The Handy Force

General Contractors
Toronto ON M1L 1W9
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Reviews for The Handy Force

Average customer rating:
8.4 10 (40 reviews)

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Private User
Private User
Private User reviews East York, ON
2/10

Bathroom ceiling fan installation

We had contracted the Handyforce to have a ceiling fan installed in our bathroom. We had contacted them months in advance to get this job done but mentioned it needed to be done before a certain date as we were expecting a baby and the bathroom was adjacent to the nursery.
After they promised they could get it done, we had to chase after them to get the job done on time, and the job was done poorly. One of the workers had to come back on three occasions to resurface around the fan hole and repaint the ceiling. They had quoted they would provide the ceiling fan, which was not communicated to their electrician. They did not protect any surfaces, so our vanity, faucet, and towel rack were scratched in the process. They changed the scratched items but said they could not to anything about the vanity. The job they had said would take one day ended up taking a week, and we were not really satisfied with the finished product but just wanted them out of our house by the end.
Overall, incredibly unimpressed with this company. Would not recommend.

Approximate cost of services:
$5,000.00
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Jason in
Jason in
5 reviews Toronto, ON
10/10

Stair and Railing Repair

I would recommend HandyForce. Last winter, a sidewalk snowplow damaged our front stairs and railing. The plowing company agreed to cover the costs of the repair and suggested we provide a few quotes to them, from which they would select the most cost effective one.

We reached out to several companies and were surprised at the wide ranging quotes we received. Paul from HandyForce provided a quote that was most attractive to the snowplow company, and from my reviews of HandyForce, they seemed like a good choice (and local!). Paul was very responsive to my questions, and gave honest professional opinions on what needed to be repaired/replaced. He was also VERY patient, as we waited literally weeks (maybe more like months?) for his very reasonable quote to be authorized by the snowplow company.

When we finally got the green light to proceed, Paul introduced us to his friendly colleague Justin, who would oversee the work. On the day the work was done, Gus from the HandyForce crew did a thorough repair job, taking his time to ensure build quality was good and solid. Gus also cleaned up the job site very well, leaving it neat and tidy.

Thanks HandyForce for all your help (and patience), I would recommend you to friends and family in the East York neighbourhood for any of their handyman needs.

Approximate cost of services:
$1,300.00
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Linda from Toronto
Linda from Toronto
11 reviews Toronto, ON
10/10

Odd but important jobs around the house

We have had very positive experiences with The Handy Force over the past couple of years. Norm does great work, He is very professional, conscientious, and tidies up afterwards. He has regrouted our shower floor and replaced a section of our soffit that was sagging. We appreciate knowing we can turn to them for jobs that can be assessed with a third eye and done way more efficiently and properly than if we tried to DIY it ourselves! (Estimate is a total for both jobs)

Approximate cost of services:
$800.00
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Elaine in Mississauga
Elaine in Mississauga
1 review Mississauga, ON
9/10

Repairs on 14 year old stairs

The front steps were in need of serious restoration. The frame was solid but treads were worm and breaking down as was one side stringer. The work was done over a short period and it is safer again and the stairs look good. I would recommend them

Approximate cost of services:
$2,200.00
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Private User
Private User
Private User reviews Toronto, ON
10/10

Outdoor repairs

Handy Force recently did 3 outdoor jobs for me that took one day to finish. They included replacing part of a fence and bracing it, preparing ground so that a rain barrel could sit properly and repairing an outdoor wooden storage box. I am very pleased with the results. As well they were punctual, friendly and cleaned everything up. I will use their services again without hesitation.

Approximate cost of services:
$1,300.00
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Private User
Private User
Private User reviews Toronto, ON
8/10

project

We are homeowners who have worked with The Handy Force for over 7 years. The Handy Force has completed big projects, such as renovating a bathroom to small jobs like installing a smoke alarm, and fixing a deck. Regardless of the size of the job, company staff, Paul, Mike and Ying, have always been professional, reliable, friendly, punctual and very helpful. We especially appreciate their attention to detail, and their willingness to listen to our requests. The Handy Force is our ‘go-to’ place for most of our handyman work.

Approximate cost of services:
$5,000.00
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srados in Toronto, Ontario Canada M4C2V8
srados in Toronto, Ontario Canada M4C2V8
1 review Toronto, ON
10/10

Gate, Completed!

I heve never read reviews about this company...but haggle about gate with my wife, when and who will built it, had to stop.
Company itself was punctual, they promptly returned calls. Work was completed as quoted and on time.

I am happy customer.

