Handyman Matters Of Oakland

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My biggest issue is that they overcharged me for something I could've had done for under $300.  They unfairly billed me $543 which would've been reasonable if they had to replace the drywall.  But the job was a simple patch.
Theresa gave me a worst case estimate over the phone of the total cost without actually coming out to see the job.  She assured me that the worker, Michael (a supposed drywall expert) would be able to do the work for less than the quote if it is was the job warranted.  Michael was a very nice guy and arrived on time, but he took a lot of time to do a very simple job when they are billing me $80/hour.    And the quality of his work was average at best.  You can still see where the patch was done.
I called Theresa assuming that she would keep her word that the job would cost less if it was warranted, and she never returned my call.  My advice to you is insist that someone come out in person to see the job that is required and give you a final cost.  Do NOT let Theresa give you a quote over the phone.   

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excellent.  they arrived on time, completed the job and were friendly.  they were also careful to be sure not to the let the dog or cat out

They purchased the material, and then came by to install it themselves. 
They've come out to help me numerous times, and they always do a great job. 
I have nothing but good things to say about their work, and I look forward to their visit tomorrow. 
Theresa and her staff are great, and I would recommend them to anyone. 
She even comes out herself to do estimates!

Awesome.  Great workmanship and patience by the handyman Jake - dealing with two young dogs who wanted to investigate and 'help' plus a problematic installation - all with humor and professionalism.

A charming gentleman named James Morris came to our home and did a good job for us - very personable, professional, and thorough.  He let us know his goal was to do a good job and he followed through on everything..  It was a small job; but, we were treated with the professionalism and courtesy that would be afforded a larger job.  Would definitely be happy to work with him again or other workers at the company.

They were prompt and on time, they arrived fully equipped, and they did good work.  Furthermore, I didn't have to supervise them, and they did an excellent job of cleaning up after themselves.

They were wonderful! They're honest, polite and clean.

The entire process went very well.  The owner was generally responsive to my inquiries and the only reason I gave them a B was that there was a couple of times during the job when it took more than a day to get back to me (and I imagine it was because they were busy).  However, this was not a problem for me.  Theresa came out promptly and gave me an estimate.  The person who did the work was on time, was friendly and professional, and did an outstanding job.  I had 2 areas of drywall that needed patches and 3 larger areas where the drywall had cracked or had caved in from poor installation and/or water damage.  
I mentioned my concern about the amount of dust that would be created during sanding but was assured sanding would be minimal.  The drywall person did such a good job applying the mud that there was almost no sanding required.  Also he put down plastic sheeting in the area to protect my furnishings.
Overall, I was very very pleased.  My walls look like new and I would gladly do business with them again.

It went very well, the crew was friendly, professional, and quick about their business.  The leader was easy going and easy to please.

I've used Handyman Matters for several projects over the last few years. This time I had them install 2 skylights in my living room. They picked up the skylights I ordered from the lumer company & store them until we could arrange an installation date (so I didn't have to wrestle with picking them up!) installation appointment was at 10 AM. At 955 Michael called me from our driveway. He moved furniture and carefully covered the floor & surrounding items so no dust got into the rest of the house. Jacob arrived with the skylights & by the end of the 2nd day they were installed & the dry wall was nearly completed. Michael came two days later to finish dry wall & painted the entire ceiling so there would be no mismatching of paint. I was very pleased with the whole process.

I had a great experience with them. They were great. They came out on time. They were very prompt. They got to work right away. They came and looked at the job, brought the material that they needed and performed the work in a timely manner and reviewed what they had done with me. They were very courteous. They were very clear about what they were doing and they explained every step in detail what they were doing. I was very happy. I would absolutely use them again, in fact, I am going to use them in a couple of weeks.

See above.
I hate dealing with companies that do not have live people answering the phones during office hours. I realize that lines may become tied up, people need to use the bathroom, etc., but to get a recording again and again and again over time is super frustrating.
If a crew is going to be late, they need to let their boss know, and someone (the crew or the boss) MUST call the customer/client to let him/her know. That's what cell phones are for. Especially because I'd let them know in advance that I'd have to be leaving the house for a while and wanted to be sure to talk to the crew before I left.
No drinking alcohol on the job. Maybe I was wrong about this, but if I wasn't, it should stop.
Using a customer's toilet is something that should be discussed in advance. I'm not unwilling to do it (we're all only human, after all), but generally no one working outside the house ever asks.

Installation was difficult, since it was a basement and the workmen had to work around various pipes, wires, etc that normally run thru a basement.  They did a great job, patiently solving each problem at they dealt with it.  I was impressed by their attention to detail and the fact that they treated the work as if they were doing it in their own home.  They left the work area clean each night and were a joy to deal with.  I was impressed by the competence of the owner (who came up with a firm price for the job in a few days and then scheduled the work to begin only a week later) and by the competence and positive attitude of the workers.

They always check back after the work is finished to make sure you are happy and everything is satisfied. They are really good people and did fine work. Theresa is wonderful, honest, and overall a good person.

I've used HM Oakland several times before.  As always, Jacob was on time, friendly, and professional.  He listened to my description, looked at the water heater, then gave me suggestions on how to solve the problem without it costing me an arm and a leg.  

