I was a loyal customer of Simon Bradford for over 7 years where I employed him 8 times to do various jobs totalling £1695 including fitting 3 bathroom cabinets, 2 towel rails, a bath screen, shower doors, and a downlight transformer. He also did some general repairs including fixing wardrobes, repairing a kitchen sink pipe leak, and repairing a bed. My general impression of Simon was that his general behaviour was always quite condescending and supercilious. Due to the lack of available handymen in the East London area, and Simon's apparent always-available status, I tolerated his behaviour and his curt messages that always came across as deliberately unceremonious. I always felt anxiety whenever I had to deal with this man to ask if he could do a job for fear I'd receive a churlish response with undertones of anger. I gave him the benefit of the doubt believing that he may have persistent anger management issues, and made lots of effort to build a rapport by always praising him on Twitter (mentioning his Twitter account) and posting pictures of the work he did on my properties. But all of it was met with a nonchalant or dismissive response. As the years went on, instead of becoming better, both his attitude and workmanship became worse to the point that I asked him to fix a bed, and he completely bodged it (see photos showing poor alignment resulting in slats barely staying in place). It was a simple job, and I even had to advise him on how to fix it which involved using 2-part epoxy wood filler. He returned to try this solution and it worked. But I also asked him to do some other work to make the second visit count more as I had every intention of paying him for both attempts to fix the bed (everyone makes mistakes, right?). However, instead of doing the work or quoting for it, he simply said he's too busy. This was of course a lie, which I suspected, because, when I suggested to do it whenever he's free (as it was nonurgent work), he became unresponsive to WhatsApp messages yet continued to send me email reminders to pay the invoice for the bodged bed repair. I found this highly disrespectful after I had made effort to find a solution that would work for us both, and still pay him for the bodged work. I continued to chase, and rather than appreciating my gesture, he completely blew his top at me, and said he never wants to do any work for me again. Naturally, I welcomed this as I was reaching the end of my tether with this man, and there are now many others offering similar services in the area that are more available, and have far better reviews than Simon. A sad and sorry story of an arrogant man that seems to have anger issues, but one I'm glad to put behind me as I continue to build my East London property portfolio with the services of more professional and expert tradesmen.
Simon was recommended to us from a friend who is an Interior Designer (so I knew she had high standards!) Simon came and did a very thorough walk through what we wanted. He then produced an itemised quote for every element so we were able to clearly see the breakdown, and choose what to do with him. That said, he was so reasonably priced that we did the complete list. Simon was timely, professional and polite. We have been delighted with the results and would highly recommend him for painting, decorating and repairs.
I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Simon for his workmanship. He installed a mirror cabinet, grab rail and soap dispenser in my bathroom and WC. I booked my job at very short notice yet Simon managed to fit my project in and even turned up earlier than arranged which I was extremely pleased about. Simon offered a very reasonable fee for my project. He was very friendly and professional, too. It was a pleasure to have such a clean and organised handyman in my home. Thank you for your hard work and perfect results. I will definitely be using your services again!
Simon is very professional, thorough, and carries out work to a very high standard. He carefully treated the mould in our flat and painted over the affected areas, producing an excellent result. We are so impressed that we will be using his services again, and his rates are reasonable. Highly recommended!
