“No problem”: this is the name of a roofing company active in Montreal and on the South Shore. However, the company is accumulating complaints from customers stunned to see their bill explode in the middle of the work, including several elderly people. Another problem: his representative until last Friday was serving a home sentence for fraud.
The sentence against Marc-André Robitaille fell last May, less than a year after another conviction for assault on an elder whom he tried to force to sell him his house.
No Problem has accumulated around ten complaints to the Consumer Protection Office (OPC) in two years. The Press wanted to know if the Building Authority had carried out checks on the company on its side, but the industry watchdog simply replied that it was “documenting” its file.
The majority of complaints filed with the OPC concern a “deceptive or unfair practice,” according to the organization.
Barbara Prosper is one of the customers who question the company’s behavior. According to its original quote, No Problem needed to replace its roof for $8,624. But less than half an hour after the work began, a company representative came to tell him that he had “no good news”: “He told me that there was some rot, water infiltration, mold and that it should be treated. »
In short, the work would ultimately cost $47,000 and Barbara Prosper had to make a decision within the hour. A scenario that resembles what many other clients have experienced (see Marie-Eve Fournier’s column)1.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE LAVAL POLICE
Marc-André Robitaille in 2021
Today, the single mother from Châteauguay learns from The Press that the man who made him sign the contract is still under a 20-month suspended prison sentence. “I’m just in shock,” she said.
At the end of the day Friday, Robitaille contacted again The Press to claim that he had just been “kicked out” for “reputational risk”.
Heavy recent past
According to his court file, Robitaille, 26, tried to force a senior suffering from psychiatric disorders to sell him his house for 30% less than the municipal assessment, in Dollard-des-Ormeaux. The would-be seller’s sister intervened and her caregiver alerted the police.
When the situation got tough, Robitaille resold his purchase offer to a real estate investor, Olivier Lepage, for $115,000. Being careful not to tell him that the seller, in fact, no longer wanted to sell…
Last May, the Court of Quebec acquitted Robitaille of fraud against the elder, who ultimately did not sell him his house. But he was found guilty of fraud against Olivier Lepage and of laundering the proceeds of crime. In addition to being sentenced to 20 months suspended, Robitaille had to repay the $115,000 stolen from the real estate investor.
He is also subject to three years’ probation after another trial, held in Laval, for assault and threats against another elder. He was also accused of kidnapping and extortion, but the Court ultimately acquitted him of these last two counts.
When he received his sentence in this affair, Robitaille operated another construction company, Ferblantier-Couvreur Optimum. Two days after his sentence in June 2023, the OPC refused him a traveling trader’s permit, necessary to enter into roofing work contracts for an individual. Reason for his opposition: ensuring “the honest and competent exercise of commercial activities”.
Still under the two sentences today, Robitaille concluded roofing contracts for No Problem until last week.
Employee of his ex-partner
There Building law prohibits individuals convicted of fraud in the last five years from operating a construction business. At No Problem, Robitaille therefore only acted as a simple employee. “I work for the company. I don’t run a construction company,” he said, before his dismissal on Friday.
PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, THE PRESS
A worker at work on a No Problem Roofing contract
According to public records, No Problem is owned by his former partner, Francisco Soto Dominguez. The two men were both shareholders in another company, Summum Construction et Gestion, which has been inactive since 2022.
Contacted by telephone and through the intercom of the building where he lives in Chinatown, Soto Dominguez only said that he had “no comments.” He then sent a text message to The Press assuring that No Problem belongs to him “100%”.
“Mr. Robitaille is a representative of the company, and his role consists of carrying out inspections during the work, suggesting corrective work when necessary, ensuring the smooth running of the construction sites and the satisfaction of the clients for whom he is responsible. responsible,” the message said.
Another communication finally confirmed the dismissal of Robitaille, to avoid “serious, even destructive repercussions” on No Problem. “This decision was difficult to make, but sometimes it is necessary to sacrifice a part to protect the whole,” said his message. Mr. Robitaille is aware of this, and I sincerely hope that he will find an opportunity that matches his skills. I wish him all the best. »
“Social reintegration”
In interview with The PressMarc-André Robitaille assures that he has “nothing to hide” and that No Problem does indeed belong to his ex-associate, not to him.
“Now I am in social reintegration, things are going well, I have a good job and I provide the best service to the customer,” he said before learning of his dismissal.
Robitaille did not want to dwell on the events which earned him his sentences for assault, threats and fraud.
“I asked the police to take a lie detector test three times, and they never would,” he says.
If he pleaded guilty to charges of assault and threats against a Laval elder in 2021, it was to put an end to the proceedings, says Robitaille. “They put you in a funnel,” he said. You have no money to pay the lawyers, you are in a corner, you no longer have a choice, it’s this or it continues. »
With the collaboration of Marie-Eve Fournier, The Press
1. Read the column “When No Problem Means Problems”