The work was done by two separate crews.  The foundation work got done in two days: one to clear out the broken foundation, build forms, pour concrete. Later the forms were removed. The crew was great, friendly, on time, the work looks really solid. The dry wall took longer because Michael is a perfectionist and put several layers of mud/texturizing on the wall so it matches the original texture. He scraped out the old damaged drywall, repaired the holes and cracks, mudded it, textured.  He had to do it over three sessions. I'm very happy with the way both projects turned out.  Theresa (the local owner) is prompt to return phone calls and her estimates were right on target.

Arrival on time.  (prior to that I was told the man could most likely take care of all my needs).  Very pleasant worker who seemed to know the best solution for each task.  Had to go get supplies and finished all that afternoon.  I was very pleased.

They came 3 times to do various things for me. It was all sort of related to one thing. I’m probably not going to call them back. I think they were very friendly and very nice but there were some discrepancies with the bill which was taken care off. The work they did was fine but I think it probably didn’t need to take as long as it did. They actually had to redo something and they did come back and do it at no charge; so that was another good thing.

I called and left a message, and my call was returned promptly.  When I said that I was having a problem with my toilet, Penny (?) said that they don't do larger plumbing jobs themselves, but gave me the name of a plumber nearby that she said they worked with often.

The repairman was on time, and was very friendly and professional.  He first looked at the jobs I had identified and then he worked quickly to make repairs (about an hour).  With the shower, he explained that the faucet valve is probably aging, so it partially closes off the hot water after a short time.  He made the very sensible suggestion that I just turn the hot water on more when it starts to cool off, rather than making me think it was a plumbing crisis.  I thought the price was very fair.

this was a fine job

The handyman was very pleasant/courteous to work with and kept in communication about delays to his arrival time. He completed both tasks in approximately 2 hours, which seemed a bit longer than I expected. Was well prepared and offered recommendations on several other minor to-do projects I have. Left work areas clean.

I e-mailed Theresa to see if they worked in our area, and she replied in a day or two that they did. A few weeks later (delay my fault) I e-mailed her a list of the many tasks we needed done before our baby arrives in a couple months. I called to follow up after a couple of days, and she found my list very quickly. She looked over the list, estimated rough times for each item, and said that 2 guys should be able to do the work in about 4 hours, maybe 5, at $125/hr for the 2 guys. She scheduled an appointment. On the day of the work, Jacob showed up at 9:00 (when expected) and had a handwritten list of our tasks with him. I showed him where each thing needed to be done and he started getting ready to work on the kitchen faucet while I got out the supplies we had (paint, faucets, curtain rods, etc) from the garage. At 9:45 Kyle, the 2nd guy, arrived. They took some more time to figure out who would do what, and both actually started getting to work around 10:00. They were both very friendly and personable, but that was the problem - they were really chatty, which is not OK when I'm paying by the hour. They both had a fair amount of trouble disloging the old faucets in our 39-year old home, so I wasn't bothered (or surprised) that the faucets took longer to replace than Theresa had estimated. They needed an extra part for under the kitchen sink, so they made a list of the other things they needed at the hardware store. They did turn the cold water back on so my pregnant wife could flush the toilets, and explained that we shouldn't use the hot water because the kitchen sink might leak until they got the part they needed. While they were shopping and at lunch, I heard dripping under the kitchen sink, and realized that there was a lot of water pooling in the particle-board cabinet. I moved everything out of the cabinet and tried to find places for it to dry, mopped up, and put a bucket under the drip; they had put a paper cup from the recycling bin there before leaving, but it wasn't even under the drip (and we hadn't used the hot water). When they came back, they finished under the kitchen sink, but left the stuff out of the cabinet and the doors open to let it dry out. They installed the new smoke/CO detectors, hung one of the curtain rods we needed hung, installed the anchors for the window-blind cords, fixed the linen-closet door hinge, and replaced the patio spigot. At 3:00, Jacob said that they were already over the estimated time and had to get to another job. We reviewed his list, and he marked the things that were done and not done. He charged me for 2 guys for 5 hours (not for the hour they were at lunch), even though the 2nd guy arrived 45 minutes late. He also balked when I asked to see the receipt from the hardware store, saying "that's not customary," but he did let me see it and check the math (they had bought one item that wasn't for my job - he deducted the price of that item, but not the tax on it). I paid him, and they gathered up their stuff, as well as our old faucets and smoke detectors, and left. They almost left the extra curtain-rod bracket in their truck (pretty expensive piece), but Kyle remembered and returned it. They did clean up everywhere they had worked except under the kitchen sink. The tasks they did get done seem to have been done very well. What really frustrated me, though, was that they seemed really unfocused and disorganized as they were working, and they didn't get a lot of things done, so now I have to spend another day telecommuting and schedule another contractor to finish the list. I thought maybe I was being too h****** them since I'm a project manager and expect people to really be on task the whole time. My wife, who happened to be home as well that day, is much more laid back and patient than I am, and is also the daughter of a general contractor; she also thought they were really unfocused and wasted a lot of time. She also pointed out that the various other contractors we've had here have been very much on task they whole time they were here; is it just a coincidence that the other jobs were bid for a fixed amount, rather than by-the-hour? I don't know, but I won't be using this vendor again.