Jim Slotek in Toronto

A poor reno job in the '90s resulted in eventual water damage to our kitchen ceiling. John Oliveira assessed the cause (inappropriate, non-waterproof drywall). built a beautiful watertight glass-enclosed shower from scratch, repaired the kitchen ceiling and imparted useful insight into the breakdown of a job price (materials come first). Bathroom work is always harrowing because... you can't use your bathroom. So we were grateful for the speed with which he worked. His work was professional, and his price was open and fair (and lower than others would charge).

There is a problem somewhere in our wiring that causes a breaker to short during heavy rains. The rep from Astron replaced the breaker for $80 and didn't investigate further (he said he'd "changed some wiring" to fix the problem). Weeks later, during another heavy rain, the breaker blew again. I phoned Astron and the woman said she'd pass along the work order. No one phoned back. I phoned again. And again. Five times in total. Fail. Even if they'd decided the problem was more trouble than it was worth, it is unprofessional to simply decide to ignore a client, without advice or referral to another electrician.