Judy Strato of Sudbury said she spent 40 years working and saving up money, but lost almost $10,000 of her savings after she hired Ecolife Home Improvement Inc. to install new windows in her home.
Strato is one of dozens of witnesses taking the stand in the fraud case against Ecolife Home Improvements owner David Murray. You can read an explainer on the case here.
Strato told the court she contacted Murray in 2018 because she wanted 10 new windows installed in her home. She had looked through the phone book and chose three different companies from which to get quotes.
While Ecolife came in with the highest quote at $18,800, it was also part of the Green On rebate program, with the potential to get $500 back for every window. That was one of the deciding factors on why she chose Ecolife, she said.
Strato met with Murray in April 2018 and entered into a contract with him to install the windows. He told her he anticipated late July or early August for installation to begin, and the work would take five days.
At the time of her testimony on March 22, 2021, she still does not have those new windows.
In May 2018, Strato provided Murray with a downpayment of half the total cost of the renovations. She went to her bank and gave him a bank draft in the amount of $9,400.
After that, she said she got “absolutely nothing.” What followed instead were months of phone calls and ever-mounting frustration.
In November 2018, she said she was told by Murray the work wouldn’t be done until spring 2019, as November was already shaping up to be “miserable” weather.
“I was already increasingly frustrated, because my windows were supposed to be in late July or early August,” she told the court. “Knowing it would be probably April or May now before installation, I was frustrated and thought I had made a mistake trying to do things by myself.
“I worked over 40 year and saved money for renovations or travel, and I was excited to be able to do this on my own, with my own money, so I proceeded with what I thought were the correct measures. I don’t think I ever showed my anger with Mr. Murray, but I showed I was getting more and more frustrated with a lack of action from him.”
However, when spring arrived, the work did not start, and the endless excuses continued, she said.
Strato said she was met with excuse after excuse about why the windows weren’t being installed, and that she was “flabbergasted” when she learned Murray’s licence had been revoked in April 2019.
Murray visited Strato’s home after that, but advised her he wasn’t able to speak to her as part of the provisions of his licence being revoked, but said his wife was able to speak to her.
“We had a meeting, and after that, I heard the police were doing some work regarding these incidents, and I contacted the police. That’s when I realized my windows may not show up.”
Also testifying Monday morning was Chris Meandro, who said he gave Murray a $2,300 deposit in November 2017 to replace windows in his home.
He said Murray had planned to start installation of the new windows in February or March 2018.
In his case, Meandro said he wasn’t even aware of the Green On program when he signed a contract with Murray, and that it wasn’t brought to his attention until the spring of 2018.
When the time came to install the windows, what Meandro got instead was months of text messages and attempted phone calls, many of which went unanswered, or scheduled phone calls not happening.
“In February and March, I started contacting Mr. Murray to try and establish a timeline to have him come and perform the work,” he said. “It’s countless the number of times I’ve tried calling Mr. Murray and messaging him to arrange a schedule.”
Meandro said the typical response from Murray whenever he called was a text message saying he wasn’t able to talk, and that he would call back within an hour, but he never did. Then he would try again the next day, and the entire process would begin again.
“It would go weeks on weeks, at times, trying to get a hold of him to have a conversation,” Meandro said.
In September 2018. Meandro asked for his money back. Instead, Murray scheduled a meeting where he committed to having the windows installed by Oct. 31.
During that meeting, Meandro said Murray blamed the Ontario government for how the Green On program was being carried out and that it was making it very challenging for him to complete all of the work.
“I remember he mentioned to me about trying to make good and offered me things like $500 cash, Sudbury Wolves tickets and a few other items,” Meandro said “I told him I wasn’t interested in any of those items, and that all I wanted was for the windows to be installed.”
Meandro said he left that meeting feeling like the work was going to be done by the Oct. 31 deadline.
“He’s a good salesman, and I thought it was going to happen,” Meandro said.
When the work wasn’t done, Meandro said at that point, he wasn’t concerned about the rebate program. He said when he first purchased the windows, he was expecting to pay $4,600.
Meandro said he no longer cared about the Green On program, and that he “just wanted his windows installed.”
Meandro said he received an email regarding the Green On program, and he filled out the paperwork and submitted it.
When he texted Murray about that information, he said Murray seemed concerned about him submitting the paperwork.
“He said he just didn’t want me to submit it, and that someone at his office would take care of it,” Meandro said.
Text messages between the two verified that information.
Meandro said he continued to try to get an installation schedule from Murray, while trying to be understanding of Murray’s own obstacles, including a death in the family and workers not showing up for work.
In early 2019, Meandro said he started to read about Murray’s legal troubles. His business licence was revoked in April 2019, and he was charged by police in April and May for separate incidents.
“I was concerned about losing the money, as well as the windows,” he said.
He told Murray in a text message that he just wanted the windows he had paid for, and that he would have them installed himself.
“The conversations were starting to diminish by this time, so I probably never heard back from him on whether he’d give them to me or not,” Meandro said.
Meandro said the final text between the two was on May 14, where Meandro again asked for a refund, but Murray never responded to that text.
Murray’s fraud trial continues this week with more testimony from more witnesses who say they were bilked by the contractor.
After this week, there are still six more days of trial scheduled: March 29-30 and April 1, and then May 3-4 and May 6.
