0800 HANDYMAN

New Honda S-Wings

noreply@blogger.com (Company blog) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 18:03:00 +0000

Our new bikes arrived today and they look absolutely beautiful!! Honda S-Wings in a brilliant red which is our corporate colour, with distinctive branding.
In a day or so we will post a picture, but if you see one on the roads of London you will like it for sure!

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Busy!!

noreply@blogger.com (Company blog) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 12:08:00 +0000

We have the distinct impression that things are changing out there and business is on the up. Don't like to use the 'Green shoots...........' expression, but definitely people are coming out of their hiding places at last and having work done on their homes or in their business premises.
Is this the beginning of the end????

T-Mobile

noreply@blogger.com (Company blog) — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 11:35:00 +0000

Here is an update on a post we made back in 2007. First the original post below;

This is priceless: because we now have a certain number of lines with T-mobile, we have been assigned our own "account manager".

But we can't get hold of this person (no direct line, and if they are unavailable, and presumably most of the time they will be on the phone to other customers given that that is their job, we have to leave a message. We have been waiting a day and a half for a call back so far), so we can't place an order for more lines.

Best of all, the ordinary people in the call centre are NOT ALLOWED TO HELP US. Only our account manager can now access our account. Last week (before we hit the magic number of lines which entitles us to this "improved" level of service) ordering a new line meant making a call, sending a confirmatory e-mail and handset would arrive the next day. Easy.

Now we have to wait for our "account manager" to call us back to carry out the trivial task of adding another line to our account. Just awesome.

I think it is only correct to say that the situation with T-Mobile has improved a great deal since the original post was made. The young lady who is our account manager has either been available or will call back within minutes and has been able to help whenever needed, because she knows the details of our account inside out.
Overall, we find this set up very efficient. Just thought it would only be fair to point this out as the original post did give them a fairly hard time.
Need any odd-jobs doing? Check out 0800handyman.

Female Handyperson

noreply@blogger.com (Company blog) — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 07:52:00 +0000

We are often asked why we don't have women on the workforce. In fact we have employed women in the past, but they did not seem to take to the job as well as we hoped they would.
One thing people underestimate is how physically hard the work is, it is very demanding to be doing 4 or 5 jobs a day, every day, the way we do.
Do you think there would be a demand for women if they were available? It is often said that female customers would feel more comfortable with a woman coming to their home, I wonder if that is true?

Charging for motorbike parking

noreply@blogger.com (Company blog) — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 16:34:00 +0000

Some boroughs in London have started to charge motorcycles for using the previously free parking bays in central London. This seems like a really negative approach, especially when one considers that commuters are being encouraged out of their cars.
Why charge bike riders, many of whom are car drivers who have left their cars at home?
Just another way of earning more revenue at the expense of the motorist.

Hot weather!

noreply@blogger.com (Company blog) — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 07:50:00 +0000

With changing weather conditions we find that the nature of the work we do also changes to reflect this, to some extent.
Not surpisingly, we are getting more and more calls asking us to build flat pack garden furniture etc. but also trampolines and table tennis tables.
Clearly customers are determined to take advantage of the hot weather while it lasts!

Smartness of appearance - how important?

noreply@blogger.com (Company blog) — Wed, 27 May 2009 18:23:00 +0000

How important is it to have smart looking employees when visiting customers in their businesses or homes?
Surely in today's relaxed and informal world this is no longer as important as it might have been 10 or 15 years ago?
Well, we think it is vital to have very smart and clean looking handymen calling on customers. People may be dressing more casually in their private lives but they still want, and expect, that when they call someone to their home or place of work that they look professional. The other point here is that a uniform does also allow the customer to immediately identify who has arrived at their door, and to feel comfortable letting them into their home. This especially applies to the elderly and women on their own.
We spend a huge amount of time (and money) on keeping our guys looking the part, and it's definitely worth it from the feedback we receive from happy customers.

