Desert Sun Home Improvement and Handyman Services

Bill seemed to be knowledgeable and was recommended by Angie’s List so we contracted with Bill Andrews, Desert Sun Handyman Services, LLC, to build a 18’X10’ pergola on our existing patio back on June 27, 2020, providing him with a deposit for materials and half of the labor. Since that time, we have determined that he is not capable of managing a project like this. Examples of problems we encountered are: 1) He did not know Boise code, so was unaware that the agreed upon initial design of the pergola which would attach to our house required a permit. 2) We found out that he is handyman not a contractor so is unable to get a building permit, which led to us trying to go through the process. We ultimately decided the effort to get a permit was too extensive so we agreed upon a stand-alone pergola so there would be no permit required. We agreed to the new cost for the project on August 02, 2020. With an expected lead time for the wood to be delivered by August 16, 2020. 3) Bill never provided us with a drawing of the pergola, only giving us an itemized list of the wood to be used. This should have been an obvious problem to us, and we should have not continued with him, but at this point we still trusted him. 4) Bill recommended using a specific lumber company to provide and pre-cut all cedar wood per his design. Based on his description this sounded great. a. The reality is the company Bill recommended did not deliver any wood until they delivered a partial shipment on September 09, 2020. Of that delivery several 6X6 supports had excessive cracking and many the 2X4s were extremely bent (not something you would want on your pergola). b. On September 18, 2020 they delivered three 6X10X20 boards which were not cedar and were not shaped appropriately for the pergola (still none of the 6X6 Posts that are needed). c. On October 14, 2020, they delivered three 6X10X20 cedar boards which were not shaped appropriately for the pergola (still none of the 6X6 Posts that are needed). d. At this point Bill suggested we cancel the project and at this point we had to agree since we had completely lost any level of confidence that the lumber company would deliver quality wood or in Bill’s ability to deliver a pergola that would be acceptable to us. Note: our neighbor built a pergola in July with wood from Home Depot – it was all straight and not cracked 5) Throughout the process, Bill has only communicated in response to us contacting him, he never proactively communicated the delays of the wood. He was good at replying once you contacted him. 6) During a call on November 4, 2020 he has stated that he would reimburse any labor, hardware, stain, and cutting fees but that we would be responsible for the cost of all the wood. He had said that a check would be sent to us on November 6, 2020, but he did not. Bill has not communicated with us since. 7) Later November 4, 2020, we typed his name in Google and found that there are BBB & Yelp reviews that show that he has had similar issues in the past. He actually has an F rating on the BBB site (Desert Sun Handyman Services, LLC | Better Business Bureau® Profile). Desert Sun Handyman Services, LLC | Better Business Bureau® Profile This organization is not BBB accredited. Handyman in Boise, ID. See BBB rating, reviews, complaints, & more. [*** Link removed ***] 8) Based on a discussion with a lawyer we sent a text November 13, 2020 and certified letter November 16, 2020 to Bill telling him we will pursue legal remedies if he has not refunded labor, hardware, stain, and cutting fees, as he had agreed, by November 23, 2020. He did not respond to the text. 9) As of December 1, 2020, we still not received any reimbursement from Bill. 10) We are hoping that Angies List can help pressure Bill to refund the money he had agreed to.

Looks good. We're happy.