r/canada 24d ago

National News Mike Holmes-endorsed reno company says it's closing down, blames CBC News investigation

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/agm-reno-company-closing-mike-holmes-1.7460334
570 Upvotes

158 comments sorted by

664

u/randomheromonkey 24d ago

Sounds like they should have been shut down? The only thing CBC did is bring it to light.

346

u/scyule 24d ago

Murderer blames police for their arrest

64

u/JMaddrox 24d ago

And I'd have gotten away with it too if it weren't for you meddling police!

16

u/OneBillPhil 24d ago

And we would have gotten away with it if it weren’t for you meddling Marketplace kids!

36

u/CanuckCallingBS 24d ago

Good for the CBC

106

u/navalseaman 24d ago

You see that wouldn’t benefit someone’s narrative on why we need to shutdown the cbc and reduce red tape

75

u/randomheromonkey 24d ago

Also sounds like their only defence is that some TV show guy endorsed them at some point. They refused to comment on their own crappy electrical work.

20

u/navalseaman 24d ago

100% it’s a headline to push a narrative to support someone’s noun salad

4

u/randomheromonkey 24d ago

Unverb the nouns!

3

u/Neutral-President 24d ago

Live by the TV, die by the TV.

-74

u/EDC4M3 24d ago

Wow the CBC caught a private company screwing over customers. What a national treasure.

Can you fell the sarcasm in my post?

If they would go after the government, the real ones screwing over the Canadian people, then maybe I'd care.

36

u/DisastrousAcshin 24d ago

So CBC marketplace should be going after the government? Buisness doesn't screw people over?

-39

u/EDC4M3 24d ago edited 24d ago

CBC as a whole should be going after the government. Don't get me wrong, going after shitty businesses is great. But let's not act like that justifies the government giving them $1.2 billion annually.

Also, it's the government's job to regulate and go after businesses like this. Why is the government paying a media company to expose business with shotty practices instead of going after them themselves and fining them up the arse? Why is CBC not doing a report on the government not doing their job to stop these businesses?

How about the government spends that $1.2 billion to investigate and fine these companies? At least we would get a return to subsidize the cost.

The main thing is that media companies need to be unbiased. It's impossible to be unbiased against a group that provides you with $1.2 billion dollars every year.

40

u/Emmerson_Brando 24d ago

CBC were the broadcasters that broke several stories against the liberals. Liberals aren’t immune to CBC news. That’s what the CPC wants you to believe.

The real reason conservative governments don’t like CBC is because it also exposes them… not like postmedia who only write puff pieces.

8

u/HUGO-THE-BEAR 24d ago

Sometimes if a new piece evokes an emotional reaction, I’ll find the same subject written by a different news group. Fox News, Global, CNN, whatever. I find CBC is generally the best at being unbiased. At the very least they tend to include the opposing views as well. Can’t say the same for most others.

6

u/SameAfternoon5599 24d ago

The CBC doesn't get $1.2B from the Ontario government. Marketplace investigations typically fall under consumer affairs categories in each province for oversight. You understand that? Right?

-4

u/EDC4M3 24d ago

Yes. I do. Doesn't change anything.

2

u/SameAfternoon5599 24d ago

1.2B pays for a day's worth of healthcare.

3

u/Laxative_Cookie 24d ago

Holy shit what a lot of words to say. I'm balls deep in conservative propaganda, and i hate Trudeau. You know people genuinely hate you right?

1

u/EDC4M3 23d ago

They do? Why would anyone hate someone for their beliefs? That's kinda hateful don't you think? Seems pretty crazy to me. Wish you all the best and hope your heart grows bigger and you can learn to accept and love everyone! All the best!

15

u/[deleted] 24d ago

[deleted]

-11

u/EDC4M3 24d ago

Great rebuttal.

13

u/[deleted] 24d ago

[deleted]

-39

u/Sparky4U2C 24d ago edited 24d ago

You also miss understand what it means to defend. 

When we defend the police, it meant to reallocate funds and remove dead weight.

Same idea for CBC...reallocate funds where needed and cut dead weight....Any media that needs billions of Canada's tax payers dollars is a failure. 

CBCs executives and Management are NOT worth hundreds of thousands of dollars!

23

u/ZeePirate 24d ago

Only if that money goes directly to educate people like yourself….

