SOUTH BAY ELECTRIC COMPANY

I called Ian and explained what I wanted done in my kitchen (demo drop celing, remove existing lighting, put in recessed lighting). He told me to send him some pictures, which I did and we texted back and forth a bit over the price and date. However, this proved to be a mistake. Ian should of come to my home and looked at the job himself. Because my house is old it is made of Latham / Plaster walls and my kitchen is long in length so it needed more light 'cans' than anticipated. Had he come here, it would of been clear from the get-go. When we did settle on a date, I was told that he would be here between 10 - 12 and the job should only take a few hours. In fact, Ian told me that there was another job scheduled for 3 pm the same day, so I was surprised that they weren't coming earlier. The job ended up taking several hours and the 3pm was cancelled. I spoke to Ian the morning of the job and he informed me that his son and another guy was coming but he himself wasn't. He then asked me if I had a nail puller because his son forgot one, no big deal but I did get a tad worried. The two guys (his son and another worker) did show up around 11 and I showed them the kitchen. The son was very surprised as he said he didn't know anything about any 'demo' work. I assured him that I informed Ian about it and it was included in the price. After confirming it, they got to work. About an hour later, they informed me that I could go with the six lights I ordered but due to the length of the kitchen I should get two additional lights to make sure there are no 'dark spots'. They didn't have two additional lights with them so I went out to two different hardware stores (myself) to purchase the equipment. The two cans, bulbs and trim came out to 70$ but Ian was charging me over 100$ per light. I understand making a profit but come on, I felt raped on that price! They should of had the son go out and buy the lights and kept me in the dark about the actual price ( I even ran into the son at Home Depot buying a tool that he had forgotten)! So, the work resumes and then they tell me that their 'saw blade' for cutting the holes is broken and they can't continue. I'm looking at my ceiling, which has holes in it now, no lights and I told them you can't leave it like this. They jump on their phones and call everywhere without luck trying to find a 5 and 5/8 tool. They told me repeatedly had they known the house was Latham Plaster they would of brought the right equipment. Um, shouldn't the foreman (Ian) come to the job site and take care of that? I ended up giving them 'my personal' Jig-saw to continue the job, which made the holes they cut uneven. So, when they finally got the cans put in them there are holes around them and some of the cans didn't even stay in the holes that were cut (holes were to big). They mickey moused them into the holes and told me to have the holes around the lights patched. Ok, now there are holes in my ceiling that need more work! The son then told me he had to make two big holes in the wall to fit the wires. I wasn't happy at all about the two extra holes, I now have in my walls and are quite big! The best part of the job was the clean up. They did a great job cleaning up. The bill came and I was surprised to see how they pretty much charged me for every little thing and I was left with a job that to me didn't look professional. They even charged me 10$ more than agreed upon for the dimmer because I chose the more expensive of the two that his son had in his truck. I didn't even know there was a price difference! The son just showed me two and said which one do you want? To his credit, Ian did knock a few bucks from the bill but overall I feel ripped off. After thinking about it for a day or two, I've decided to not use them again (I have another job coming up) and blame it on Ian not coming to visit the job himself and his son not having the proper equipment. His son was ready to throw the towel in on the job half way through. I did tell Ian on the phone that I was happy but that was before I had time to think about it and review the job they did closer. Well, enough writing. I guess I better get to patching the holes left behind by South Bay Electrical! UPDATE - I sent pictures of my ceiling to Ian telling him that I couldn't leave a positive review. He called me promptly and said the job was horrible based on the pictures. He then said he would send a worker to my home to patch the holes and the lights that were not even fit into the ceiling properly. After awhile he called back and stated that his son said my ceiling was sagging and needed to be replaced entirely. I assured him this was not true and that he could come and see it for himself. He didn't take me up on the offer but he did send a worker over who fixed the problem. The job now looks like I would of expected it to look originally.

I gave South Bay electric a call because I was having lighting problems in my kitchen. I described the issue on the phone and Ian suggested several things to check before he agreed to the appointment. I check them and found the problem to be the dimmer switch as he suggested it might be. Truly an honest guy. He could have charged me a service visit and the hourly charge but rather chose to give me solutions to check before moving forward. He probably saved me at least $125.00. I would definitely use in him in the future. - Thanks Ian!

