GTA contractor sued 11 times, as homeowners left 'in disgust'

When Paul and Teresa Polyviou moved into their new home in Kleinburg, Ont., they envisioned hosting family and friends in the backyard.

Last May, the couple hired Gianni (John) Evangelisti of Freedom Pools to bring that vision to life by extending their interlocked driveway and building a side walkway to an all-stone backyard patio, with new concrete stairs and a shaded wooden canopy.

It was supposed to be a two-week job, Paul Polyviou said.

Almost a year and more than $72,000 later, there's gravel at the side and back of the house, no stones. There's no canopy, just four posts in the ground. The backyard steps were finished, but the family hired another company to level them. 

The driveway extension was partially completed using stones Polyviou said were the wrong size and colour.

"I look at this and I'm in disgust," he said. 

Eight months after the project started, the family filed a fraud complaint with York Regional Police claiming Freedom Pools took their money and abandoned the job — and they're not the only Greater Toronto Area homeowners who say they've had a bad experience with Evangelisti and his Vaughan-based companies: Freedom Pools and JL Landscape & Design.

CBC Toronto spoke to four families who say they hired one of Evangelisti's companies between 2017 and 2023 to install in-ground pools or to do landscaping. Collectively, the families say they've paid more than $200,000. 

One family claims they fired him after only one week, alleging Evangelisti didn't work as much as promised. The other three claim Evangelisti's company would start work, then not return for days, sometimes months, dragging on jobs — effectively abandoning them in various states of completion. 

CBC Toronto has reviewed emails and texts that show Polyviou and other homeowners repeatedly complained about the lack of progress. Evangelisti and a Freedom Pools employee pledged over multiple messages that workers would show up, but the homeowners say nobody did.

Two of the homeowners CBC Toronto spoke to have taken legal action against Evangelisti, and three say they have reported him to police. 

Aurora residents Rimas and Viktorija Jocevicia sued Evangelisti and JL Landscape & Design in small claims court in 2017 to recoup their $15,000 deposit claiming he broke their agreement and damaged their property. 

The family hired him to install a pool but claimed they fired him after he only did six hours of work during the first week but refused to return any money. They reached a settlement, where the couple agreed to remove negative online reviews in exchange for $10,000. They say he never paid and the reviews remain online. 

Last month, Maple homeowners Ayelet and Michael Kushnirsky received a default judgment for $9,000 after claiming Evangelisti took money for unfinished work and undelivered pool equipment and did not meet deadlines, creating "loss of usage, anguish and distress."