Photograph: istockphoto.com
Life will get busy rapidly, and the small duties round the home that don’t appear value hiring somebody to deal with as a result of “I’ll get to it” can pile up much more rapidly. And a busy family can go from “a bit of messy” to unmanageably messy in a second. Hiring knowledgeable to lastly hold the TV on the wall, or hiring a cleaner to come back deep clear the kitchen, might seem to be an pointless luxurious, which might be additional compounded by the issue of pinning down the price of these smaller companies from bigger residence enchancment or upkeep corporations. The Helpful on-line platform and app have an answer: A brigade of helpful professionals expert at home cleansing, restore, upkeep, and enchancment stands on the able to be matched with clients who want their companies, and Helpful lets the shoppers outline the scheduling of the service so it’s handy for them, somewhat then dropping a whole afternoon to knowledgeable who promised service between 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. and exhibits up on the final minute.
However how does Helpful work? Is Helpful legit? The corporate started as a small start-up that was then acquired by a large residence companies powerhouse. It really works via a clear, easy interface by connecting skilled contractors with clients who want their companies.
See extra of the perfect residence group companies, greatest cleansing companies, greatest handyman companies, greatest move-out cleansing companies, and the perfect furnishings meeting companies.
Photograph: helpful.com
Our Verdict: For smaller family duties similar to furnishings meeting, cleansing, and TV mounting, Helpful is a superb platform. Its streamlined one-step strategy of reserving knowledgeable and getting a quote is handy for many who want last-minute companies, in addition to for purchasers who’re just too busy to take a position extra time in researching who to rent for the job.
SPECS
- Service space: Choose cities throughout the U.S.
- Companies classes: Cleansing, furnishings meeting, basic handyman companies, electrical, plumbing, transferring, residence enchancment initiatives, and extra
- Scheduling: On-line, cell app
- Cancellation coverage: Free cancellation up till 24 hours earlier than appointment; $25 charge for cancellation 2 to 24 hours earlier than appointment; full price for cancellations inside 2 hours of appointment
PROS
- Easy and streamlined one-step reserving course of
- Vetted and screened professionals
- Particular offers out there via standard retailers similar to Costco, Crate & Barrel, Wayfair, Walmart, and Mr. Clear
CONS
- Comparatively quick complaint-filing window of 72 hours after the service was supplied
- Insurance coverage data for employed people not available
- Stories of quotes being considerably decrease than precise price incurred
About Helpful
The Helpful firm started as Handybook in 2012 as a service to assist clients discover excellent professionals who might deal with duties across the residence. Motivated by his work renovating a collection of properties in Budapest, founder Oisin Hanrahan found how troublesome it was to discover a handyman who might get work finished effectively and on time. He and his enterprise college classmate Umang Dua discovered that the identical drawback existed in america and developed the platform that now exists as Helpful.
In 2018, Helpful was acquired by residence companies large Angi, which had fashioned from the merger of Angi’s Record and its chief competitor, HomeAdvisor. At the moment, Helpful founder Oisin Hanrahan turned the chief product officer of Angi, and three years later took over as CEO. Umang Dua took on the position of chief income officer. Their dedication to connecting excellent service suppliers with clients who need high quality work finished of their properties leapt to a a lot bigger scale. Helpful’s roots stay within the handyman and house-cleaning realm, however backed by the facility of the Angi, it will possibly provide area of interest companies with much less threat.
Shopping Helpful
Helpful’s touchdown web page is shiny, clear, and effectively organized. A prime banner advertises Helpful’s Security Customary, designed to guard residence environments, clients, and execs alike. Face coverings are required throughout bookings to guard each events from diseases, and execs should certify every day that they’re wholesome. Helpful offers its execs with high-grade cleansing provides to allow them to depart jobsites sanitized when the job is completed.
Fast hyperlinks to Companies, the Helpful Store, the Helpful Weblog, Assist, and a login web page are strung throughout the highest of the web page, adopted by vibrant graphic icons directing clients to hyperlinks for Dwelling Cleansing companies, All Companies, and The Dwelling Store. Extra hyperlinks are under, this time with photographs of Helpful professionals engaged on duties {that a} buyer would possibly want accomplished. There’s a whole lot of overlap, however the completely different shows of the identical hyperlinks imply that a variety of shoppers are prone to discover one thing that catches their eye. Clicking the hyperlinks brings clients on to a callout field which gives to get a worth, together with a clickable hyperlink to buyer opinions of that individual service. Beneath the callout field is a fast infographic about how Helpful works, after which a collection of job choices and a listing of regularly requested questions on that particular service.