Look at our website!

noreply@blogger.com (Company blog) — Sat, 23 May 2009 15:46:00 +0000

All we say to anyone asking why 0800handyman is so much better than any other copycat service, is Simply look at our website and compare with others purporting to do a similar job, and you will see the difference in our professionalism, the smartness our handymen (who are all employed by us, not sub contractors) and the investment we make in our company.
It’s plain to see.
We are confident when you compare you will know why we were not only the first professional handyman service, we remain the best!
That’s why so many top companies (including the BBC) trust us on their premises.

Busy!

noreply@blogger.com (Company blog) — Wed, 20 May 2009 15:56:00 +0000

Maybe it's the warm weather, maybe it's those 'green shoots' politicians love to spot, but whatever it is the 0800handyman phone system has been working overtime these past few weeks as we book in more jobs for our dedicated team of handymen!
Talking of staff, we employ all of our guys, no sub contracting here. We just don't believe that sub contracting out work, and the subsequent loss of control this inevitably means, is the right way to go when you are sending people into private homes or business premises.
What about the public liability insurance aspects of this for a start?
Any comments?

New Website

noreply@blogger.com (Company blog) — Tue, 19 May 2009 10:52:00 +0000

We are constantly being complimented on our new website at www.0800handyman.co.uk
It is amazing, and very pleasing, how many people comment on it and say that they really like the new look site.

0800handyman - New office

noreply@blogger.com (Company blog) — Tue, 19 May 2009 10:50:00 +0000

We recently moved to new, much larger offices within Zockoll House, Maple Road Surbiton, the home of the Zockoll Group.

Tax discs

noreply@blogger.com (Company blog) — Tue, 19 May 2009 10:21:00 +0000

We have had a number of tax discs taken from our company scooters and motorbikes in the past, so have taken to keeping the disc in the employee's wallet. This has worked fine for some time but the Police seem to be much more inflexible lately, insisting that the disc must be on display. We can understand the reasoning for this, of course, but the theft of the disc can be a real pain and presumably means that someone is cloning similar vehicles, a much more serious issue than not displaying a tax disc. 0800handyman will always comply with the law naturally, so we have now made sure they are on display.

Sash windows

noreply@blogger.com (Company blog) — Mon, 11 May 2009 18:09:00 +0000

As we move in to spring and summer many people will be opening their sash windows for the first time in many months only to find that the sash cord has snapped or the window is jammed.

0800Handyman is London's leading professional handyman service and one of the many jobs we specialise in is the repairing of sash window cords.

Replacing a broken sash cord is actually a fairly simple process and should only take an hour to 1.5 hours at the most, per window. The exact time it takes depends largely on which cord is actually broken as accessing the cords attached to the outer sash means taking out the bottom sash.

To find out more about our London handyman service and sash cord repair in particular visit www.0800handyman.co.uk/what_we_do/replacing-sash-window-cords.shtml

Or give us a call on 0800handyman (0800 426 396) our freephone number.
0800handyman the professional handyman service.

Sink waste disposal units

noreply@blogger.com (Company blog) — Mon, 11 May 2009 18:05:00 +0000

Whether you call them waste disposals, garbage disposals or insinkerators the are the same thing and they do need repairing, servicing or even replacing after extended use.

0800handyman, London's first and best professional handyman service, can repair or replace your faulty waste disposal.

So if your waste disosal is making a strange noise, is blocked or is completely dead give us a call on 0800 426 396 for help.

You can also visit our website at www.0800handyman.co.uk

0800handyman will be able to help your waste disposal unit working.

Unusual jobs

noreply@blogger.com (Company blog) — Mon, 11 May 2009 17:50:00 +0000

Often we are asked what is the most unusual job we have been asked to do. We have many jobs that come under that category, but today’s call from a very well know company to 'construct a 6 mtr long whale' takes the prize for most unusual to date. Apparently it comes in many parts and needs to be put together 'like a giant jigsaw puzzle.’ The tail is 2 mtrs across, so you get an impression of just how large this is.
A small crane is then used to lift it into position.
They don't come much more unusual than that!

