I found a Handyman crew flyer in my front door about 3 years ago, had the crew come in and repair kitchen cabinets, paint kitchen, install kitchen window, paint house/patio outside, and they did a decent job. That first crew was respectful, cleaned up, took care not to get paint or dust on furniture. So a year ago I asked them back to fix my patio gate, install kitchen countertop and sink, and give me estimate to paint inside the house.
The crew a year ago was a nightmare. Things started out okay when dad Wendell was on the jobsite. The gate rebuild was somewhat tricky, and ended up hanging out of alignment and crooked, but at least the new gate functions. During inspection for inside paint job, Wendell found evidence of rodent nests in the walls and ceilings, so we changed the contract to include remove and repair rodent damage instead of paint inside. Wendell left his son in charge for the remainder of the new contract work while he went to another jobsite, and things went from bad to worse.
The young crew did not show up some days, and when they did show up they were very late, sometimes by hours. Cigarette butts all over the front yard and driveway everyday. Water faucet outside often left on a fast drip. Hooked up my hose to the front yard faucet to mix plaster and did not put it away, dumped the bucket of plaster mix in the yard where it stuck to the grass and hose. Son brought his girlfriend and her young son and asked that they be allowed to stay in my house while I was at work and use my WiFi computer connection. Went into my closed bedroom without permission and took my clock radio to a different room to play music. Left plaster dust footprints on top of my nightstand, possibly while checking for more rodent attic damage, but please - use a ladder!!! Broke a cement angel statue on the patio while building new fence gate, and did fix it but glued the cement wing back on really crooked. I chalked these inconveniences up to youth and inexperience.
Last day of work, a Saturday, the son and another young worker came late in the day to finish installing attic insulation after removing rodent nests, and the other worker fell through the ceiling into a closet. Dust and old attic insulation rained down and filled the closet/bedroom with thick foggy dust. I stayed up all night to wash all the clothes. The son went from "We won't charge you for this job" to "Just pay us $300 for the insulation, clean-up and ceiling repair." Son said they would come next day, Sunday, at 9 AM to clean and repair. They did not show up or call, and I began shoveling the knee-high dust/debris out of the closet and washing down the walls and shelves myself. At noon Sunday, son finally called and said someone in the Huffines family had taken the work van to a sports bar and had not come home yet, so he couldn't come over. When the son and other young worker finally arrived that afternoon, I agreed to pay them for the insulation and said I was terminating our contract right then. The son asked that I pay him the remainder of the $300 fee because they needed the money, which I agreed to do on my next payday - not because they deserved it, but because I still wanted to be kind to these bumbling, inconsiderate workers.
My sister, who builds houses for Habitat for Humanity, came from Alabama and repaired the ceiling, damaged electrical wiring and lighting, shampooed the carpets, and painted the repaired ceiling and walls. She also found that the Handyman Crew had stepped on the shower stall box from up in the attic, causing cracks in the shower ceiling tiles and caulking, which would have allowed future mold/moisture damage. She repaired and recaulked the shower, too. I was lucky to have her know-how available to rescue my home from this disasterous project. I will never use Handyman Crew again. Very unprofessional and incompetent.
0 comments