I was BLACKMAILED by CAUSTIC Illumination Original lights on a 2.5 acre property were installed by Artistic Illumination. I wanted to do a maintenance and LED upgrade on the property, to install new bulbs, and reposition all lights based off the matured landscape. I ended up going with Artistic Illumination since they were the original installers even though they were 10% higher on the bid, but I thought they would better understand their own installation methods and practices to easily piece the overall job together more seamlessly. However, had issues with appointments made with their back office from the start. No call to schedule job as promised in early January, but I had to reach out personally for a Feb appointment instead. Also their documented phone number on their own website are non-functional, further complicating attempts at contact. Once a bid was obtained it was very loose and indicated 2 men for a total of 16 hours would be required to do the scope of work. I asked on the spot how that worked, and Carlos (forecasted owner once current owner retires) responded that it would probably be less than the 2 whole days and I would only get charged for what hours were completed. Not until the end of the 2nd full day, I was informed they needed more time. I was told they wanted to come back 3 days later for a 3rd full day with 3 men. The property was left in mid-completion with lots of dirt and mud over hardscape for me to clean up, and wires and clippings throughout. During the 3 day wait, I started to think about the overage as my bid was going from 2 days to 3.3 days and even then there was no guarantee it would be complete. I decided I would ask for an updated bid. I had added a couple lights but not been quoted, so an updated bid could provide clarity for both sides, I felt. Terry Mullen, whom I believe is the wife of the current owner, contacted me via telephone late in the day and communicated in a very aggressive tone. When I tried to explain what I was trying to obtain, I was told to "be quiet and just listen". This it where things went downhill. Since my bid went from 32 man hours to 56 man hours, the labor portion of my job had increased a whopping 53% and the job was still unfinished, I felt it completely reasonable to ask for an updated bid. She insinuated it was my changes that constituted for the additional man hours. This is where the problem lies. Terry is the owner's wife and who does the scheduling. I imagine her job is seriously affected when the timing of the job does not work out as estimated by their crews. Now Carlos, the installer, has to let her know he is not done with the work within the time he bid on the job, and assuming he has to deal with her wrath, he simply puts the blame on the homeowner for "undisclosed changes" to alleviate the discrepancy, and they push the associated charges onto the client. At this point, she suddenly demanded that I pay 1/2 of the bid, but 1/2 of what since that was all I was really requesting to know. Carlos proceeded to inform me he was "instructed" by Terry to disable my entire light system unless I gave him a check on the spot. This it the ugliest most deplorable business practice I have ever encountered. I was at no point asked to pay a deposit, or 1/2 until I asked them for an accurate, updated bid. This BLACKMAIL tactic was way out of line. I attempted to call Terry again to discuss, but she yelled an ultimatum and hung up on me. I had to ask them to leave and they removed materials so that my lights are now in-operable. I never threaten to not pay them, I just asked for an accurate number for us to move forward. 24 hours later, I received a NOTICE OF INTENT TO LEAN Are you kidding me? Unfathomable behavior. I suggest this owner/back office clerk retire immediately as to salvage whatever reputation the company may have. Carlos, the installer, did verbally apologized for her being a "b*tch over the phone" (his words), however, that is not consolation enough at this point. Terry IS absolutely out of line and she is the one who owes me an apology. read more

