ACE Handyman Services of Greater Boston

I was really impressed. I needed someone in the evening after I got off work, and Handyman Matters sent over someone who works a day job and performs evening handyman work -- perfect. I called on a Monday, they had someone over the next day. What's more, the person they sent over was incredibly skilled, very patient with my ignorance of all things maintenance, and very attentive to the job and to my home. I look forward to calling them again soon.

It was okay. It was not the best. There were no additional charges. The pricing and the amount of work that they ended up doing was not what I expected. The person was not too keen to do things we agreed upon. But, ultimately that person ended up doing most of it, which was okay. It was a little bit of hand-holding and getting things done. He did clean up. We have moved out of the area. So, we wouldn't recommend them anyway.

Not sure what happened as initial contacts went very well. Inquired about a punch list of various repairs and company was very friendly, professional and promptly got in touch with me. I sent in a very detailed list of required work and they sent someone out to review work. I thought the meeting went well and the person said I would receive a quote by the end of the week. A week went by and I inquired about the status of the quote. I was informed it would be sent the following day. Several more days passed and I still did not receive a quote. I sent another email and have not heard anything back. I can understand a company not being interested in a job but to string a customer along for 2 weeks and repeatedly not follow through on stated outcomes is completely unacceptable.

It was a little over the estimate. It took longer than expected. The quality was good. They were responsive and professional.

The handyman himself accomplished more than we had hoped to accomplish in one day. He was courteous and hardworking.

Mitchell was great! He was professional and punctual upon arrival. He looked at the problem with the stairs and determined that he could fix them more easily and affordably than what we had been originally quoted. He did a great job on both the stairs and the window. We are satisfied with the work and the price. My only concern was how things were originally scheduled. We had a date scheduled in June which got cancelled by Bob Samson the day before it was supposed to happen. He never called me back to reschedule although he'd said he would. Later in the summer I left a couple messages for him and and finally heard back about a week or two later. To be fair, he was very apologetic and accommodating of my scheduling needs. I'm assuming this was just a glitch in their system and not a usual practice. Overall, I would recommend Handyman Matters.

Not well. Estimator did not arrive as scheduled.

No estimate - no work provided.

The provider was exceptionally conscientious, professional and actually worked from a list of assigned tasks; before moving on to the next item on the list, he would consult me to insure that my expectations were met, make adjustments if necessary, then continue.

Kevin was skilled, professional, able to handle everything I needed. he went out of his way to find a really nice handrail and brackets, much nicer than I expected, and figured out a fix to the awkward wall that it would attach to. He came to the house twice. The price was very reasonable given the many things he fixed. It was a very good experience and I've already recommended Handyman Matters to my friends.

Well there were some issues around scheduling and being a little late. Joe called me and told me when he could come and he was thoroughly professional the 4 hrs he was here. I would definitely use them again! Quality work was done.

The contractor, Brian, was very good (minus the paint job on the basement windows which wasn't good but I shouldn't have wasted money having them do that- Bob did say to have a list of 'other' things to make use of time on site...I won't do that again)...he was thorough...partly because it seemed the purpose of Bob the boss's visit to my house to measure and give a "realistic quote" didn't get conveyed. Brian had to do everything over and wasn't really told about the scope. Not Brian's fault. He was cordial, clean, and very good at his work. My problem arose after, when the door had some rot under it and they had to spend an additional day and a pretty sizable amount on wood to replace the step before installing the door. Also, Bob poorly measured and assured me the door I bought (confirmed in email with a link to the door) would fit fine, however the frame and moulding had to be replaced to hide wall that had to be removed to fit it in. Careless on bobs part, not Brian's. Handyman Matters tells you they will have you sign a piece of paper if the cost changes. Obviously the cost had to change, but Bob made absolutely no attempt to contact me and to explain the cost would nearly TRIPLE. I was cost sensitive and he knew that- I bought my own door (he marks up his supplies more than the average contractor)...so I was pretty irked by his unprofessional way he handled it- first blaming it on his contractor (you are the boss Bob, you make your prices, this is not your teams problem. What a poor business owner!) then asking me what price I want to pay, then mumbling and offering me a 500.00 "courtesy" discount. Mind you the quote went from 800.00 to 2,300.00 - so I wasn't feeling great about the lack of professionalism in handling this. No apology was made- just "the work was started and we couldn't go back"- this company doesn't follow its written policies. Good luck working with Bob, I never will again. If Brian branches off, I'd hire him in a heartbeat. He was honest and a great and talented contractor.

