Stephen’s Handyman Service

We contacted Stephen’s Handyman Service to complete repairs on our new home purchase. It was a TERRIBLE experience and we would not recommend him to anyone:
1) Stephen was not punctual or reliable — He was consistently late. He would call or text with «be there in 20 minutes», and take over 2 hours to show up, or not at all, citing flimsy excuses.
2) Drastic timeline inaccuracies — It took over 30 days for what he quoted as «6 days», and ended up with him just completely abandoning project, including tasks he had been paid in full for already.
3) Difficult to reach and communicate with — He would regularly go days as completely unresponsive, and unreachable via text, phone, email in the middle of ongoing projects. This left us with no clue if we had been ditched or otherwise. He would also send rude text messages to us.
4) Unable to work with others (including his own referred sub-​contractors) — We elected to use his referral for a painter for a complete interior repainting of our home. Stephen assured us that he would manage the job to ensure it was done correctly. Not only did the project management not happen, but he later stated that he «just couldn’t work with them,» and regularly complained to US about the painting contractor HE selected until he quit. Which brings me to the next point.
5) Threats to abandon job/​project — He threatened and actually left our home in an irrational fit multiple times.
6) Unsatisfactory work site management — On two separate occasions he elected to open windows in unoccupied home, and never closed them. They were left open over night, and one night it rained! He ignored my complaints on this issue.
7) Pushy about getting paid — He regularly produces a confusing stack of invoices for complete and incomplete work and requested payment. He even later complained that «When we paid in advance for work he had not completed that it ‘messed him up’.»
8) Bonded? Work Guaranteed? — He will say «if he touches it, he owns it.» Not a chance. He’s gone and we’ll never seem him again even though work has not been completed (despite being paid in full on many tasks).
Save yourself considerable financial, mental, and emotional stress and do NOT use Stephen.