New uniforms and new bikes

noreply@blogger.com (Company blog) — Mon, 11 May 2009 08:50:00 +0000

At 0800handyman we believe that if you are going to allow workmen into your home or office you have a right to expect them to be clean, tidy and generally look the part of a professional handyman.
With this firmly in mind we have recently introduced all new items of clothing for our guys. Now they look even smarter than before, with bright red polo shirts, black cargo trousers and black blue tooth enabled helmets.
If you would like to see how this all looks go to our web site at www.0800handyman.co.uk/pattesting
Regarding the blue tooth helmets, we have introduced these because we want to be able to communicate with our handymen at all times, even when they are on their way to a job. This means that we can keep the customer fully informed about expected time of arrival (even on motorbikes and scooters it is possible to be held up by the traffic). We feel that this is just another way of keeping customers informed and fully in the picture.
In the next month we will be introducing a fleet of new Honda S-Wing scooters all painted in the 0800handyman colours of course.
These bikes are brand new and are in the paint shop as I write.
Pictures to follow.

Are the cowboys coming back?

noreply@blogger.com (Company blog) — Mon, 11 May 2009 08:20:00 +0000

Interesting articles are starting to appear in the press recently reporting an increase in the cowboy element resurfacing because of the recession. The thinking is that guys that have been made redundant recently are seeing handyman services as an easy option to make a living.
The reality, of course, is that doing handyman jobs for the home or office is just not the easy money that some think.
Our advice to anyone thinking of taking on a cut price operation is to ask the following questions.
How long have you been in the business?
Do you have a website where customer comments are listed?
Do you have full public liability insurance, and can I see a copy?
Are you and your workmen CRB checked? (We know of one company where at least one worker has a criminal record)
Are the people you use sub contractors, or 100% employees of the company? (Sub contractors tend to work to their own agenda, which may not fit in with what you want)!

I have sold 0800handyman to The Zockoll Group

noreply@blogger.com (Company blog) — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 17:09:00 +0000

Reason for recent lack of blogging is that I have been frantically pulling together vast quantities of detailed paperwork to support the sale of my controlling stake in 0800handyman to the Zockoll Group. This sale is now complete, and I am now delighted to report that, after nearly seven years, I am handing over the reigns to new owners.

The Zockoll Group, and Jim Zockoll in particular, is (are?) responsible for establishing the only national brand in the domestic maintenance sector, Dyno Rod (now owned by British Gas, but founded by Jim Zockoll in the 60s). They have been a minority shareholder in 0800handyman since 2002, and now own a majority of the business. They are joined by one of our franchisees, Paul Geoghegan, who is now a director and shareholder of 0800handyman Ltd.

When I founded 0800handyman, or RedJacks as it was then, there were two businesses that I had ambitions to emulate. Kwik-Fit was one, and Dyno-Rod was the other. Both have succeeded in building strong, national brands, in sectors which have historically been plagued by poor service. That is exactly what I have been working towards with 0800handyman. We aren't there yet (we certainly don't have a national brand), but are a long way along the line. If you searched for "handyman" on the internet in 2001 you would not have found much at all. Now you will find dozens of companies all (I like to think) trying to emulate what 0800handyman is doing.

The existing team will continue, of course, and I would like to thank all of them publicly for giving me the opportunity to work with such a diverse and stimulating group of people.

I am looking forward to observing the progress of 0800handyman from a distance, and I sincerely hope that, in 10 years time, 0800handyman will have done for home maintenance what Kwik-Fit did for car maintenance and what Dyno-Rod did for drain clearance.

I have some ideas for new ventures, I'll start a fresh blog for those when there is something concrete to report. I'm sure you won't need to hunt too hard to find me.

****
Need any odd-jobs doing? Check out 0800handyman.

Rubbish collection, junk removal, blogs, e-mail newsletters

noreply@blogger.com (Company blog) — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 20:10:00 +0000

My friend Jason Mohr, who runs a business called Any Junk? (doing junk removal for households in London, Bristol and Birmingham), asked me the other day if they could have a mention in our email newsletter, in return for giving 0800handyman a mention in theirs.

