Porch Versus Handy
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How does Porch work for finding home improvement professionals? Wondering if you should go with Porch home services or Handy services for your next home improvement job or cleaning chore? Look no further! Our Porch vs. Handy review covers all the bases from what makes each service stand out to the screening process and prices. Does quick scheduling and fast service matter most to you? What about a company that has professionals for a wide variety of projects? Either way, our review covers everything you need to know to make the best decision for choosing the best contracting service. Continue reading to learn more about the pros and cons of each company today.
- The Good
- Porch Guarantee
- In-store access to Lowe's contractor
- Highly-targeted matching
- The Bad
- Limited screening
- Only for homeowners, not businesses
Combining the listing services that you commonly find with a guarantee, Porch Home Services is one of the best options for finding a home improvement professional. Complete portfolios that include pictures of other completed jobs and information about previous pricing can help you quickly sort through the list of options to find the right service provider.
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- The Good
- Focuses on home services
- Handles light chores like furniture assembly, painting, etc.
- Provides quick scheduling and fast service
- The Bad
- Limited list of service offerings
Often, when you’re looking at home services listings, the service categories can seem endless. That’s not the case with Handy. This highly focused, niche home services company only focuses on cleaning, light handyman services and easy (but often time-consuming) items on your to-do list.
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- Price
- Free
Where some home service list providers charge a subscription fee or one-time fee to match you up with a contractor, at Porch, the only cost is the cost of the service. You don’t pay Porch anything for the introduction to local service providers.
- Price
- Free
There’s no charge to use the Handy matchmaking service, which helps you find local professionals to handle all of your chores around the house. Service fees can vary dramatically, depending on the rate offered by a specific provider. There are several tiers based on professional service ratings, so you pay more for higher-rated providers. That means you’ll want to shop carefully to find someone who is both reliable and affordable.
- Top Services
- HVAC services
- Remodeling
- Handyman
- Plumbing
- Painting
- Electric
- Flooring
- Windows
- Roofing
Porch Home Services include all of the basic contracting options you’d expect to find. If you have a lot of small projects, handyman services could be exactly what you need. If you have a larger project in the works, you might need a general contractor. In either case, Porch has a list of options that can help you find the right professional for the job.
- Top Services
- Cleaning
- Storage
- Hanging Pictures
- Furniture Assembly
- Interior Painting
- TV Mounting
- Moving Assistance
Where Handy really excels is in the details. All of those small chores you keep putting off you can now leave to a Handy professional. You wouldn’t want to pay a contractor’s rate to come in and hang your pictures, but with Handy, you don’t have to. Instead, you can tick off all of those annoying little tasks that can eat a lot of time. Want to paint a room, start packing or finish your spring cleaning? Handy is perfect for these types of jobs.
- Screening Process
- No mandatory background checks
- Contractors can earn/buy badges that demonstrate their trustworthiness
You should always do your own vetting on any contractor you hire. This includes making sure their licensing is up to date, they have enough insurance, the company is bonded, etc. With that in mind, Porch Home Services does not automatically check credentials. They do offer the option for businesses to obtain a background check and post the badge for it, but they don’t make it mandatory.
- Screening Process
- Advanced screening
- Background checks
When a professional cleaner or handyman signs up to work with Handy, they go through a prescreening and background check. This helps ensure you’re not dealing with someone who may have a criminal record or present a potential problem. After all, you’re inviting them into your home, and you want peace of mind. With Handy, a background check helps give you that surety.
- Guarantee
- Yes
While other home services marketplace sites are a lot like a phone book — they just list the options — Porch Homes Services goes an extra step. They won’t guarantee work quality, but they do offer help in recovering deposits for unperformed work, putting in insurance claims, pursuing legal action or unnecessary damage done to your property during the work. There are a some pretty stringent requirements before you can make a claim on the guarantee, so be sure to the check the Terms and Conditions before you choose a contractor through Porch.
- Guarantee
- Yes
Customer service is a top priority at Handy, and the Handy Happiness Guarantee helps ensure you will be satisfied with your experience. If you aren’t satisfied — no worries. Handy will send out a different service provider for your next service, all at no extra charge. Plus, every Handy booking is insured, so you’re covered in case something gets damaged.
