Mr. Handyman of Central MetroWest

Installed a hand rail, fixed a piece of siding, and then redid a window without buying a new one - sill and casing repair around garage window.

They arrived on time, had excellent craftsmanship, and provided very accurate estimates. They were even kind enough to let my dogs out when necessary. Ultimately, it was a great experience.

We had a leak from the bathroom into the kitchen. Mr Handyman was very responsive and came when they said they would to investigate and fix the leak. He actually found two leaks and coordinated with a plumber to get them repaired. The leak damaged the kitchen ceiling and needed to be repaired / painted. While at the house, I also asked him to fix a door that was not seating properly in the frame. Based on discussions, I expected that work to take about one day. It took two. We did not get a formal estimate - my fault. The quality of the work done in the kitchen was good. The quality of the work done on the door was fair. The paint did not match and was not applied smoothly.

1/11/13 Over the last two years, Mr. Handyman has completely renovated my home. From new windows, doors, flashing, and siding to carpentry that included, remodeling a four season room and adding beautifully detailed crown molding in my kitchen. Mr. Handyman has also provided general, much needed, maintenance on my home. The technicians have cleaned my dryer vents, gutters, power washed my deck, changed lamp post light bulbs and replaced smoke detectors. Mr. Handyman is currently finishing my basement. They've done everything from framing, painting, adding a full bath to tiling and painting a mud room. I live in a town that is known to be challenging with permits. The inspectors loved Mr. Handyman. They are pleased with their workmanship. As for myself, they have been extremely professional, clean, on time, reliable, and very reasonably priced. The technicians have offered great ideas for future projects and solutions for future maintenance. I am so pleased everyday when I come home from work. They are very efficient and they have even put my Beagle puppies out for me!!! Thank You so much Mr. Handyman!! Keli T

