Mr. Handyman of Ft. Washington and Clinton

When we booked the job we were asked to repair drywall above the ceiling shower, to replace a door jamb and repair a screen door, and to look at an electrical box in the ceiling that was hit by a nail. We informed the customer that we would inspect and diagnose any electrical problem but we were not...

licensed electricians so there is only so much we could do. When we went out to do the work we were told that it wasn't the ceiling box but some other place where a nail was driven into a wire. After completing the other work my technician was in the process of diagnosing the electrical problem and discovered that there was a wire running just behind some shoe molding. Once it was determined that the circuit was not wired up properly our technician informed the homeowner that he needed to contact an electrician. The homeowner tried to get us to install some outdoor wiring he had on hand but we are not licensed to do that and it was the wrong type. The customer signed accepting the work and wrote us a check for the work performed.I later received a call where the customer insisted that all he needed was to cut a hole in the drywall in two places so that he (the customer) could run the wire. Since the customer was upset, I offered and he agreed that we would cut the drywall in two places and patch the holes at a later date, both at no charge. I specifically stated that this did not include painting. The terms were agreeable to him. In good faith, we sent a technician out to cut the two holes but the customer and he asked him to cut eight holes in eight different places that appeared to be somewhat random, whereupon he told the customer that it would be better to have the electrician come out and we would patch the holes that he left. The technician told him specifically not to have the electrician to patch the holes because it would create more work if not done properly.I later received a call that the electrician had been there. I sent the same technician out and to our chagrin, the electrician had cut and patched 4 areas so badly that we would need to undo the work and start over. The customer expected us to repair these and paint the walls at no charge. This was not part of what we agreed to as we clearly stated paint was not included and to not allow the electrician to patch the holes. This turned a 1 hour job into a 4 hour job plus an additional 4 hours to paint the walls that we never agreed to do. Nevertheless we had already sent a technician out twice at our expense so I offered to give him an hour of service to repair as much of the drywall as he could. The customer refused to allow us to do that.In summary, I sent a technician out twice, and since the customer did not follow the technician's recommendations and every time we came out he added more work that he expected us to do for free, a job we could have done in an hour was now going to take the better part of a day. When I offered to provide as much work as could be done in one hour per our agreement he refused to allow us to do that, threatening to call Channel 7 News.  We spent 7-1/2 hours on the job, the customer now expects us to refund what amounts to 6 of those 7-1/2 hours. This is not a reasonable expectation.Attached are photographs of some of the work performed and the patches left by the electrician.

10/2/1015Thank you for the opportunity to address this issue. We originally booked the customer to repair a door jamb that had been forced open. For that job we estimated four hours of labor and $80 in materials if required. We estimated $482 for this. After this estimate was made but prior to...

starting the job [redacted] contacted us asking to also install two kitchen countertops, which included measuring, cutting, creating a rough-in opening for the sink, removing and installing the sink and removing and installing the associated plumbing. Since we had only scheduled four hours and our tech had another job later that day, we sent out an additional technician to do this additional work.While our technicians were on-site, the customer requested further additional work that included: Purchasing and installing a new faucetUnclogging a sinkReinstalling an outdoor light fixture on the front door Reinstalling a wire closet organizer in the basementAlong with the countertop installation, this resulted six hours of additional labor at $720 and $142.88 in materials making the total bill $1,342.88. Our technician offered him a $100 discount reducing the bill to $1,242.88. The customer signed both an authorization to do the work and an acknowledgement that it was satisfactorily completed. Our technician called us with the credit card and total at the end of the job and they left a copy of the itemized invoice.We didn't have a chance to run the credit card before the customer called our office with a complaint about the price. He said that he did not know that additional work would be at additional cost even though our hourly rates and the way we work on a time and materials basis was explicit in our verbal and written correspondence. He had said that he was pleased with everything our technicians did. Our technician did not yet have a chance to return with the invoice and so for reasons of customer satisfaction and good faith we offered him an immediate $250 discount, which amounts to about 2% hours free labor. We were not made aware that he had already received a $100 discount from the technician. That would have resulted in a $350 discount. When we found that out we had to reverse the $100 to bring the total discount to $250 which we had already discussed and he seemed happy with.When we spoke to the technicians, they said that he seemed pleased with the work, though surprised at the price. He signed the invoice and approved payment, giving them his credit card for that amount.Sincerely,William D.Director

