David has some good reviews on here, and I used to feel the same way. He used to be reliable, (except when I asked him to fix a gutter, he said he would and he just never did - two years later he gave me an explanation as to why - so not very good at communication). Other than that, he fixed a leak on my porch, and another on my roof, put a new deck on my porch, and fixed plumbing problems, all with no issues. Had he continued to be reliable, I would have written a good review for him, so now I wonder, why alienate a customer who has never treated him badly and always paid on time?
Perhaps he has enough work and doesn't need me anymore - but I have been a loyal customer for 4 years.
This recent experience has left me so disappointed that I am writing this negative review, and it is still not resolved. I thought that I had found a good handyman to help me, I liked him as a person too, but this experience has been so exasperating.
Last fall, David, sealed my foundation outside in my yard, to stop a basement leak. In my discussion with him, before the job, the sealant was going to be below ground level. When the job was finished, there was black tar on the lovely red brick wall, above ground level, in my beautiful garden, applied in an unsightly and uneven manner. He has lately said the sealant needs to be above ground level to work properly, even though that is not what we discussed before the job. Other sections of the wall have the sealant underground, so why are some areas underground and other areas above ground, and why is it applied unevenly, and haphazardly, like someone was drunk, or didn't care if it was unsightly? He also left a large 4' x 8' chipboard in my yard (which he said he would remove, but never did), and the hanging swing that he removed to do the job was reattached, high above, where I can't reach it, incorrectly with one side higher than the other. When I spoke with him about these issues, he said that he would remove the board, and grind off the tar above ground, etc., but he didn't do it before winter arrived. He assured me that he would do it in the spring, so when I called him in April, to ask him to please fix it, he did not set aside time to fix it, and instead booked other jobs. Tomorrow will be July 1st - 3 months after I asked him to fix it - and each week he tells me he is going to do it, but then each week he cancels, or just doesn't show. It's always some excuse. I have to hound him each week to PLEASE come, and each week he puts it off till the next week. This has gone on now for 3 months!!!! I want to replant the area, where he dug up and had to destroy many plants, but I can't, because he won't finish the job. Unfortunately I already paid him, and so now he has my money and doesn't care if it was done in a sloppy manner.
He has cancelled so many times, that I said I was going to write a bad review on Yelp (which is what I am doing now) hoping that that would get him to come fix it. He said, go ahead, I don't care; I have a friend in Yelp who can remove it.
It makes me wonder, why would this person, who seemed like a really nice guy, treat a customer this badly, who used to bring him work, pay him on time, cheerfully, and liked the work that he did? It would probably only take less than an hour to remove the tar above ground, so why not just remove it? Why not keep me as a happy customer?
He wants me to sign an agreement that says if he removes the tar above ground, that he won't be responsible if the basement leaks again, but I did a search online, to see if I could rely on the method that he used, and what I found is that foundation tar sealant does not prevent leaks but only slows it down, and that it will eventfully crack and leak again, but that elastomeric, which he didn't use, would prevent leaks. I said I would sign an agreement if he also added a clause that said his method will not stop leaks and will only slow down leakage.
So I am in this crazy situation, with a guy who does not follow through with promises, and left a sloppy, unsightly, unfinished job. I feel powerless to get it resolved. If he does fix it, I will update this review, but I doubt I will ever use him again for any future jobs. I don't deserve this treatment. I did nothing to warrant this behavior. read more