J & J Handyman Sevices

I was planning on building a new wooden deck in my backyard but in order to do that, I first had to remove an old stone patio that was there, and clear out a small garden that had 3 shrubs planted.  The patio stones, along with a number of other patio pavers I had, and the shrubs, were to be transported to another location 55 miles away for use by another party.  The old patio was extremely poorly built so some of the mortar between the stones were already coming apart; the base of the patio was nothing more than sand in a frame of cinder blocks. 
The job for J&J Handyman Svcs was to take apart the stone patio as careful as possible so as to not damage the stones; digging up the 3 shrubs; hauling a bunch of soil and other rocks to the county landfill; and with me leading the way, transporting the lot to the other location.
Some of the problems I had were due to my own inexperience working with contractors.  I made a verbal agreement with Omar Ortiz on Sat, August 31, to do the job on Monday, Sept, 2, which was the Labor Day Holiday.  He promised to get the written contract to me on Sunday (again, fully in agreement it was a holiday weekend).  Sunday evening came and I had not heard from him so I called to see where the contract was.  I was then told the plan was to bring me the contract the same morning they were due to arrive to start the work.  I said that was not acceptable so we ended up emailing versions of the contract back and forth late Sunday night, with me in the end being the one to finalize the wording of the scope of work, since their first couple emails were incorrect, both to the scope of work and the price agreed upon.
Omar and his helper were late to arrive but then worked extremely hard.  They did a good job but it turned out Omar had under estimated the amount of weight for the patio stones (and other patio pavers I previously showed him were part of what was being transported to another location) so had to get another party to come with a truck to load up with the rocks.  The shrubs were dug up and squeezed in the pick up truck but in the end, at least one shrub suffered damage due to not being wrapped properly for the trip on the open road.  However, due to how hard the job clearly was, I decided to pay a little more than was agreed.
After this job was completed, Omar promised to get back with me to talk about his company doing the deck, but he has never called back.   So in the end, I'm not sure which kind of jobs I would want to try to call him for.  Especially for the bigger jobs where the written contract is so very important.

I joined Angies list just so I could rate J & J Handyman Services.  He built a fence for me that I have to replace within a year.  He responded that he would come out and look at it and never showed up.  It basically crumbled.  The gate fell apart.  Pieces just fell off, that's how bad it was.  It was done in October 2011.  He charged us almost $1,000, $900.  Don't use him.  Unprofessional.  He was a scam to me.

Did not happen

Needed bay window awning refinished for HOA requirements, along with window shutters replaced.  This work was done well and timely.  However, there had also been an issue with leaking during rain storms inside my kitchen and we had thought the outside repair had done the trick.  No so.  Called J&J a few times since about the leak problem, with no response.  Then was sent a letter asking if they could use me as a reference!  I had wanted to use them for other repairs, but can't if they won't call back.  :(  On to find a new provider.

Excellent!!!!!!!!!  My neighbor has just had them replace his carport pad and powerwashing  his driveway and patio.