Back in 2004 I think we went with Eclectic Electric because he had good reviews on Berkley Parents Network. I'm truly sorry to say this is not a good review. I really hope readers find it useful.
He wanted an advance before work even started. I think he said it was because of the inspection fee. We insisted on having it done with the proper building inspection requirements, according to building codes, fire codes, and electrical codes.
I was a new home owner in my first house at the time. I called and met contractors for different projects and got 5 quotes for every project. None of the other electrical contractors needed or wanted an advance for this service change. My foundation contractor, Alameda Structural, was contracted for a job worth more than 10 times this and he didn't ask for an advance of any kind.
Anyways, we settled on giving Jeff a small advance so he can get past it and get working as we had other projects lined up to get done.
It took Jeff about the same number of days to do the job as it took my foundation contractor to replace my entire foundation. A job that should have taken one 8-hour day by a qualified person.
A 1-day job took him several times coming back. Arriving whenever, if he did at all, and leaving shortly after for the day.
Jeff took so long that he ran into the beginning of our foundation work. I told him that I didn't want him to work while the house was floating on temporary shoring. I told the foundation guys to not let him on the property. I found out that he did try to convince them to get in there, but they told him no. I did not want anyone under or around there that wasn't supposed to be there.
Finally the service was on, the meter was in. But PG&E did not give their stamp of approval yet. Jeff wanted to get paid as soon as he was "done" and called me several times over and over again at work. When we spoke to PG&E they said we were right to wait, if there was something wrong, we may not get the contractor back to fix it. And heck, he barely came to get the job done in the first place. The good news at the time was that all seemed ok.
Jeff came across very unprofessional. If that were the only issue...
Unfortunately...
Under a year later I called a different electrical company to do some work. They told me my circuit breakers were incorrectly sized. Jeff put 20 amp circuit breakers on my 15 amp circuits. Oversized CBs are a fire hazard! My house had been in danger of burning down ever since Jeff worked on it.
Not knowing any better at the time I thought well here's one electrician telling me one thing and the other something else. Which one is right, which one is wrong? Well as it happens, I am now an apprentice electrician with 3 years under my belt. I know a lot more on the subject. I live in the same house which is almost 100 years old. The electrical system for houses this old will always have some, if not all, knob and tube wiring. Houses with knob and tube did not use 20amp circuits, our household electrical appliances just did not demand it. The 2 circuits placed on 20 amp breakers were entirely knob and tube. Upon checking the wiring, I did verify the size, 15 amperes is all they can handle. I remember asking Jeff how he would know what size breaker to put, he said he would check the wire size "is how he would know". These circuits lead up into my attic, he was never up there. I think what he did was use the size of the wire immediately leading up to the old fuse, extending the length to the panel. But Knob and tube alone should have given a clue to at least investigate and make sure, because a qualified person would know the consequences. Nonetheless, my house was in danger of burning down due to his mistake. All that had to happen was one too many appliances get plugged in. Like a space heater with all the lights on and maybe a TV and the breaker which should have shut down the circuit would just sit there, waiting for more amperage, letting the wire heat up beyond what the insulation can take and burn through and onto very dry 100 year old wood. The reason I was having the service change done at all was because my home insurance company required it. They required the old fuse system be replaced by the circuit breaker system, with the intent to avoid over-sizing of fuses which lead to houses burning down!
To me Jeff is not a professional and is unqualified as an electrician. This opinion is a result of a job so poorly done that my house, my property, myself and my family was at detrimental risk. I would rate this a zero if I could.
Beware. Hire qualified persons. Licensing is one thing, Bonding is another. (Insured by a company for liability in the event of damage caused by work done.) Their personal insurance probably will not cover burnng down our house, property, or covering our medical bills. If a company will not insure them, maybe we should not hire them. read more