Handyman Matters

My wife and I recently sold our house in Chesterfield. Thanks to the the exemplary work by Handyman Matters, the house sold in only 2 hours and for well above asking price. Their crew was on site for almost 5 weeks prior to the open house. We replaced flooring, kitchen counters, bathroom vanities, paint, and more. Every single employee was an absolute joy to work with. I would trust this company with any job and as a Class A licensed contractor, they are capable of doing almost anything necessary. I highly recommend this company.

Review: Job scheduled for 4/29/2015 Half day special 4 hours plus 35.00 travel total $385.00 Night before [redacted] called me and asked what I needed done I read off the list of about 10 items and he told me the products I would need to get for the next day Went to Lowers and got what he requested Next day arrived at 10 am Showed him by walking around the house what was on the list with explanations of what was to be done He told me a few of the items I got from [redacted] were not the right items This took about 20 minutes time He started on the front door by sanding I got in the car and went to Lowe's to exchange the items I needed Got back about 30 minutes later and he already had stain on the entire door which I provided I told him that I didn't like what I saw to stop the process I proceeded to call the owner [redacted] on the phone and told her that I didn't like what he did and asked her to come over to see the work that was done She stated "why should I come over there, he is a PROFESSIONAL WOODWORKER" So I asked him to redo the door He then took out a belt sander and sanded the top part of the door on the hinges with the door open all over my marble foyer with no drop cloth I told him to stop and called the owner [redacted] again and refused to have him continue and told her that I would not pay for this kind of service and then he started using mineral spirits on the door to lighten it up He did not remove the hardware ,handles and locks however he did take off the kick boards The stain remains on the glass part of the door Did not even wipe it off On May 4 I received a letter stating that if I did not pay the invoice by May 11 I would be charged 18% interest and a mechanics lien would be filed on my house This person did not complete one thing on my to do list and really messed up my double oak wood doors I am paying the invoice by check today at the request of legal advice..Desired Settlement: I am so unhappy with this vendor I would like to alert others not to use this type of service without investigating the company first I did not do this I picked them from an advertisement I saw in a local directory

Business

Response:

Handyman Matters offers a 1/2 Day Special which includes 4 hours of labor. This reserves the craftsman for the four hour time period at the customer's home. Materials and a Service Charge are additionalfees. We allow the customer to provide materials as an option. This option allows the craftsman to start work immediately when he arrives instead of using time for shopping for job materials needed, which saves money for the customer. When we schedule the customer job, we do communicate that all work on a customer's list may not be able to be completed in four hours time and ask them to prioritize the work so that we can try to complete the highest priorities. If the craftsman is available, customers may be able to extend the time by an hour or several hours and pay for the additional time at the same hourly rate as the1/2 Day Special. Some customers do not understand the work processes necessary to repair items and we try to educate the on the estimated length of time that a job will take to perform to completion. We also have customers thatpush our craftsman to get the work done faster than it would normally take to do so with care and perfection in order to save money on the labor. Payment is expected at the time that the work is completed unless other arrangements have been made in advance.Mrs. [redacted]'s list of 10 items seems to be excessive for four hours of work, in particular as one of the items that she requested, reconditioning her two front doors, is a project that should have been scheduled for a full day and required more materials than she provided for the craftsman to use. What she didn't communicate in her letter to the Revdex.com was that her front doors were a honey oak color and had been sanded and reconditioned with the same stain for many years. As such, the honey oak stain had completely permeated the pores of the wood , effectively sealing them against any future wood treatment. She didn't disclose this when she spoke with the craftsman the evening before nor did she tell him that she wanted to change the color entirely, which he would have discouraged.This customer purchased a dark walnut stain and asked for it to be applied to her doors and also only provided inexpensive sanding sponges for the craftsman (Matt) to use, communicating to the craftsman that he should be able to refinish the doors quickly as she had many other items that needed his attention within the four hours allotted on the schedule. Mrs. [redacted] had also left the property to go shopping and left Matt alone to do the work and therefore he couldn't communicate that there were issues with the treatment that she had requested. Matt used the materials provided to sand the doors and provided additional materials as required to perform the work. He did not remove the hardware or the kickplates as he was concerned about the condition of the doors from prior repair work and felt that the work to repair the prior poor craftsmanship couldn't be accomplished during this visit, as it required additional wood repair materials and drying time. She was not present for him to communicate this fact. Matt spent a little more than 1 1/2 hours sanding both doors and then applied the dark walnut stain to the doors as requested. Because of the prior treatment of the doors over several years, the walnut stain did not resemble the color and the consistent application that the customer desired. At her request, he sanded the doors again and reapplied the stain and she remained unhappy with the result but wasunwilling to allow him enough time to satisfactorily complete the job and asked him to leave, which is why he didn't clean up her foyer. He worked the full four hours on this one item.When I spoke with Mrs. [redacted] in the early afternoon on April 29th as she was upset with the work, I explained that the prior finishing of the doors required an intensive sanding process to trim off 1/16th of aninch at a minimum to plane the wood further to allow for the stain to penetrate the wood pores, which were sealed by prior treatments. I also attempted to explain that since the stain was darker than the stain that you had been previously using, the result would be inconsistent unless the doors were more thoroughly sanded using a belt sander, which would take more time to produce the desired results. This is a much longer and more involved process than touching up the doors with the same color which she had done previously. Mrs. [redacted] said that she didn't want to listen to me and told me that I didn't know anything.She explained that she had the doors refinished previously and was happy with the result and didn't understand why she couldn't get the same result with a darker stain. I tried to explain again and she ended the conversation. The end result was that Mrs. [redacted] was not a satisfied customer and we are not satisfied either with the way that the work turned out. While we try to satisfy every customer, there are occasions where customers do not sufficiently understand the repair or renovation process and timeframe and/or do not wish to be educated. While we would like the opportunity to correct the problem for her, the cost to do so would be about full day's work and materials, as Handyman Matters would provide a better quality stain (such as a [redacted] product) and other products that are designed specifically for this type of reconditioning project. Regards,[redacted]

