Lanny's Handyman Service

FINAL RESPONSE: To the August 7, 2017 letter of [redacted].     This will conclude my responsiveness to [redacted]   Mr. [redacted] accuses me of being a pathological liar, thus suggesting that I lie incessantly.   I have stated that boxes were opened my him, that pieces were scattered about, and he concurs. [redacted] disputes my argument about how some manufacturers will often include extra pieces or parts to reduce consumer returns or application to other similar merchandise, presumably [redacted] cites a Bush company employee to support his argument which I still refute. [redacted] then admits going to the Bush website and pulling down the instruction manual and claims that their instructions dealt only with his cabinet.   [redacted] adroitly tries to pull a fast one... Again, he fails to tell the truth, and give full disclosure... The actual instruction manual that came in the box reveals that the manual also demonstrates directions for the assembly of another and different piece of furniture. Thus, the Bush employee was also wrong because the manual with the furniture was also designed to instruct assembly of other furniture pieces too.   [redacted] must suffer from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OLD) a mental disorder where people feel the need to check things out. Thus I cite his thought on the back page of his latest response, at § 6 where he claims to “identify, count and compare all parts”.   [redacted] has become almost fanatical and obsessive in the pursuit against me on this matter. He wants and demands not a partial refund, but a whole refund, yet, he has the furniture on display in his home and use's it. He applies his demanding and tyrannical behavior on his wife who succumbs to the preparation of lunches for him, breaking down the large cardboard boxes and hauls them out to the garbage containers, and then moves furniture on his demand but I guess that is the Japanese way. In any case I am done with this.   Lastly, since 1987 I have been in and around the construction industry, never has the Revdex.com questioned or found fault with me!   Lance B[redacted]

Dear Ms. [redacted]   I have read the complaint you are referring to in your letter of July 23, and make this short responsive statement....   Mr. [redacted] in my opinion is a whiner and complainer and is only attempting to recover the money he paid me for my services. He accuses me of...

damages, slowness and of being incompetent; and of causing more time in the assembly of the furniture to occur, resulting in him having to help me in order to avoid more costs for my time.   Noteworthy, is the fact that upon my arrival to his home that day, there were four or five large furniture cardboard boxes in his house, but he fails to declare to you that the contents of those boxes of un-assembled furniture and the screws, nuts, bolts etc..had been removed and strewn about several rooms of his house   [redacted]’s describes in his complaint of his assembly of some of the furniture but intentionally fails to describe that such assemblies were actually well underway before I even arrived at his home.   [redacted] also fails to state that his assembly of furniture was accompanied by the aid of his two (under 8 yrs of age) children.   [redacted], further fails to inform you that he had conversed with Thumbtack (the lead generator) that he had acquired several estimates from other assemblers before engaging with me, thus he had become aware that many more hours were going to be necessary but chose me because my costs per hour was going to be less at $35.00 and hour where others charged $45.00 or more per hour.   [redacted] hired me to do the work, but to minimize his anticipated costs- attempted to do some of the work himself in order to reduce the time and costs. His removal of the contents of these boxes actually added time and costs as I had to investigate and coordinate which part went with which cabinet and so forth.   The end result of this matter is the cabinets were assembled, the doors opened and closed and at that conclusion [redacted], who had been in the house the whole time, and watched over me at times was very pleased and wanted me to return the following week for other furniture assembly. It was only after my bill of $446.00 had been paid did he complain to Thumbtack. Not once, did he call, or email me describing his unhappiness or error in my assembly. Nor, did he ask me to repair or ask for a discount or other explanations.   Instead, and notwithstanding the facts that he is using the furniture he claims that has no value from my time and effort in its assembly, he seeks a full refund.   He engaged me to assemble furniture on an hourly basis, and the furniture assembled was done under that parameter, he raised no objection then, but does so now. His less than honorable actions seem almost borderline on slander, and extortion as he uses the Revdex.com and Thumbtack to cajole me into my giving him a FULL refund.   To all the readers of this letter, especially those men or women who are members of Thumbtack or are considering joining be aware, that when a complaint by a customer is served against you to Thumbtack that complaint, even unfounded, is posted on your profile without Due Process. This means all the good work you may have done with others in the past is clouded with doubt and uncertainty. And any lead supplied by Thumbtack in which you respond too, in which you have paid for, will enable that potential customer to see your profile and the un-founded accusational complaint. In my opinion such potential customer most likely will not respond to your quote, a quote you have paid for and wasted.   The methodology set up by Thumbtack seems designed to illustrate to the consumer their willingness to be a taskmaster against their representatives in order to show the potential consumer their willingness to serve and protect that customer regardless if the complaint is justified or not. In short, we have become expendable.   At 73 years of age, I have resigned from Thumbtack, I don’t need this aggravation and have instructed Thumbtack not to contact me, but still they do it’s almost harassment now. I ask that Thumbtack who is no longer representing my interest remove all evidence of my association with that firm. That Thumbtack lacks my authority to describe to anyone my name both personal and professional from this day forward, that I have a right to privacy. I am of mind to file a complaint with the Revdex.com against Thumbtack for their presentation of [redacted]s complaint to the public without affirmation of proof of my wrong-doing by a court of law or admission.   If any young man were to ask for my opinion concerning Thumbtack I would suggest that they not do business with Thumbtack until Thumbtack alters their business practices in dealing with customer complaints.   As far as [redacted] is concerned he is fully entitled under the laws of our society to take this $400.00 matter to small claims court just as I am entitled to then move it to the more aggressive and expensive, lawyer aided and directed case of District Court.     Respectfully Submitted,       Lance B[redacted]