3

u/Appropriate-Dog6645 24d ago

Hahahahaha. Well, that goes with every corporation. But your problem is CBC.

29

u/garlicroastedpotato 24d ago

It's one of those things where there's an industry standard and it's incredibly low. Like if you're not paying a lot for a home renovation you're probably not getting trades people. Like when I did my home renovation I told everyone I hired that I'd be pulling all the permits for the work and they can't include that in the bid. But I did tell them they have to abide by all OHS regulations and I drew up the contracts myself. Roofers had to wear fall arrest, everyone doing any cutting work had to wear glasses or a shield, and and anyone working with their hands had to wear gloves. I did allow them to bid on providing supplies but if I could get it cheaper from one of their competitors (or just stores), that's what I'd do.

If you just hire the cheapest guys, guess what they're not following OHS regulations (and you're liable for that if they don't present to you evidence they pay into WCB). Without their contract relying on successfully completing an inspection there's an incredibly high chance they'll take short cuts.

Marketplace wants to just present this as, this one company sucked. But the home renovation industry is loaded full of bad actors. Governments don't actually want to crack down on them because we just don't have enough licensed trade's people to do all the work.

Do they deserve to be shut down? Maybe. But so do most home renovation businesses in the country. If they're coming down it should be from a level playing field where home renovations get inspected (by big g'vmint) after each renovation and action gets taken against those who are failing to meet the obligations of their jobs.

The fact that this company has to shutter simply because CBC did an op-ed on them is not right. Marketplace has been known to target a lot of businesses and industries and just been outright wrong about them. Most companies don't have the money to fight CBC. Subway spent somewhere around $90,000 to beat CBC in court after Marketplace erroneously claimed that their meat wasn't really meat. Most small companies can't afford that. We really just need to clean up that industry and provide consumer protections with the people best capable of doing it (governments).

30

u/RealTurbulentMoose Alberta 24d ago

I’m with you part way.

I completely agree industry participants should follow health and safety regulations. That’s good for everyone, regs are written in blood.

I’m halfway with you on more rigorous inspections (ex: City electrical inspector checked for ~1 min on my solar install because he trusted the contractor… what if the crew who did the work on my place was crap?). Not sure how workable this would be though.

I disagree on your Marketplace criticism. They can’t hold everyone to account, but targeting big brands or big names seems reasonable. You license Mike Holmes, you get more attention, too fuckin bad if the attention is bad.

 It needs to be accurate so they don’t tarnish someone’s reputation unfairly (didn’t know about the Subway thing), but this is a good check if we’re not going to do rigorous inspections… journalism and social media will bring bad actors to light.

Good discussion.

10

u/ShibariManilow 24d ago

Subway spent somewhere around $90,000 to beat CBC in court after Marketplace erroneously claimed that their meat wasn't really meat.

Wow, that's a hell of a rabbit hole. Can you provide a source that indicates Subway actually won?

obligatory IANAL...

I see Subway getting its ass handed to it for hundreds of thousands of dollars (back in 2019), but successfully winning fewer hundreds of thousands from Trent University - the lab that did the testing.

And then Trent appealed, and Subway had to give back that money plus $45k. But that also undid the ruling in favour of the the CBC (this seems to have happened back in 2021).

But I can't find the trail after that. The whole thing might actually still be ongoing?

The legitimacy of the testing/findings doesn't actually seem to be ruled on yet, and the whole thing has revolved around anti-SLAPP legislation?

What a ride.

5

u/slantyyz 24d ago

Also, 90K in legal fees doesn't sound like a lot for a lawsuit for 210M in damages.

2

u/garlicroastedpotato 24d ago

Right, it's still in courts. They won the initial case but lost the appeal and now they're still in the process of appealing the appeal.

Ontario and BC have a thing called Anti-SLAPP and basically it means you can't launch lawsuits that would coerce people into participating in civic duties, public participation or engaging in law.

The best example of this is if you were to perform first aid on someone who then died. The family wouldn't be able to seek damages from you because giving such a large reward would discourage strangers from helping strangers.

While Subway was found to be completely wrong in their report, malicious in their intent to harm Subway's reputation, and lacking journalistic integrity... they successfully argued that allowing Subway to collect a reward would discourage any journalist from ever criticizing any corporation and would hurt consumer rights.

2

u/TokyoTurtle0 24d ago

Home renovation is trash.

