Little Helpers Inc

I spoke with Brandon on the phone to get a price for the swing set build. I explained the set was a set from Costco and was wood and plastic. I was quoted a fixed price and informed Brandon that I would schedule something as soon as I purchased the play set. Two weeks later we purchased the set and I went on their website and scheduled a time. When selecting the service type, I selected swing set-fixed rate, which seemed consistent with the fact they had already given me a fixed price. The company does assemble other things and they charge by the hour for those services. The day of our service, two people arrived and informed us that this set would take between 16 and 32 hours to assemble. They also wanted to charge by the hour for this service. They indicated this would cost between 800 to over $1000.00. This was significantly higher than the $350.00 flat rate they had originally quoted me. The work was in progress when I was informed of this price which left me feeling stuck. I spoke with Brandon again and he said he did not quote a flat rate and that the selection of "swing set -flat rate", I selected when making the reservation, was for swing sets built on flat ground. Although this made no since I was at a point where I was going to have to pay what they asked or pay them and find someone else to finish building the set. The set was completed and seems ok. I was charged $620.00 and paid on the spot. Today (2 days after assembly) , I was charged another $620.00. I called the service and spoke to Brandon again who said I had not been double charged that the additional "charge" was just a confirmation. I explained to him that my back account was now out $1240.00 indicating a double charge. He put me on hold and came back a while later and said "The charge on Sunday stands, we will refund the charge for today". This is where, based on the bad service I had already received, a sorry and admission of problem would have gone along way. I was not going to say anything about this company but today was the last straw. I would not use this service again and strongly recommend other not use the service.

VERY NICELY DONE

On 7/30, I used the provider's website to schedule services to be performed 8/1. The reasons I scheduled this provider were they had decent handyman reviews here on Angie's List and they also provided a deal for discounted services ($50 for $70 worth of service, which I purchased). The provider contacted me 7/31 and asked if we could push the service date to 8/2. I agreed, realizing that I originally provided them with less than 48 hours notice when I scheduled the service and figured it would be fair and reasonable. I expected the provider to show up on 8/2 between 8:30 and 10:30. 10:30 came and I checked their website, which asked for a 60 minute window. At 11:40 (70 minutes), I called their local number and left a voice mail asking them to contact me with an estimated time I could expect them. At 12:55 (145 minutes past latest scheduled time), I called all numbers available to me and left messages again. I informed them that if I did not hear back from them within one hour, I would consider them a no-show and post a review stating such on Angie's List. Had the provider contacted me anytime between 8:30AM and 1:55PM, I'm sure we could reach a reasonable accommodation for the services I required. However, their lack of response means I have no recourse but to tell other AL users and try to recoup the $50 I spent for their "deal".

Made an appointment and was told that I must give them a credit card number. I refused since I would have paid for the purchase in advance with an Angie's list coupon, but they said it was company policy. I said that it does not make sense to give a credit card number to a company in advance of service when the service is already paid for by an Angie's list coupon! I think that is a poor policy and I do not want my credit card number listed with their company for no reason. I have never had such a request from any service company. I cancelled the appointment.

They charge $30 an hour per housekeeper. Sometimes they dispatch multiple people if you want the work done faster. I have always requested the same person. They are pretty good. They are generally pretty prompt. The one person that I worked with often was very good. What I did not really like was that they always kept rescheduling and I did not have a standing appointment with them although I believe it could be arranged. They were a little cumbersome in organizing. Ultimately, I decided to move away from them. However, I would say they are pretty good. They were little on the expensive side. I would end up paying about $150 which is pricey. They have plenty of people to come and so they were able to accommodate last minute requests. They were always very professional and I have never had any problems with billing. They do pretty good quality of work. I certainly would recommend them to others.

Since this was the first time I have used a service like this I wasnt sure what to expect so I was pleasantly surprised and impressed. Alex was prompt, courteous and very professional...he asked questions to be sure we were on the same page with making sure things were being hung at the correct level and in the right place. He took time to be sure the work was done properly. I appreciate that he wasnt one of those 'know it all' workers who don't consult, just do. I would certainly call them again! As a plus the price was excellent! I would definitely not mind paying the full amount for the service. Great deal!

I have used Little Helpers before, and they were on time, they have always been very punctual, and if running late they always would call. My issues are, especially with the last couple of cleanings that it was just a mediocre job. I do think it depends on who you get. In the past they sent someone who regularly did a very good job, but for the last three visits, it was just sloppy work honestly. The floors (wood) weren't cleaned well, the bathroom and kitchen were also just a rush job it seemed.

