The Handyman Returns

When I was going over the work that needed to be done on the property, my handyman told me he had an assistant who was going to work on replacing the dry rot on the patio enclosure. He gave me his number and last night I called him, in an attempt to find out the status of the job. When I initially talked to him, he wasn't sure who I was, but he did tell me that my handyman had returned from vacation Monday night. So I called and left another message for him.

Yesterday, the assistant called me back and apologized for not knowing who I was earlier and then told me all the work on the property was done. He said the venting was done, the window was replaced, etc. This was good news!

This morning, I went out and checked on the property. What I found was pretty upsetting. Only about half of the items on my checklist were done. The two vent pipes were not fixed, despite what the assistant told me. The electrical box did not have blanks installed. The master bedroom ceiling fan and lights did not work. Caulking around the master bath shower was not fixed. In addition to this, there were more things that needed to be fixed: the master bedroom door strike plate was adjusted and the door closed correctly, but one screw was missing from the doorknob, so that was loose. The handle to the screen door leading to the back patio was missing and the screen was ripped in two places. I also discovered the air conditioning was left running and there was a hose bib in the back that was dripping. Those things were probably going for 2 weeks, so that will raise my utility costs.

I called the handyman this morning and left a pretty angry voicemail. At the time I was leaving it, he called me and left a message for me. His message stated all the work was done, according to his assistant - the same thing I was told. However, in my message to him, I listed all the things that were not done, plus the new problems that needed to be fixed. I told him I was pissed that I met with him over two weeks ago and he told me the job would take 1 day, yet over two weeks later, it still wasn't done. I demanded he call me back today to explain what was going on and that I wanted the work done by 5 PM tomorrow, since escrow closes the day after that.

About 30 minutes later, I got another message from him. (I missed the call because I was talking with some co-workers about my upcoming departure.) His message said he was sorry things weren't done. He thought he had things covered when he left for vacation, but apparently he didn't. He said he would go over to the house today and get everything done, then call me this evening with a report. He also said there would be no charge for all the work.

We shall see...