Called them to do a couple of small jobs. A piece of siding had fallen off the side of the house during the winter, and our basement door was due to be replaced. Nothing particularly urgent. Talked to Bob. He said he would come out and measure the door and call me with a quote. After a couple of weeks, I hadn't heard anything, so I called back. Spoke to a woman who said she didn't know if he had done anything with it and would have Bob call back about it. He never did. I called again a few weeks later, and got Bob again. He claimed that he had sent out the quote and had never heard back from his door guy. He promised to follow up and call me back. That was the last I heard from him. It's fine if they're busy and need to push the work back. That's great. Popular is good. The work I needed done wasn't urgent, so I would have been fine if I had been told that things were busy and he would get to me when he had space on the calendar. Instead, he just blew me off.

Although the young man was very polite and worked neatly he took three hours to remove the 11 stair treads and took far too many cigarette breaks.

That service worked out well. I am satisfied. It was over a weekend, so it is probably a month ago. I ended up paying about $1700. The quality of the work was excellent. The price is in line with my expectations. I think it was fair. I did have to call a few times. The job was done over two days and there was about a week or so delay between the two phases. I had to kind of followup a couple of times to schedule the second part of it.

The job was done nicely. The guy was very responsive and was explaining things in detail. I would definitely go again with them.

Everything went smoothly. He washappy to keep doing things until we ran out of our prepurchased time

Joe arrived on time, performed all the work he was asked to do within the time frame. He was courteous and professional and cleaned up the work area.

They were able to schedule an appointment to come to us a few days after we called. Brian arrived on time. There were multiple problems with the ceiling fan installation due to structural and electrical issues. Instead of declining the job, Brian worked on it and found some creative solutions. Unfortunately, Brian installed the fan with a rod and ball extension when we wanted it to be installed close to the ceiling. They had told us at the store that the ceiling fan had two options for installation (dropped down with a rod or close to the ceiling), but Brian dismissed the possibility that it could be installed without the drop down rod. Later that evening, we looked at the instructions that came with the fan and they did indicate that there was a "close to ceiling" option. We called the office the next day and Bob said he would look into it. After 3 days we called again. Bob took full responsibility for not following through. He sent Brian over that day to try to resolve the issue. Brian tried to explain why he didn't think the fan could be installed "close to ceiling". Eventually Brian was able to hear that "close to ceiling" was an option and he reinstalled it effectively. Brian handled the misunderstanding professionally. We did not receive a follow up call from Bob. Total work time on the first visit was 3 hours (2.5 on the fan). Brian performed the sink jobs quickly and effectively. We don't remember how long the second visit was, but there was no charge for it.

I really hate having to write a negative review on Angie?s List, especially since I have had such great success on this site. The older reviews sold me on the company did not get the same service. In fact it looks like a lot of people are in similar situations this past Spring and Summer. I will give Bob 100% credit on the choice of the company name Handyman Matters?.because clearly the customer does not matter. I really could write a step by step encounter of what occurred from the start in April to the finishing up in July. Yes, it took that long to complete fairly simple interior work that did not consist of remodeling. There was a total of 7 days where we could not have them there due to our vacation and wedding, but other than that ? trying to get them to finish the job was like pulling teeth. In fact, we did not see them at all in the month of June. Actually, they were impossible to get ahold of in June. We reached out multiple times via e-mail and phone call to no prevail. It was apparent that our job was not as important as other people?s jobs. I do not care what business you are in ? FIFO matters! First in First Out. If you take on too many jobs, that?s your fault. You should not compromise other people?s wellbeing and livelihoods because you cannot get your act together. We just wanted our house back to normal and they stifled that process. The professionalism was lacking. Besides the inability to get back to us in an appropriate matter of time, there were days where they said they would come and not show up. Other times they would be there by ?X? and show up hours later. I caught them a few times, but who knows how common showing up late was. Of course we paid $720 PER DAY tho! But apparently, with the $90/hour, I was also paying for the crew member to chat up the neighbors, smoke cigarettes, and chat with the siding folk (I had a different and PLEASURABLE siding job going on simultaneously). Oh don?t forget the inability of the workers to throw away cigarettes appropriately. Expect cigarette butts on your lawn and driveway. That comes with the territory. Nothing is more fun than picking up the gross mess left over by an incompetent and unprofessional contractor. Craftsmanship? BAD. I didn?t want to give a D or F because they finished the job and I need to believe that it is decent enough. So I gave a C. They used cheap material to do the work, probably a way to make an even larger margin on top of the $90/hour. There was a certain degree of painting that went on due to water staining. There were paint brush hairs all throughout the paint job. The walls were not flat by any means. I was left picking out brush hairs from the wall. The doors? Decent enough. In some spots it looks like they were done so in a ?MacGyver? life fashion. By no means do they look professionally installed, but they open and shut ? so I guess I cannot complain too much. I would never use this company again. I am going to make sure my friends and family do not either. I hope my review ? and those seemingly like me ? have helped the community make future informed decisions when choosing a contractor. If you look at my past reviews you will see that I do not post only negative reviews. In fact, I have had nothing but good experiences thus far using Angie?s List. All I can say is I am so fortunate that this was Insurance Claim $$$ and not my actual savings. This would not have gone over well if this was my hard earned money ? I will tell you that.

