Jack of Some trades

What a shame that this business treats customers so very rudely. We lost our «handyman» at my job and decided to look into hiring someone to come in monthly to take care of minor repairs, etc.
i called and left a message and John called me back later that evening. I explained what I was looking for and he immediately told me «I don’t come cheap». I thought that was odd but he continued by asking me where I was located and I gave him our Milwaukee address.
He then said that his «board of directors» has determined that he «can’t do any work. In Milwaukee». Really??? in all of Milwaukee when you apparently live within blocks of Milwaukee? What a shame for the business as you just potentially lost thousands of dollars of work … Isn’t the recession still with us? You must be VERY good to turn down work.
Oh, by the way, I happen to live in a $ 400.000.00 home across from the Highlands but in Milwaukee and was thinking about some major work at my own home if this new «handyman» at work did a good job and was available.
Good luck with your «business» John, I don’t expect to see you around for very long. Overt discrimination is not usually the foundation of a good business model!

First, I need to say that John is a neighbor of mine, which is why I’ve taken so long to post this review. I know it’s going to do nothing to help keep up neighborly relations, but I can’t let what happened to us happen to someone else. And, John needs to know that what he did to us is not OK.
Initially, I got a letter in my mailbox letting us know that John was retiring and was going to do handyman work to stay busy. I thought it was a nice idea to have a handyman close and support a neighbor. Little did I know…
Everything started out OK. We needed our front door striped and repainted, and he did that good enough although I should’ve seen the warning signs. He refused to give me an estimate of any sort for the work he was going to do saying he’d simply charge me $ 17.50 an hour. Let me tell you — it doesn’t sound like much, but it adds up quite quickly.
After the door was complete, we asked him to take a look at some of the trim on the house which also needed repainting.
This was where things started falling apart. Here’s the problems:
1. Refused to give estimates given for the work we asked him to do
2. He started doing things we didn’t ask him to do – like window painting, rather than trim.
3. He’d start a new project before finishing the last one.
4. The quality of the job he’d leave unfinished was abysmal.
5. The total price we paid for the work done & left undone was much higher than if we’d gone with an insured, bonded company with professional experience
6. He randomly determined when he wanted to be paid (I put in 10 hours of 4 days — pay me when you get home tonight) — instead of when a job was complete.
Finally — we’d had enough.
Here’s the aftermath we deal with from the work he did:
1. Several windows were painted shut. In order to get them open — we broke screens and the interior window is barely holding together (see pictures).
2. We have many, many windows with paint still lingering on the glass that needs to be cleaned up. (See picture)
3. He didn’t appropriately match the paint color so we have many windows with trim that doesn’t match. By the way — he charged us for the time he spent painting with the wrong color and the time he spent redoing it.
4. He started digging out wood rot for a window but never filled it in. I guess he meant to get to it someday. (See picture)
5. The doors he painted weren’t appropriately dired — as such we have paint on door frames. (See picture)
All told — we’ve spent about $ 2,000 to date to fix the «repairs» he made.
Please — no one should have to endure what we did. He needs to know that what he did to our house and the amounts he charged us for shoddy workmanship is NOT ok.
* please note… I originally created this review for Angie’s list, but they refused to list my review because jack of some trades asked not to be listed. Angie’s list agreed. (Why i have no idea) Thus, I have have made mentions to photos. Angie’s list allows users to post photos.

BEWARE OF JACK OF SOME TRADES. If you’re a Tosa resident and have seen the yard signs for this business, it has a card spade for the «A» in Jack, BEWARE. I hired John to complete installation of crown molding in my home. We agreed to a price and with a few days of work it was completed.
When he was complete, it LOOKED good. BUT, as the silicone dried and shrunk in one of the seams, it revealed a .5″ gap where John miscalculated the length he needed to get to the corner. His solution was to leave this gap and fill it with caulking. It looks shoddy and now I’m left trying to make it less noticeable. I agreed to caulk, sand and paint the countersink nail holes for a reduction in price.
My wife calls John and explains the situation. He instantly gets defensive and rude, saying she needed to «talk to her husband» and hung up on her. I call him a few hours later, thinking a grown man could have a civil disagreement with another man. No, he proceeded to tell me he «doesn’t talk to people on Sundays» and hung up on me. UNPROFESSIONAL and unacceptable from a small business who relies on word of mouth.
We removed his JACK OF SOME TRADES sign from our yard immediately. I would not recommend John for any services. He’s a nice guy until you disagree with him. BUYER BEWARE.
Thanks — Mike P.