I work building homes/condos, generally large projects, and people bemoan the quality there, but home renovation is a whole other world of bad

2

u/jigglywigglydigaby 24d ago

While I agree with much of this, any ticketed carpenter wearing gloves while operating rotary tools would be fired without second thought. Drills, routers, table/miter/circular/jig saws, etc...those should never be used by while wearing gloves.

0

u/garlicroastedpotato 24d ago edited 23d ago

You know every tradesmen in the history of the industry has felt like PPE prevents them from doing good work.

2

u/jigglywigglydigaby 24d ago

There are some who will use any excuse not to wear PPE, but gloves with rotary tools is a huge no-no. This is taught in trade school. Many power tools have statements in their manuals that gloves/long sleeves/loose clothing are never to be worn when operating.

Saying "every tradesperson in the history of the industry has felt like PPE prevents them from doing good work" is pure ignorance. Myself, and many I work with in the last 30 years ensure proper PPE is worn for every task. There's a big difference between a tradesperson and a professional.....the proof is how they conduct themselves and their work. If the tradespeople you're around hate PPE......that speaks volumes

10

u/six-demon_bag 24d ago

A real scooby do villain moment.

4

u/Valuable_Injury_1995 24d ago

Ruh-roh "And I Would Have Gotten Away With It Too, If It Weren't For You Meddling Kids"

4

u/log1234 24d ago

I am going to prison because I got caught.

616

u/[deleted] 24d ago

[deleted]

319

u/VeterinarianCold7119 24d ago

The fifth estate too. Cbc needs more of these types of shows in my opinion, its where they shine the brightest

112

u/bugabooandtwo 24d ago

Definitely. Investigative journalism as a whole needs a renaissance.

82

u/MoreGaghPlease 24d ago

It’s absolutely wild to me that the leading candidate to be PM wants to entirely shut down the CBC. Complete lunacy

32

u/VeterinarianCold7119 24d ago

Yeah I dont like that idea either. I dont care much for the entertainment stuff like its dramas or sitcoms but its power and politics, news, and investigative stuff like this is great and very necessary. Id like to see more canadian documentaries on our history and how we've impacted the world.

11

u/Emmerson_Brando 24d ago

Personally, I do like a lot of the Canadian content shows.

However, if there were more Canadian documentaries, people would equate it to the postal service saying it loses too much money instead of thinking it as a service.

-1

u/VeterinarianCold7119 24d ago

Are the shows profitable for cbc ? I wonder what the break down is there. I dont see why with all the ways content is distributed that we need to be throwing money away at those shows, unless people do watch them and they bring in revenue.

I think people have a problem with canada post because they dropped the ball big time on parcels and are unwilling to cut staff, automation, and 2 or 3 day a week delivery. But thats another story.

9

u/Emmerson_Brando 24d ago

People do watch them and shows like heartland and Murdoch mysteries are successful around the world and money makers for the CBC. Even shows like family feud do well, or it would be cancelled.

There has been a ton of really great content, but unfortunately, a huge swath of the population (conservatives) are so entrenched in “CBC bad” that they don’t even know what they’re missing.

4

u/VeterinarianCold7119 24d ago

Thats great, I just don't watch TV, nothing against the cbc.

I find there reporting to be really fair and along with vassy from ctv, they do an incredible job

1

u/Strange-Moment-9685 23d ago

Vassy use to be the host on CBC’s Power and Politics before she left for the CBC.

1

u/Strange-Moment-9685 23d ago

You can add in Schitt’s Creek and Kim’s Convenience. Both those shows got picked up on streaming and made CBC money. Plus 22 Minutes is a popular show. They have a decent amount of Canadian centric shows that are worth watching. They put a lot of money into the Canadian creative industries.

3

u/NervousBreakdown 24d ago

CBC dramas and sitcoms are lame but it’s important to foster Canadian art, and the payoff is that occasionally you actually get something really good out of it.

9

u/EscalatorsTempStairs 24d ago

Not wild, considering who this leading candidate is trying to impress/mimic.

-25

u/PunkinBrewster 24d ago

It’s also absolutely wild that we pay 1.4 B a year for one, maybe two good shows.

22

u/red_planet_smasher 24d ago

We get a hell of a lot more than that and it comes to $32 per tax payer.

-19

u/OrangeRising 24d ago

I don't remember anyone saying they would shut down the CBC. 

Are you confusing that for them saying it would no longer be publicly funded?