Approximate cost of services:
$1,200.00
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Private User
Private User
Private User reviews Toronto, ON
0/10

General Jobs Around the House

Working with the Handy Force was one of the worst customer experiences I've ever had - for a few reasons. The initial visit and quote was amazing, after confirming contract/ signing deposit, I received many updates all of which was to say "we haven't found someone yet, but we're working on it". This went on for weeks, and the actual job was finish two months later. It was doing small jobs here and there (replacing wall, fixing valve and one drain, etc). One of the people they brought in to do the work gave me his business card and said "go through me next time and you don't need to talk to Handy Force" the other, had atrocious workmanship and left a mess. The Handy Force "project manager" was someone I had to chase constantly, and when they contracted out a task, would tell me the night before that 'hey someone is coming tomorrow'.
Good for people that have had good experiences with them, it is evident that smaller jobs do not get adequate service, but then their whole shtick about 'odd jobs so you don't have to' is misleading.

Approximate cost of services:
$3,000.00
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Company Response

Hello,

Thank you for taking the time to share your experience and I am so sorry for your negative experience. Feedback, good and bad, is very important to us because it allows us to push ourselves further in areas we already excel and improve in areas we do not.

As a result of your feedback the entire leadership went through every single invoice from the last six months together to see if we could match your described scope of work, “replacing wall, fixing valve and one drain, etc.” and figure out who your project manager, and team, was. Despite the team spending several hours on this, we could not find an invoice, recall a project like this or recognize your style of writing. This is a challenge for us because we now struggle to use your feedback to grow as we do not know who was responsible as you have chosen to post anonymously.

What is striking about your feedback is you mention certain things that raise a flag for us, like the project manager contracting out tasks. We never sub-contract the tasks you are describing. All of our work is done by our employees, in our uniform, on our payroll. It is one of our core values.

You also mention that your project manager called you and said, “We haven't found someone yet, but we're working on it”. This implies that they were looking for someone to do your project, but we have our own staff. Certainly there can be delays in starting a project if a previous one runs long or external factors like weather, but trying to “find someone” simply isn’t us. We have our own staff.

You wrote that the project manager called you the day before starting and said, “Hey someone is coming tomorrow” but all projects are scheduled at least a week in advance, unless it is an emergency situation we can accommodate (in which case it is next or same day).

You brought up that one of the people gave you their business card to contact them directly. Again, this would have been a sub-contractor which we would not have brought on site for a project like this and if one of our employees did try and moon-light, knowing who it was would be very helpful so that we could react accordingly.

I apologize if you feel that certain jobs get more or less care than others but we take great pride in treating all projects equally. All of our managers are salaried employees and there is no motivation to focus on bigger or smaller projects, just on each project in the order they are received. If one of our project managers was poor in their communication skills or style, or made you feel that your project was not a priority, again, knowing who would be so helpful to us to be able to coach and grow.

At the end of all this I am so sorry that you had a terrible experience with a renovator but we cannot help suspect you have either confused us with another company or the person you hired was pretending to be us (both of which have happened before) given all the inconsistencies you describe versus how we operate.

If you feel comfortable, it would really mean the world to us if you reached out to let us know more details. It would be so helpful.

Again, from all of us at The HandyForce, we are sorry you had a bad renovation experience. When one person does, it reflects poorly on our entire industry.

-The HandyForce team

Jason
Jason
7 reviews Toronto, ON
10/10

Ceiling Repairs

I had a very positive experience with Handyforce from the initial quote/scheduling/oversight (Paul/Vijay) and completion of the work (Norm). In my particular case the work involved filling/repairing a few ceiling cracks and holes on both floors of the home followed by painting. Norm did a great job on completing this work in addition to the clean-up. Would highly recommend Handyforce again.

Approximate cost of services:
$1,500.00
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Diane Rowe from Toronto
Diane Rowe from Toronto
4 reviews Toronto, ON
10/10

Wood step and trim

I needed some doing on my house.
1 A wooden step replacing along the whole length of my sliding doors.
2 Wooden trim finishing on stairs
3 Wooden trim repairing in front of sink

I am happy with the work and will use The Handy Force again

Diane Rowe

Approximate cost of services:
$1,200.00
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The reviews on this page are the subjective opinion of the Author and not of HomeStars Inc.

More about The Handy Force

The HandyForce is on a mission to introduce customer service to the home improvement sector. While everyone is preaching customer service, we are delivering it through our employees. We only hire friendly, outgoing, professionals with an eye for detail. We ensure they dress in uniform, show up on time and ...
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