I originally had no intention of posting on yelp, however my initial review keeps getting suspiciously removed from google. Might be google's fault, or maybe someone from helen painter flagged it, I have no clue either way. I will try reposting it back on google later to help future renters make a wise decision. Good thing I saved a draft. My review is as follows:
(originally posted on Google)
A few things need to be addressed before I can fully get into this review. First, if you do a little research you will find the positive reviews online are from employees or benefactors of Helen Painter. That should paint an accurate picture of HP's integrity, not to mention that they have another website, guess one or the other got too many bad reviews. Second, google requires me to give at least one star to post this review. Moving on, when we first began renting with HP, our experience was great. They were friendly and accommodating. Transactions were pleasant. Unfortunately, the agent we dealt with, Kate(not kaitlyn), moved on to start her own property management group. When it comes to getting things fixed, they did send workers to the house in a timely manner but this when the "blame game" begins and we started to notice how HP really values it's customers. One day, i flush the toilet and water starts flowing heavily from underneath the toilet. We were worried about the damage that could be caused to the floor and foundation so we immediately contact HP and they send plumbers out to fix the problem. The plumber finds all kind of junk that was trapped down there and tells us to not flush baby wipes and tampons down the toilet. We do not have a baby or wipes of any kind but we take note of the expert's advice. A few months go by and it starts happening again so we let HP know and they send the plumbers out. The plumbers proceed to tell us the same thing about tampons etc and that next time it happens they will have to charge us $600 dollars. A couple of weeks go by and it happens again. We request that they send a different plumber. The same plumber comes to the house does the job and tells me the same thing and that they are going to charge us, this all with no proof of what he actually found or removed. I complain for two big reasons...First, it was less than 30 days and he was talking about feminine hygiene products... Second, why is the length of time getting shorter and shorter between each leak when the toilet worked fine for years before this plumber put his hands on it. **This very important and I bring all this up bc HP should have questioned the plumber's quality of work, instead they targeted us and tried to place the blame on us.** We narrowly escape that fee. A little time goes by and I'm sure you can guess what happens. This time I take it upon myself to rent the equipment and try and fix it with nothing but youtube guiding me. To this day, there has not been one single issue with toilet. Soley thanks to my wife and I, they now have working equipment in their rental properly but they still try to point the finger of blame every chance they get. As for the review of them on yelp, it may be from a bitter person but they are correct in pointing out the lack of professionalism and especially lack of expertise. We are regularly told that this or that is the law but when we have a question that doesn't work in their favor its always some excuse like "I've been so busy this week, we'll have to get back to you, etc, etc" again with all blame being pointed at the customer. At one point they even told us that if we were to go our own way and sublease it out to someone else they approve of, that not only would they have to pay rent but we would have to continue to pay rent too. I don't even know if thats legal and I doubt HP would have clear answer either. We understand there are rules but we do not appreciate being treated like dirt. HP is not a bunch of horrible people, however as a current customer, I can't find anything positive to say. With there being so many great management companies to choose from, there is no reason to take a risk on Helen Painter. read more