Conrad Homes

I went with Conrad Homes aka Dr. Handyman, because of a previous job that they did for me through Home Depot. The prior job, installing a 12' x 8' window went wonderfully; I was expecting the same with this recent job however, I was disappointed. My first issue came with one of the estimates in which I pointed out they forgot to include removing the baseboard heat which had to be done to install the French doors. I was told an addendum would be written and then was told the job was not big enough to require writing an addendum. I was given a quote for removing the baseboard heater which I agreed to; however, when the Handyman crew arrived they then decided it would be too hard to do so I had to get the oil co. to come out and disconnect the lines (the quote to reconnect from the oil co. of course is more than what Handyman quoted). Issue 1: Gave Mr. Conrad my credit card number in order to pay the deposit. The week prior to project start date he wanted me to come to his office to run the card so he would not be charged the higher interest rate. While this may be convenient for some people it is not convenient for me as I commute to/from work. I advised him of this he said he would come to my house on the first day of the project. He did not show up until day 5 of the project. Issue 2: Lack of proper equipment. In order to build the deck my back porch stoop had to be removed. The stoop was brick and concrete. Removal of the stoop took two days as they did not provide their worker with a jack hammer but rather he broke the stoop up with a sledge. Issue 3: Lack of time management: This project took 3 weeks; however, it could have been shorter had: 1) more than two workers been provided; 2) workers worked a full 8-hour day; 3) workers been on site every day; 4) the project been more organized (i.e. the last week of the project was used to hang the drywall then mud, then sand; while I am not a contractor it seems to me that had they hung the drywall earlier in the project the mudding and sanding could have occurred and then they could have worked on the deck the remaining part of the day). Issue 4: I opted to use composite for my deck which I made clear before the start of this project; however, I was not shown the options available until the project started. The options were limited to 3 colors. I mentioned this to Mr. Conrad when he came to get the deposit. I stated that had I known I would have been limited on colors I would have gone to Home Depot to purchase the composite boards to which he stated they could have gotten other colors but they would have to be ordered. It seems to me that picking the color for the deck should have happened in the planning stage of the project and it most certainly should have been told to me when I was shown the three colors available. Issue 5: Lack of railing on the deck. In the planning phase I mentioned having a railing and was told that I would not need one because the deck would not be that high off the ground. Once the framing of the deck was done, I noted that the deck seemed pretty high at one end because my yard slopes. I mentioned the railing to Mr. Conrad during his visit and he stated that the deck at his house was higher than mine and it did not have a railing but, if I wanted a railing to let the men finish everything first and then I could have the railing done later. Interpretation: We are not concerned with what the customer wants but rather with what we want to do. If someone falls off my deck and gets injured should I tell them that Mr. Conrad's deck is higher. Issue 6: The pergola...I asked the gentleman building the pergola if he was going to notch the cross beams, to which he replied no that he was going to screw them onto the other beams. The next morning prior to his starting the cross beams I asked him if he was going to use the metal straps to secure the cross beams or if he was going to toe-nail the screws. He advised he was going to toe-nail. I questioned why he was going to do this and was told that he was told to do it this way. After a few exchanges of words he clearly saw that I was not happy with this so he did notch the beams. One remaining issue I have with the pergola is that they did not use any 1 1/2' x 1 1/2and quot; or 2and quot; x 2and quot; to go across the top (sun screen) which makes the project look unfinished. I have never seen a pergola with out the 2and quot; x 2and quot;. Instead he ran 2 2and quot; x 2and quot; across the top in a and quot;Vand quot; shape to make the pergola more stable. I did authorize him to do such; however, it was either that or nothing. Since then I have pulled those boards down, ripped some 1 1/2and quot; x 1 1/2and quot; and installed them myself. This is something that should have been part of the project. Issue 7: Final payment...I have saved the best for last. Upon completion of the project I emailed Mr. Conrad and advised that he should now run my credit card and provide me with a receipt from the final payment. I did not hear back from Mr. Conrad and then a week later I received the final bill. The bill was incorrect and was actually $700.00 less that what I owed. I called Mr. Conrad regarding my email to which he stated he received the email and that he would need to try to find where there was a discrepancy. I informed him what he under-estimated. He advised he would correct the bill and then...he asked me when I could come in his office so that he could run my credit card so he would not get charged the higher interest rate. I again informed him that I would not be able to come in to his office because of my commute. He advised he would figure something out. The way in which Mr. Conrad figured out to fix this issue was to send me a corrected bill and to write on the bill and quot;Please send check or if you wish to pay by credit card, stop by the office between 6 am - 3 pm, M-F.and quot; Had I not had integrity he would have been out $700.00, instead I informed him of his error only to have him be concerned about a few bucks that he would be charged in interest fees from running my credit card. Please know, Dr. Handyman does have some excellent workers, in particular they have an excellent mason. If the mason did work outside of the Dr. Handyman business I would gladly hire him; however, I will not utilize the services of Dr. Handyman again. My main complaint with this company is their lack of customer service/customer satisfaction. I had really hoped this had worked out as I have three other projects.

They were very professional, cleaned and left the basement in better condition then when they arrived.