I thought they were expensive. Sally and her assistant were outstanding.

Little Helpers sent Ricky to assemble the wall unit, and he did an excellent job, was extremely professional, courteous and friendly. As stated above, the wall unit I have is fairly large, and Ricky did the assembly on his own. He brought all the appropriate tools with him needed for the job, including some wall anchors that he used to hang the upper cabinets, in lieu of the wall supports that I had purchased with the unit, because he did not feel that the ones from Ikea were sufficient for the job. The overall result was excellent. The wall unit looks like a professional and custom install, and it is very sturdy and secure. Ricky drilled all the holes necessary for me to hook up my audio/visual equipment with all wires and connections concealed. He also helped me to fish the cords through the wall unit and mount my television. He also cleaned up the work area when he was finished. The process took longer than initially expected, but that was because the wall unit was a big job for one person, but Ricky put in a very long day at my home, only taking a very short lunch break, and working consistently the entire time he was there. So in the end, my final price was above the original estimate, but the extra time and money was fair and nothing more than was necessary to complete the installation to my satisfaction, since Little Helpers charges an hourly rate for furniture assembly. I also should add that I ended up searching for and finding Little Helpers after the furniture assembly company listed on Ikea's services brochure failed to call me back after I left several messages. When I called Little Helpers on a Sunday, their answering service took my information, asked questions about the project and got back to me later that same day with a cost estimate and offered to schedule an appointment for the following Tuesday. They were extremely prompt in responding to me and arriving to do the work. I also appreciated that they sent confirmation emails. I have already referred someone to Little Helpers for the same service.

The apartment had been occupied by renters previously, and they were slobs, so it was very dirty. I went with the two cleaners for 2.5 hour option, thinking that should be plenty of time. They advised at the confirmation that if they needed more time they would confirm at the end of the 2.5 hours. I was at work and they called to ask for more time, which i gave them (30 more minutes). So I paid for 3 hours for two cleaners (6 total man hours). That should be enough to get an apartment very clean. They did an ok job, but there were lots of obvious things they missed (cobwebs in the corners, refrigerator somewhat still dirty, oven left dirty), and certainly not worth the money I paid to have it done.

We had hired Little Helpers to clean our new house before we moved in. Since the house was empty, it was a pretty basic cleaning. They were supposed to clean all bathrooms, floors, and kitchen, including the inside and out of cabinets and appliances. I discovered they completely skipped the kitchen, and didn't even wipe down the cabinets. I called to complain, and the woman I talked to said she would get back to me. She never did. I called again and left a message and still never heard from them. I ended up disputing the charge with my credit card company, since I couldn't ever get a response from them.

He arrived on time, was very careful not to make a mess when bringing in equipment. Moved furniture around so that he could get all corners of the room - moved cabinets, bed frame, nightstand, everything; and put them back where they were supposed to be. He even emptied the cleaner into the toilet and flushed it - but just like a man, forgot to put the seat down! He cleaned everything, and did it thoroughly.

The first cleaning person that Little Helpers sent out (on 8/21) argued with us when we asked her to do more extensive cleaning, which is what we had asked for when we hired this company -- she thought she was supposed to clean the entire house, when we clearly asked for a deep clean of only 3 rooms. We then called the company and asked that they remove her from our house, because her attitude was rude and unprofessional, and her work was unacceptable. They apologized and agreed to send someone out a week later. The second person they sent (on 8/27) was nice, but still incompetent. The "deep clean" wouldn't even qualify as a light clean. The toilets are still dirty, the shower wasn't even scrubbed, the faucets are still grimy, and they didn't wipe down any of the surfaces we instructed them to wipe down. Nothing 'smells' clean -- more like dirty mop water -- so I'm not sure what cleaner, if any, she used to clean the bathrooms. Further, she finished this mediocre work in 2 hours even though we paid for 3, and then asked if we had any additional work, expecting we'd let her go early! Point is, she had plenty of time to do a good job on the THREE ROOMS she was supposed to deep clean, but she didn't even do the job we paid her for. And even though we had had issues with the cleaning, no one from the company ever called to follow-up. Finally, I HAVE PICTURES, both before and after each of their alleged "cleanings," so if the owners of this company try to dispute this, I have proof of their embarrassingly poor work. We paid $90 for a DEEP CLEAN, and we didn't even get a basic clean, which means we have to re-clean everything. Hiring Little Helpers was a complete waste of time and money, and was overall a frustrating and unpleasant experience. We will call them directly to give this feedback, but even if they try and make good by offering to redo this, I really don't want one of their substandard cleaners to come to my place again -- instead I'll hire another cleaning company.

