Hector's Helping Hands

Initially, Hector's was great and we used them for 5+ years. Last Spring, however, they just stopped showing up, and even after several emails and phone calls we finally got a response they'd they'd be out "tomorrow". Then that happened again. And again. So we called and left a msg to cancel our service and hired another company to maintain our lawn. The day after our new service came out, someone from Hector's showed up during the day and re-mowed the the lawn leaving deep muddy ruts in our yard. There is a breakdown between the service crew and scheduling that seems irrepairable and very damaging to their business.

The first year, they came and did a good job. The next year, he didn’t return my call, but then they just showed up to do the work. He didn't have the follow through or show any inclination that he wanted to do the work, so I just found someone else.

We hired them to perform biweekly maintenance work on the yard but the service started more like once every month and how its been over a month and I have not heard or seem them since.

I had used Hector's Helping Hands previously for a major yard clean up. On the previous occasion the work was very good, quick and I wanted to hire them again. I called 3 times in May and no one ever returned my calls.

I called twice last year in June 2010 and was told twice that Hector would call me back to set up a time to come and look at the yard work I needed done and give me an estimate. Never got a return call. Then this year (May 2011) I decided to try one more time because of his close location to me and the overall recommendations submitted by others. I called and was told that Hector would be out at my place at 6pm that night to give me an estimate. Never showed, no phone call. I called the office at 7pm and was told by whoever answered the phone, "Didn't anyone call you to let you know he wouldn't be able to make it?" No.... Then I was rescheduled for the next evening at 6pm. He did not arrive on time but I did receive a call at 6:15pm that he was running late. He finally arrived at 6:45pm and walked thru the yard with me with clipboard in hand and told me he would call me in the morning with an estimate. That was a WEEK ago - still have not received a call from him. Needless to say, I contacted another yardman on Angie's List who is currently doing the work I needed done. He showed up on the day I called him to check out the work I wanted done, sent me an estimate that night, and showed up with his crew on time on the day we had scheduled. Would not recommend Hector to anyone.

I am so pleased that I have extended my contract for routine maintenance and more landscaping. I think Hector, and his crew are hard workers. Hector is also talented in making suggestions for more landscaping.

Great job overall and I would not hesitate to hire again.

Have used Hector before for tree services and he did such a good job, I called him again for yard clean up. He came promptly, gave me an estimate. He was just a bit higher then another estimate so he agreed to split the difference with me. He did an excellent job. Very pleased with his work. Very professional and friendly. Will definitely use him again.

Sandy answered the phone and was prompt and friendly. Hecktor followed immediately up by coming over to look at the work we needed done. I noticed that, although we explained things in things in detail, he took no notes. He said he would follow up with an estimate, but it never came. Four days later I left a phone message of inquiry, but it was never returned. All I can conclude is that their follow-up is terrible, or they are homophobic and don't wish to work for us.

They are awesome. My yard looks beautiful. I would recommend to friends and family.

Hector came on Friday to give me the estimate - he called me to say he was running a few minutes late, which I appreciated. On Monday he and his crew arrived on time, and within the estimated time frame, had cleared out the area, leaving barely a twig to show that they had been through my property - all was left neat as a pin. In two hours, they took care of what I hadn't been able to take care of in 15 years! I am delighted.

They are reliable and they have a good price. They always do quality work.

They were very nice and efficient. They cleaned it up very nicely.

I called to get an estimate for aerating and dethatching my lawn. Hector came over at the end of the day which was great and gave me an estimate. I called at a later time to make an appointment. He did not show up so I called and left a message. I am not sure if they ever received my message because when I called back she profusely apologized and scheduled me first thing in the morning when I requested. Hector and his crew came on time, and he apologized for the mix-up. I had called back to give him a 2nd chance because I know stuff happens. When he and the crew came they were efficient and professional. My overall rating is not an A because of the no-show but I would hire them again due to the quality of his work and he was very nice to work with. He went over in detail all the steps I need to take to get my lawn in shape.