The Helpful Weblog gives a raft of ideas, deep-dive articles about numerous residence initiatives, particulars about DIY initiatives, and different related data for purchasers and execs in a shiny, interesting structure that appears like flipping via {a magazine}: No two pages are laid out precisely alike, and it’s a pleasure to skim via—plus it’s filled with helpful data, whether or not the reader is planning to rent knowledgeable or not.
The underside of every web page contains hyperlinks to all the salient menu pages, customer support, standard companies, and Helpful workplace areas. As well as, a hyperlink is posted for professionals who want to turn out to be service suppliers for Helpful, highlighting the wonderful pay scale, versatile schedule, and direct deposit funds, together with the start of an utility.
Companies Provided
Clients in want of fundamental handyman companies round the home—furnishings meeting; installations of smart-home units, home equipment, and televisions; electrical and plumbing work; home portray; and residential repairs, amongst different duties—are certain to discover a skilled via Helpful who can deal with the job. As well as, Helpful gives connections with remodelers, tech helpers, and movers for small jobs. Helpful’s different major service providing is cleansing: weekly, biweekly, or month-to-month residence cleansing; move-in or move-out Helpful home cleansing; and one-time cleansing, together with workplace cleansing and trip rental cleansing and residential/workplace sanitizing companies.
Photograph: helpful.com
Helpful’s web site signifies that it’s cheap to count on scheduling inside a day or two for many companies—and for purchasers who’re in dire want of a last-minute cleansing job, Helpful gives same-day scheduling for cleansing companies in most areas.
Photograph: helpful.com
Reserving on Helpful
One of the vital distinctive points of Helpful’s service is that whereas most residence service corporations present a window (typically an hours-long window) throughout which the service supplier is predicted to reach, Helpful gives clients the choice to pick out the precise time—to the half hour—that they want the service carried out. A drop-down field within the reserving request permits the client to pick out the date and time they’d just like the service carried out and the choice to extend or lower the variety of hours allotted to the job. Helpful’s web site will provide the “Guide with Helpful” choice, the place it locates knowledgeable amongst its members who can carry out the service at the moment and ensure the worth, and the client can merely enter their avenue deal with, select whether or not or not they’d like to hitch Helpful as a member, and proceed to fee by way of bank card. Alternatively, clients can choose a person Helpful contractor themselves and submit a request for a quote, then guide via Helpful the identical manner as soon as the quote is acquired. On the finish of the reserving course of, clients might be requested to create a password in order that they’ll log into Helpful securely to test, reschedule, or cancel their bookings.
Photograph: helpful.com
For cleansing companies, the method is similar, besides as soon as the quote has been generated, there are further choices to pick out earlier than the reserving is full. Clients can choose their cleaner, then select add-on companies for additional charges, similar to inside window cleansing, inside fridge cleansing, or deep cleansing of particular areas. As well as, clients can determine in the event that they’d like a one-time cleansing or in the event that they’d prefer to arrange an everyday cleansing schedule; setting an everyday cleansing time and day, whether or not weekly, biweekly, or month-to-month, can lead to total financial savings via a package deal low cost. The reserving then proceeds via fee.
Photograph: helpful.com
The reserving course of is extraordinarily streamlined; from first search via fee affirmation, your complete course of can take lower than a couple of minutes.
Getting a Quote
One thing many owners and renters discover irritating when searching for residence companies is the issue in pinning down an precise job-specific price estimate, as a result of a lot is determined by the specifics of the job. For cleansing companies on Helpful, clients will enter a couple of fundamental particulars (variety of bedrooms, variety of loos) and their ZIP code, and Helpful will do the maths to calculate what number of hours the cleansing will take and generate a price. For same-day cleansing or different companies, clients reply a collection of fast questions and might enter some particulars concerning the job, add an electronic mail deal with and ZIP code, and obtain a quote for the service inside minutes—and proceed to reserving instantly from the quote electronic mail or app. For simple companies, there’s no have to schedule appointments for estimates after which schedule extra appointments to finish the job; nonetheless, different companies similar to rest room reworking might require extra dialogue and measurements previous to getting a selected quote.
If clients wish to select a selected skilled for non-cleaning jobs, the Helpful web site or app will facilitate the quote request from the skilled primarily based on the identical questions.
Value and Charges
Helpful’s professionals don’t pay to hitch Helpful, and so they don’t pay per lead or per reserving as some opponents require. As an alternative, Helpful makes its cash from the shoppers. Many buyer opinions cite a disparity between the quantity they paid and the quantity their contractor claimed to have acquired. Mainly, Helpful pays the contractors an agreed-upon worth per hour or per job, and expenses the shoppers a barely greater price per hour or per job. It’s a enterprise, in any case. As well as, Helpful provides a “Belief & Help Charge,” which is famous up entrance in the price breakdown earlier than reserving. This charge, in keeping with the reason supplied on the checkout web page, helps the Helpful platform and components similar to insurance coverage, supplier screening, and the 24/7 customer support.