- Support
If you have a question or complaint to send to Porch Home Services, prepare to send an email and wait for them to get back to you. This is one area where Porch may not do as well as the competition. Many other home service marketplaces offer a phone number and live chat as options to get in touch with support.
- Support
Most Handy support requests are handled via email. That means you might have to wait a little bit to get a resolution, but Handy works to answer support tickets within minutes. You don’t wait for days, only to go back and forth on the issue. Instead, with a fast turnaround time on emails, support is quick and relatively seamless.
Porch: User Reviews
Handy: User Reviews
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Like many service lists, Porch offers consumers a way to find and vet contractors, while the service providers foot the bill. Porch is free for you, but contractors pay for the service and your contact information. It’s this model that helps keep the service free for users.
How Does Porch Work?
If you have a home improvement project on your list, you need to find a contractor to help you get it finished. That’s where Porch can help. Porch connects consumers with experienced and skilled service providers for all home maintenance needs. This can include services like:
- Snow removal
- Landscaping
- Handyman services
- Window repair/replacement
- General contracting services
By partnering with Lowe’s, a leader in home improvement products and appliances, Porch is able to put you in touch with some of the best local contractors. The process is simple. Go to the Porch website and fill in what type of service you need and where you need it. Then, give a few more details and contact information. Within a few hours, you’ll have several options to choose from.
Different contractors will receive the information about your job. They’ll contact you directly to discuss the scope of the work and arrange a time to give you a quote. After you do your reference checks and other verification to make sure the contractor is legally allowed to complete the work, you can hammer out the final terms and agree on a price. Porch just makes shopping for a contractor a bit easier.
If you want to insure things like appliances, you can look at a home warranty company like Select Home Warranty.
What Makes Porch Stand Out?
Porch stands out in two unique ways. The first is the Porch guarantee, which is one of the few guarantees available through a free marketplace. The second area where Porch really excels is with the in-store partnership. By partnering with Lowe’s, Porch created an instant and expansive network of contractors for you to look through. Also, you can get specific recommendations for local contractors that have done good work for other Lowe’s customers.
Finding contractors using Porch is quick and easy. Their partnership with Lowe’s also means you can shop for materials and only pay for installation with the contractor of your choice. That’s a big part of what makes Porch so accessible to you as you look for quality and affordable home maintenance.
Common Reviews of Porch
Like many list services, Porch has more than its fair share of negative reviews. However, it’s important to remember that a lot of those negative reviews don’t come from consumers after a home improvement project. Instead, the vast majority of poor reviews come from businesses that paid for the lead generation services offered by Porch.
Most consumers give Porch high — four- and five-star — ratings. The easy contact process, ability to contact contractors directly and generally good service provided combine to make this relatively new entry into home service marketplaces one of the top options on many online review sites.
Is Porch for Me?
If you have an upcoming home improvement project or just need a little help with some nagging maintenance issues, Porch might be just what you’re looking for. This service can put you in touch with virtually every standard category of home maintenance out there.
If you’ve got drafty windows or a leaky roof, Porch can help you find contractors that specialize in these areas. Porch doesn’t offer anything for the business or industrial consumer, so remember that it’s homeowners only. But, as long as you own a home and have a growing to-do list of around the house chores, Porch can help. From landscaping, including just a quick mow, to major systems, Porch has a contractor for your job.
When there aren’t enough hours in the day to handle a leaky faucet, a broken light fixture and or cracked tiles, you probably need some help. If you’re ready to start that major kitchen overhaul you’ve been planning since you moved in or want to waterproof your basement, you’ll need to find a reliable and affordable contractor. Porch takes the guesswork out of finding quality workers. You can instantly see their reviews, all on verified jobs performed through the Porch system. That means no fake reviews. You can also see what they charged other users, so you can avoid inflated pricing, too.
How Does Handy Work?
Handy offers an extensive network of professionals to handle all your household needs. From leaking faucets to dirty dishes, skilled professionals do it all. Using Handy is quick and seamless. You can schedule a service call quickly to handle anything you need. You fill in a form that details the size and scope of the job. Within minutes, a Handy professional will contact you to discuss fees and scheduling. It’s that simple.
