Handyman Hotline

Zack W.

Wow, Were do I even start...In October 2016 Called James Fain to Remove 1970's fireplace rock, put in new stone on fireplace and ship lap the remaining wall (8X12). Was quoted $3200... And was told would be completed by Christmas for familly visiting...Its now Jan 18 and I have written out $7183.38 In check payments ( Yes I have all check numbers and Invoice numbers If you want them.) Project still not done, no time line, wont return calls, His 2 man crew shows up around 11 am 2-3 days a week take 2 hour lunches talk on cell phones and pack out at 3 pm. They only charge $75 a hour each. One day for example they hung 4 pieces (4x8) plywood and charged me $1200... There a bunch of clowns and my next stop is the BBB...DO NOT HIRE THEM!!!

Jeanine D.

WE used James Fain for our realtor when we were purchasing a vacation rental in South Lake Tahoe in February 2016. He is an excellent realtor and we highly recommend him for realty services.
Our mistake was hiring him as a flooring contractor...
We hired him to install laminate flooring throughout our home. It was installed incorrectly and cracked and started to buckle because the laminate was too tightly installed. We hired another contractor to take a look at the install, which was still in process, and he said it needed to be sawed at the baseboards because it would buckle and crack if not given room to expand and contract. I contacted James Fain by email explaining the inadequate job and he did not address any of my concerns. He ignored me.
We had to hire another contractor to come in and saw all the edges/corners of the flooring so the floor would stop buckling.
The floor is barely a year old and looks so poor that we will have to get another floor installed.
I paid James Fain over $10,000. for the worst install of a laminate I've ever seen.

I will never use his services again!

Jonathan S.

A few months back we called Handyman Hotline to get quotes (it's important to note that we are asking for more than one) for projects that we would like to start on our VHR. We had several projects in mind and wanted quotes for each project and made that very clear to the contractor during our walk through. After a few day, the quote was sent .... and yes a ""total cost"" for all of our projects which was not itemized. When we asked for a breakdown of at least an estimate for each project (the contractors that I work with at my day job have ALWAYS done this) they flat out said they could not. This automatically made me wonder how they came us with the quote. Well we trusted them (and their good Yelp reviews) and went ahead with them doing one of the projects even though they would only say $45 per hour and not even estimate the costs of supplies. Well we got our first invoice, which they do daily, and there were charges greater than $45/hr. It was for an electrician at $120/hour x 2 (as 2 people is always needed for any type of jobs) which makes since but that wasn't even disclosed to us. We asked them to stop the project and asked that they give us a breakdown or even an estimate for just this project but they advised that they will do this after we pay the first invoice. James, the owner, said he would but never did. We have followed up with the initial contractor which I will not name names on several occasions that we would like to have a report on what was done by the electricians but NEVER received it. Even when reminding us of the open invoice, we received nothing. We were really looking forward to working with them since when speaking to them in the beginning they seemed very professional and transparent. But starting with the original quote it went downhill from there. James is also a real estate agent and it really shows that he no longer wants to support this contracting business. They might be good for small quick projects but don't expect ANY type of breakdown of price. Do not support this business as they are not reputable and poor follow up skills.

Christie W.

We needed a gas line installed to a fire pit. We have an existing line with a shut off so just needed the line ran and connected to the fire pit. We called 5 different places and noone returned our call except Chris. He let us know what the hourly rate would be and that they could do it the early part of the following week. This was Wednesday. We received a call from Rudy the next day asking if he could come by and take a look at the job. He arrived within 30 minutes and said he could do it right away. He went and got the supplies and it took him a very short while to finish for us. He did a great job. I would recommend them to anyone needing stuff done around the house.

Coral D.