But we haven't sent an e-mail newsletter for ages, because I've started to think that e-mail newsletters are too intrusive. A blog seems to be better, and those people that are really interested in what I have to say can subscribe to the RSS feed. As long as you don't mind sometimes waiting a few weeks for me to post (although, to be fair, I generally post several times a week, but just haven't for a while now. Back now.)

So I said I'd talk about junk removal and rubbish collection on my blog instead. Any Junk? seem to be doing a pretty good job in their sector doing what what we have done in ours: adding some professionalism, great service, efficient back-office systems (they use the same software as us, fancy that), and strong branding to a previously haphazard, one-man-band-dominated, sometimes dodgy, fragmented sector.

Just like in the handyman sector, the Americans are way ahead of us with junk removal. Jason has modelled his business, I think, on Got Junk?, the market leader in the US. If anyone is thinking of setting up a service business in the UK, checking out how they do it in the US is often a good place to start.

Junk removal has the added advantage of being able to play the green card. Some reasonably high percentage of everything they collect is either sold on or recycled, saving space in landfill. Jason manages to persuade everyone his business is so green that the taxpayer should actually pay for some of it - they were recently awarded a grant to buy four new trucks outright. I'm not sure if that is supposed to be public knowledge, but given that it is public money, it ought to be. And it is now. I am very cynical about taxpayers subsidising commercial businesses -- I think it is cheating -- but no doubt there is a strong economic argument for using tax money to keep junk out of landfill, blah, blah.

Anyway, if you need junk collecting or rubbish removing, do check these guys out, we've used them ourselves and they are excellent, and the chap the runs it is a good egg:

www.anyjunk.co.uk

*****
Need any oddjobs doing? Check out www.0800handyman.co.uk

T-mobile account management

noreply@blogger.com (Company blog) — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 12:03:00 +0000

This is priceless: because we now have a certain number of lines with T-mobile, we have been assigned our own "account manager".

But we can't get hold of this person (no direct line, and if they are unavailable, and presumably most of the time they will be on the phone to other customers given that that is their job, we have to leave a message. We have been waiting a day and a half for a call back so far), so we can't place an order for more lines.

Best of all, the ordinary people in the call centre are NOT ALLOWED TO HELP US. Only our account manager can now access our account. Last week (before we hit the magic number of lines which entitles us to this "improved" level of service) ordering a new line meant making a call, sending a confirmatory e-mail and handset would arrive the next day. Easy.

Now we have to wait for our "account manager" to call us back to carry out the trivial task of adding another line to our account. Just awesome.

**************
Need any odd-jobs doing? Visit www.0800handyman.co.uk

Should I have discounted this bill?

noreply@blogger.com (Company blog) — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 10:00:00 +0000

Just come off the phone after a very difficult conversation with a customer who is convinced we were overcharging her.

We attended her rental property back in August and carried out a list of jobs for her (she was not present).

She has a clear recollection that our man, Morgan, called her at 2.30 in the afternoon and said he estimated he had another 30mins to go. So she thought he finished at about 3pm. Morgan's jobsheet records he finished at 4.55pm, two hours later than that.

She is convinced Morgan made a mistake on his jobsheet. We are convinced he left at 4.55. We think this, because:

(a) that is what he wrote on his jobsheet
(b) he remembers calling the customer mid-afternoon, but does not think he said he would be finished in half-an-hour
(c) he didn't do any other jobs that afternoon: if he really did finish at 3pm for sure we would have sent him on to another job
(d) he recalls being there till pretty much the end of the day

On the other hand, it is hard to understand why the customer can have such a clear recollection of this conversation about finishing in half-an-hour if that conversation didn't take place. My best guess is that conversation did take place, but Morgan just underestimated what else there was to do, or later on noticed some other tasks on the list, or whatever.