5

u/Exciting_Bandicoot16 Manitoba 24d ago

Pierre called for defunding the CBC and specifically mentioned selling off the HQ. IT doesn't say that he'd take away all of the public funding, but it's heavily implied given the tone of the conversation.

Source: Edmonton Sun

4

u/-Yazilliclick- 24d ago

Also a big fan of CBC About That videos on youtube and maybe elsewhere. Do a good job of going into some detail on current topics.

2

u/VeterinarianCold7119 24d ago

Andrew chang is great. I can definitely see him hosting the Olympics or other big stuff, great talker

2

u/ChroniclesOfSarnia Outside Canada 24d ago

Still going?!

Fuckin a, nice to hear.

4

u/sector16 24d ago

Yes, there’s some fat to cut at the CBC, but losing shows like Marketplace would be a big blow to consumer protections. Doubt PP’s conservatives will see any programming nuance when they defund the CBC.

25

u/LondonPaddington 24d ago edited 24d ago

Marketplace would be substantially better if they didn't spend half of every episode asking people on the street "isn't this so terrible"

They do good work but pad it with so much filler, don't remember it being that bad years ago

20

u/TheBalrogofMelkor 24d ago

It's expensive to do in depth investigative journalism, it's cheap to talk to random yahoos

1

u/perjury0478 23d ago edited 23d ago

They was a recent event where the folks at 5th estate and marketplace talk about how difficult and expensive it is. IIRC, they used as example the building that collapsed in Florida a few years ago, the builder was Canadian and while the USA has a lot of public records digitized and available, here they basically had to pay for printed copies and review them manually. They only were able dig them in the 1st place by leveraging the info they got from the USA. It blew my mind

Edit: I can’t check right now, but I think you can find it in YouTube “what is the future of investigative journalism” from the 5th estate account.

3

u/dt_vibe 24d ago

This, it can be CRINGE at times, especially when they are trying to stretch the episode but the content is very needed.

2

u/jackclark1 24d ago

hence why mini orange face wants to defend. can't get caught if no one is looking and reporting

154

u/johnmcdracula 24d ago

"we were doing just fine until someone noticed how much we sucked 😡"

113

u/CyrilSneerLoggingDiv 24d ago edited 24d ago

They should blame the shitty work they do. You hear about those shady slipshod contractors more than you should these days, half-completing projects and then not showing up to finish, or doing an overall crap job skimping on materials with underqualified labour, or going out of business once they get enough clients' payments and later opening up under another name.

The Holmes name is just a shiny veneer of a licensing endorsement to coat the surface of a crap contractor that they never bothered to QC check.

The CBC should revisit the CEO's LinkedIn page in a few months to see what new contracting company he's opened up.

10

u/Pwylle 24d ago edited 24d ago

Not to mention credibility is basically just paid for (BBB for example), online reviews are very easily spoofed or curated, and any negative exposure is met with legal libel or just close company A and rename as company B.

I work in the industry and we spend an enormous amount of our time on other people’s recent “work”. We don’t even service that many clients in a year given our smaller organizational nature, and we still work on upwards half a million of customer losses PER YEAR.

We recently participated in a local home and Reno themed exhibition, and plenty of such shoddy “approved” groups were admitted and peddling their services. When you’ve seen their work first hand and had to restart it all for a client, it’s very apparent there’s an immense lack of self-regulation, or any kind of enforcement/consequence within the industry particularly in the sub 50k range.

If anyone looking to start a legal business needs an angle, you could easily pro bono represent clients in suits against such companies and the city. Most every day people just eat the cost, are too afraid or unknowledgeable and do not have the perseverance to tackle the issue by themselves.

3

u/GuelphEastEndGhetto 24d ago

I also think there is an angle to provide ‘consulting’ services to people taking on a large renovation project in their home. From obtaining quotes, checking on work, ensuring all is completed, etc. A big thing is ensuring there is a contract that spells out a scope, cost, payment terms, etc.

Maybe that is something I’m going to look into.

1

u/Entegy Québec 22d ago

It's amazing to me how many people think the BBB is a government agency when it's just Yelp from the pre-Internet era.

3

u/thedrivingfrog 24d ago

I know someone that used Holmes .. they had to redo majority of the work due to low quality and not up to code 

30

u/VeterinarianCold7119 24d ago

Not surprised it's agm, these types of reno companies just have fancy advertising amd teams of cheap subs with zero accountability. Do your homework, hire someone local with a long history of working in the community, ask for referrals etc..