The worst service experience I have had in 25 years of home ownership. Michael Campbell, owner, took my initial phone call. He stated that they could hook up the back-up battery to the sump pump. He suggested where I should purchase the pump, but I ended up buying the same model I was replacing as it had a feature that I wanted that his suggested battery did not have. Since I would not be home to take delivery, he said that I could have it delivered to his office. The service tech delivered the battery to my home. It was in a box with large graphics and text as to what was inside. The tech opened the box and said, "I've never seen a battery like this." During installation, we had to call the manufacturer not once, but twice, going through phone menus and hold times as well as the time it took to discuss installation. Additionally, the battery needed battery acid, which I had to run out and get. Luckily, I was able to purchase it nearby while he idly waited for me. He filled the cells and told me he needed more acid. I told him that the man at the store said that what I had purchased was the right about for that size battery. He said that all of the cells were supposed to be evenly filled and they weren't so he needed more. I ran out a second time while he just waited doing nothing. The man at the store repeated that I shouldn't need more acid when I purchased the second container of acid. The technician only used a small amount of that second container. I never questioned being billed for the time he spent on the telephone with the manufacturer or the time it took me to drive twice to the store. When I discovered that he had left the remaining acid in the open container, I asked the office if they would please pick it up as I was afraid to transport it and was nervous about having it in the basement. I was told that it would be picked up, but it never was. During the initial phone conversation, Michael Campbell told me that I needed to have baffles installed in the crawl space of my house. I asked the price of the baffles and he gave me a quote per foot. I did not get the price in writing, so that is a lesson learned. Shortly after the work was done, the insulation was falling away from the soffits (I believe that is the right word). I called the office and they didn't respond to the need of sending someone back out. As the insulation continued to fall away, I saw the placement of the baffles that were placed underneath and, seeing them, couldn't understand why they were installed. I wrote emails and made calls to the office. I was told that Mike did not take calls which I had no way of knowing because he did take my initial phone call. I was told that the receptionist was knowledgeable and could answer any of my questions and that there was no need for me to speak with him. I would wait all day for a call back, and when I didn't receive a call at work and seeing no message upon arriving home, I called and left a message on the office machine. I was told never, ever to leave another message after hours. I received a threatening phone message on my cell phone and received nasty emails from Michael. I finally emailed a photo of the insulation falling away and he finally agreed to send someone out to fix it. I asked if, at that time, the battery acid could also be picked up. He agreed. When the tech came he said that Mike had not told him to pick up the acid and he was afraid to do anything without Mike's say-so. I asked if we could call him and was told we could not as Mike was out of the office. The insulation was put back in place, but I still had the acid and never got a response as to why the work that he told me needed to be done was done. I was told that the baffles would improve air flow and just wanted to understand how it all worked as I couldn't figure it out. I never received a response to that. I called a month or so ago to see if they would pick up the acid as I was having work done in the basement and wanted it out of there. The receptionist said to give her a couple of days to see when someone would be in my area. She called back and left a message that I could return the acid where I purchased it or take it to an automotive place and she was glad she could help me. I called back and left a message (during office hours) stating how that didn't help me. Mike called me back and, in retrospect, I wish I had let it go to voice mail so I could repeat what he said verbatim. Suffice it to say that he was unpleasant and to get off the phone, I would repeat "and I thank you for calling" so as not to hang up on him and he kept going on and on. I told him that I wanted to give him a head's up that I was going to be contacting Angie's list, and he told me that I had better be "very careful" in what I wrote. Here is a sample from an email that I received from Michael: I will reiterate my 'threatening message' for posterity. I will not tolerate are your inaccurate, rude, sarcastic, condescending, accusatory messages that you leave after hours with my answering service, on my machine, with my home office and with my office personnel. NOTE: I never spoke with his home office, would have no idea how to get that number. Left one message with the answering service who picked up one time I called. I did not realize I was not speaking with the office until the end of the conversation. Obviously, I do not agree with his characterization of my message. As noted above, after hour messages were left after waiting all day to hear back. I was extremely frustrated, for sure. Here is one of my emails to Michael: "Hi Mike, Karly and I spoke and had a pleasant conversation.. As it turned out, she couldn't help me with the discrepancy of what I was quoted for materials and what I was charged. That was when I was referred to you and I waited three day to hear back from you. I am guessing your service would have a copy of the one message I left with them. I would very much like to see it, as I was unaware of any sarcasm in reminding you that I needed someone to come by on Saturday. Again, have you spoken to the tech as you told me you would when we spoke one week ago? Can you explain why the insulation was not cut away as you told me it would be? Can you explain why the work was done and what purpose the baffles are serving? I don't think I should need to take time off from work to get answers to these questions. If you prefer, email me Karly's email address and I will be glad to address these questions to her. Thank you for your assistance in this matter. Beth Here is a portion of his response to my email that was copied above: This technician will tack up any insulation that the first tech left loose, at no expense to you. Please let him work. I will caution you once, if this person is made to feel uncomfortable by you in any way, I will instruct him to leave immediately and you can feel free to hire someone else, at your own risk and expense. Also, as I've said, the cost of the materials was correct. There is no money due or coming back to you. I'm sorry for your misunderstanding. Finally, I ask one last time, PLEASE stop with the nasty emails and the threats. I said I'm not going to go back and forth with you. If you have any more questions, I explained how to communicate with us. I wish you better luck in the future. Happy Holidays. Truly. I do not consider my email quoted in full above to be "nasty" or threatening. Here is the end of the email that Michael sent to me when I recently contacted Mr. Handyman about the battery acid: " I just don?t understand you. I tried to help you. We tried to help you. The dishonest and embellished remarks you made to my home office were troublesome and to me, show a true reflection of the person I choose to no longer do business with. I am not comfortable dealing with you any more. Please just leave me and my business alone. You owe us nothing. We owe you nothing." Update to Mr. Handyman's Response: In answer to your question, I waited a year before writing the review because I didn't want to have to relive the experience; I knew it would take quite a bit of time to sit down and write the review and having been threatened by you in the past, I was afraid to write it. It was only after speaking with Angie staff members that I got up my nerve to do it. Everything I wrote is true. The emails were cut and pasted from my mailbox. I think they tell most of the story in and of themselves. What you state to be your service techs response to me is ludicrous. I was upbeat about having to go to the store twice and also about having to call the manufacturer twice. If I hadn't been, I would have insisted that I not be billed for tthe time it took to make two trips to the store and the time spent on the phone because the tech did not know how to perform the task that he was sent to do. He went from working on that chore to going upstairs to do what he had to do in the crawl space and then left. By the time you sent the second tech, I was afraid to do anything more than say "hello." He went upstairs, finished the work that had not been properly done in the first place. It was YOUR tech that said I needed extra product, so you really don't know what you are writing about. That is why he sent me to the store the second time. I never went to Home Depot nor did I speak with anyone at that store. I won't repeat what I wrote above, but it is covered there. I have no idea of what you mention "must be cheaper." YOUR TECH made me purchase additional battery fluid even though the person at the automotive store where I purchased the first container told me that I had purchased the correct amount for the size battery we were working with. YOUR TECH insisted that he had to add more because he hadn't filled all of the cells equally. YOUR TECH left the open bottle with the unused battery fluid.

