HANDYMAN USA

Horrible, Horrible, Horrible. I guess I should have known there was a problem when I came home from work to find water pouring down through my light socket in the kitchen. Demolition went ok, but I noticed there were problems with the bathtub tile installation. Overall it was a mess. There were globs of cement everywhere. The back wall is bowed out, and I had to have him replace decorative tile at the top. None of the fixtures line up (faucet, handle, shower head). In addition, white stuff has been tracked all over my upstairs carpet. My hallway walls have been marked up. I've already fixed a leak in the bathroom sink. After day 2 the contractor said he didn't figure the labor in doing the job correctly (much more time consuming than originally planned) and would have to charge more (turns out $500 more). He laid the floor and after 1 day the floor grout started cracking. At MY expense, he re-laid the floor, only to have more cracks appear. He left the job a mess, saying he'd be back in a week. His work was very sloppy with paint spills, cement globs on the floor, caulking was very uneven. He painted the door outside while my husband was mowing and painted over dirt and grass. You can still see primer showing thru the paint, there are drips all over the walls. It's a train wreck. He couldn't paint a straight line if his life depended on it. I am having to hire two contractors now to fix the tile problems and repaint the room. There has been no attempt on his part to resolve the problem. Not even an apology. I don't want him back in my house - I shouldn't have to stand over someone to point out the problems... and I definately should not have to go behind him and fix his sloppy workmanship. I am making the rounds on the websites and will be filing additional complaints with the Better Business Bureau and Attorney General website. It sickens me how much I paid him already for the job he did. He's done damage to my home.

We live in a split level home and had one access to both parts of our attic. Everything had to be taken out of a closet and you had to climb through a small opening that had nails from the roof within inches of your back and neck to be able to get to the upper attic. We have an air conditioning unit in the upper floor and I didn't like service people having to climb through the small opening to get there. He did a good job of cleaning up. You must expect some dust around the room so don't construe this as being dirt free. I would use again but I now better understand what to expect.

The person sent, arrived on time, surveyed the work and got right to it. The installation required fan supports, wiring, light switches and fishing the walls. The technician was very meticulous in measuring for center and cutting the holes in the ceiling. The only extra item required was a junction box that was placed in the attic. Overall the job was done very professionally and care was taken in clean up.

Estimator had expertise. The person who did the work was professional and did quality work. Work was done professionally, on time and on budget. Their clean up was immaculate.

He arrived promptly for the estimate, told me he could do all three jobs without any problems and left me with a list of items to get at the local home repair store. When he arrived to do the work, he was late. After he started working, it turned out that he needed items in addition to the ones he told me to purchase - and somehow made it MY fault that I didn't have them on hand. After I took two trips to the store, he took the third needed trip and came back into my home reeking of cigarette smoke. He did replace the inner workings of the toilet. He "tried" to replace the fixtures in the bathtub but then told me that he couldn't because the pipes went into the wall! (He didn't know that pipes went into the wall or didn't realize it during the estimate?) He did replace the fixtures on the sink, but one now turns in the wrong direction and the other one sticks out an inch or two further than the other one. The real kicker was his work on the caulking. It, literally, took him hours and hours to finish this work. It wasn't very smooth and even when he finished and it leaked under the frame of the sliding glass doors within six months. The most unbelievable thing about the experience was that, after using every paper towel in my house, I went into the bathroom after he left to clean the mess and found that the paper towels he used to wipe the caulking after applying it to the surfaces had been thrown in my toilet (with the seat lid conveniently down)!!! When I called the Handyman USA offices to complain about my experience (without the leak under the sliding doors even starting yet), they wouldn't speak to me for days of calling and when they eventually did, they told me that they would forward my complaint to the subcontractor and have him get back to me so I could arrange for him to come back and repair the work. Are you kidding?! He didn't have the ability to accomplish the work the first time he came out. What would make them think he would be able to fix his mess if he came out a second time? Besides, I had already cleaned up the paper towel and caulking mess he left in the toilet, so it was something that wasn't even possible for him to "fix" anymore. I told Handyman USA that I felt they were responsible for the quality of the work done by the people they send to people's homes. They told me it was between me and the subcontractor. I would NEVER recommend this company to anyone and I would NEVER, NEVER, NEVER allow someone I know to use their services.

Recently an electricain informed us our living room fan was installed incorrectly, not up to code, so the whole thing shakes. Have called numerous times for someone to come out and look at it or install correctly, not one call back over the last two months. I am very dissapointed in the lack of concern for their integrity and also the safety of my family if the fan should fall.

The work was done very skillfully. Mr. Peffer was reliable and very knowledgeable. He was willing to add jobs as new needs arose. (We paid for them under separate contracts.) His work was neat and he cleaned up after himself. The entire job took a number of weeks. He was also very pleasant and friendly. He likes handyman work and took pride in what he accomplished.