deejemil@googlemail.

Wow! Thank you for your response. You are of course entitled to your opinion. The family I am currently sitting for are grateful to have someone looking after their home while they are away and some people may appreciate a neighbour popping in a couple of times a week to make sure everything is okay.

Dear Neighbours I wanted to introduce myself and offer my services for the summer, my name is Dee and I am currently housesitting in Forest Hill for a family who have been travelling abroad. I am a community teacher and will shortly be on my summer break, so have some hours to kill over the summer. My understanding is that there have been numerous burglaries in the area which are on the increase as burglars are targeting empty homes whilst people are away. Burglars are using more sophisticated systems such as drone technology and bypassing security systems to break into homes, and even when alarms do go off, by the time security or police arrive, they are in and out of your home. I know how devastating it can be if your home is broken into and your possessions destroyed and taken. I would be happy to help by staying over or to come in at random times to water plants, feed cats, put the bins back after bin day collections as this is a big tell-tell sign that you are not home etc. I?d also be happy to look after your dog at home for those that don?t want to kennel their dogs whilst they are away. Please PM if interested

I think perhaps it is time to shut this conversation down as I am starting to feel offended by the tome and manner of some of the responses, which if continues I will report. I do not feel it is necessary to question or judge the personal circumstances which led to the employment of Aston (whether I was obliged to use him or not!) In my personal opinion I felt his charge was unethical and I will not endorse it! I have now found another local handyman whose workmanship is just as good as Aston's and charges less than half the price, his name is Aron and I will be using him in future.

I didn't say i was happy, if I was happy I wouldn't have put a post on here. I am certainly not happy! I said he did a good job, doesn't justify the charge. It's not ethical and I will not endorse it.

Dear Neighbours I recently moved back to Forest Hill where I grew up and I have to say I am very upset with the poor service of handymen in the area. Despite trying to contact recommendations on this site - very few handyman have replied or been available and those that I have managed to employ have been disappointing. Chris Tickner was the first handyman I employed recently who messed up the job and should not have been recommended on this site, despite having a dodgy hip - he also has bad eyesight - so ladders and straight lines are a big problem (let alone just getting up the stairs and even carrying his own tool box). The second handyman I employed was Aston who comes highly recommended on this site and is a brilliant handyman, he does a first class job, really knows his stuff BUT on his initial quotation he wanted to charge the equivalent to ?75 per hour, I managed to renegotiate the rate down to ?55per hour, but that is still extortionate for putting up a shelf and flat pack furniture. It's totally unethical. The rates i was charged in N London were between ?20-30 per hour which is reasonable and what I was expecting. I am just so upset that the home I grew up in hasn't a community that is tainted in this way.