Oakville couple out nearly $55K after kitchen renovation ‘nightmare’

Angela and Gino Costabile’s home in Oakville is all decked out for the holidays. Several lights and decorations adorn the home inside and out.

“Christmas is so very special for us,” Angela said.

The one thing she enjoys the most is cooking and baking for family and friends. She had plans to do so in a newly renovated kitchen, something the couple has been saving for and planning for 37 years.

“That won’t be happening this year,” she told us.

Their kitchen is bare bones – a few finished cabinets and countertop but no appliances after a project that was started months ago was never finished.

Back in June, they hired a contractor that was recommended to them. He started some of the work, like redoing the floors and some of the cabinetry and ceiling.

“He was great in the beginning, and I really liked his work.”

But a few weeks in and after the couple gave him nearly $55,000 upfront in deposit funds to pay for work and materials, he stopped showing up.

“He just started ghosting us,” Angela said.  “We would call and text and say, ‘When are you coming?’ He would say, ‘I’ll be there tomorrow.’ I’d stay at home waiting for him to show up. Wouldn’t show up.”

This has been going on daily for nearly six months.

“We are beyond frustrated, he tells us what we want to hear either by text or phone but never comes.”  

FRUSTRATED, THEY REACHED OUT TO CITYNEWS.

“If you could get him and ask him why he hasn’t finished the job – or find out what happened, we’d like to know,” Angela said.

“Where’s the product we paid for? Why isn’t he coming back? I’m perfectly happy to have him finish the job because I like his work but we need to get him here.”

According to the contract, signed by the couple, the contractor goes by the name Quy Ly.

He listed an address on the contract which took us to a kitchen cabinet manufacturer in Vaughan. A company Ly no longer works for and does not own.

“He has been using my address without my knowledge,” said Sam Chen, who actually owns the business called Samwood Kitchens Inc.

“He used to work for me but left a few months ago.”

Chen said Ly worked the saw at his business but left after he confronted Ly regarding a paycheck that Chen alleges was cashed twice.

“According to my bank he deposited the check once, then attempted to deposit that same check a second time, when I confronted him about that he quit,” Chen said.

Ly listed a second address on the contract, which took us to a home in Vaughan that was unoccupied and, according to a lawn sign, is being advertised as a rental unit.

CityNews was able to find Ly’s home address, and we tried multiple times to visit him, but he was not there.

He did speak to us when we called his cell phone on Friday, Dec. 8. He stated that he does intend to finish the job for the Costabiles.

“We are just missing some stuff to finish,” he told us.  “We will finish once we get that stuff.”

He said he was waiting on a few doors set to be installed in the kitchen and other materials, which he did not specify when asked.

“I’m going to pick that up tomorrow and be there to put doors or some stuff this weekend,” he told us last week.

When we asked him to confirm when he’d return to the Costabile’s home, he said he’d be there the next day and the day after that.

That never happened.

“Despite the promise he gave you, he never showed up and is now not answering our phone calls or texts,” Angela said in a follow-up call.

CityNews reached back out to Ly but he did not return our calls either.

When we did talk with him last week, he did address the claims of cashing his paycheck twice. Denying that ever happened.

When asked about using a business address, he is no longer affiliated with on contracts, he said he was working with that company at the time. Even so, Chen says he never gave him permission to use his company for outside work.

“He shouldn’t be able to do that, he’s putting my business in a bad light,” Chen said. “How many more customers is he doing this to and using my address, I’m deeply concerned.”

Chen has filed a police report asking for a criminal investigation. The Costabiles have done the same.

In the meantime, they’re left with seeking out other contractors to finish the job which will add costs to the original estimate they agreed to.

“What was supposed to be a $60,000 job will now be much more,” Angela said.

She notes the couple already paid around $55,000 to Ly.

“Quotes to finish are coming in around $25,000,” she said.

She’s resigned to the fact that Christmas baking won’t be happening this year.

“Not unless we can get someone to finish on time, which is unlikely,” she said. “But we have to move on; it’s clear he has no intention of coming back.”