two buildings of my own - one a three-storey building which was a shop and business - but we decided to sell everything and make Canada our home, looking for a change in our retirement years. We came and bought a home in Gibsons, which we have lived in for quite some time.
Looking to do a renovation project, I decided to look for a builder and found one in the Yellow Pages. What a mistake that was. We had nothing but problems with safety and building issues and poor workmanship on the part of the company. We got into disputes over payments, and when I asked for the problems to be corrected, they claimed it would cost too much.
The renovation, if you can call it that, was a waste of time and money. They even damaged some of the existing property, so now the house has to be demolished and re-built.
I have found out through some searches that this company was not registered and have several different names, which is an error on my part, but as English is not my native language, I think I was taken advantage of. I'm wondering whether there are any other victims out there? Now I'm scared to hire any builder. No matter how big the builder is, please check them out. This situation should never happen to anyone else.
Bhaskaran Pillai
Gibsons