To guard the time and schedules of its service suppliers, Helpful additionally expenses what it calls a “Buyer No-Present Charge.” Ought to knowledgeable arrive at a house on the appointed time and discover no one residence, or ought to they be unable to realize entry to the jobsite utilizing directions supplied by the client, they are going to first attempt to contact the client. If unable to take action, the client might be charged a charge to compensate the supplier for prices of transportation and misplaced work. This charge varies by job however is specified on the reserving web page.
Helpful’s platform makes it straightforward to reschedule or cancel bookings, however cancellations and reschedules that happen between 24 and a couple of hours previous to the appointment time will incur a $25 charge—once more, to guard the time and anticipated earnings for the supplier. Bookings can’t be canceled lower than 2 hours previous to the appointment time; there’s no additional charge, however the full price of the reserving might be charged to the client’s bank card.
Helpful’s Professionals
What sort of professionals guide jobs via Helpful? Helpful itself will not be an employer—it’s a facilitator. It matches professionals with applicable abilities to clients who want work finished and streamlines the quoting, reserving, and billing course of. Because of this, Helpful’s professionals vary from contractors who fill their schedules totally via Helpful connections to professionals employed full-time elsewhere who use Helpful to choose up a couple of jobs on the aspect after they have time. All of Helpful’s execs will need to have applicable licensing for the work they carry out, demonstrated paid expertise with the companies they’ll be offering, and authorization to work within the nation the place they’ll function.
Helpful values its professionals: Whereas it doesn’t make use of the professionals instantly, Helpful professional opinions recommend that the contractors Helpful connects to clients benefit from the immediate, streamlined funds from Helpful and the truth that they don’t need to chase clients down for fee—they’ll work after they select and receives a commission promptly. The Helpful Skilled Portal app permits execs to handle their bookings, expenses, and funds effectively on the go and between jobs.
Background Checks and Insurance coverage Info
Helpful guarantees to deal with screening and validating the professionals that clients rent via its service. Potential contractors should present proof of their expertise, private or company expertise and connections, and proof that they’re credentialed for the service they’re being employed to supply. As well as, all Helpful execs registering as people should cross a third-party background test to make sure they haven’t dedicated offenses that will disqualify them from being accepted into Helpful’s platform. Small companies, franchisees, and particular person contractors of bigger corporations who want to register as Helpful suppliers should present company data to confirm that they’re an organization in good standing, and the homeowners of the businesses should cross a Helpful background test, additionally via a 3rd occasion; the person employees at these corporations won’t be verified or background-checked by Helpful.
Whereas insurance coverage data for employed people will not be available, Helpful insures clients in opposition to any harm attributable to Helpful-booked professionals.
The Helpful Store
Whereas Helpful’s major focus is connecting householders and renters with professionals who can deal with cleansing or handyman jobs across the residence, the corporate additionally acknowledges the worth of streamlining the purchasing and set up course of into one buy. The Helpful Store gives a variety of furnishings, lighting, smart-home units, small home equipment, and parts similar to TV wall mounts and electrical fire inserts for buy on its web site (out there via particular relationships with standard retailers similar to Costco, Crate & Barrel, Wayfair, Walmart, and Mr. Clear) which are bundled with skilled Helpful meeting or set up that may be scheduled via the Helpful platform.
Photograph: helpful.com
The Helpful pricing, which is paid on the time of buy, contains the price of meeting or set up (with some exceptions the place the price would possibly differ primarily based on the set up in a buyer’s particular residence, similar to a gasoline insert the place a gasoline line will not be already current). When the merchandise arrives on the buyer’s residence, the corporate will ship a affirmation electronic mail via which the client can schedule a immediate Helpful set up inside a couple of days.
Photograph: helpful.com
Happiness Assure
Helpful’s declare is that the service goals to match every buyer with the correct professional for the job each time. To that finish, it guarantees that clients who rent recurring cleansing companies will see the identical skilled cleaners every time to make sure constant and customized service. Helpful offers insurance coverage for each reserving made via its platform, so clients are protected in opposition to any harm that occurs to their residence as a direct results of the work being finished by way of a Helpful reserving, so long as the client can present fundamental documentation. Clients who’re sad with the workmanship can obtain a credit score towards a future reserving or have the job redone. The Happiness Assure does require that the work be booked via the Helpful platform (it doesn’t apply if clients have rehired knowledgeable they initially met via Helpful exterior of the platform), and that Helpful complaints be made inside 72 hours of the unsatisfactory service, which is a comparatively quick interval. As well as, the client will need to have an account freed from unpaid or late balances. The Helpful Happiness Assure web page offers a number of choices for reporting the issue.