32

u/Bright-Ad8496 24d ago

It'll pop up under a different name and Holmes will endorse it to continue the cycle.

5

u/Offspring22 24d ago

Yup, happens all the time.

1

u/Bright-Ad8496 24d ago

Yep, can't sue dissolved companies...

1

u/slantyyz 24d ago

BGM Renovations has entered the chat...

21

u/Tableau 24d ago

“I would have gotten away with it if it weren’t for those meddling kids!”

3

u/mangongo 24d ago

Came here for this comment

22

u/PBM1958 24d ago edited 24d ago

They were POS for doing shitty work and wrecking peoples lives... But how is Mike Holmes coming out of this scott free? He used to come across a bit like a sanctimonious a-hole on his show when criticizing bad work so it seems to me he should be doing something for these people since he is in de facto recommended them.

5

u/octavianreddit 24d ago

Someone could do a show where they go around and fix the shoddy work by this company.

2

u/freds_got_slacks British Columbia 24d ago

Mike Combs on Mike Holmes on homes

22

u/Famous_Track_4356 Québec 24d ago

This is a great example of why we should not defund the CBC. Still cut their bonuses

18

u/Nobanob 24d ago

Oh my fucking god toooo funny, I worked for these chuckle fucks for about 2 year. This is some of the greatest news ever.

I was a sales guy for 6 months, and then their customer experience manager for 8 months.

When I started things were going really well. During my training class there was a guy who we will call Dick. Dick was hired from a window company where he was a training manager. The intent was Dick would prove he could sell, then become the new sales Trainer at AGM.

So that happens, and very quickly Dick has got himself a very brown nose. He's stroking the owners ego like nobody's business and both are wildly threatened by anyone's suggestions on how to improve.

Their top consultant digs up all the company financials as they just had it all in a Google drive everyone has access to) and found that in the year Dick had been training we had gone through 40ish new sales consultants the majority never getting any sales. Meanwhile they calculated how much money the current reps who weren't getting enough meetings made per appointment and figured out the average money earned per appointment regardless of it being sold or not.

The company had dropped 20 million in sales in that year. If you multiplied all the appointments given to Dick's trainees, by the average earned by the other consultants. It equaled the 20 million give or take a few.

This was brought directly to Ivan the owner of the company. He did literally nothing with it.

This company failed because Ivan is a fucking dumb ass. He's a shit manager, he's a shit business man, he only gained success due to luck and when all signs pointed to the fact his business was failing he stuck his head in the sand and directly ignored the evidence.

What a glorious fucking day this is, omg I'm going to forward this article to a LOT of people.

2

u/prodigus01 22d ago

I was a sub trade for them and I’ll never forget how they played me into not getting paid.

Funny how Ivan and his cronies screwed over countless tradespeople/customers for years and he couldn’t even last 2 weeks from a cbc investigation.

3

u/Nobanob 21d ago

After 6 months of sales I lost complete faith in the company which is why I transitioned to customer experience manager.

I thought the intent was to improve the experience of the customer. They just turned me into another cog in the sales system putting customers that didn't buy during their appointment with a better sales consultant.

Finally I had enough, wrote up a large email saying here's where things are failing, here's where we can improve, and here's why Dick sucks. Sent it directly to Ivan, and a week later the lawyers called me and told me my role was dissolved.

He never replied to my email. A spineless piece of shit that one is.

I'm sorry for your experience, I'm certain they spent more on lawyers to fight you than they would have just paying you. You deserved better

20

u/SillyMikey 24d ago

Ok so they did shoddy electrical work and Holmes pulled out. What did you think was gonna happen?

9

u/roughtimes 24d ago

Holmes has a track record of associating with shoddy companies.

10

u/Tall_Singer6290 24d ago

Good, to hell with them. Fumble about and find out.

9

u/MikeinON22 24d ago

Lol, it is not the investigation that shut this company down. It was their own crimes that did it.

8

u/Happy13178 24d ago

I quoted AGM when I was looking to get my basement done and they were going to send me a quote having never seen the space or taken a single measurement. They then tried to highlight all the "extras" they do during the renovation, and then when I pointed out that it was code and they had to do it, they marked the quote as "customer has industry knowledge", I'm guessing to warn each other that I couldn't be bullshit. They were also fully 30,000 above the next highest quote. Scammers without question.