Now I know why you call it... Yelp! Ouch, as I'm reading other reviews, I'm seeing that, despite some positive, if vague, ones in 2018-2019, there some really terrible ones. My original experience with Artistic Illumination had some lows but ended on an extreme high note. On the low-side, it initially took weeks just to hear back from them to schedule a walk-through appointment for outdoor lighting repair scheduled. But in light of the pandemic, this is very easily forgiven. When a walk-through was eventually scheduled, Carlos arrived on time and he was great! In the walkthrough, he listened, gave occasional recommendations about how-to and costs. He gave me lots of confidence, so I went ahead and ordered the repairs, which Carlos, again, carried out with courtesy and speed. As a result, I put this firm into my tickler for additional lighting work... Unfortunately, my recent encounter with Teri, the firm's business coordinator, has begun poorly... I am looking for another set of LED uplights to be installed, so I entered another request for quote with them. I did get a courtesy 'thank you for requesting a quote' message, a nice touch, but the actual quote did take several days. Again, not a deal-killer. When the quote arrived today, however, it looked high while also lacking much detail; this time it was quoted with materials and labor baked into a simple 'per unit' cost. I courteously (you'll have to trust me there) responded as such, while adding specifics about various brands or models, that might mitigate the price. Teri's response skipped over my questions about choices of brand or model, and was mostly a complaint about CA taxes. I responded, again courteously, asking how they arrived at the unit price ($265 / unit, obviously materials 'n labor). Teri's response was 'materials and labor'. So, I reiterated my question about choices of brands or models. Teri's new response was sarcastic, that "We do not install substandard material". Darn, I was hoping to get some substandard material. But she also inquired 'what kind of detail to I want'. At this point, her responses looked a lot like a person with other concerns on her mind, perhaps responding from her phone while distracted, or just distraught (about taxes, increased costs of doing business, or more likely frustrated with inquiries about pricing. I assumed that she did not read my entire messages, so because she was asking, I responded again to re-state my question about cost-breakdown (material vs. labor). Teri declined any specifics, and instead said she'll have Mark "spell it out for me' when returns... ...we don't negotiate' Noting the 'your-a-cheap-moron' insult in her last comment, I am here writing this review. So, whether or not Mark or somebody besides Teri follow up with me, I saw little value in wasting time and words today with Teri. Anyway, unless and until I hear from Mark, Carlos, or another decision-maker who is ready to demonstrate more courtesy and respect, I will not hire Artistic Illumination again. The above email trail might simply be the result of frayed nerves and is therefore easily salvage-able. Of course, that includes me revisiting this review after getting this service request back on track and completed. Regardless, I think that Artistic Illumination will do well to improve their front-office experience in today's connected world. read more

Be wary of how Artistic Illumination treats your neighbors' property. They have been working on the house next door and parking in front of my house. Public street: fair enough. They refuse to park in front of their client's house: uncool. On trash day--they moved my trash can so that they could better park their two gigantic vans. Highly unprofessional company as they do not respect the neighbors. read more

We love our lighting that Artistic Illumination installed about a year ago. Mark is a great guy and offered his expert advice regarding what type of lights we should use and where. Also, what trees and areas of our home would look great lit up. They did a beautiful job! We have really enjoyed the beautiful lighting and how it has enhanced our home. My landscapers, who do a great job on my property, are NOT as careful as they should be so I have had to call Artistic Illumination to come back out to make some repairs. Both times they sent Carlos and he is awesome! Very kind and patient. The type of employee everyone wishes they had. For a small service fee they came out both times and repaired the items and even checked the whole system. We are very happy with them to say the least. I would highly recommend them if you are looking for exterior landscape lighting. Way to keep your clients happy! Thank you! read more

Best choice for outdoor lighting. Wouldn't got anywhere else. They use quality products and have wonderful people that work in set up and service. Carlos is great! Highly recommend!! read more

I saw them voted number 1 by Houzz and gave him a try. I had been struggling with lights that rarely worked. I asked for him to replace them all. His design was far above what I had. He installed the LED lights that last years, and we are extremely happy. His crew mentioned I may want to illuminate my house number on the rock it was affixed to, and sure enough it looks great. I don't think they are cheap, but the quality of the lights and work was worth it. We had a great experience. read more

I was interested in getting some lighting done in my backyard as I have a couple expensive sculptures in the back that could not be viewed after the sun went down. I noticed my neighbor down the street recently installed lighting in the front and back yard, which just looked very professionaly well done. I was able to get the information from my neighbor who had nothing but great things to say about this company, so I gave them a call and couldnt be happier today. After having mark come visit the property, I had installation begin the next day and was able to view portions of the lighting already finished that night, one of them being the sculptures which looked amazing that night. The next day they completed the job of installing 45 ligthing fixtures and even had them install a switch in the house that I could control the lighting from. All in all I would recommend this lighting company to any friends or family for the great job they did from start to finish, which is why I'm giving them 5 stars. read more

first of all I want to say that Ismael who does the work for this company is a tremendous guy and very talented.I paid $255 to have my lites fixed in the front of my Point Loma home.When Ismael left I was under the impression that all was fixed thus paying $255.That evening the lites did not go on.I email the owner and he responded buy saying he would come out to "FIX" the lites but would have to charge me.I asked what did I just do when I wrote a check for $255?He said they weren't fixed and it would take extra time to trouble shoot.I pressd him to give me a definition of FIX and why did pay $255 and no one told me the lites weren't fixed.At this time the OWNER yelled FUCK YOU...and started to argue with me repeating FUCK YOU 4x...at that point I returned the kind thought and hung up.I WOULD NEVER DO BUSNIESS WITH THIS OWNER!If Ismael goes off on his own I would use him because he is honest.THE OWNER IS A JERK AND YOU SHOULD STAY AWAY FROM HIM AND HIS COMPANY. read more