I used the Handyman list twice in the last month. They also do business as New Generation Construction (license 938552).
Here is my experience. I contacted them by email and dealt with Marisela, the owner's wife. As they are a small business she seems to help him out, apart from her own full-time job. So the speed of the email replies is inconsistent from within the hour to a couple of days. The rate is $65/hour, regardless of the nature of the job.
First time: I had Mario install an attic fan that I purchased from Costco. The fans instructions said, that it should take less than 2 hours for the average DiY'er. What struck me as odd, and a bit unprofessional, is that he asked me to climb into the attic to make sure the fan was centered over the hole he cut into the roof. Yes, I am still relatively young and spry, but since when do customers have to help? I guess he forgot his white chalk and measuring tape to do it himself. It took him a little over two hours. He only charged me for the two. The job ended up looking good and since he helped me taking down a decrepit awning (which was a 2-person job) I was relatively happy that day.
Second time: This time we wanted Mario to install quarter-round molding on the ceiling between ceiling beams, install molding along the floor and transitions for a hardwood floor my wife put down. The first time he was there Mario quoted about 5-6 hours for the items to be completed. I booked him for 5, knowing full well it will probably take six (I always add 10-20% on every estimate), as such things usually go. I also provided pictures two days before, so Mario could do a material run ($50) for the necessary items. I already had the quarter-round for the ceiling on hand and I provided two options for the floor molding including SKUs should one be out of stock. I also provided dimensions necessary for the transitions and pictures of where the transitions should be installed. He showed up over an hour late, claiming that he stopped at three Home Depots trying to find the molding I requested. Here is the rub. If you have a Home Depot SKU you can ask at the customer service desk if they have the item in stock, and if not in that particular store which store would have it. There is never a reason to drive to multiple Home Depots, unless you are unfamiliar with the process. An experienced contractor would know that. In the end he called me twice, telling me neither item was in stock, and that he found another similar molding. He showed up with the some material, and without all the necessary transitions to actually complete all the items on the list. So even before showing up, he knew that he didn't have everything to do the job. It would have been nice to be informed ahead of time that it wouldn't get done, as I took time off in order to be at home for this ordeal. Also then I could have had the actual items we wanted in the first place delivered for free directly from Home Depot.
It took Mario over 3 hours to cut 20 pieces of quarter-round to size. Yes, they were odd angles, but that means it took him still 10 min per piece, to measure a piece of wood of about 20 inches in length and two angles on the end and attach it to drywall with a nail gun. You can decide for yourself if it is fair to pay someone $65/hour for this.
My wife was getting irritated by the pace of the work and was not happy that the items we agreed upon would not be completed that day. So she inquired how the business usually handles issues like this. And here is why I am giving this business one star instead of two. Mario responded: "I am not sure. You can contact the office." At this point I was more than disappointed and I started researching the business. Low and behold, Mario turns out to be Mario Arechiga and Marisela is wife and they own the business. So the owner lies directly to my wife, pretending he is just another lowly employee, because he lacks the integrity to give a straight forward answer. I don't do business with with liars. Ok, maybe liar is a strong word, but at minimum deceitful. The follow up emails weren't much better and tried to excuse their short-comings rather than actually address my concerns. Anyone interested feel free to contact me trough yelp and I will forward my email communication. I could go on, but I have some floor molding to install.
So to sum up my second experience: Unprepared, slow, dishonest & unprofessional.
Edit in response to the owner comment: In one word incompent. Workmanship with installing quarterround?! You can't be serious? Mario even lied that T-Molding had to be purchased at a specialty store. Low and behold the T-molding that was needed was right next to the quarterround he purchased. And yes, I didn't pay more than was agreed upon, except for the fact that you only did half the work that was agreed upon which basically made it twice as expensive. You people are shady! read more