Handy Randy Services

Having recently moved to Shrewsbury, where I know no one, and needing some handyman help for the house I just rented, I connected with Mike at Handy Randy. I had a lot of projects for them to work on, from house painting, to electrical work, to window repair. In the beginning, when they showed up, they were quite helpful on a variety of tasks (especially a young man named Brandon). But, for some reason, over time I went crazy (literally) staying home day after day waiting for someone to show up as promised and begging Mike by voice mail, email & text, to just clue me in in advance if something wasn’t going to happen as scheduled. Mike’s favorite excuse was cell phone problems, but that was a pile of crap! He was obviously overloaded with too many commitments and didn’t know how to say no… or please wait a week or so… to potential customers.
I rely on communication with the people who say they can service my needs. There were too many times when I was literally begging Mike to communicate, asking him to just give me a clue about what was going to happen the next day… with absolutely no response. When we started I thought we were soul mates. When it was over we weren’t talking and I fired him by email.

One of the rudest, most unreliable, and incompetent service providers we have ever had the misfortune of trying to deal with. We bought an Amazon Local online promotional coupon to get some light repair work done. We called just before the holidays hoping to get some work done before family arrived, but there was no outgoing message informing the business was closed until after the New Year. Then after New Year’s Day, the Mike referred to in other posts called, explained, apologized, and offered to come next Sunday. When I tried repeatedly over the next week to call and text to his cell phone number, I never got the courtesy of a response.
Then we called and complained to Lucia, in the office, and she apologized and set up an appointment for a time when both my wife and I would be home. No show. We call, Lucia apologized, said someone on Mike’s crew had an accident, and then tried to claim our appointment was a week later. Then we got another «last chance» appointment date. Soon after Lucia called essentially to say they don’t want our business and hung up on us.
You don’t need the aggravation. Find somebody else.

I heard about Handy Randy from a friend in Framingham and gave them a call last September when I had some projects I couldn’t do on my own. Mike came out, gave me an estimate and discussed the best way to do get the work done.
Since September, Mike and Jim have hung some new cabinets, ripped up an old tile floor and replaced old, cracked plaster with drywall and swapped out some light fixtures in my bedroom and living room.
The pros:
Mike from Handy Randy is a very experienced and professional handyman and a great resource to find out how to get the your project done quickly and properly. The guys are reasonably priced (and I’ve priced out other handyman services) and complete the repairs on time.
The cons:
When things are really busy, the guys might take longer than I’d like to get them onsite (several days rather than the 1 – 2 days it took back when I first started working with them in the Fall). Also, the first time they came over, they left the room where they were working in with dust and debris on the floor (since then, they’re been a lot better and have left the workspace broom swept).
Summary: Despite the difficulties with getting them on site, they’re a lot less expensive than the other handymen I’ve dealt with, they get the job done and they’re a lot more pleasant to work with. I plan to continue brining them in as the need arises.

These guys renovated a home I recently listed and sold. Everyone that came through the door was blown away at how great a job they did. They took an early 1950’s home and made it better than most new homes I see. Their attention to detail was excellent.