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 Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:Date: Fri, Aug 25, 2017 at 3:43 PMSubject: Re: Mr. Handyman Response ([redacted])To: [redacted] <[redacted]>Just about every word from Mr. Handyman was a lie. I called and asked him if he could do electricity work, and he told me yes. He also said he could do the work on the door jamb and the drywall issue in the bathroom. When he arrived he did appeared to do a good job on the door jamb, but just days later his worked proved to be inferior. The drywall repair he did in the bathroom is still to my liking. Then the technician started working on the electricity, he was up and down the stairs at least twenty times. After at least 4 hrs he told my wife and I that he found the problem ,when I asked him what the issue was stated that I needed a new switch. I told him No, the switch is not the issue, there is a nail in the wiring and that needs to be redone. He said that he would come back the next day and cut holes in the drywall. He came back but was confused as to where he needed to cut holes. So I called an electrician who was knowledgeable about where these holes needed to be cut. The electrician cut 4 holes, a total that I was unaware of, so the fact that Mr. Handyman is claiming that I requested for holes to be cut at random is completely false. I am not an electrician, therefore I would not have advised a technician to do anything, that is why one hires another.     The first time that I was found that the technician was not a licensed electrician was after the first time that I called Mr.Handyman to complain about his work. Only then did the company tell me that he was not lawfully competent to do the work. Had I known in advance that he wasn't licensed I would never have allowed him to come in my home and attempt the work he did. I have no reason to lie, I hold no personal vendetta, I would just like a refund that I feel is more than deserved. When people do not do the work that they claim they can do they simply do not deserve payment for such.
Regards,
[redacted]

I understand that he was told by our customer service representative that we could do electricity work as we do fixtures and lights and could diagnose an electrical problem so far as we could see it. The customer was on the site when our technician was doing the work and aware of why he was running up and down the stairs, as explained before. We are a licensed home maintenance company and we were called in to do other things besides electrical work. Our technician was able to diagnose the problem which needed a licensed electrician and we recommended someone to fix it.This is the first we're hearing of a problem with the drywall repair in the bathroom. All work done was written on the invoice and signed by the customer stating it was approved and the work was done satisfactorily. I'm not sure what happened in the 3 weeks since we did the job that caused a change of mind about the drywall work. We do warranty our work, so we could send the technician back out to fix whatever is wrong.We also are still willing to do the one hour work on the drywall patching that the electrician provided. Please call the office at ###-###-####.Joyce D[redacted]PresidentMr. Handyman of Fort Washington and Clinton

10/2/1015
Thank you for the opportunity to address this issue. We originally booked the customer to repair a door jamb that had been forced open. For that job we estimated four hours of labor and $80 in materials if required. We estimated $482 for this. After this estimate was made but...

prior to starting the job [redacted] contacted us asking to also install two kitchen countertops, which included measuring, cutting, creating a rough-in opening for the sink, removing and installing the sink and removing and installing the associated plumbing. Since we had only scheduled four hours and our tech had another job later that day, we sent out an additional technician to do this additional work.While our technicians were on-site, the customer requested further additional work that included: Purchasing and installing a new faucet
Unclogging a sink
Reinstalling an outdoor light fixture on the front door
Reinstalling a wire closet organizer in the basement
Along with the countertop installation, this resulted six hours of additional labor at $720 and $142.88 in materials making the total bill $1,342.88. Our technician offered him a $100 discount reducing the bill to $1,242.88. The customer signed both an authorization to do the work and an acknowledgement that it was satisfactorily completed. Our technician called us with the credit card and total at the end of the job and they left a copy of the itemized invoice.
We didn't have a chance to run the credit card before the customer called our office with a complaint about the price. He said that he did not know that additional work would be at additional cost even though our hourly rates and the way we work on a time and materials basis was explicit in our verbal and written correspondence. He had said that he was pleased with everything our technicians did. Our technician did not yet have a chance to return with the invoice and so for reasons of customer satisfaction and good faith we offered him an immediate $250 discount, which amounts to about 2% hours free labor. We were not made aware that he had already received a $100 discount from the technician. That would have resulted in a $350 discount. When we found that out we had to reverse the $100 to bring the total discount to $250 which we had already discussed and he seemed happy with.
When we spoke to the technicians, they said that he seemed pleased with the work, though surprised at the price. He signed the invoice and approved payment, giving them his credit card for that amount.
Sincerely,William D.Director