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DENVER — A Denver woman is putting out a warning to consumers after hiring the “Handy” cleaning service through their app, only to have them show up late, leave early, and leave behind dust, dirt, and mud in her bathroom and bedroom.
“As you can see they definitely did not clean in the corner. There’s hair, there’s dirt, it’s pretty gross,” Sarah Maurer said, showing pictures of her apartment to Contact7 after the cleaning.
Maurer saw a coupon in a mailer at her Capitol Hill condo, and bought a three-pack of cleanings for $99 per cleaning. Her first cleaning, before a house-warming party, involved a pair of Handy cleaners.
“In less than an hour both of them were leaving,” she said, commenting that time frame was well short of the advertised three-hour minimum.
Maurer documented what the cleaning crew did and didn’t do by taking pictures.
“They didn’t mop the floor, it’s not even damp. I went in and looked at the bathroom, there was dirt on the floor, dirt behind the toilet,” she said. “You can distinctly see mud spots (on the bedroom floor).”
Upset, Maurer went online to find dozens of one-star reviews on sites like Yelp and the Better Business Bureau. Her post about her experiences on Nextdoor drew comments from several neighbors who said they had bad experiences with Handy cleaners, including cancellations or sub-par cleanings.
The company’s Better Business Bureau profile includes a “B” rating, but has received 169 complaints in the last 12 months, and has a headline involving mandatory restitution paid out by Handy in Washington, D.C. in 2017 as a result of cleaners stealing property and misleading consumers by charging recurring charges and fees.
“I would call that a ripoff,” Sarah said.
The company sent Contact7 a statement, which reads:
At Handy, we work tirelessly to make sure that our customers enjoy an outstanding experience. But we know that no company is perfect, so our commitment to our customers is backed by the Handy Happiness Guarantee, which offers refunds and free additional services in the event that something goes wrong. We regret any negative customer experiences in the Denver area and have worked to make sure that they were fully addressed to customers' satisfaction. We encourage customers to reach out to our 24/7 customer service team directly via the Handy app or at support@handy.com.