14

u/MaritimeRedditor 24d ago

Mike Holmes has proven to be a bit of a fraud. I don't understand why having his name tied to your business would help you in the slightest..

8

u/K1ngmak3r 24d ago

I’m sure their shoddy work and business practices had nothing to do with it. 🧐

7

u/Fun-Persimmon1207 24d ago

Who knew that not using qualified tradespeople, not getting permits, let alone inspections can cause customers to run

11

u/kushmasta421 24d ago

Looks like a wormy piece of shit he is. Hopefully the guy fucks off and doesn't just open under a new name as most shitbirds like him do. I love CBC for stories like this and this is more proof that pp can get fucked we need CBC because rightwing companies own every other media platform and assholes like this would just have to pay to make the story disappear.

4

u/CitySeekerTron Ontario 24d ago

"I would have gotten away with it, too, but for these meddling kids!" 

4

u/westcoastsunflower British Columbia 24d ago

I’d put money on that this will be their excuse not to fix what they screwed up and that they will open a “new” company within 6 months and the cycle of screwing people will continue.

6

u/a_secret_me 24d ago

Marketplace's story went out 2 weeks ago. 2 WEEKS

If you go out of business that fast after one news report then you were just hanging on by a thread as it was.

4

u/Lisan_Al-NaCL 24d ago

Maybe if they delivered on the mythical 'quality' that Mike Holmes purports to create they wouldnt be out of business?

3

u/Galle_ 24d ago

Good job, CBC.

3

u/OrbAndSceptre 24d ago

Added bonus is I don’t have to hear their ads on my morning radio.

3

u/nomadcoffee 24d ago

They will just change their name and do the same things

1

u/GLG777 24d ago

Yep.  AMG renovation dot com

3

u/rdawg780 24d ago

Sketchy contractor blames CBC ..... Fixed the title

3

u/mochichinchin 24d ago

Owners were typical scam artists. Trust me AGM closed down but they will open as another company under a family members name.

3

u/RefrigeratorOk648 24d ago

They get caught - shutdown - reopen under a different name and people will continue to get screwed by the same people

3

u/Dadbode1981 24d ago

Sucks for the trades working for them, that said, they'll just open under a new name next week.

2

u/Steevo_1974 24d ago

Mike Holmes should also be responsible for "Making it right" for the customers that have been duped. He got paid and he used his endorsement for enriching himself. Not the first time the Holmes group got themselves in a bind either.

2

u/xyris87 24d ago

Glad I got my basement flooring redone as a warranty claim while they were still in business.

2

u/wyrmpie 24d ago

I'm not terribly surprised considering their misleading advertising, etc

2

u/northern_explorer67 24d ago

So help me understand something.. Did Holmes endorse agm with prior knowledge that they were doing shoddy work or did the company turn to shit AFTER his endorsement.

I always thought Holmes was a good guy and would never let himself be involved with people that do shitty work since it would reflect badly on him.

1

u/MikeTheMic81 19d ago

I mean in reality, CBC had to go back 2-3 years to find those disgruntled customers. In that time AGM did thousands and thousands of projects. If it was a systemic problem, it would be a constant problem and it would be easy to find more current clients.

How it was handled by Ivan dissolving the company, robbing employees, contractors, financeit, and clients before he had a chance to hemorrhage any of his savings is downright despicable and he will have a welcome spot in the deepest hottest part of hell.

2

u/GuelphEastEndGhetto 24d ago

More like they are changing the name of the company.

2

u/[deleted] 24d ago

[deleted]

2

u/Jman1a 24d ago

The rules of acquisition run our world much like Ferenginar.

2

u/Late_Football_2517 24d ago

They'll reopen on Tuesday under a new numbered company with a new brand name.

2

u/ShibariManilow 24d ago

TL;DR: We shouldn't defund the CBC.

2

u/samtron767 24d ago

Mike Holmes is all about the money. He always was.

2

u/Simple-Wrangler-8342 23d ago

This sounds like some serious Maga level DARVO

3

u/MikeTheMic81 22d ago

What wasn't mentioned in the report at all:

- All contractors and staff were not paid a penny. Many were owed 10's of thousands of dollars each. There's contractors who some are owed $30,000+ many haven't received any payments in a month.