Many times the cleaners didn't come out even though I would receive an e-mail telling the date of when they were supposed to do the cleaning. They would not follow up to tell me that they were unable to show or when the service was to be rescheduled. I would have to call and e-mail the company. The cleaning was mediocre-I have had to call and e-mail to state that the floors were not washed or that entire hallways were not cleaned. And then there was the back of our building which was supposed to be cleaned to avoid debris clogging our drains and causing flooding. When I met with the owner, John, I told him that we needed to have the back swept so that the debris wouldn't clog the drains. I mentioned that this was why we were changing companies because this was so important. We even signed a contract with the company that states: "Important: Clean back areas to avoid clogging of drains." I have had to call and e-mail the company numerous times to come back and "redo" the back because it wasn't done at all. Now I am being told by John that this was not the agreement at all, but that all the cleaners were supposed to do is sweep out the drain. It is nonsensical b/c just sweeping out the drain cover would be insufficient to stop the debris in the back from clogging the drains and very unprofessional. Moreover, I was then told that it was only agreed to for the warm months. No where in the agreement does it state this. Further, recently when the cleaners came back to "redo" the back, they claimed that they couldn't get in the gate area, but no one called me. I had to call them and ask when they were coming back and that is when I was told that they couldn't get in and that supposedly the key was changed. I told the company to send the cleaner out Saturday morning, 3/14/09, so that I could check the key and, if necessary, replace it. I also wanted the cleaner to come out so that I could show him/her what was supposed to be done again, even though I leave a note almost each time they come to clean. The time when the cleaning company didn't clean 1 of the 3 hallways, I offered to stay home on a Sat. and wait for the cleaner to come by so I could go over the necessary cleaning. I waited until 3:30p.m. with no one showing or calling. I then called and spoke with one of the women that answers the phones and she said that she wasn't sure where he was and that she would get a hold of the cleaner and call me back. I waited and then called back again. She then said that the cleaner went home a different way and wasn't stopping by. I wasted my entire Saturday waiting for someone to show only to be told that no one was coming and that they would just send someone out to "redo" the cleaning. After numerous complaints about the services not being completed, the company provided a cleaning log in which the cleaner was to perform the service and then sign off on it. Many times I found the slots checked off, but the service not provided. Unprofessional service.

They did a good job assembling and moving furniture, and cleaning up the garage.

unknown

I am just looking for someone that pays a bit more attention to my home, they don't seem to take care of the little things. They did not even follow up after cleaning.

I called and scheduled the cleaning for 8:30. The woman said the confirmation email would state 12:30 PM, but not to worry about it, because it was really 8:30 and their "system was broken." Well, it turned out to be 12:30. Through a few heated phone calls and me rearranging my schedule, I had them in at 12:30, because it was too late to get a new service. Part of the agreement was that they would call me if the cleaning was to take over 3 hours. It took 3.5 hours, but they did not call. At first they tried to charge me, but I refused and was charged for 3 hours. The cleaning job was ok, but there were some cobwebs along the ceiling.

Everything was great. They were on time, and did a great job.

I was glad to see that they sent a man along with her, to check out the situation, before he dropped her off. It shows they consider the safety of their employees. She got right to work, and worked the entire time she was in my home. But, try as she may, there was no way she could complete all the items mentioned in the executive cleaning package. In her defense, I don't think anyone could! I have a loft with very high ceilings, and a lot of hanging artwork. My place gets very dusty and dirty. I also have all hardwood floors that take a long time to sweep, and wash. My stove and fridge were not cleaned inside, and the windows weren't washed. But i think she did her best. Perhaps they should have sent a 2-person team.

Two representatives from Little Helpers came to give my condo a much-needed spring cleaning. The women arrived early (about 15 minutes) to my home and were ready to go. In three hours, they cleaned my place thoroughly and were very attentive to my specifications. Raquel even helped me when one of my windows fell out of place and I had been unable to put it back up by myself. I was extremely pleased with the service and the convenience of not having to provide my own cleaning materials as the ladies came with everything they needed. They made sure to move things out of the way and not just clean around them. I will definitely hire Little Helpers on a more consistent, tri-weekly basis and I hope that their quality of work remains the same for subsequent visits. I even had John Psiharis come to my building that same day to give an estimate for regular maintenance and snow removal to the building's common areas.

My over all experience with Little Helpers couldn't have gone any better. I needed them on short notice and they did a great job. Thank you, Little Helpers!