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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

by 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!
  - robotresearcher 11y ago
    Did/does Handy promise to provide a particular individual?
    - function_seven 11y ago
      They may or may not. I don't know. But there is a means of requesting a specific person, and they obviously take it seriously enough to send notifications. But it's not good customer service to notify your client that their request can't be accommodated when it's too late for them to do anything about it. If the notice was prior to the cancellation-fee period, then sure, charge the fee if canceled within 24-hours. But if you give me late notice, at least allow me to late-cancel in return.
      - deleted 11y ago
        [deleted]
      - robotresearcher 11y ago
        I checked the TOS and they do not guarantee the same individual.
        jonknee 11y ago
        But they make a point to allow you to book the same individual (or Professional in Handy parlance). https://www.handy.com/help#/315d90/a4db36/19c48c https://www.handy.com/help#/315d90/a4db36/19c48c If they let you book a Pro and that Pro cannot make it on late notice, it is absurd to charge a late notice cancellation fee. At least Amex is great about not giving a shit about awful TOS. If you screw your customers over and accept Amex you'll soon find out that you won't be getting paid.
- gutnor 11y ago
  In real world, if your regular cleaner calls in sick, you don't pay for that visit. If you really need some cleaning done you talk to him to come a few days before the usual scheduled date. It is a 1:1 relationship and often with the cleaner in the stronger position. Apps like Handy want to invert that, but in the case of Handy they basically failed to provide the consistent quality and a critical mass of cleaner to offset people reluctance to engage with cleaners like this. This lead to the kind of frustration the parent describe. The real loss for Handy is not the cancellation or even the loss of that customer for good, the real loss is that they lost the recommendation of that customer and recommendation is the main way your currently chose a cleaner.
pdabbadabba 11y ago
Yep. Same story here. Cleaner didn't show up and Handy refused to refund my cleaning fee because the cleaner had attempted to contact me. (Apparently Handy does not find it relevant that I never received a call, nobody ever came to my house, and I am paying for cleaning not a phone call.) Eventually, after much back and forth, their customer service people simply stopped responding. Against my better judgment, I attempted to book through them again the next week. Cleaner didn't show up and would not answer his/her phone. On numerous prior visits the cleaner was very late and/or did a very poor job. Handy doesn't care. This is a truly terrible service--one of the worst experiences I've ever had with a company.

by dsl 11y ago

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!
- robotresearcher 11y ago
  Did/does Handy promise to provide a particular individual?
  - function_seven 11y ago
    They may or may not. I don't know. But there is a means of requesting a specific person, and they obviously take it seriously enough to send notifications. But it's not good customer service to notify your client that their request can't be accommodated when it's too late for them to do anything about it. If the notice was prior to the cancellation-fee period, then sure, charge the fee if canceled within 24-hours. But if you give me late notice, at least allow me to late-cancel in return.
    - deleted 11y ago
      [deleted]
    - robotresearcher 11y ago
      I checked the TOS and they do not guarantee the same individual.
      - jonknee 11y ago
        But they make a point to allow you to book the same individual (or Professional in Handy parlance). https://www.handy.com/help#/315d90/a4db36/19c48c https://www.handy.com/help#/315d90/a4db36/19c48c If they let you book a Pro and that Pro cannot make it on late notice, it is absurd to charge a late notice cancellation fee. At least Amex is great about not giving a shit about awful TOS. If you screw your customers over and accept Amex you'll soon find out that you won't be getting paid.
gutnor 11y ago
In real world, if your regular cleaner calls in sick, you don't pay for that visit. If you really need some cleaning done you talk to him to come a few days before the usual scheduled date. It is a 1:1 relationship and often with the cleaner in the stronger position. Apps like Handy want to invert that, but in the case of Handy they basically failed to provide the consistent quality and a critical mass of cleaner to offset people reluctance to engage with cleaners like this. This lead to the kind of frustration the parent describe. The real loss for Handy is not the cancellation or even the loss of that customer for good, the real loss is that they lost the recommendation of that customer and recommendation is the main way your currently chose a cleaner.

pdabbadabba 11y ago

Yep. Same story here. Cleaner didn't show up and Handy refused to refund my cleaning fee because the cleaner had attempted to contact me. (Apparently Handy does not find it relevant that I never received a call, nobody ever came to my house, and I am paying for cleaning not a phone call.) Eventually, after much back and forth, their customer service people simply stopped responding. Against my better judgment, I attempted to book through them again the next week. Cleaner didn't show up and would not answer his/her phone. On numerous prior visits the cleaner was very late and/or did a very poor job. Handy doesn't care. This is a truly terrible service--one of the worst experiences I've ever had with a company.