Hector and his helping hands came to aerate and detach our entire lawn and trim a hedge. Everything looks fantastic and cleaned up very well. We are very happy!

These are very nice folks, the owners and the workers. I have used them three years in a row. They are not very reliable about coming when they had agreed to come, but if you call them, they apologize and come as quickly as possible. They always do a good job. They know how to prune Laurel! And they are very nice to deal with. Clean up after themselves. Despite problems with scheduling, I like them and recommend them highly.

He is very pleasant, he knows a lot about plants, and he always comes out to review the work being done by his employees. If things aren't right he will make them right.

They were very friendly and on time.

They are just wonderful, I really like them they always do what I ask them and they are very efficient at doing the work. I will continue to use them and recommend them to others often.

We purchased the plants from a grower, they then did the install. In some cases, the installation required real skill and attention to detail as they had to go around existing water pipes, a gas line, and in very limited spaces. We are very happy with the work. Price gets a B only because we had a bid for essentially the same work, but including the cost of the plants. We chose Hector because we wanted to buy our plants (which were much better than what's out at a large chain store, etc.), and he was OK to install them. We would hire again.

Read every report on this company and although "Hector" seemed to do a good job, I was troubled by the reports on the scheduler's (Sandy and apparently his wife) lack of communication to the customer. I also thought that since she had responded to the critical comments, that this would have been corrected. Well, believe what you read. I contacted this company, received an email back that they would "be glad to give me an estimate on my yard work and would be able to come to my house on Sat May 10th between 6 and 7 PM." (Note: this company is listed less than two miles from me). I waited and waited and am still waiting. No one showed up, no one called, and no one has contacted me since. I called and left a message for Sandy to call me please and no response to date which is three week. Moral of this story: believe what you read. Terrible service. Hector may have helping hands as listed but you might never know cause the response is non-existent.

Overall pretty well. A couple small jobs in the estimate got overlooked. A 5 to 6 man crew did the work in a day. The estimate was broken down by task. I choose to forgo some mulching which I thought was too expensive. A couple sprinkler heads required return visits to get working properly. But when all is said and done, I am happy with the results. Hector and his wife were pleasant to deal with.

Hector and his team are just great. His wife, Sandy, is very helpful and friendly on the phone. The work was done speedily and as promised. No problems at all.

It went great! I was impressed with Hector's friendliness and earnestness and ability to schedule and complete the work promptly. Hector spent a while with me answering questions about when and how to take care of the plants in my garden (I inherited it when I purchased the house and am still teaching myself how to care for it. Everything looked fantastic when his crew was done, so I asked for a quote for monthly service and gave what I thought was a generous tip. The quote sounded good, so I tried to schedule service, but here's where my delight with Hector's company more or less ended. His wife Sandy coordinates communications and scheduling and I found her incredibly difficult to reach. Hector assured me that I could obtain a copy of the work performed for my records and after about 6 phone calls and as many email requests, I've given up. It took about 5 weeks for her to get back to me about a time for Hector's crew to visit and when I mentioned it was a bad time and requested a reschedule, I heard nothing more. In fact, the only email communication I've had with the company besides a notification of the originally scheduled visit was a completely unrelated email forward that she sent to everyone on her list. Although I think Hector and his crew performed the work professionally, I have had so much trouble just getting in touch with the company that I ended up finding someone else for monthly maintenance. My ratings were "A" for price; "A" for quality of work; "D" for responsiveness because of the lack of communication; "C" for punctuality because although the work was scheduled and performed prom ply, the followup has been completely unsatisfactory; and "C" for professionalism to average Hector's earnest and affable approach with the non responsiveness and administrative slowness of his wife, Sandy.

We met Hector, who provided an estimate on a gentle trim versus a full laurel hedge trim. We went for the more deep trim. They came out promptly, and while we thought things looked pretty good after the first day, Hector was concerned that the laurel hedge debris from the previous trim was stuck into the hedge. They came back the following day and cleaned out the mess left from the previous owners. We were delighted.