7 ms·

"In reality, inviting someone into your home is a very personal thing, and people much prefer to build a relationship with someone that they might pay a little

"In reality, inviting someone into your home is a very personal thing, and people much prefer to build a relationship with someone that they might pay a little more on a regular basis, than get a different person each time." Yes, for sure. I've had professional home cleaners for nearly 10 years now. And over the course of those years, I've had many conversations with friends and neighbors who do as well (e.g. in giving/receiving recommendations). I can't imagine using a service that sends someone different every time, or even someone for whom I can't see reviews and receive references before the first visit. I think most of the people I've talked to are in the same boat. This is a service that requires putting a lot of trust in the service provider. I could potentially see myself using an app that helped me find a provider, but it would need to give me a lot of information about them up front, and let me choose from several. And then it would have to let me keep getting the same person every time. It ends up being more like an Angie's List than a Homejoy. For something like a handyman, where the service is less intimate and less frequent, this might make more sense (though I have had enough horrible experiences with handymen that I also would want personal recommendations at this point)...

preinheimer 11y ago
I gave Handy(Book) a try, and consistency in who arrived was my issue. The first person they sent was absolutely fantastic, send her every week!. Trying to book her again was a nightmare, the docs didn't match the application, and support pointed me back at the documentation. Finally a month later, after several support calls and emails, I had the same cleaner booked. Success! The morning of my appointment I looked online and they'd switched my cleaner. The new person arrived 45 minutes late, did a poor job, and tried to get me to book her outside of Handy. Finding someone on Craigslist is easier and cheaper. Answer a random ad, asses quality after their first visit. Either book them on a recurring schedule or move on to the next ad. The only difference is paying with a cheque rather than a CC.
- dsl 11y ago
  Just had the same issue with Handy. They notified my girlfriend 20 hours before an appointment that our requested cleaner was unavailable, and when we canceled charged us $15 for canceling within 24 hours. After 4 different attempts to cancel we gave up and called American Express. They blocked Handy from charging the card again and did a chargeback for every dollar we ever spent with them.
  - robotresearcher 11y ago
    How can Handy survive in the real world where workers reasonably call in sick with less than 24 hours notice if their customers behave like this?
    - chipotle_coyote 11y ago
      Figuring that out is kind of integral to Handy's business model. they're essentially playing matchmaker between customer and service provider, which means their business begins and ends with customer service. If you pay for Bob to come over and clean your kitchen because you know Bob does great work, it's perfectly reasonable for me to call you up and say, "Bob's sick today, can I send Jed over instead?" But it's also perfectly reasonable for you to say "no, so cancel my appointment for today." It is not reasonable for me to charge you a cancellation fee under that scenario.
      - robotresearcher 11y ago
        I agree that is a better level of service. But it may be reasonable if that's the agreement we already entered into. Here is the relevant clause from the Handy TOS: "Handy cannot guarantee that the same Professional will be scheduled for each Recurrent Service appointment"
        unclebucknasty 11y ago
        Then, they shouldn't assign a cleaner and notify the customer who is assigned, as it essentially sets customer expectations that are inconsistent with their TOS. Next, they make it worse by charging a fee for the pleasure of being disappointed. Pretty bad customer experience.
    - jonknee 11y ago
      Well one easy way would be to not charge a cancellation fee when you don't provide the agreed upon service!
- thechut 11y ago
  This is ultimately my same issue with Handy. I don't want a different person every single time. I think this makes it really hard to make it work. That being said I have had Handy come and clean many times now and not changed it, so I think there is a slight convenience factor. It would be better if Handy just facilitated the direct communication with the same person to come every time. And instead of charging me a fee, charged the cleaner a kind of 'management' fee. I think that would better.
akshatpradhan 11y ago
>I can't imagine using a service that sends someone different every time, or even someone for whom I can't see reviews and receive references before the first visit. This is a service that requires putting a lot of trust in the service provider. The alternative is if Homejoy would have treated Cleaners as employees and properly trained them. A properly trained and paid Cleaner as an employee would have provided that trust you seek.
- yaur 11y ago
  No way. If I'm paying someone less than 100$ to come in to a place where they could walk out with $10K+ worth of electronics, jewelry, etc I either need to be there to supervise or have a long standing relationship with the person. Ideally I would like to know enough of their other clients that a single robbery doesn't make economic sense for them. Once the relationship exists the agency brings minimal value.
  - akshatpradhan 11y ago
    That statement is conditional that you're paying the person less than $100. What if the highly qualified employee from Homejoy was for $200-$250?
    - yaur 11y ago
      Then they would be so far above market rate they would never be considered.

