After reading the reviews on this website, my wife and I chose to call Handyman Matters to repair water damage in our son's closet and our basement. Carrie in the office was very personable, but the first thing they tried to do was talk us out of a written estimate for the repairs. The job was going through insurance, so we required written estimates before proceeding. Once they finally wrote an estimate, it was vague, leaving much of the details out. The sub-contractor was punctual and friendly, but his workmanship left a lot to be desired. He didn't complete the job, missing a hole in the bathroom, not repairing the casing, not repairing an area of damaged plaster, and an all around horrible finish. They presented my wife with a work order, asking her to sign it, but it was blank. We don't sign any blank paperwork, period. Finally, there invoice, also lacking details, included costs for materials, but we provided most of the materials. Due to the lack of details on the invoice, I can only surmise that they charge $100 per hour plus. My wife and I have chosen not to complain to Handyman Matters, because we do not want them in our home again. Instead, I will repair and finish the job they began. I may post photos at a later date of the horrible job. **Update** After reading my review, my wife and I received a call from Jim Abbott. He asked if he could come to see the work for himself. After visiting our home and pointing out the deficiencies, he asked if he could have his sub-contractor (or employee) revisit us and correct the deficiencies. He also revised his invoice to reflect the fact that we purchased much of the materials, however he only took into consideration materials that were recently purchased and not existing from our prior renovations. Although there is a marked improvement over the first visit, we now have paint on our marble tiles. Today (October 16/08), we received another call from Jim in which he asked me to alter mt Homestars review. Unfortunately, I cannot change the score as I stand by my original review. **UPDATE** On January 8 2009, I received an email from HomeStars.com. According to the email, Mr. Jim Abbott of Handyman Matters contacted the website mentioning that I wanted to change the rating of my review but was having difficulty. Thank you to HomeStars for their honesty and integrity. After receiving this information from HomeStars, I have changed my original rating from a two to a zero. I strongly recommend that everyone stay far away from Mr. Abbott and any business he operates or works for. I have also written Handyman Matters corporate office in Lakewood, Colorado but have yet to receive a response.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $2,500.00
- Company Response
I was very surprised to see this message. The customer had not even called our office to say there was a problem, before posting this. Once I received this message, I went over right away. My employee rushed a few items and missed a hole in another room altogether. I think I missed showing it to him when we started the job. I asked the customer, “While he was here, did you mention to the tradesman that there was some work missed.” The answer was No. My employee went back that weekend and fixed everything to the customer satisfaction and they have paid us in full. I would like to thank the customer for updating the information. Many people are very quick to put a negative response. I tell all my customers, these guys are my employees, if there is any problem to call our office and we will address right away. We have been in business for over 5 years and have serviced over 3000 customers.