Handy People Co.

Very disappointing – I contacted Handy People because I had a number of odd jobs that needed doing at a rental property in Melbourne. The tenants are young women and I heard about a referral site for female tradies and thought that would be great. I spoke with [Name Removed], she seemed great, we discussed cost, she told me the hourly rate was $90, assured me they… Read more

weren't a budget service they were a good service, and that she would send me a full quote. Things progressed, she wanted a lot of detail about the jobs, I provided it, a new powerpoint was needed, she organised an electrician, a male one, but he was fine, but then the date for the rest of the work got juggled around a bit, and the night before it was finally supposed to happen, I reminded her that she hadn't sent me the quote. I'm not going to put the list of jobs here, but they included fitting a wall clothesline and adjusting a cupboard space for make way for a dishwasher and a few other things including installing a tastic. She sent me the quote, told me that it was a lot of work and it would take two people the whole day to get it done, plus she had include a plumber to install the dishwasher (and yes, she had been there and seen that it only needed to be connected, no plumbing work required). The quote was $3500, I immediately contacted her and cancelled the job. She was disappointed because she had put a lot of effort into it (she did, all those extra costs must have taken her ages) and again reminded me that they weren't a budget service. She then sent me a bill for the electrician who installed a powerpoint, $390. I had to chase her for the CoES, she provided it about three weeks later with the wrong dates on it. I've paid it, but since then I've had another electrician in, who charged $187, sent the invoice and the CoES on the same day, and another handy person, who in six hours, on his own, did all of the odd jobs, and even repainted the side of a door that he had shaved back (didn't even ask him to do that). He charged $1400. Neither of these providers were budget, both turned up when they said they would, both did an excellent job, neither tried to reem me. If you are using Handy People, make sure you get the quote up front, or be ready to pay double. Beware, I've a feeling that she thought someone who would use a female service would be too stupid to know they were being overcharged, which doesn't say a lot for the organisation she is affiliated with.