The App
Helpful has each iOS and Android apps for fast and easy accessibility to the platform. The app is colourful, intuitive, and seamlessly follows the identical workflow paths as the web model of the platform. Whereas the browser-based platform does provide the identical companies, some points, similar to clicking into the profiles of the service suppliers and studying buyer opinions of potential professionals, are simpler and extra accessible on the app.
Buyer Service
Assist is offered to Helpful clients 24 hours a day. Entry to assist is introduced in a number of varieties: Each web page has a Assist button within the prime banner, within the bottom-of-the-page materials, and, on most pages, referred to as out in a blue field mid-page.The Assist button delivers clients to a Information heart, with solutions to regularly requested questions and a well-organized database of subheadings in areas the place clients would possibly need extra data. Phone help is offered from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Jap Time and might be accessed by clicking the clearly marked query “What’s Helpful’s telephone quantity?” on the contact data web page. Helpful gives an electronic mail hyperlink for questions and signifies that responses might be anticipated in just some minutes, and a current addition to the Buyer Service web page is the live-chat window that pops up as quickly because the web page finishes opening, the place clients can kind on to a consultant.
Helpful Evaluations by Clients
Helpful offers loads of buyer opinions by itself platform, however extra goal opinions on websites similar to ConsumerAffairs, TrustPilot, and SiteJabber are considerably combined. Many purchasers notice that the service is straightforward to make use of and navigate, and level out nice customer support choices. Like many handyman app opinions, nonetheless, it’s notable that in lots of instances the unfavourable Helpful furnishings meeting opinions and Helpful cleansing opinions aren’t really opinions of the Helpful platform; they’re unfavourable opinions of particular person contractors and professionals who failed to indicate up promptly or accomplished work in an unsatisfactory manner. Whereas it’s a bit of troubling to see so many unfavourable opinions of this sort, which means that maybe there’s an issue within the screening course of, it’s additionally essential to do not forget that Helpful operates in tons of of markets throughout america, Canada, and the UK, so whereas some clients might have had unfavourable experiences with particular person contractors, there are lots of extra clients who had constructive experiences. Helpful cleansing companies opinions point out the vary of choices out there and the pleasure most clients soak up complimenting their cleaners. Many had been shocked to search out that cleansing companies had been so reasonably priced, as they’d by no means made it all through the extra sophisticated techniques of different cleansing corporations (the place charges are extra tightly guarded) to get exact quotes.
Regardless of among the unfavourable Helpful app opinions, the Higher Enterprise Bureau has awarded Helpful an A+ score. A perusal of the Higher Enterprise Bureau web page reveals {that a} Helpful worker opinions all complaints and responds promptly with apologies and gives of assist and backbone, suggesting that the corporate isn’t simply searching for its picture however values buyer assist as effectively.
Photograph: helpful.com
How Helpful Stacks As much as the Competitors
Previous to Helpful’s acquisition by Angi, Angi itself and HomeAdvisor would have stood as essentially the most vital opponents. Now that these three corporations are all on the identical group, TaskRabbit is Helpful’s largest direct competitor. TaskRabbit and Helpful present the identical area of interest service: cleansing and handyman companies on demand, prepriced, with handy and simple reserving and fee. Till the current addition of the live-chat customer support perform, Helpful was lagging a bit behind TaskRabbit, however that function has balanced out the customer support choices on the 2 platforms. There are some minor variations in reserving and charge constructions, and TaskRabbit is barely extra pleasant to contractors. Essentially the most vital distinction is the Helpful Store—the comfort of buying fixtures, furnishings, and home equipment and bundling the price and comfort of meeting and set up collectively is a good function that neither TaskRabbit nor different opponents gives.
Ought to You Use Helpful?
Need to rent a housecleaner or handyman with a minimal quantity of fuss, an up-front worth, and choices to decide on the exact time when the service might be carried out? Helpful is a good service to begin with. The clear define of price; capability to vary the companies requested to regulate the price; and easy scheduling, rescheduling, and cancellation of service visits makes Helpful a really perfect choice for busy households and older adults who want a pre-vetted helper for small or giant family duties. Clients who need to schedule larger-scale renovations and remodels would do higher to have a look at bigger companies the place contractors who deal with vital renovation work or basic contracting companies could be prone to promote. For the day-to-day duties that many owners or renters might use a hand with—if solely in order that they don’t need to exit and purchase the instruments or fear about by chance shorting out all the residence’s electrical service by chance—Helpful will assist discover the correct professional for the job.
We independently reviewed this service by weighing the corporate’s claims in opposition to first-hand expertise with its professionals. Nevertheless, resulting from components similar to franchising, human error, and extra, please notice that particular person experiences with this firm might differ.