This was a poor overall experience. I called to schedule service 2 times and was told that "Bob", who Angie's List lists as the contact, was not available. Neither time did I leave my name - I just asked for "Bob". The person who answered, Mary, did not indicate that she did Bob's scheduling which I learned during a subsequent call. I called a 3rd time and left my name and number for Bob to call me back. He didn't. Mary did not indicate that she did Bob's scheduling during that 3rd call either. I called a 4th time and indicated that I had called three times before, one of which I had left my name and number for Bob to return my call and that he hadn't. Mary apologized for the "miscommunication" and asked that we "start over". She scheduled me for a Thursday at 1pm. The prior scheduling calls that I just described were made over several days. On Thursday morning Mary called me to indicate that "Brian" was running late and would not be able to be there at 1 but would likely be there between 2:30 and 3pm. She said that as a result Brian could do some of his time that day and complete the work another day or we could reschedule altogether. We agreed that Brian would come by that day to meet with the home owner to see what he needed to do and that he could return the following day, Friday, at 1pm to do the work noting that nobody would be home that Friday so he would be working alone. Brian showed up at 2pm on Thursday and called me indicating nobody was home. I told him that someone would be there around 2:30 in line with the time that Mary had said Brian would be by. He appeared annoyed and indicated he didn't have the time for this. I asked whether he wanted to call Mary or whether he wanted me to. He said he would just wait. When the homeowner arrived Brian was shown a portion of the work we had hoped he would tackle. He was not shown all of it because after a few items he indicated he would need to spend "half his time" at Home Depot "shopping" for what he needed. He was asked what he would need and told that it would be provided in advance. He first indicated that he couldn't make a list because he would "know it when he sees it" and didn't necessarily know the materials for purposes of making a list. He was challenged about the time he would need to "shop" and he conceded that it wouldn't take "half his time" but that he did need some items from Home Depot. In the context of the conversation with him it was determined that he needed some wall hangers to secure the shelves, a pin to reset a closet door and a hydraulic for the storm door. His attitude deterred the homeowner from showcasing the additional items she had hoped he would be able to address: he complained that even being there for the few minutes he was being shown the home was something he was "not being paid for". Before he left he was reminded that Mary had scheduled him for the following day at 1pm and that he would be working alone in the home and that materials from Home Depot would be purchased by the homeowner in advance. On Friday at 1pm Brian called me to indicate that he was at the house. I assumed he was just clocking in as a courtesy. 50 minutes later he called me again to tell me that he was still at the house waiting. I was now aggravated and told him that Mary and he had been told he would be there by himself working and that we thought that was clear and that almost an hour had gone by with him just "waiting" outside. Considering his frustration the prior day with having to even look at the work "without being paid" I could only imagine that his 50 minutes of "waiting" was counting against the time I had purchased. He indicated then that his time the prior day would be counted against the time I had purchased. I told him to just start working and we hung up. I called Handyman Matters of Boston to speak with Mary and Bob answered. He seemed to be familiar with my situation and indicated that he understood my frustration and that Brian would be told to get all the work done. I thanked Bob and we hung up. That evening, when we returned home the work we had asked Brian to complete was done with the exception of the closet door being reset. Bottom line: a lot of frustration to have a small hole in a wall patched, a few shelves reinstalled, a closet door reset and a hydraulic replaced on a storm door. Poor service from start to finish. Next time I will do it myself.

Very we'll- did a great job repairing rotted trim and caulking, painting.

Fine but remember it seemed expensive

It was wonderful. They're coming on June 22nd to do the work. They gave me a quote of around $5000. The man was very nice and very kind. He was very soft spoken. I understood everything he said. He didn't run right to the process. My family kind of liked them too.

Everything was done to our satisfaction and at a quick pace.