To start the company was right at your beckon call. Take your check and guys did a good job. Next storm I was calling asking for them to show up. Was told by owner that it was done? Got put on three way phone call with Leadman. In fact it was not done and I am having to defend my word.
This happened over four times with saying they did the job. I was compensated with a really good youngman who did a wonderful job. He did all that was told I would have a good review if this was to continue when I signed up with the company.
I am again requesting him when I am told "" he spends too much time and the boss doesn't like it""
Never saw him again. I called again to get my driveway cleared and the Leadman came and chatted with me as I cleaned my own snow! Yes, watched me who paid them to do the job shovel snow. I am a elderly woman with medical problems that the company was made aware of at time of hiring.
The last time I saw anyone come to the house I stepped out to ask if they can ""uncover the water shut off"" Yes, They covered it over and over all winter.
I am told with mumbles what I think was ya. I watched him and he did not do it and proceeded to shovel snow all back into the clean areas I paid another to clear. Infact I paid another to clear every time because I was stuck in my own driveway full of snow.
I watched out the window after trying several times to get this man to look up when I talked,Kindly may I add.
He drove his vehicle over his shovel breaking it. Then used it to clear what little snow he could form my yard with it. He kicked at everything he could, he threw the shovel at his truck missing over and over. If he would have put that energy into the removal of the snow a job well done would have be.
I am not going to recommend this company with the staff that is running it now. Good luck just was not mine with this Company.

Kacie K.

Rudy is the best!!!! When our 60+ year old water heater was shooting sparks, he came out in a matter of 20 minutes to fix it. He even made a trip to the store for us to buy the part to fix it and was very knowledgeable about older cabins and the electrical issues that tend to come with them.

We will definitely be calling him again for any issues or to plow our driveway in the future!

Susan C.

My husband and I have a vacation rental in South Lake Tahoe. Handyman hotline has helped us in many different ways : they have done handyman work , Snow removal , emergency tasks that needed to be done before the next guests arrived and more. Their prices are always very fair , their work has always been exceptional . We have used them for one year now and have plans to continue to use them in a regular basis. Without the handyman hotline, my husband and I do not believe that we could've ran such a big successful vacation rental property. Thank you for all your work.

Carolyn C.

Just had 3 ceiling fans installed and again.. Great service, great workmanship, reasonable rates. Will continue to call Chris and his team whenever we need anything repaired or home improvements to be made! Our 2nd experience was just as good as the first... Highly recommend this company!!

Steven J.

2/20 Update. I see the owner posted a reply. Here's my position. As you can see on photo of the original invoice, the due date is clearly March 1st. I received an updated invoice today saying invoice is now due today. Perhaps the original invoice was a typo, if so, the owner MUST inform the consumer of that mistake and agree to the changes. They can not make a unilateral change without notice. As a consumer, you have every right to question what was done and how long a job took. I ask everyone this, if you have a truck snow plow, does it take 1 hour to move the snow on the end he of the road that leads into a driveway? Doubt it. Again, readers of this review, you decide for yourself. I never have any problems of paying invoices, but when I feel I'm being over billed I will request for full validation and justification.

Again, I have used James and his services for over 4 years so I was a happy customer until this recent event so this is not a fake review.
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I'm updating my review based upon a recent dealing with this company. I call and requested a one time plow after the storm. I've attached before and after pictures along with the invoice I received. Long story short, very dishonest in how they conduct themselves. James is the owner and he's stretched way too thin. He has this business plus a real estate company.

When I received the invoice, it was for 2 individuals with 3 hrs of work plus one individual for a snow plow for an hour. I might be completely off base, but I'll let readers of this review decide for themselves after looking at the pictures if it warranted 3 hrs of work by 2 men and 1 hour of work by one other man with a plow.

I emailed James asking for validation. His response was....""Ive already given a $5 per man hour discount"". I wasn't asking about a discount. I wanted validation. If they did do 3 hrs of work, I don't mind paying. I replied back to James asking for validation. His 2nd reply, ""?We dont do these neglected snow removal accts at all. I was reluctant because they are basically layers upon layers of ice. That is why we bill per hour?"". To my readers, it was close to 40deg on Friday, and yes there was approx 24-30 inches of snow piled up, but the underlayer was not completely frozen. I replied to James and said I will reluctantly pay the invoice and post on yelp. His unbelievable response....""We're sorry for that you're upset about the service you received we will discontinue all business with you in the future per your request thank you.""

I'll leave it all up to the readers to decide if they want to do business with a man and his company who can't even validate the work completed and is willing to brush off a once loyal customer. I will never use his services again.

James M.

Just selling leads to 3rd paries. Does not address questions with message reaponses. Just call others directly instead of using these guys.