Mike Homes did not make it right this time.

TV host and contractor Mike Holmes can’t make things right for subscribers
Mike Holmes made his name by criticizing contractors on TV, but he stumbled on his venture into magazine publishing.
By: Ellen Roseman On Your Side, Published on Mon May 20 2013
Mike Holmes calls himself “the most trusted contractor in the business.” But he’s no hero to those who subscribed to his magazine and found the plug was pulled prematurely, leaving them without refunds.
Holmes: The Magazine to Make It Right was suspended in November 2011 after two years. The publisher, Dauphin Media Group of Toronto, said it intended to fulfill its obligations to subscribers.
But those who paid for a three-year subscription didn’t get their money back. Nor did they get another magazine for the balance, which often happens when their chosen publication goes under.
Holmes did not respond to phone calls asking for comment.
Bernice Hurtubise paid $40 for 30 issues, but received just five issues before they stopped coming. She was angry not to receive any replies to her emails and calls.
“I have not heard anything from this company and Mike Holmes has not said anything about it. I want you to Make Things Right by getting Mike Holmes to give us back our money,” she said.
“My daughter got her money back on her subscription to Wish magazine when it went out of business.”
Christine Newman wrote to me, saying she was “incredibly disappointed” after the magazine folded shortly after she bought a one-year subscription.
“Mike Holmes’ empire accepts no responsibility and does not respond to emails. It’s a shame because I trusted Mike Holmes and he must have put a lot of effort into building his brand, only to have it shattered in a moment.”
Liza Drozdov, vice-president of the Holmes Group, said the company controlled the editorial content and left the business side to the publisher. (Dauphin went out of business in April 2012.)
Left without any subscribers’ lists, the Holmes Group had to ask the fulfillment firms that mailed the magazines for names and addresses.
“Once we have those lists, we’ll be in a better position to communicate with the subscribers who’ve been left high and dry,” Drozdov said last fall.
“I do have a promising meeting scheduled with a prospective new publisher and hope to be able to relaunch a magazine again in 2013. We intend to work together to somehow provide a solution that will offer the subscribers some satisfaction.”
Recently, a new magazine, Make It Right, 10 Years of Mike Holmes On TV, appeared on newsstands, featuring a cover photo of the handyman in his trademark overalls. His photo appears on almost every inside page, too.
At last, I thought. The promise has been kept. Then, I noticed the magazine, published by Transcontinental Media in Toronto, cost $9.99 for 98 pages.
Was this a special interest publication? Yes, said Drozdov. There were plans to publish a few others to see if there was any public desire to return to a regularly published magazine.
And while the Holmes Group did manage to purchase a subscribers’ list from the U.S. distributor, it had no plans to send them the new magazine or give back their money.
“Mike never did receive the revenue from those subscriptions, so we’re not in a position to reimburse those subscribers. The cost is prohibitive,” Drozdov said.
“My hope is that we could successfully launch a regular digital publication of the magazine, so we could at least offer that to subscribers. But sadly, we are a long way off from that being more than an idea.”
So, here’s the bottom line: Don’t buy long-term subscriptions to magazines that are fairly new and may not survive. Stick to those with a track record and published by companies with a diverse list of properties.
As Holmes found, it’s hard to make things right when you lack control of your projects and rely on others to do the heavy lifting.
Ellen Roseman writes about personal finance and consumer issues. You can reach her at [FONT=Calibri]eroseman@thestar.ca or www.ellenroseman.com [/FONT]

Yep he a upstanding guy , not. Greedy yes

On Your Side, Published on Mon May 20 2013
Mike Holmes calls himself “the most trusted contractor in the business.” But he’s no hero to those who subscribed to his magazine and found the plug was pulled prematurely, leaving them without refunds.
Holmes: The Magazine to Make It Right was suspended in November 2011 after two years.

**WOW! after 18 months I think he is too late **

Well at least if you take his first shows with no safety at all to some safety in the Homes “Makes It Right” He is making some progress. But then again he can just turn this around and say he is Just and “Actor” and following the HGTV script.
As for your standing on this “Sell More Inspections” your Recall Check is openly displayed on Mike Holmes Group.

Mike always makes it right straight to the bank!

G

Just more Bull **** as i see it

Mike Holmes does not care about Making It Right. One of his last episodes proves this.
All kinds of structure issues yet he missed the most obvious thing any Home Inspector would see.
Don’t believe me go look at the HGTV program on “Over There Heads.”
I will even tell you where to look!!! half way through.
Now it could be argued that he saved that for next one but after how many episodes does it take for Holmes to make it right.

I was told by an extremely reliable person that Mike did a back fence install all material supplied .
1/2 way through the new fence install he went to the owner thanked him and said we have all the recording we need .
The rest of the material is yours but we do not have time to finish the install. They packed up and left .
I see lots errors in many of his programs

Classy. That’s the “reality” of television.

Agreed Roy but this is not just an error because everyone does that from time to time. This is just plain lack of Knowledge or Caring. I would say Mr. Guilles is correct in his comment at least on this thread.
This man should have no influence in Home Inspection Industry until he has the Home Inspection Training period.

Media capital and the home owner’s and the populist ignorance of protocols and procedure allow this to happen.
A shame for real homies the media and the Ontario government I feel.

Sorry I am on my tablet.

Anyone figures it out and sends an e-mail to me I will display the name here.