We Called Ian to do some electrical work in our house. We were putting in a new kitchen and needed two electrical switches moved, prewiring for valence lighting in a corner and an additional electrical outlet. It took him 4 days to do this and he was late coming 3 of the 4 days. He charged us 11.5 hours for his work and $264.00 for material. I found that he took his sweet time to pad the hours worked and we were expecting more from him. Really disappointed, very poor value for the money. Our recently hired electrician priced the job much lower.
Postscript:
Just a follwup to my previous note. My current electrician feels the job only needed about 5 hours and the cost of materials I was charged ($264) was exorbitant. It should not have been more than $80.
I am posting a new updated review having obtained updated information. I carefully went through the work done by an experienced electrician and he states that he would think the work would have taken one full day or about 8 hours. This would be the case if the electrician stayed on the job the whole day. Ian had to go away to do other jobs on each day and this probably increase the time it took him to finish the work. My electrician feels that $200 would be a fair price for the amount of materials used.
I am updating my review as I don't generally revel in critising someone's work especially if their livelihood depends on it.
I would not have minded if it was disclosed to me prior to the work that because it was an emergency, it would cost me a premium
- Approximate cost of services:
- $0.00
- Company Response
Hi Steve:
Thank-you for your opinion. I do appreciate the feed-back. In my 20 years of Electrical contracting experience, this is the first situation of this nature that I have encountered. I understand your frustration with me working at various times during the week. I discussed this point with your wife, and she confirmed that the electrical work would need to be completed by the end of the day on Friday. I explained that as an Electrical Service Contractor, I do need to respond to emergency break-down calls. During the week in question, I did have a number of very urgent break-down calls. This delayed my respose on the 3 out of the 4 days worked. I do acknowledge and apologize for this inconvenience to you. As your wife requested, the work was finished by Friday. Your wife thanked me for a job well done, and said she appreciated the effort I had made. If it will help to clarify the job, I would be pleased to provide you with a detailed copy of the materials used, and my cost to purchase. As far as the number of hours worked, here is a break-down :
- 3 switches were installed for 3 separate lighting areas.
- the valence lighting consisted of 4 different areas, not just 1 corner. Two additional switches were installed for cabinet pot lighting.
- the Kitchen island receptacle was an extra ( That I suggested to Mrs Choi, because of the added labour & expense of installation after the Kitchen would be completed.)
- Because all of the drywall in the Kitchen was existing, running the new wiring was much more labourious, than in a new, open frame situation.
I hope we have all learned the importance of TRANSPARENT and OPEN communication in all of our business relationships.Regards
Ian Bowbyes
Bowbyes Contracting Inc.
Office - 905-825-5996
Cell - 905-617-5996