Handiwerx

1st use: Installation of an oven hood, repair of light above sink, and patch repair in kitchen drywall. The technician shocked himself (he and his partner had turned power back on), resulting in a black mark on the new hood. Light above the sink was a little crooked, and the drywall patch was alright. It wasn't superior work, but it was better than I could have done, most certainly, so I was happy with it. Cost 149 + 178.32 = 327.32, 3/17/21.

In retrospect, there was one issue. After fixing the ceiling, the gentleman said that I needed the sanding block to do the edges, and I said I already had one, and how much was it. He didn't answer that question and kept talking about WHY I needed it, not addressing that I had said I already had one. As a woman, I'm used to men in theses sorts of roles dismissing me though, so I chose to let it go, and saw an approximate $10.34 (I saw at Home Depot for $7) charge after the job was complete and the invoice was sent. This was in addition to the premixed drywall compound costs of $18.98. That was my fault for not being more forceful, or for asking what the prices would be of these vague "materials needed" costs before any work was done.

2nd job was removal to my own trash of two couches. I paid the full 1.5 hour cost for it and knew I was, even though it would take only about 20 min max. Since I knew it needed two people, I was OK with this charge when I made the booking and knew what I was being charged for. The two gentlemen (one was the drywall repair technician) were really great, fast and careful about not hitting my walls, though I said I wasn't worried about it. 3/29/21 $149.00

3rd job was yard work. The gentleman (Jose) was great, worked at a good pace and checked with me when needed and was in clear communication about time being spent. 4/8 $208.00

4th job was finishing installing vinyl flooring in a bedroom when I ran out of steam. I had all the supplies needed for the work. It was fantastic work- and the trim/edges/corners were beautiful. The technician did great work. He even came back with a nail gun to apply the base boards, though I had planned to do that myself. 4/11/21 $252.25

5th. This was what pulls the 5 star to 3. This was junk removal again, but not to the trash. As always, the job is booked in the app, but as a service, there's no expectation of an item that would be needed, like drywall mix, etc. that would be needed. In junk removal, they add in a charge (I don't know what the value means) listed as 1/2 Yrd Waste = $47 and charged me 3 of those.

My beef isn't with there being a disposal fee or disposal service charge, it's with not communicating with me what these charges would be, or were on the day of, though I was in contact via the app, email, phone and through my friend who was there doing final cleaning (the house has been sold now). I didn't know about this additional $170+ charge until after the work and had been billed. Service charges/fees are not materials needed. That's what I have a problem with.

I had briefly searched other junk companies, and they all are upfront about removal costs and give quantitative values a customer can estimate or verify per $ amount. The ones I found also didn't charge a $170+ fee in addition, it was all combined, so I wrongfully assumed Handiwerx did a similar bundle, but instead charged the upfront fee, and then by the time spent. This was my fault for again assuming.

No junk company that I found or have found since charges for the removal as a time value and then charges again for the actual junk later, & only tells you about that cost after billing (total $352.72)

When I messaged the technician in the App (Jesse), who in this case also was the first technician to my home, and was the owner, asking about this, his reply was pretty aggressive and defensive. When I asked where I would have seen anything about these charges before the job, or why I wasn't contacted, the job disappeared from the App along with the chat record.

This is a good company overall, and a great idea for an App. My worry is that they (or just Jesse the owner?) are ignoring a significant part of starting a business, which is how to communicate with people and to make sure costs are communicated up front before actually making any charge. As this was my 5th job in just over a month (and just under $1,000 at that time), it was disappointing to see how he disregarded a polite inquiry about the charges. It's a bummer, since I'm going to have so many little projects in my new house. If there would have been even a smidgen of polite customer service, even saying something like, "Oh man, I'm sorry, we need to get that text in there....here's what the term means, here's how we quantify it, here's a receipt from the dump own our end....and maybe here's a small refund for part of it for us not communicating that" I'd feel totally different about the experience and the company.