I went on Home Advisors to put in a request to rewire my entire house, add new outlets, and put recess/can lights in 2 bedrooms and a living room. Rob, the owner, contacted me immediately to set up an appointment. Since, I had to work during the weekday, I usually only can be at the house on the weekend. Rob explained he does not have weekend appointments, because he wants to spend time with his family. Understandable. Therefore, I arranged my work schedule and had him come out at 9am on a Wednesday.
Rob calls me at 7:30am on the day of our appointment and said he was in my area and wanted to come now. I informed him there was someone in the house right now, I have a tenant living at the house, so that would not be possible. I have already made arrangement with my tenant to be out of the house by 9am. Rob then said, "So I have to figure out something to do for the next hour and a half?"
At the appointed time, I was at the house and showed him what I wanted done. I told him what my budget was and when I needed the work done. He did not bring any tools to measure the room or check the outlets. He just had a notepad to take notes on what I wanted done. After walking through the house he sent me a proposal with the price which met my budget and my timeline. Therefore, I decided to hire him. I had other electricians come out and they were booked solid and could not meet my timeline. Rob came out on Wednesday and said he can start the job on Friday. I hired him because he was ready to go and I also checked his reviews on the referral website and there were many positive reviews (now I question whether they avoid posting negative reviews) and he had a good rating with the BBB.
Things start going downhill when he came out after I accepted his bid. We were trying to figured out where the new recessed lights should be place in the living room. He was very short with me and kept saying, "I don't want to do this twice." When I questioned some of the light placement, he started getting annoyed and again said, "I do not want to do this twice," I wanted to avoid having shadows on the perimeter of the room and asked his advice on best placement to avoid shadows. He started getting annoyed and rude with his responses.
I felt like I was asking him to do me a favor by talking through the light replacement. I was hoping to rely on his advisement, since this is what he does, to help me get the right lighting placement. My living room and dining room are combed. So I suggested a separate switch for the dinning room, so if I am not using the dining room, I can leave the lights off. He said that would $100 more to add a new switch. When I questioned that charge, he said, "This is not a charity."
After a few more rude comments, I just had enough and I decided not to hire him. I asked him to leave. He started saying how he has already scheduled his crew and tried to change my mind. I felt, if you are this rude to me before you start my project, I can only imagine how you would treat me if there are any problems that might come up along the way or after the job is done.
After he left, he emailed me to apologize and said he can be nice. His assistant/office manager also called and offered her apology. She offered to take off $100 from the bid, if I go forward with the job. I told her, "No, thank you." I didn't give them one star, because he and his assistant/office manager did apologized. However, I work hard for my money and I want someone who will appreciate the business. Rob acted like he was doing me a favor by taking the job. So I went with another electrician. read more