Handyman Connection of Blue Ash — Local services in Blue Ash

"Little" Derek, as they call him, came to give an estimate on repairing our deck. He got under the deck and inspected the entire thing, saying that the foundation was good and only exterior cosmetic work needed to be done. We hired the company for the job based on that assessment. We were told that a team of 2-3 builders would take 3-5 days to complete the job, and that labor costs would be higher because they would need to use a ladder for the job.

On day one a single builder, Austin, arrived and didn't even know what the job was, despite having the details on his phone. According to the side of his van, he was a tile and flooring guy, not a deck guy. He never once used a ladder. Over the course of five days, he never arrived earlier than 10am and never stayed later than 3 pm. At the end of day five, he declared the job finished. He was not even halfway finished according to the work order, and he left a huge mess behind, including the pile of old wood in the middle of our driveway.

After contacting Handyman Connection to express our concerns, Earl was sent out to check things out. He confirmed that the job was less than half completed, and he was moved to using profanity to describe the work that was completed. In fact, several areas of the work were identified as being not up to code. It was an absolute disaster. Upon inspecting the rest of the deck, Earl contradicted Little Derek's initial assessment, saying that the foundation of the deck was dangerously rotted and rusted and that it was a severe safety hazard. For an additional $1700 above the initial estimate, they would tear down the entire deck and rebuild from scratch.

When we expressed our thoughts on this sounding fishy, almost to the point of being a scam, "Big" Derek the owner adamantly refused to budge. By reviewing cell phone photos, he contradicted Earl and declared the deck was NOT a safety hazard and simply continued to reiterate that we're getting a fantastic deal on a brand new deck. He was basically telling us to quit our whining and that we should be grateful for his generosity. Additionally, after several emails that ended with me requiring a phone call response, Big Derek refused to comply with those requests and continued to respond by email. After about two weeks of back and forth emailing, Big Derek decides that now is the time to tell me that I am confused. Their business model is "one man, one truck." I must have made up this nonsense about 2-3 builders. If this true, then Handyman Connection fails to follow their business model. One week after Austin made a total mess out of the job, I had a conversation with Mike, another builder with the company, who told me that he and Austin were working on building a fence. Mike also told me that he and Anthony would be working on the demolition and rebuild of our deck. In fact, Mike and Anthony have worked to build four decks in the past. That is clearly NOT "one man, one truck."

So we were lied to by Little Derek about the condition of our deck. The job done by Austin was such a terrible job that Earl used profanity to describe it. Earl told us that Little Derek was wrong, but he would make it right by making us pay more money for them to fix their problems. Big Derek essentially called me a liar and refused to accept any responsibility over the entire debacle.

At the end of the day, a 3-5 day job turned into a five week nightmare that took away our deck, backyard, driveway, and garage. By being forced to pay for additional labor, additional lumber and materials, and waste removal, it all added up to us having to pay an additional $5,000 over the original estimate.

And what did we end up with? Mike and Anthony built a brand new deck that is okay. It's definitely strong and sturdy and will last for decades, but there are a few boards and spindles that aren't level. It's a matter of aesthetic looks. We now have to live with seeing these crooked areas of the deck. I guess it's just an eternal reminder of the disaster we had to deal with in choosing Handyman Connection for our...

Overpriced and Unprofessional -

Downfall of this job was that it was paid for in advance by the company with whom we had a warranty. $1800 to paint TWO walls in a living room and repair a 2-ft long bump in the drywall where there was extra tape.

Took a total of ELEVEN days.

Biggest disappointment: The owner Earl Swader - Despite two requests for a phone call, he did not have the courtesy to call and apologize for the way the work was going.

5/28: Job scheduled for 10 am. At 11:30 I called them. After holding for 4 mins and 43 seconds I was informed that the worker had car trouble. I was told (not asked if it was convenient) that someone would come out the next day at 1:30 pm. No apology. NOTE: A different version I heard of the story was that the worker had quit on the spot that morning.