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because: He is in a word a pathological liar. He cannot deny the following two facts since I have documented evidence showing these:1)      He gave me a quote for 35 hrs/ hr x 4-5 hrs(=$140-185) to assemble 4 pieces of furniture, and2)      He charged me 11.75 hours at rate of $35.00 ($446). These two facts alone are enough to cause dissatisfaction to most clients. In order to justify himself, he claims that he was slow because I helped him, and parts are scattered across several rooms. This is totally nonsense. I unboxed an L-desk in one room, and another furniture piece in another room so that parts of different furniture do not get mixed up. When you have multiple rooms, who would randomly scatter multiple parts belonging to different furniture pieces across the rooms?Also, Lance says, I attempted to do some of the work himself in order to reduce the time and costs. This is true. Here is what happened: L-shaped desk: Lance assembled 100% File Cabinet: I assembled 100% Hutch: I assembled 90%; the only thing Lance did was to put the flip door Bookshelf: I assembled 90%, the only thing Lance did was to nail the back plateHow likely that it took more than twice as long to assemble fewer furniture pieces because someone helped him?  Identifying and counting all parts and comparing with the parts list BEFORE assembling is crucial in furniture assembly. That's what I have been doing whenever I assembled furniture. That's why the instant I found unused parts, I figured he was a poor handyman.Thumbtack has Dispute Resolution Center, where a complainant and "pro" can exchange words. This is very useful since everything he wrote is recorded, and I can see inconsistencies in his position. He keeps changes stories. Lance initially said manufacturer included extra parts to accommodate other models (theory 1-a). He says, “I stated that the instruction manual was applicable to more than one type of cabinet and that additional screws were included in his merchandise to accommodate other cabinets too.” When I uploaded the Assembly Instruction manual showing that included parts are intended only for one model on Thumbtack resolution center, Lance changes his theory slightly saying manufacturer include extra so that customers will not return merchandise because of a missing part (theory 1-b). He says “its not uncommon for manufacturers to include extra pieces to insure that all the necessary screws etc,. are adequate for product assembly. They do this to prevent a customer from returning merchandise because a screw is missing.”When I wrote, “I just spoke with a representative of Bush, the manufactuer of the L desk (phone 1-800-950-4782). She says, ‘we never put extra parts,’” then Lance changes his theory once again saying some parts may belong to the pieces I assembled (theory 2). He wrote, “Moreover, you assembled some of these furniture pieces without discussing your doing so with me, thus some of the small pieces left over may actually belong to the assemblies you engaged in.” Before I assemble something, I always count all the parts to make sure I have everything. If I end up assembling something leaving some parts, I will go back on the instructions looking for missed steps.Apparently, Lance does not do this. When confronted with unused parts, he keeps coming up with his own theories which keeps changing pointing his finger to the manufacture and then to me, but never to himself. Washington State Dept of Labor & Industries website shows his license ([redacted]) is expired12/9/12. So he is unlicensed, and most likely unbonded and uninsured. 
Sincerely,
[redacted]