I just moved into a new apartment and needed to add outlets to two closets.
I contacted Udi after being impressed by all of the positive Yelp reviews. He replied promptly and made time that week to visit the apartment for a free quote.
During that appointment, Udi spoke quickly and dismissed the job as being trivial. He said that the outlets could be installed back-to-back. He gave me an estimate of $450 for the work, including plastering over any damage to the wall.
After speaking to a few other electricians, I called Udi and told him that I'd be willing to move forward at $400. He said he could do that, but without plastering. I asserted that I needed the job to be done cleanly -- I didn't want to compromise on quality. He said the job was minor and that his guys would be able to do a great, clean job.
Udi accomodated my schedule and we were able to do the job that same week.
His guys were an hour late. They began by asking "where would you like the outlet" -- I told them, ideally, I wanted the outlet at the bottom of the closet. I didn't realize this was a loaded question.
An hour later, they called me over to inspect the work. Unfortunately, it was very disappointing. They had installed an extension cord through the wall, stapled it along the back of the closet, and terminated it into a clunky, wall-mounted box. It looked extremely unprofessional and ate up closet space.
I called Udi to discuss and he suggested that there had been a misunderstanding. He'd thought that I'd be okay with exposed wire and wall-mount boxes -- he said this was how he was able to offer the $50 discount.
Being a layperson, I'd assumed that the outlets would be recessed and that the wire would either be fished through the wall or installed in a low-profile cover. I'd even sent an email before the job specifying my expectation that the result would be "clean face-plates" built into the wall.
Udi said that he had thought the guys would go straight through, wall-to-wall (which would have put the outlets at chest level). He said this would have minimized the exposed "extension cord" between closets. I told him that this wasn't my understanding of the work.
He said he would have his team move the outlet from the bottom to the middle and install a cord cover to conceal the exposed wire.
At this point, I was beginning to feel more than a little overwhelmed and misled. I wasn't receiving the "high quality" work that the other reviews raved about. I decided to loop in my folks (who are experienced homeowners) for help communicating with Udi.
We told Udi that the proposed solution was unacceptable, especially in a non-rental apartment. Having over-the-wall wire runs and over-the-wall outlets would hurt the unit's value. I questioned why he'd originally included "plastering" in his quote if he understood the job to be entirely over-the-wall.
Udi said he could do what I'd originally expected -- recessed outlets and in-wall wiring -- for $700. That's an additional $300.
At this point, I had no choice but to accept an inferior job or to pay through the teeth for what I'd actually wanted.
Meanwhile, I had 2 guys in my apartment, their foreman on the phone, and a mess in the hallway... and I was missing work. It was an extremely unpleasant experience.
I wound up ponying up $700 (plus the rest of my workday) while his team bought supplies at home depot, took a lunchbreak, and finally came back to complete the job.
The final installation was barely passable. The plasterwork has since sunk into the wall, leaving a noticeable indentation where wire was embedded. The faceplates are not quite flush with the wall, and some of the faceplates are scratched up. There's also a blank faceplate covering up a hole in my bathroom wall.
All in all, I was not expecting to pay nearly $1,000 to add an outlet to my closet. It was never made clear that the first quote was for an amateurish above-the-wall run of extension cord terminating in an above-the-wall outlet at chest level.
I've done my best to present my raw experience working with ASAP Solutions. On the plus side, Udi was polite and accomodating. He was able to schedule the job quickly and work toward addressing my concerns.
On the minus side, the job took multiple tries, ate up an entire day, and cost nearly twice the quoted price. For all that time and money, the results were underwhelming.
While it's possible that there was a misunderstanding, it's surprising that they'd assume I would be okay with an unprofessional installation to save $50. I stressed many times that aesthetics mattered to me.
Most importantly, the tradeoffs / actual plans were never clearly communicated to me (despite my effort to enumerate expectations via email).
At worst, I was fleeced. At best, Udi needs to do a better job of communicating an exact work plan and how much that work will cost. He also needs to make sure his team is on the same page. He did not offer to share the cost of the "misunderstanding." read more