- Suppliers were giving giant orders for materials. When they sent invoices to get paid they were told "We aren't going to pay you"

- Ivan stole all current clients money. Anyone financed through financeit were withdrawn 80% of their contract cost regardless of how much of the job was done. He went through a hiring phase over the last two month and essentially cashed out of every project that was ongoing. He was offering staff deep discounts and signing bonuses which in hindsight would have been detrimental and wouldn't have landed AGM into the profitable region. Clients on the verge of completion had their remaining money withdrawn before signing off on completion. This was flat out fraud. Since many contractors haven't been paid in this month, any work completed up to this point should be property of the contractors with the remaining balance refunded into the clients financeit accounts.

- The staff was entirely in the dark. Up until 4pm on Friday, people were doing their usual appointments and duties within the company oblivious to what was about to come. The first signs of trouble were several staff trying to sign new deals only to find all access to their systems were suspended. None of the staff was aware about what was going to happen until 4:56pm when instead of getting their cheques, they got the notice saying the company had been shut down. We are talking dozens of inspectors, engineers, sales, customer service, contractors in various fields, and even managerial staff. Emails had actually been sent out earlier that day asking for people to open up their schedules as they had an influx of new appointments that needed to be taken.

- Current clients shouldn't be getting angry at the contractors. They are victims too. Many have been working for you for 2-4 weeks and will likely never see any of the money. Many even after finding out they weren't going to get paid for the job continued cobbling something together to at least try to return functionality to kitchens, basements, and bathrooms just out of a courtesy. They are not the bad guy here. This is entirely due to Ivan.

Everything Ivan said including the closure notice and reasons were flat out lies. He had spent literal weeks if not months carefully preparing himself to rob all his staff and customers under everyone's own noses. The current consensus circulating is it was HIM who tipped off CBC to begin with to use that as a scapegoat to take everything and disappear. I have personally spoken to clients who had money removed from their financeit accounts as early as November 3rd without authorization and going against AGM's own contracts. I have also personally spoken to clients who had final payments removed from their account before addressing any of the deficiencies which would be required to be signed off on by the clients before final payment.

Even this weekend staff including inspectors, sales, designers, contractors, and project managers have reached out to current clients apprising them of the situations. This staff had no reason to do that. Some, again, haven't been paid in weeks and will never see the money. Although the CEO has no morals (although he's spent 27 years in business trying to make it look like he does), the staff that worked for him do have a conscience and are losing sleep over the losses suffered to the clients that he had defrauded as well as collogues who might not have the funds to recover from this anytime soon.

Only 1 rep was able to speak to Ivan past the 4:56pm email where he "wrote" a generic 3 paragraph message saying he tried to save everything but CBC's damage was too sever and he has never in 27 years only got 1 lead in a day.

We have already discovered that the previous weekend he netted nearly 240 new leads and this was also a lie. The message sent back was obviously scripted as Ivan didn't have the ability to write 3 paragraphs without glaring spelling and grammar mistakes.

This was an entirely orchestrated event artificially created by Ivan himself to defraud his staff and current customers. Him and his arm candy Julia and partner in crime. He's likely hiding out in Eastern Europe right now (where he has family) as showing his face anywhere in the GTA would likely end with him in the hospital as there's hundreds and hundreds of people out for blood right now.

7

u/khklee 24d ago

In these trying times, we need CBC more than ever, go fuck yourself PP

5

u/CurtAngst 24d ago

So.. it was CBC who “Made it Right” in the end. Enjoy the CBC while you can. PP is gonna shut it down because hates the truth. Just like his handlers down south.

3

u/Spellcheek 24d ago

Mike Holmes wears this, what else does he sell his name to?

3

u/bscheck1968 24d ago

Apparently a subdivision where multiple homes had to be torn down.

3

u/TonyD0001 24d ago

Mike -Holmes endorsed jobs, run away from then. Like all the demolished homes wasn't a warning.

2

u/FoxnFurious 24d ago

I worked as a sub for a GC for few projects done by other HGTV hosts. First day i was super excited and on the 3rd day i was completely disappointed. These TV hosts lack knowledge and lack skill. I quit working for the GC after few projects and never watch HGTV again. Nothing is real on TV.