I had a big problem with my electrical wiring from a handyman that abandoned a project. Needless to say I was really concerned for my family's safety. I explained to Ian, the owner of South Bay Electric, my situation and he immediately scheduled his son, Daryck, to come out and troubleshoot the issue. Daryck did a fantastic job and I had him come back the next day to do additional electrical wiring the previous handyman was paid to do, but didn't finish. He did a great job again and my mind was finally at ease -- my family and home, I felt, was no longer in danger of an electrical fire. There was a minor disagreement about the length of time Daryck actually worked based on my wife's understanding (she was home for both days to supervise). Ian and I QUICKLY resolved this issue by Ian promising to credit me $35 the next time I call them to come out for another project. I would definitely call them again and highly recommend South Bay Electric! BTW - the name of the previous handyman I hired is GREENHEART SIONOSA. Do not do business with this guy. I found out he abandoned 3 other projects the same time he abandoned mine!

They were very good and very helpful. They had good suggestions. They were punctual and they work quickly and neatly. Their price was reasonable.

Owner's son arrived when scheduled, installed outlet, offered to wire old dishwasher (not needed), was clean and efficient and friendly.

They were really outstanding. Their job was excellent and they had a low price. I had a fabulous experience with them. I definitely would call them again in the future.

The electrician, Derrick, showed up promptly as scheduled. I explained the situation and we agreed to a straight hourly rate of $89/hr minus a 10% Angie's list discount. He was responsive and answered quite a few questions I had regarding code requirements. He got the requested work done fairly efficiently in about 4 hours. I was happy with his solution to one tricky cable routing situation. He was the company owner's son, young and not the most experienced, but for this basic job he was fine and competent. I was quite satisfied with the quality and price.

They did wonderful. I would use them again.

Ian was able to set me up with an appointment within 24 hours of my initial call. His electricians arrived on time and quickly diagnosed what needed to be done. They completed the work as estimated, left the room cleaner than it was when they arrived and were courteous and friendly. I would definitely recommend Ian and intend to keep his card handy for future electrical needs.

The installer showed up on time and made a neat and unobtrusive connection to the sub panel. He had some difficulty since we needed to insert the cable through a soffit and he could not easily see where the drill was leading. On the second try he succeeded leaving us with a small area to patch- no problem. He took a lot of care to protect the areas he was working in and to make the minimum number and size of holes. Overall the installation went well and we are very satisfied with the result.

Prior owners of a house I'd just bought had had a lot of work done, and it appeared that they'd used handymen instead of professionals for the plumbing and electrical work. After getting input from several electricians I turned the repair job over to Ian Marsh and his crew of Maynard and Ramon, and it was truly a brutal job. There is nothing worse than fixing somebody else's screw-ups, and the crawl space under the house was cluttered and filthy. Fortunately, the guys were up to it, and they really did a good job of salvaging what they could of the prior work to keep the costs as low as possible. They transformed a system where most of the outlets had no ground connection, many wiring splices hung in mid-air, and all sorts of live wire ends just hung about, transformed it into a clean, safe, code-compliant system with proper junction boxes and neatly stapled cables. They managed to get all the outlets working properly without even cutting holes in the walls, something I greatly appreciated. The bill came to a lot of money, but I absolutely see where the time went and think it a fair bill which I was happy to pay. There is still a bit more work to do once I'm ready and I have confidence Ian will do it well.

I called South Bay Electric Co and spoke to owner Ian during the daytime. He communicated well and told us fortunately his son Daryck (sp?) was in the area on another job so could stop by around 4pm after his other job was done. When Derek arrived I explained we had four separate issues including the circuit breaker shutting power for front light switches, doorbells not working, a few power outlets not working and master bathroom mirror lights not working. He went through one by one and figured out and resolved the issues with each problem. First, after some investigation he found the light in the courtyard that had a loose wire due to the painters removal and replacement of the light box and fixed it by redoing the wiring. Secondly, he quickly tracked and fixed the issue with the doorbell to the wires at the transformer in the crawl space. Third, for the power outlets downstairs not working he saw that when the recessed lights were put in, the previous electrician forgot to keep the power continuing to the further outlets so he reconnected it and all were fixed, including the power to the outside outlet we didn't even know was connected to those before he came. Lastly he troubleshot the bathroom mirror lights and found that the power box was hidden behind a wall. He gave us the option of having him break the wall and fix it, create a new line from a second switch, or just leave it be for another time. We've had quite a bit of work done and wanted some peace from having more people come to patch and paint so we decided to leave that job for another day. Overall, we were very pleased with his troubleshooting skills, the quality of the work, fair pricing and his willingness to stay late to finish the job. I would recommend them to others.