The first worker came over and made a few mistakes. I take some of the responsibility as I left the house and should have done a better job of explaining what I wanted to done. I spoke with Mr. Handyman and explained my concerns. They immediately scheduled a follow up appointment and took care of all the issues, no questions asked. Every company makes mistakes, it is how they respond that is most important. Guy did great work and was very easy to work with. I've worked with other handymen services in the past and these guys are at a higher level. Very qualified and very service oriented.

Rod was really great. He arrived promptly, was very friendly and professional. He talked to us about what was needed, made a trip to home depot to get supplies, and then got right to work. He was there for one full day. I was amazed how much he was able to get done. He cleaned up after himself and did great quality work. It's expensive, but I will definitely use Mr Handyman again.

Work was completed in a reasonable amout of time and we would definately call them back.

Did an excellent job with both repairs - professional and on-time. Expensive though.

I have used this Mr. Handyman off and on for the past 20 years, and have never been disappointed. They charge by the hour and don't waste any time. They are quick to suggest less expensive ways to do the job. And they know how to do all those household repairs that can end up costing you a day or two. This latest visit was to fix a bunch of small problems with a condo we've just moved into, and they did it way faster, better, and cheaper than I could do it myself. Highly recommended.

He fixed them perfectly, you would never know that we had anything wrong. The man that came had been a contractor for all his life and was just wonderful. He was agreeable, on time, and tidy. The only thing wrong was that it was expensive.

All work was good and the gentleman who was here was very professional. He did all tasks well and I was pleased with the results. The patching of the leak on the ceiling in the bathroom took the longest. What I didn't know was that the bathroom patch work would be over a few days and I would be charged by the hour. I thought it was going to be a small job when I originally hired Mr. Handyman - not taking into account that after the patch was applied, it needed to dry and be sanded before it could be painted. I realize this was naive of me and what I thought was going to be a 1 day patch job was turning into a 3+ day job. Next time I will ask how long it would take to finish the task(s). In retrospect, i would have been wiser to have brought someone in to patch the ceiling for a set price.

Very professional. Was on-time, took about 30 minutes to set up and explained that he would take 30 minutes at the end of the day to take everything down and back to his truck. Pretty much completed the job. A couple of minor things could not be completed in the time allotted but I could take care of those. Overall, very happy with the work.

The job/service was very good. The worker was professional & courteous. However, I think the price is too expensive. Especially in these economical conditions.

On time, polite, did the outside work first the did the crawl space.

They were very good and very nice. They came that afternoon. They were polite and came right away to do the job.

We have used them two times. They are a little expensive.

They were quite expensive. I was not happy with the way it turned out. It did not look like they finished the work. I was charged by the hour and when he was here I felt that the time spent was from him talking as opposed to doing the work.

The representative was fine. I have no complaints against him. He was on time. He was very professional and he cleaned up all the mess. The next time when I decide to use his service I would first try to get a better price.

Prior to date of service, I received a phone call and email confirmation from the company detailing what was to be expected from the visit. Very professional and courteous. The service person arrived exactly on time. He surveyed the tasks at hand and began work immediately. He worked straight through until it was time to go and pick up additional supplies at Home Depot. His trip to the store was quick (quicker than my usual trips) and he resumed work immediately. When finished he asked that inspect each job (all done to my specifications) and asked if there was more that he could do for me. He then proceeded to clean up each work area so well that no additional cleaning was required by me. The service person was professional, knowledgeable and friendly. The whole experience was a rewarding one. I would (will) hire this firm again.

The technician that showed up was definitely not an expert at flooring as was promised by the sales person. He was asking me questions on what to do next. The job didn't get done partly because the humid weather didn't dry the leveling compound but also because the gentleman didn't want to work till 5 on saturday. If it's you profession and you say you are available on saturday and if I already set the expectation with the sales person that it could be a days work, then how can you say you can't complete the work.

I called to book the job and they went over the rates on the phone and also followed up with an email about their rates and procedures. On the day of the job, the handyman arrived 5 minutes early and walked through the rates to doublecheck that I understood everything. I then showed him the arears that needed work. He asked questions to make sure that everything was clear on what he needed to do. After the work was completed, he showed me everything that was done to make sure that it was installed and repaired to my satisfaction. He was very professional and courteous and I thought the price was very reasonable. I would definitely use the company again and highly recommend them to anyone considering handyman jobs.

We decided not to use this company because their price too high and the service technician was rude.

We needed a number of window shades and curtains hung that we just didn't have time to get to. Mr. Handyman was responsive, came as promised, and did a good job.

They were extremely professional, came on time and finished the job when they said they would. I had called other handymen that were unresponsive and expensive when I was recommended to Mr. Handyman out of Ashland.