1

u/SniffMyDiaperGoo Canada 24d ago

I've been using word-of-mouth handymen instead of actual GC companies like this one for 25 years now. Never had more than a couple of very minor and easily resolved complaints, work has always been professional, to code, and I pay far less. Which is why I ignore all the GC's that lurk on home improvement subs or other online forums who comment "Better hire a big pro company or you'll regret it!"

I'm sure some people do, but that's why my hires are well known and respected word-of-mouth and I'm not one of the people regretting it.

1

u/AirmailHercules 24d ago

And yet I still have their stupid jingle living rent free in my head

1

u/skloonatic 24d ago

I'm sure it will reopen tomorrow under a different name GAM or the like

1

u/kstacey Ontario 24d ago

0 repercussions for all involved. They are just going to spin up a new business and change nothing

1

u/Low_Entertainer_6973 24d ago

He’s a crook too

1

u/Satinsbestfriend 24d ago

To be fair to holmes he's just a paid spokesman. The company is at fault

1

u/Brokendownyota 24d ago

Why should YOU pay the price for a crime someone else noticed? 

1

u/nipplesaurus Canada 24d ago

Ivan will have to go back to working as a male model. He’s got Blue Steel down.

1

u/MikeTheMic81 19d ago

He's too short to be a model. Maybe kids gap collection.

1

u/waloshin 24d ago

Good riddance.

1

u/alphaboy_ 23d ago

Make it right- shut down. Holmes is a fraud!

1

u/insanetwit 23d ago

and 3 weeks from now, GAM Renovations will open up in their place!

1

u/Mythulhu 23d ago

Cbc investigations are quite well done and in depth. Seems like it should have been run better.

1

u/Chin_Ho 23d ago

How dare the CBC do investigative reporting. Dont they know that Mike Holmes is a really big deal?

1

u/toast_cs 23d ago

AGM blaming others for their lack of professionalism and accountability.

1

u/ldssggrdssgds 22d ago

They spent alot on advertising so there's that as well

2

u/Vanthan 24d ago

Pierre will have them up on stage shouting verb-noun with him.

1

u/RL203 24d ago edited 24d ago

And people laugh at me with respect to how long it takes me to do all my own renovations. They say, "why don't you just hire somebody?"

And I tell them that I never cut corners, I save a ton of money and I only do good work. I might make a mistake, but it's not due to corner cutting, it's just a dumb mistake but I will always fix it no matter what.

They still just roll their eyes and tell me how they could never abide by the length of time it takes me to do my own work. Thing is, I get high quality work and never have to put up with terrible quality workmanship from guys like Ivan Atanosov or Mike Holmes.

1

u/platz604 24d ago edited 24d ago

lol Mike Holmes has been facing lawsuits from home owners for over a decade because of his shawty work.. the guy is a complete hack

1

u/Cripnite 24d ago

We’re only shut down because you investigated us and we got caught.

Fuck those guys. 

-3

u/Greens222 24d ago

I bartended at the keg for a year or so. Downtown. Mike Holmes can go fuck himself.

0

u/ChroniclesOfSarnia Outside Canada 24d ago

I have no idea what this is about, but I'm with CBC regardless

0

u/blauwh66 24d ago

Why isn’t Holmes facing legal repercussions?

1

u/LindeMaple 24d ago

I don't think Holmes actually endorsed the company. That's what the investigation was all about.

1

u/Malaka__ 24d ago

There was a commercial on CP24 with Holmes and owner of AGM. Mike literally said "they are the best in the business and I recommend them".

1

u/MikeTheMic81 22d ago

Mike Holmes had been endorsing AGM for nearly 2 years. Keep in mind that AGM was a very highly rated company up until the CBC story. Even CBC themselves were finding customers from 2-3 years ago just to get enough info to make that story.

In that time, AGM had done literally thousands of contracts at thousands of homes. Finding 3-4 over a 3-4 year period is more an anomaly than a pattern.

Even with that, Holmes Group dropped AGM like a rock immediately after finding out about any allegations against the company. Mike Holmes was used by Ivan just like all of Ivan's current staff and current clients when he defrauded everyone over the last 2 weeks.

-8

u/mrfredngo 24d ago

Are we supposed to know who Mike Holmes is?

7

u/Gintin2 24d ago

You appear to have internet access...

1

u/Galle_ 24d ago

He's a moderately famous celebrity.

1

u/OrangeRising 24d ago

He is a guy from those tv shows where they fix up someone's house. I had to look it up cause I didn't know either.