I called and Ian set up my appointment at the time I requested. He was great about explaining what kind of outlets I should purchase. His electrician (sorry I forgot his name, great guy) arrived on time and answered all my questions. He worked efficiently and completed all the work within the time estimate Ian had provided. It was a great experience and I would definitely use this company again.

Ian is very knowledgeable and helpful. He troubleshot my problem and explained how I could fix the problem on my own. I will call Southbay Electric the next time I have an electrical problem.

The service was very professionally provided - diligent, thorough, and fast. Derrick was very personable and knowledgeable.

I met Ian for the estimate. He was very knowledgeable and honest. His schedule was pretty full at the time so he came back a few weeks later to do the job. Luckily, the two-day job turned into one because he had extra people available. His workers were friendly, pleasant and efficient. They had to go under the house a lot, which is dirt, not foundation. A thankless job really. They also had to drill through the eaves to connect to the SCE power lines. It was quite a lot of demanding work, but everything was done very well. It was a good experience.

I chose to do business with South Bay Electric because they have the best rating on both Angie's List and Yelp.com Ian came and did the estimate, but another worker later came to do the actual work, which included installing a motion sensor light and getting power to my garage. The guy worked for maybe 2.5 hours. The work was done well. I would recommend them - I trust Ian. -Karl

Great work, helpful and quick.

I called South Bay Electrical based on their location to my house and the overall ratings on Angie's List. I was happy that they were so receptive to performing a relatively simple installation of one recessed light and that no job was too small. Ian scheduled the service call on the same day I made the call and after I got home from work. Derrick came over and was very pleasant to deal with. He was quick and professional and even recommended a different light than what he first originally installed because it provided a better range of coverage. They honored their 10% Angie's List discount and I would definitely use and recommend them in the future.

Joy to do business with profesional and respectiful vendors.

South Bay Electric Company is rock solid. I've tried other electricians and I think the people here are the only honest one's in the South Bay!!!

Arrived on time, listened, and gave recommendations. Installed necessary GFI's. Work was professional, accurate, and fast. Easy fix of bathroom vent instead of replacing existing fan. Thank you for your work.

Ian was 15 min. late, he apologized. He looked at the panel, said it looked professionally done & thought it might be permitted because the work quality was good. I later found out it was not permitted but I felt secure knowing that the panel was safe. At the end of his short visit Ian said he would not charge me, even though I agreed to his inspection fee, because he was late. I thought this was highly unusual but appreciated his professionalism. I will be sure to contact him again for any other electrical work I might have.

Two men were sent for the job, which they completed in a bit over an hour. They were pleasant, efficient, well-equipped, and fairly priced. Could not ask for better!

Working with South Bay Electric was a great experience from start to finish. We finally decided to update the 2 bathrooms in our 1952 house. Both baths had the old, metal wall heaters that switch on and off, plus, there were no fans for ventilation. I found a few contractors on Angie?s List and ended up going with Ian at South Bay Electric. I called and left a message, letting them know the type of work I needed to have done. Ian returned my call promptly and even though he was in the middle of a couple of jobs, he made time to come out and take a look at my bathrooms. He arrived on time and did a thorough job of looking over the rooms and discussing various options for what I needed. He then wrote up a detailed work order, with a breakdown of each aspect of the job. His price seemed fair and comparable to other estimates I had gotten. He also gave me the names and numbers of a couple places to get the fans. We then set a date for the work to be done. Derrick and Maynar arrived on time the day of installation and worked all day to get the job done. They taped down plastic to protect the bathroom surfaces and kept the mess to a minimum. I appreciated their checking in with me to make sure the placement/style/configuration of the fans and switches were what I wanted. I can be very fussy about that stuff! They also managed to keep the drywall repair to a minimum. They removed all debris and cleaned up before they left. Ian followed up the next day to see how all went and make sure I was happy. Boy, am I!!! The fans look great and I can?t believe how well they work. The bathroom heats up in no time and the mirror never gets fogged. Beautiful job.