You can look at the ratings for every Handy professional and find the one who best fits your needs. Just remember, Handy separates out handyman services from cleaning, so don’t expect your cleaner to replace an outlet.
Once you’ve made contact with several workers, you can easily sort by price and confirm a time for service. Handy will give you an estimated amount of time needed to complete service, based on the size of your home. For example, if your home has three bedrooms and two bathrooms, Handy recommends a 4.5-hour time frame. The shortest time frame usually recommended is 3 hours, but additional space doesn’t add as much time as you might expect.
A service like Choice Home Warranty can insure some of your home items and help you find home professionals when those items need to be fixed.
What Makes Handy Pro Stand Out?
There are lots of cleaning services, many offering monthly contracts. There are also plenty of handymen offering work by the hour or by the job. What makes Handy so incredible is the combination of both services through a single platform and the streamlined approach. Because Handy focuses solely on these two basic categories of service, you get highly experienced professionals in each.
Another option that makes Handy so exceptional is the ability to work with the same person again and again. Why go through the hassle of finding another cleaner who does windows the way you like them? With Handy, you can just schedule the same person to come out on a schedule. You get all the benefits of a routine cleaning contract without the commitment. Every job is singular, but with history-tracking, you can always re-book.
The Handy Happiness Guarantee is another big bonus to working with this home services company. Very few other home services companies offer any sort of guarantee, and even when they do, it usually only covers damage or job incompletion. With Handy, the guarantee covers your satisfaction. If the job isn’t done well, you can get a revisit from a different professional, at no extra charge. That’s a real guarantee.
Handy Pro Reviews
Handy is relatively new to the home services market. It started in New York in 2012, and rapidly expanded. With more than three million completed bookings under its belt, it probably comes as no surprise that there are plenty of negative reviews out there. Some of them come from disgruntled cleaners and others from dissatisfied customers. A missed appointment or poor experience with a single contractor can often lead to a one-star review. However, if you look at individuals on the Handy marketplace, you’ll notice that the average rating is 4.5-stars.
Ultimately, no company can always deliver a 100 percent satisfactory experience. What Handy does deliver is an affordable service and easy scheduling. You might have some pain points as you cycle through a few professionals to find one who works well in your home, but once you do, you’re likely to join a host of others who rate the service highly.
Is Handy Pro for Me?
Does your to-do list keep getting longer? When you’ve got an ever-growing laundry list of household chores and not enough hours in the week to get them done, Handy is the type of service you need. You can get help with:
- Cleaning the toilet
- Folding the laundry
- Mowing the lawn
- Washing windows
- Vacuuming
- Small maintenance tasks
- And much more
When you’re busy, keeping up with the endless round of cleaning and maintenance tasks that go into maintaining your home can be impossible. Handy takes some of that off your plate. You’ll still need to cook dinner, but at least you can avoid the clean-up afterwards. Plus, you can get as much or as little cleaning as you need. For example, if you’ve got guests coming and just need those rooms freshened and made ready, schedule a one-time service. You don’t need to pay for the whole house when all you need cleaned is a few rooms.
If you want regular cleaning service, that’s also available. And you don’t need to stock the cleaning supplies. Handy professionals bring their own, so all you need to do is let them in and go over your chore list.
Meg Regan • July 3, 2018
Wish I could give zero stars, I never leave reviews but trying to save someone else from making my same mistake. PLEASE NEVER EVER CONTRACT THIS AWFUL COMPANY!!!!!!!! I set up an appointment one month ahead of time. I confirmed with them multiple times for a swingset installation. Talked with them twice the morning of the appointment, was told we were all set with no delays, and they were a NO SHOW!!! They didn’t even call to let us know. ALFONSO the manager wouldn’t call us back. Spent all day trying to get in touch with someone. They repeatedly tried to avoid our calls and didn’t attempt to reschedule. They claimed they couldn’t find anyone to do the job even though they sent me an email confirmation the day before the appointment. I drove to another state for this installation. This company is so unprofessional. Unfortunate for Lowe’s that they are partners. Worst experience ever. Please save yourself the headache.