5/29: Person scheduled for 1:30 pm. I called him when they did not show up and found his plan (without informing me) was to arrive at 3:30 pm. At 5:30 pm when no one came, I called the office. No apology. I asked for a call back from the owner, Earl. Never got a call back.

5/30: Someone came out for half an hour, put mud on the area that needed to be repaired, promised to come on Monday, and left.

6/2: Monday, no one showed up. Called the office. No apology. Told that someone would be out on Tuesday at 1:30 pm. When he came he said he didn't show up the previous day because of personal reasons (things happen, that's fine, but no call?). I asked the office person to ask the owner, Earl, to call me. Never received a call.

6/4: A different person came out to put mud on the same area on the drywall. I was promised the job would be completed the next day for sure.

6/5: 12:56 pm I got a voicemail from Handyman Connection - It said that the person who was supposed to come today would come only tomorrow between 1:30 - 2 pm as he wanted to make sure the mud was dry! NOTE: I happened to have 2 painters painting the exterior of the house and both said the area was fully dry.  I texted the office to say I was PROMISED that the job would be completed today (already been a week) I got a reply stating, "X is also doing another job today and the rain came and he is wet and muddy and he forgot to bring change of clothes. This is actually a fact. We cannot have him come to your house in this condition and we really do apolozied" They should at least get their stories right.

6/6: Job supposed to start at 1:30 pm. At 1:20 pm I get a call from the worker to say that Lowes doesn't have Benjamin Moore. Of course it doesn't. Any "painter" should know that Benjamin Moore is only at Ace Hardware. He didn't show up until 5 so I canceled.

(I WAS OUT OF TOWN THEN UNTIL THE 15TH)

6/16: Got a call to say X not available. Postponed to the 17th

6/17: X shows up at the house without a tall ladder for a room with high ceilings. Ended up trying to reach out and paint the top trim etc by leaning out of windows upstairs.

6/18: Found painting was patchy and repair job unsatisfactory.

6/19: Repainted and fixed drywall. Left paint on the baseboards and...

I used Handyman Connections a year ago for some tile work. The initial service for the quote was great and the service technician who completed the work was professional but over the past year my grout has cracked. This year I was going to have my bathroom remodeled so I contacted Handyman Connections again. Jon Robinson, who was diffiferent from the first guy who quoted me but was the general manager of the Cincinnati branch, came out to my house on a Thursday to quote my project. He mentioned that he was backed up with clients and asked if he could send the quote via email on Monday. I agreed. After 2-2.5 weeks I was calling him numerous times to get the quote. The initial quote was sent but there were two or three things that were on the quote that we didn't even discuss. He clearly didn't remember what we had talked about. After the quote was correct I agreed to proceed with Handyman Connections and they were going to fix the cracked grout free of charge. The service technician showed up at my house and a list of all the material needed was created. I was to call him personally as soon as my shower arrived (it was special ordered). All materials were bought so I called the person who would complete my job. He was also called for about 2 weeks. When I finally got in touch with him and he said that he hasn't been working for Handyman Connections for almost a month. I called Jon Robison that day and he acted as if he just found out that the technician was no longer working for him although he is the one that links the projects with the technician. There was never a call made to me to let me know that the technician would no longer be working on my project. In fact there was no call to see why it was taking longer to start the project. I spoke with Jon and he couldn't explain why this happened. I have now called corporate for two days and have not yet spoken to anyone. The first day I never received a return phone call from them so I called again two days later. The dispatch center sent me to Michelle. When the dispatch center returned to the phone, they said that corporate was not in their office today and that Michelle would not take my call. The more I've learned about this company over the past few days the more I don't trust anything they say or do. If someone in the corporate office won’t take a phone call from a customer do you really trust them? Would you really want them working on your house? I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND THIS COMPANY TO ANYONE. If they believe this is how business should be conducted they will not stay...