ScoutReviews 80

I have been a member for a long time. No magazine in over a year no benefits no nothing worst club ever and the tools they tried to pawn off on use pure junk

I am also a lifetime Handyman club member, when I became "lifetime", they sent me a beautiful router with Forstner bits and other bits, a nice set of chisels, a tool bag to put them in and miscellaneous smalls (patch, key chain hat carpenters pencil etc.) not too bad in my opinion! The few tools I tested were nothing to get exited about but...? I haven't been receiving the magazine for awhile but that may be (probably is) my own fault, my address changed and I keep forgetting too let them know?!

I have been a lifetime member of Handyman almost since its inception. I have tested three tools in the past 15+ years. Two of them were not worth what it cost in postage to send them the third was a pretty good 1" wood chisel that is still in my chisel pouch. I haven't received a magazine from them in quite some time and cannot seem to find a web site to go to and question why. After reading a few of these reviews I think I can now understand why

I'm all for a class action suit against Scout Magazine, the now current owner of the in name only "Handyman of America". As stated in previous reviews, since the take over of the club, services have been replaced with junk services which I'm not interested in at all. No magazine, no products to test, just a lot of junk services that most handymen will not want unless you are a sports person as well. I think everyone who has a lifetime membership should join the class action and ask for their lifetime fee back. How do we start this process rolling. Some one who had ownership in Handyman Club of America sold out the members and made a good buck to boot.

Just opened an e-mail from "Scout". Here it is:

Thank you for your email. Please be advised that on February 7,2017, CBS 247 Inc. (CBS) purchased certain assets from Scout Media Inc. (Scout Media) in connection with Scout Medias proceeding under chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. It is my understanding that this bankruptcy process has been converted to a proceeding under chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code and that Ian Gazes has been appointed as the chapter 7 trustee. Any issues or concerns in connection with your activities relating to Scout Media, including with respect to subscriptions purchased from Scout Media, should be directed to Mr. Gazes and David Dinoso at Gazes LLC, whose phone number is *******000, and whose address is 151 Hudson St., New York, New York *******.

So much for my "Lifetime" membership.

This organization (Handyman Club of America) purports itself to be for distributing things - tools and such - for "Life Members" to test and keep. Of course, that "Life Membership" comes at a hefty price. At one time, they were what seemed to be a standalone group, but have fairly recently aligned with Scout.com. Since that time, their service and response to my complaints have been dismal.
For a time, I was receiving Chinese-manufactured router bits every so often, which I looked forward to using in the (again, probably Chinese-made) router that was promised to me once I had fulfilled my "Lifetime Membership" dues. Those dues were paid up for several months, and as soon as that happened, there were no more router bits sent, and the router never showed up, either. Numerous calls to their customer service department resulted in sincere apologies and the excuse that 'due to overwhelming response' those items were on back order. Similar response came back from their online complaint location. Four months of back-order seems excessive to me.
I finally contacted the Better Business Bureau in their area and Handyman Club of America responded to them and me that they would issue a refund and cease all contact with me. Frankly, I'll believe it when I see it; 'your check is in the mail' comes to mind, given their past performance.
I have read many online reviews of this bunch since having had the bad experience, something I wish I had done prior to hooking up with them in the first place. I have added my angry voice to some of those in the hopes that future prospective victims will steer clear.
I have also contacted a few of the many 'craftsman' (woodworking, primarily) magazines to which I subscribe that have had advertisements in them touting Handyman Club of America relating my experience with them. I hope that results in those mags turning down ads, but since the mags make a lot of money from advertising, I have my doubts.
Bottom line: if I had to do it all over again, I'd be better off had I never dealt with them.