preinheimer 11y ago

I gave Handy(Book) a try, and consistency in who arrived was my issue. The first person they sent was absolutely fantastic, send her every week!. Trying to book her again was a nightmare, the docs didn't match the application, and support pointed me back at the documentation. Finally a month later, after several support calls and emails, I had the same cleaner booked. Success! The morning of my appointment I looked online and they'd switched my cleaner. The new person arrived 45 minutes late, did a poor job, and tried to get me to book her outside of Handy. Finding someone on Craigslist is easier and cheaper. Answer a random ad, asses quality after their first visit. Either book them on a recurring schedule or move on to the next ad. The only difference is paying with a cheque rather than a CC.

dsl 11y ago
Just had the same issue with Handy. They notified my girlfriend 20 hours before an appointment that our requested cleaner was unavailable, and when we canceled charged us $15 for canceling within 24 hours. After 4 different attempts to cancel we gave up and called American Express. They blocked Handy from charging the card again and did a chargeback for every dollar we ever spent with them.
- robotresearcher 11y ago
  How can Handy survive in the real world where workers reasonably call in sick with less than 24 hours notice if their customers behave like this?
  - chipotle_coyote 11y ago
    Figuring that out is kind of integral to Handy's business model. they're essentially playing matchmaker between customer and service provider, which means their business begins and ends with customer service. If you pay for Bob to come over and clean your kitchen because you know Bob does great work, it's perfectly reasonable for me to call you up and say, "Bob's sick today, can I send Jed over instead?" But it's also perfectly reasonable for you to say "no, so cancel my appointment for today." It is not reasonable for me to charge you a cancellation fee under that scenario.
    - robotresearcher 11y ago
      I agree that is a better level of service. But it may be reasonable if that's the agreement we already entered into. Here is the relevant clause from the Handy TOS: "Handy cannot guarantee that the same Professional will be scheduled for each Recurrent Service appointment"
      - unclebucknasty 11y ago
        Then, they shouldn't assign a cleaner and notify the customer who is assigned, as it essentially sets customer expectations that are inconsistent with their TOS. Next, they make it worse by charging a fee for the pleasure of being disappointed. Pretty bad customer experience.
  - jonknee 11y ago
    Well one easy way would be to not charge a cancellation fee when you don't provide the agreed upon service!
thechut 11y ago
This is ultimately my same issue with Handy. I don't want a different person every single time. I think this makes it really hard to make it work. That being said I have had Handy come and clean many times now and not changed it, so I think there is a slight convenience factor. It would be better if Handy just facilitated the direct communication with the same person to come every time. And instead of charging me a fee, charged the cleaner a kind of 'management' fee. I think that would better.

akshatpradhan 11y ago

>I can't imagine using a service that sends someone different every time, or even someone for whom I can't see reviews and receive references before the first visit. This is a service that requires putting a lot of trust in the service provider. The alternative is if Homejoy would have treated Cleaners as employees and properly trained them. A properly trained and paid Cleaner as an employee would have provided that trust you seek.

yaur 11y ago
No way. If I'm paying someone less than 100$ to come in to a place where they could walk out with $10K+ worth of electronics, jewelry, etc I either need to be there to supervise or have a long standing relationship with the person. Ideally I would like to know enough of their other clients that a single robbery doesn't make economic sense for them. Once the relationship exists the agency brings minimal value.
- akshatpradhan 11y ago
  That statement is conditional that you're paying the person less than $100. What if the highly qualified employee from Homejoy was for $200-$250?
  - yaur 11y ago
    Then they would be so far above market rate they would never be considered.