January 2023 by Christian K.
I unfortunately hired Randy in June of 2022 to complete a renovation project on a rental property that included repairing the front porch and getting two units into rent ready condition. We entered into a standard agreement in which our company paid material costs directly and issued payment for half the labor upfront. The project was expected to be completed within approximately one month, but what followed was an unending series of excuses that extended the timeline several months.By November, he made the claim that the project was essentially completed, and he was only two days away from finishing up. Hethen asked for an additional installment payment equal to 50% of the second half of the labor cost, which we paid to him. When called four days later to confirm the completion of work he stated that he had a heart attack and he wouldn't be finishing the project (in addition to this claim, he added that two of his sons, upon hearing the news of his heart attack, got into a car wreck on their way to the hospital and were taken to the ICU themselves). We then immediately scheduled an inspection of the property, which uncovered a trivially amount of work had been completed (see pictures attached). The entire time he had been giving updates on the progress of the project, yet none of items in the scope of work were even close to be finished.We initially attempted to work with him to ensure the remainder of the project was completed in a swift manner, but he blocked our phone number. We then reached out to him via a secondary phone (unknown to him) asking for his availability to complete work on a property of ours in Dekalb, to which he replied that he was. You can make your own conclusions about his claim of health issues, but I believe the answer is clear. Under no circumstances would I hire him, and I hope that this serves as a warning for anyone who is thinking of employing him. If for some reason, you are still considering his services, I would be more than happy to connect to providefurther details.TLDR: Do not hire Randy Smith of Sycamore / Dekalb, IL (aka Smith Handyman Services or RJ Contractor). We contracted with him to complete a home renovation. He claimed the project was two days from being complete and received $5,400 in labor payments. However, trivial progress was made and he refused to finish the job.