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the offer and/or response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

[Provide details of why you are not satisfied with this resolution.]

Regards,

On 4/28/2015 I was notified by telephone call by [redacted] to go to [redacted] and purchase items that would be used the following day to complete the job. I purchased the items he needed. The following day when he arrived it took 20 minutes to show him the 10 items on the list, some things being as simple as hanging 2 pieces of artwork (a shelve and a clock). He asked me to go to [redacted] to purchase additional items or to exchange items for others. I did that. All materials I had for the job to be completed were items he requested from [redacted]. Also when I returned I told him to stop the work and called the owner and asked her to come over to see the work being done She refused to come over. I was not satisfied with the stain job I was told that it was because of the color I choose. I contacted two other businesses and showed them the job and one said the door was totally ruined now and the other said it would take a few hours of tender loving care to complete this job. The color of the stain had nothing to do with the process or sanding the door and re staining i.t I would like a complete refund so I can seek someone else to do the job correctly.

Review: HandymanMatters installed a new shower for a total agreed price of $7,421. HandymanMatters was responsible for building the shower enclosure, but not for providing the glass panels and shower door. HandymanMatters completed their work on November 6, 2014. At that point I had paid $6,443, leaving a balance of $978. I did not pay the remaining balance of $978 pending the installation of the shower glass and doors, which would provide the opportunity to test the shower and ensure that it worked properly, most importantly that it did not leak.

The shower glass and doors were installed on Friday Feb 13, 2015, and I used the shower for the first time on Sunday Feb 15th. Unfortunately, the shower is leaking from under the pan, which is HandymanMatter's responsibility. This is clearly visible, and I have shared a video of the leak with HandymanMatters. However, HandymanMatters does not even want to come out and look at the issue until the balance is paid in full. They say it is a warranty issue, and the warranty coverage is not provided unless the balance is paid. My perspective is that the work was never completed properly in the first place, since it was defective from the beginning, and therefore I should not be required to settle the balance until the job is done properly, which means that I have a shower that does not leak.Desired Settlement: I do not contest the balance - I want the job to be completed, which means that I have a shower that does not leak, and then I will gladly pay the balance. There is no further outstanding work to be done except to stop the leak.

Business

Response:

This client is leaving out a lot of information on these comments. The customer signed a contract with us to tile his shower; which included the building of knee walls. We were aware that he would be having a glass shower door installed, but there were no discussions about us waiting for payment until the shower door was installed. The vast majority of the project was completed on August 14, 2014. The customer needed to get an additional saddle for the shower, so we waited for him. It took until November for that and we did not ask for payment. We finished the saddle and made some additional requested changes on November 6, 2014 and asked for final payment. The customer indicated at that time that we had not built the knee walls properly and he was not going to pay because the glass would cost him extra. We discussed at length and also spoke with two glass companies who told us we did nothing wrong. The client still refused to pay. He repeatedly ignored our requests for payment until he contacted us on February 16, 2015 indicating an issue. We told him that we would ABSOLUTELY look and if needed correct the leak, but we wanted to get paid. Our perspective is that if this issue came up a few weeks or even a month or two after project completion, we would not have held out until payment was received, but since he repeatedly avoided paying by ignoring our requests and coming up with bogus reasons not to pay, we were uncomfortable. As of right now, he has paid the balance; we looked at the leak on 2/20 and it appears to be a manufacturer defect. We are scheduled to have the manufacturer of the shower pan go to the house on 2/25 to trouble-shoot and hopefully re mediate the leaking issue.

Consumer

Response:

Review: [redacted]

I am rejecting this response because:

Payment has been made in full, and Business responded quickly to schedule an appointment to review the leak on Wed Feb 25. Complaint to be resolved after leak is satisfactorily repaired.

Regards,