The Somerset Hills Handy Man & Co

It went excellent. They were there on time,work A+. Great job.

I contacted the Somerset Hills Handyman in order to get an estimate for replacing the silicon seal on my copper kitchen farm sink. It had both failed, and was reacting with the copper, causing streaks of green to appear in the sink. Having done my own research, I realized that a special type of silicon was needed, one specifically for copper sinks, so that it wouldn’t react and cause the green oxidation. I had already purchased this silicon, as I knew it was a specialty item, and I was on a deadline as to when I needed the work done.
My initial call was sent to voicemail. In that message, I stated my name, my address, and what the job was. I received a call back the next afternoon, and I could see by the caller ID it was the SHH. I answered, but the caller was asking for “Julie”. I explained there was no Julie here, that my name was “__”, and that I was the one calling about the sink job. I chalked it up to miscommunication on their end when taking down the message. An appointment to see the job was set up for the next day at noon. Shortly before that meeting time, I received another call from the SHH, and when I picked up, he said, “Hiya, Julie”. I once again explained that there was no Julie, and again, they seemed to understand they’d gotten my job right but the name wrong. In any case, they were calling to cancel that day’s meeting, which they blamed on “vehicle trouble”. We again set up a meeting for the next day.
Right at our meeting time the following day, Shep Greene, the owner, appeared at my door. As I let him in, I introduced myself.
He looked puzzled, and then asked for… you guessed it, Julie. I was now not only really annoyed by this at this point, but it dawned on me which “Julie” they might be looking for. I asked him if he was looking for “Julie ___”, and he looked relieved
and said yes. I then had to inform him that that was my mother-in-law, and that not only did she never live at this address; she had passed away 4 years ago. Shep then informed me that they match up all their calls with a public records search to see who lives at the address. Obviously, both public records and Shep got it very wrong. In addition, I find that practice not only unnecessary, due to the fact I’d clearly stated my name on my initial message, but downright invasive and creepy.
In spite of my misgivings, I let Shep come in and take a look at the sink. He was there for about 5 minutes, and said he’d have the estimate back to me by the next day, Friday the 17th. I had told him from the get go that I needed the work done by Wednesday, the 22nd, and he said they could do the work the following Monday or Tuesday, should I accept the estimate.
When towards the end of business the next day I had not received the estimate, I emailed Shep and told him I had not seen anything come through. I was afraid my email address had gotten mistaken/confused along with
my name. I had no response until 7:30PM that evening, when I received a terse email that had no content, only a
header that said, “Sent this afternoon”. I wrote back and said I had not received it, and could he please sent it again?” I also followed up with a text. No response until the next day, when another terse message arrived saying, “Check your spam”. I again replied, saying I had done so several times. There was no further response until Monday when I received the estimate for $350.
Now, I used to run a small business. I understand that sometimes, things go astray. But when trying to gain business, the way to respond to a prospective client is NOT through a series of brief, unapologetic messages. The correct way to respond is, “I’m so sorry you didn’t receive our quote. Something must have gone awry. I’ll send it out right away/ASAP/as soon as we’re back in the office on Monday. Our sincere apologies, and we look forward to doing business with you”.
Clearly, that was not my experience.
Though I felt the price a bit high, especially since I was already providing the needed materials, I called at once after receiving the
estimate, leaving a voice mail. I said I would like to go ahead with the work, but only if they could still do it by Wednesday as had been promised. To this day, I have never received a response back. Perhaps I am lucky? If they couldn’t even get my name right, how could I expect them to get the job right? Lesson learned with this company.
I do hope they read this review. They will also learn that had they given me a fair estimate and a job well done, I had a myriad of other home projects, both big and small, that I was prepared to have them work on. The sink was the test, and The Somerset Hills Handyman and Co has clearly failed.

---

Asked to replace carpenter ant damage to perimeter sill of house. He said job did not need to have a building permit, but nj requires permits and inspection to structural repairs to a building. Had job done by someone else who got the permit. Town inspector said I was correct as to the permit and the person who did the job went beyond the minimum required to correct the problem

Shep Greene is responsive and professional as well as experienced in a variety of building/fixing situations. While others won't touch your regular household repairs, Shep and his team are adept at it. Other handymen/contractors may have wanted to replace the entire basement staircase, but Shep and his carpenter quickly resolved the problem without having to rebuild everything. The painters came in and tore off wallpaper then spackled and painted over a 20' x20' area and cleaned up after themselves. The mason and his team clearly knew how to repair the foundation and it looks brand new. All of this was completed in 2 weeks which was really impressive. I would call Shep and his team anytime for whatever you need repaired or built. Nice job!

They were referred to me by someone in town and they were very good. The workers were very friendly, on time, and courteous. The service was also very good.

We had a request, called and emailed and did not get hold of anybody for another week. We called again and he wanted %50 of payment without giving us a date of service. he was very rude. It is a small job, but we are looking for someone else to do it.

see above note.

My experience was overall a good one. The work was done professionally and efficiently.

Be cautious with your use of this handyman. Insure that all of project minutia is outlined in the contract. Insure that all of his work meets code before giving him a final payment because you may not be able to get him to return to finish the project. The fireplace surround does not meet code, and he did not come back to fix it. He kept trying to change the price for artificial reasons, and I had to keep refusing to pay him additional money.