Matthew's Handyman Service

It was very unacceptable. I had to have a lot of their work redone, and their labor expenses were extreme. I was charge $2300.00 over what any other labor quotes were. They charged me for damage they did that I had to fixed. Extremely hard to contact. They said the job was going to be done in 30 days and it wasn't. The contractor I replaced them with completely the majority of the work in 2 wks.

**UPDATE JULY 15, 2011**

After being informed of Mr. Fogleman's response to my report, I find it necessary to expand on a few points.  Mr. Fogleman has taken great strides to damage my credibility and has not supplied any of the documentation I requested to support his final expense report.  I supplied Mr. Fogleman with all the documentation he requested to substantiate my disagreement with his final statement within a 30 day time frame from when I originally let him go.  Mr. Fogleman appears to have gone to great lengths to slander me, this in itself I find extremely unprofessional.  I did not just get a quote from Mr. Fogleman, I also received 2 others from reputable companies.  I had personal choice of who I wanted to hire for the job, it was due to the way he presented himself that I decided to hire him.  I also contacted references he supplied and was pleased with what I heard. 

To start, the job Mr. Fogleman was hired to do was in direct result of an incident covered by my homeowner's insurance.  The incident occurred November 13, 2010 and I met Mr. Fogleman by chance through a mutual associate.  Around December 10, 2010 (the date on his supplied quote) we met and did a walk through of my home, discussing everything that was needing to be done.  At this time he took measurements of all interior doors, the back door, all rooms, and the bathroom vanity.  We then verified again what was going to be needed and made arrangements to meet again to discuss finer points (i.e. carpet and paint colors).  I DID NOT supply Mr. Fogleman with the estimate from my insurance company, I did not receive the estimate until July 11, 2011 after I had requested it from my adjuster.  The estimate Mr. Fogleman had was received directly from the insurance company after I supplied his business information.  I did not receive Mr. Fogleman's quote until January 10, 2011 via email, after I had to request it several times.  Due to an error with the first check, the starting check was not received until late January 2011.  We met in Flora IN to cash it  on February 5, 2011 and learned that his bank had a 7 - 10 day waiting period.  Yes I did ask for $1000 of the check.  Since the job total was $8000, I kept $1000 for possible expenses, his and/or mine. That gave him $6000 to order supplies and start the job, and $578.24 for fuel expenses and extras that may occur.  Still above the standard 75% usually paid for such a contract.  I also gave Mr. Fogleman cash to assist with his fuel costs for meeting me in Flora IN, as well as a couple of other occasions to help get to/from the job site.  Mr Fogleman would have received an additional $2200 upon completion of the job, thus taking the total to $8778.24.

Second, in regards to the "extra" quotes that I kept requesting, there was a total of 3 quotes submitted. The first was the original incident quote, the second on March 3, 2011 was for the difference in the cost of carpet and labor that Mr. Fogleman claimed there wasn't enough money for.  He based his estimates for the carpet on the entire square footage of the house not the measurements he took himself.  The extra labor was never explained.  The third quote on March 20, 2011, was for the heating and cooling system Mr. Fogleman claimed needed to be fixed to function properly.  Based on his "vendor/expert" it was stated that part for both the furnace and water heater  were unavailable and it would be more cost effective to replace the units. On his final statement, Mr. Fogleman billed me for this "expert" that I have never met or been given a name for.  I was told he "had a friend" who could look at it, this I agreed with.  I did NOT authorize an "expert" who would charge for the estimate. I had 2 other estimates done on the heating and cooling system to be sure that what I was being told was correct, these were done for free. Concerning the switch from gas to electric, based on my homes location and natural gas prices, it was also more cost effective to switch to electric with no additional fees to make the switch.  Before speaking to Mr. Fogleman about this, I contacted my insurance company to find out if this work was covered before filing the second claim.  My claim was filed before Mr. Fogleman submitted his quote, a fact that can be verified with my adjuster.

Third, concerning the "extra's" that Mr. Fogleman mentions, all work was discussed at the original walk through.  There were no surprises when he accepted the job.  He knew that all the interior doors had been removed, and that the back door was damaged during emergency crews entry.  After speaking to my adjuster for this claim, I was informed that they were included in the original claim but since each door was under $50 they were not listed separately.  The only one that was listed separately was between the vanity area and shower area, since this was not considered a "necessary" door (there was a doorway dividing the bathroom area from the kitchen area as well). The "cut out shelf" in the kitchen entry area is a knick knack area to be place in an area that the drywall was removed and needing to be repaired.  An area that required cutting drywall to fit, the request did not require any specially sized cutting.  Though the space was dry walled and partially mudded, it had to be redone due to incorrect measuring and construction.  The uneven angles were visible to even the untrained eye.  I did not see any 1 x 4 boards that Mr. Fogleman claims to have purchased. There was no shelving installed.  There is much more about Mr. Fogleman's purchasing habits, work ethics, and capability that I can bring up, but at this time I see no point.  I am not asking him to reimburse me for funds I have had to pay out of my own pocket to return, exchange, redo and complete a job that was done very poorly and  was to be finished first by the end of March, then end of April, then MAYBE the end of May.  I am asking him to payback what he was paid for the work that he did not do and things he billed me for that were not agreed to or acceptable charges. 

As for the rest of Mr. Fogleman's response to my report, the use of the property and any other personal matters (such as my insurance) are none of his concern, he was hired to do a job and failed to do correctly and in a reasonable time frame.  Mr. Fogleman states that I informed him I needed the house liveable by May 15, 2011 or I would lose my insurance, this is true.  Like many, there is a "requirement to reside" clause in my policy, since the claim was still open and the house was still unliveable, I was unable to meet this requirement. I have since had to acquire insurance through a different company at a higher premium.  My policy payments, though they are no one else's business, are paid directly through my escrow account by my mortgage company.  I feel very offended having to defend this aspect, especially since it has nothing to do with my report. But it does have to do with my reputation and charactor. 

Finally, the tools that Mr. Fogleman "claims" to be missing were not reported to me until 60 days AFTER I had to let him go and then ONLY AFTER he had learned I had filed a report wi