(Note that the customer does not think Morgan was fiddling his hours, she just thinks he made a mistake)

The situation is not helped by the fact that this all took place in August - the customer says she discussed all these issues a while back with someone else in our office, but whoever that was didn't note down the details of the conversation and / or didn't act on it, which is a bit of a cock-up, to be honest. Had we dealt with this whole issue a week after it happened I suspect it would have all been a lot easier.

Anyway, as I did in a similar situation which I posted about here, I stuck to my guns and insisted that we charge for the time which we firmly believed we spent there.

We had already discounted this bill for other reasons: (1) we had originally charged her 30mins for a visit which had to be aborted because the tenants would not let us do the work at the appointed time, we agreed to waive this charge; (2) she felt that because we had had the benefit of seeing the work during the original aborted visit we should have come with all materials ready for the second successful visit and not spent time fetching them during the second visit (we always charge for time taken to fetch materials, but we agreed to waive an hour of the second visit again as a goodwill gesture) (3) we bought a tin of paint which was the wrong colour (no argument there, we shouldn't have ever charged for that).

So, we had already discounted 1.5hrs off this bill, but the customer wanted another 2hrs off. I declined to offer this.

I am sure the customer will pay the revised bill, but she is convinced she has been hard done by and will no doubt be relating this tale to her friends. If you are that customer, and are reading this, please feel free to post your version of events as a comment and I will publish it.

Freephone number back up

noreply@blogger.com (Company blog) — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 08:46:00 +0000

Looks like Opal have fixed whatever it was that they broke and our freephone number (0800 426 396) is back up.

Opal freephone numbers down - please use our landline: 0207 978 6674

noreply@blogger.com (Company blog) — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 08:16:00 +0000

Opal telecom's entire bank of non-geographic numbers (including, helpfully, their own customer service numbers) seem to be down this morning, and that includes our own 0800 number.

Please kindly use our landline:

0207 978 6674

until Opal fix this.

Is flat 18% capital gains tax (CGT) really so bad?

noreply@blogger.com (Company blog) — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 18:33:00 +0000

Gosh, everyone (e.g. Real Business, Supper Club, FSB, etc.) really is up in arms about Darling's new flat CGT tax. I thought we free-marketeers were supposed to like flat, low taxes? Isn't that what our next chancellor, George Osborne, keeps talking about?

Sure, if you sell your (long-established) business in May of next year, then 18% vs 10% looks tough. But if you buy some shares now, and make some money, and sell them in May of next year then 18% vs 40% looks good to me.

We do very well in this country when it comes to government-approved ways of avoiding capital taxes (EIS allows you to invest in an unlisted company and pay 0% CGT; EMI allows you to get share options in a company and pay 0% CGT; ISAs let you buy listed shares and, yes, pay 0% CGT; plus Child Trust Funds, etc. etc. Don't rock the boat, all this other stuff might fall off).

Politicians usually tinker around the edges of the tax system. You've got to hand it to Darling for being a bit ballsy - it is quite daring to just cancel, in one afternoon, a plank of the tax system that has been around for decades. Well done. I still might sign Duncan's petition though.

Retail maintenance

noreply@blogger.com (Company blog) — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 14:48:00 +0000

Further to earlier post about office maintenance, worth mentioning that we also do plenty of maintenance in shops.

Similar types of jobs, to those we do in offices, things like:

- Fixing shelves and other shop fittings
- Fixing lighting in the shop
- Small plumbing jobs like dripping taps, WC flushes, etc.
- Fixing doors and windows that don't close properly
- Touching up paintwork and so forth

Here are some examples of shops that use our handyman service for their day to day maintenance:

- Reiss
- Nike
- The BBC Shop
- Unwins (until they went bust)
- Rigby & Peller
- Benjy's
- Subway
- Ocean
- Nelson's Homeopathic Pharmacy

and many more shops and retail outlets.

Plus restaurants like

- Bombay Bicycle Club
- Tootsie's
- Gourmet Burger Kitchen
- Square Pie Company
- The Real Greek

So if you run a shop or other retail outlet and need maintenance from our handymen, give us a call on 0800 426396.

***********
Need any odd-jobs doing? Visit www.0800handyman.co.uk