THE HONEY-DO MAN AT MORNINGSTAR PROPERTIES

unknown

The good:
I found Ken online with google. His swingsets looked nice and seemed to be a reasonable price compared to store bought sets. He was pretty responsive to emails and we got scheduled pretty quickly for installation. The swingset itself turned out fine.
The bad:
The reasonable price got jacked up pretty quickly by $300 "difficult access fee" and $100 distance fee, despite there being neither particularly difficult access and my house being within 10 miles of Ken's home. There was this whole story about how difficult my access would be and it might even take an extra day (it didn't and Ken wasn't exactly burning the midnight oil to finish in the 3 days it was supposed to take). By the time I got the contract with these fees, my kids were already promised the swingset so whatever, I just went along with it even though the price was no longer good and was now just okay.
The real problem I have came after completion. We paid half up front, I put the second half in the mail the day after the swingset was done.  I told Ken. It was on a Friday and I left to go out of town for a week. He was aware that I was going to be gone right after he finished the project. The following Monday I get an email about how he hadn't received the check yet. Come on man, its only the next business day. Ken's faith in the Pittsburgh mail to receive things the next day reliably is cute, but not very realistic. I hear nothing else, then get another email Thursday that he still hadn't received the check and was demanding a $100 late fee now. I didn't think a late fee was appropriate because I *know* I mailed a check as soon as I could have and I had been in contact with him the entire time. I offered him credit card payment that day (which he still wouldn't accept as an on time payment because he doesn't get the funds deposited into his bank account for 3 days and would charge me a 3% surcharge despite nothing in the contract to this affect) or to overnight a new check to him (mind you again I'm out of town on vacation, yet still willing to find a post office to take care of this for him). He sends me a very long, condescending and entirely unprofessional response that isn't even worth detailing here because it was so ridiculous.
I've dealt with a lot of contractors in the process of renovating a large 110 year old home, so its not like I don't have experience in the matter and I have to say dealing with Ken was the worst experience I've had. His behavior over what should have been a very minor issue was off the charts. I can't imagine how he would respond to an actual problem. I would never deal with him again and can't recommend anyone else does either.
In summary, if you want a decent swingset installed at an average price by a jerk... Ken is your man. Otherwise, look elsewhere for your needs.

unknown

The experience was fine. The man who came out was prompt and excellent. He charged us over $100. He was right on time and he did what I have asked him to do. I would recommend him because he knew what he was doing. The cabinet did not come in the correct position but he was able to take it apart, fix it and make it work. It avoided me to have to just send it back to the manufacturer or to get another piece.

Ken was very responsive from the start.  He called me back the same day that I called him and was very accommodating with his schedule.  
Ken arrived right on time and finished the project within a very reasonable time frame.  He knew what he was doing and made the job look very simple. Ken was very nice as well as professional.

Did a fine job putting the stand together. Not sure how wide of a spectrum of jobs he can perform. However, very good for putting furniture together that need assembled. Seems to like to do that and experienced at it.
Not the cheapest (charges a trip charge.) but not the most expensive either.

I thought he did a very good job. I noticed that he was very thorough and he answered my questions. He seems to have a very good work ethic. I would definitely hire him to do things for me.

It started on July 23rd at 4.30pm, he worked till 8.30pm. As promised he showed up on time & stayed till it finished.

I heard about The Honey-Do Man from a friend, who was extremely satisfied with his work. I am extremely satisfied too. I asked Ken to paint my bedrooms. He did a BEAUTIFUL job. Plus, he came when he said he would, he cleaned up after himself, and the total bill was LESS than the original estimate! And while he was here, he did a few extra odd jobs, too. He adjusted my garage door springs and added a second button for my garage door opener. I must say that the overall experience was fantastic. I will definitely hire him again. A+

Ken did power-wash the back patio and attach the socket plates, but did not fix the brick (claiming that it would be unsafe), and did not respond with the list of improvement areas. Ken billed me $202.00, and kept the power-washer, as agreed. I did not immediately respond to, nor pay, Ken, as I believed the amount to be well in excess of the services performed, and he did not complete the assigned tasks. Within 10 days of receiving Ken's invoice, he had threatened to go to the magistrate (aside from not being a good business practice, this is in violation of Fair Debt Collections Act (2006)). I expressed my concern that the approximate amount of expected compensation of $292.00 ($202.00 invoice, plus $90.00 that Ken assessed as value for the power-washer) seemed unfair for the amount of work performed (i.e., power-washing my small patio). Ken refused to lower the original amount, immediately offered to take items from my home as partial compensation, and then refused to return the key to my home. I did not call the police to retrieve the key (within my rights), but did have the locks changed, as I determined that Ken was unreasonable. I finally agreed to pay the $202 via paypal. Ken refused and insisted I pay via money order. I complied, but inadvertently forgot to sign it. Ken claimed he sent it back to me for signature, but I never received it. After assuring him that I would pay him (I had the money order company reissue the money order), he filed with the magistrate (less than 90 days after original invoice), claiming I now owed him magistrate filing fees as well. Ken's email correspondence included immediate threats to go to the magistrate which is in violation of law; coercion by explaining the potential impact on my credit score; and happiness that I would spend more money on a lawyer than to dispute the amount he charged me. Though I had originally prepared to contest in court (after continuances, the revised date is in January 2009), my family recently decided to pay Ken's requested amount, as we now live in Colorado and believe the trip would be cost and time prohibitive. Ken has wasted my time, has broken debt collection practices, used coercion to attempt to receive payment, while knowingly taking advantage of the fact I now live out of state. I would caution anyone coming across Ken's websites and advertisements to stay away.