Kasia Hebda
Hands You Demand replaced a kitchen faucet, light switches, and four GFCI outlets in my kitchen last week. The kitchen faucet seems to be fine. Of the outlets, only one was installed correctly. Two don’t have power at all (the handyman told me about one, and I initially thought it just never had power to it, but now I have my doubts) and because of how the outlets on that circuit are wired, also took out an outlet that was just fine and that he didn’t touch. But worst of all is that on outlet that appears perfectly fine and has power was installed without a connection to the ground and the GFCI not working. I never would have known about this... Hands You Demand replaced a kitchen faucet, light switches, and four GFCI outlets in my kitchen last week. The kitchen faucet seems to be fine. Of the outlets, only one was installed correctly. Two don’t have power at all (the handyman told me about one, and I initially thought it just never had power to it, but now I have my doubts) and because of how the outlets on that circuit are wired, also took out an outlet that was just fine and that he didn’t touch. But worst of all is that on outlet that appears perfectly fine and has power was installed without a connection to the ground and the GFCI not working. I never would have known about this dangerous problem if I hadn’t decided to stick a little outlet tester in there, just in case. I didn’t think that replacing outlets was all that complicated. I’ve done it myself but didn’t have the time/wanted to test out Hands You Demand in my own home before I used the service to do jobs the tenant requested in my rental property, but I will neither be using them again nor recommending them. Following up, I just unscrewed the outlet and immediately noticed that the handyman just didn’t install the ground. See photo for evidence. Following up again, after some troubleshooting, I was also able to get all the outlets (including the one the technician had claimed never worked) working again. In simple terms, the technician attached the wires that should have gone to the top of the outlet to the bottom and vice versa. Hands You Demand reached out to me today, and after I explained what happened, they said they would “investigate” and get back to me. After speaking to the technician, they called me back to tell me (in a raised voice) that the problem was due to some previous work on my lights that the technician had told me had caused one outlet to not work. His conclusion was that the technician had done nothing wrong and that the problem was that previous work, as the technician had explained to me. Once I was allowed a word in edgewise, I was able to convince him that this purported other work could not be the reason their technician failed to install a ground on an outlet on the other side if the kitchen. And, I went through, outlet by outlet, explaining what was wrong with each one, and explained that once I installed them all correctly, they all worked (even the one that the technician had claimed didn’t work because of previous electrical work). But before I convinced this man to believe me, he accused me of acting improperly under the contract and the law and said that it was surprising that a person like me, who knows how to replace an outlet and to check that an outlet is installed correctly would hire someone to do it, as if I did something wrong to immediately act to fix a dangerous issue at my house. When I raised the issue of these accusations with him, he said that was not his intention, but according to him, the right thing to do would have been to contact Hands You Demand when I noticed the issue, before trying to fix it myself. And, admittedly, I do not give second chances when someone’s work makes my house more dangerous. Hands You Demand refunded me the cost of the work, which was not my concern (and did not compensate me for the time I spent scheduling the initially appointment or the time I spent troubleshooting and fixing the problem) and eventually offered to send an electrician to check that the outlets are now correctly installed (not necessary, they are). But after the the initial refusal to believe me, the raised voice, and the accusations (again, he claimed that was not his intent), I was left with a very negative impression of this company.