HandyMan Club of America / Scout.com review: are they still in business? 20

They have several clubs that I know of.. all seem to be gone. I'm sure thousands of people got scammed. I did. By a few of them.

I wondered why I had not been getting the HANDY magazine.

EC July 28, 2019

I also have a 14.4 cordless drill by Handyman. This [supposed] company is obviously a scam since I cannot even find the manual for my drill anywhere and I have searched all avenues on the net. I see where Handyman Club of America now has a forward slash / with the words "Scout.com" after it. I wouldn't deal with this organization either. If it took over HCOAmerica, it didn't let any customers of HCOA know about it's existence. As you can see, there is one star after Handyman Club of America/Scout.com - it is obvious we all know why. What a sham. Do not deal with Scout.com. They will go out of business soon enough.

I was a lifetime member of Handyman Club of America too, I did get some cool tools but then all of a sudden Scout.com took over and wanted more money for my supposed lifetime membership! I'm done with it as I haven't given them any more money!

OK, people here want to know, as do I, WTF is going on with HCOA. Anyone or anyplace have a useful answer? THANKS

Well, I got a slew of tools, too, when I signed up about ten years ago. They stopped sending me flyers for their very poorly written how-to books after I started declining the offers. They also stopped sending me their magazine, which I agree with earlier comments about the quality.
Getting back to the tools, what they sent were low quality. Even Harbor Freight has better tools, which is a testament to how bad the HCoA tools were.

About 20 years ago 22 years ago they weren't a rip off they were actually pretty good I don't know what happened in the meantime I know I stopped getting the magazines. Did get some stuff from them that was good quality. they said they were going to online format and at that point I didn't have a computer so I just let it go

As a life member, I would like to know. Is it for my life or the club's life? They seem to have faded away. Did I loose interest or did they.?

I have. The leather jacket, the belt buckle, and even the "Life Member" wall plaque. I have received 2 tool tests and when they said the mag. would now be digital, I had nothing to look forward to. Now they don't answer their phone. What has happened ?

John Walker

Life Member since 1998

I became a Lifetime member of the Handyman club of America June 21, 2000. Like others, I experienced a sudden stoppage of the Handy magazines and tool tester applications. I didn't know what happened to them. I thought they went out of business. The lifetime membership fee did not pay for itself. It would be nice to see at least a partial refund of what I paid. I don't have any record of my payment though or my member number.

Robert Houston

Litchfield Park, AZ

I have a lifetime membership and they stopped sending me magazines 15+ years ago I thought they went out of business. I bought a lot of stuff from them. My favorite magazine whats going on. I found you online and your still in business was it a scam or what

Sad. As I read through these various comments I’m deducing that HCOA no longer exists. I too am (was) a “Life Member”. I enjoyed the magazine, got some tools, tested some tools etc. like most guys here. I became a life member in December of 2002, and was proud of that membership! But alas, life changes get in the way and I recently found my Life Membership folder. I called the 800 number, and of course, got no answer. I then looked the club on the web and ended up here. And like everyone else, I received no notification of the demise of the club. Sad and too bad.

Catherine Hodges now Bowles

I too, am a life member of Handyman. Received a fe magazine but no tools to test. Are them still in business or was it a scam?

I finally found my reciept & member number for HCOA so that I could contact them & find out why I haven't received anything for years. I got the magizine for a few years & bought a few decent how to books, but NEVER had a chance to try and review ANY tools to keep. In my search for their site, I was directed here. Seems to me if Scout.com bought out HCOA, they would be bound by the contracts that HCOA had! Not a happy camper!

Unfortunately, this site wont allow a "link" so you'll have to copy past. These scumbags who bought/took over HCOA don't even respond to the BBB.

Handyman Club of America | Better Business Bureau® Profile:

https://www.bbb.org/us/mn/minnetonka/profile/hunting-gear/handyman-club-of-america-1296-51000042

I was "am" lifetime member of hcoa AND north American fishing club & hunting club. ALL GONE.

I was a charter, lifetime member (1997). Although I haven't heard from them in years, the magazine was pretty decent in its day, and I still (2024) use the leather USAF style pilot jacket that came with the lifetime membership.

All-in-all, I got more than my money's worth from them.