Mainstream Electric, Heating, Cooling & Plumbing

This is a post falls Idaho company this company does work in north Idaho and Spokane area I reviewed this company yesterday 4/3/20.There are other companies doing business with the same name I am only reviewing this particular company. Total Scam called and told them I have a floor drain needed cleaning. There ad $79.99 I have paid $100.00 to clear drain every year for the last 10yrs. woman shows up wants $500.00 plus tax. I told her to leave , she says there is a $69.99 service charge. I laughed at her on her way out she said the person I talked to on the phone doesn't know anything about plumbing. Ubelievable

The one thing they were supposed to do they weren't even able to do.

it went very well will hire them again

If I could rate a zero I would. I called Mainstream On late Friday or Saturday 7/23/17 or 7/24/17. Expressed a need for a very knowledgeable tech to come out and evaluate an air flow issue I am experiencing with new equipment. At the time of the call I explained that my work schedule presented itself as the following Tue-Sat. 6am -3pm. I was told that they could have a "knowledgeable tech" out on the following Monday (6/26/17) set for arrival around 12 noon and would be leaving no later than 3pm. I then stated that would be great however I did also have an appointment with a Doctors. at 3:45pm that day as well and I would really appreciate the arrival time frame to accommodate this. The rep stated and ensured me that she would make very detailed notes so this was not over looked. Monday 12 noon rolled around and a Dispatcher by the name of Chris called to confirm I was home, upon confirmation he stated that he had a tech that just got done with a job and would route them my way. 1.5 hours later no one was on location. I called Chris back and inquired as to where the tech was. He then stated he would look into it and return my call. Upon returning the call he stated that they were further out than what he originally understood them to be. And they would be on location soon. I then inquired as to when and how far out they were. When he informed me of their whereabouts it turned out that the technician was over 30 minutes away. At this point I opted to reschedule because knowing the depth of the project the tech would need some time to evaluate the issue and look over the information I had for him. Chris then stated he could have the tech out on Tuesday 6/27/17 after 330pm. I get home on Tuesday (6/27/17) to receive a call stating that they could not make it and they could set my on the schedule for 6/28/17 from 8am to 10am. (This means they do not pay attention to anyone’s requests let alone read notes.) I highly suggest that you steer clear of this company by all means this experience in of itself leads me to believe, even though very polite and courteous they do not care. When I addressed this concern to the operator I was told that they address 1 customer at a time and then the next on the list takes precedence. If this were true I would have been kept in the loop voluntarily on their behalf. That did not happen. I would not have had to call on the original date set to inquire the whereabouts of the tech if this were true.. Or even if I had been politely notified they would had read the notes and let me know. Instead of waiting till the last minute to apprise me of said situation. I repeat this company seems to be very uncaring in time management. Which does put a bit of a "speed bump" in the road to begin with. I expect that they will come back with some corporate response to this review. Instead of trying to proactively correct the issue. So take this as you will everyone and have a great day.

Considering what I was (over) charged it was average. I will never use this company again. They continually misled me regarding when an electrician (original request) would be out and they would not state their hourly rate for work done.

Fantastic, I signed up for the yearly maintaince program

Absolutely fantastic service very professional Robert always wore bootees to protect our floors when he came back in from outside. Very pleased went over all our options and pricing so there was no surprises. Very pleased with the work.

Every person who walked through our door was professional. They put down a drop cloth and wore booties to insure cleanliness. They were polite, well informed, and kept us up-to-date on their progress. They also stayed until the job was complete, past 7:00 pm. In addition, they quoted the price of the entire job and never asked for an additional penny even though they had to do additional work.

Anthony answered his and was heading home for the day but took time to stop by my house first. What a wonderful man!! He showed up 30 minutes after my call and not only fixed the breaker but replaced not just one but three smoke alarms and a CO2 detector. The crazy part is only one was beeping before he arrived. He's picking up the alarms today (this happened last night) and installing them all for the price of $135.00. He is amazing and kind. A rare combination in this world, Anthony! Don't call anyone else!!

Guys showed up in time, all work went smooth and their price was good, less expensive than some other estimated.

Everything went very well. The crew was very nice and very professional. They got done on time stayed within our budget.

I didn't find them on Angie's List. They were really good. They had been here for something else. We had them clean our hot water heater. They have been really nice. The nice thing is, if it is not what they think it is like when they get there, they don't charge you that $80, they charge you what is.

Very awesome service. This company is all about communication and doing what's right for the customer. Their goal is to make the customer smile. They sent their technician out and I expressed all my issues to him. My technician Robert went above and beyond and came up with solutions to all of my issues. He came up with solutions I wouldn't even have thought of. He was very knowledgeable and helpful. He even found a safety concern in the breaker box which was a breaker that needed to be replaced ASAP. This company was very flexible and was able to work around my schedule. Mainstream called 20 minutes prior to the technician arriving at my house letting me know he is on his way. They even called a couple of days after the work was done to see if everything was done to my satisfactory and to see if I was happy with the work. Overall, I give this company an A+. I am definitely using this company again. I wouldn't go to anyone else.

We had a problem where our hot tub circuit breaker kept tripping, and we smelled (and saw) smoke. Mainstream Electric was able to come out the next day since the weather was very cold and we worried that our hot tub would freeze. The electrician, Steve, was prompt and professional, and discovered that the wiring from the subpanel to the hot tub was smaller than code and needed to be replaced. Although this increased the cost of the job, this attention to safety was much appreciated. What happened next proved that Mainstream stands behind their work. The inspector had two code concerns with the prior installation of the hot tub that did not relate to Mainstream's work. However, they (especially Corinne in the office) worked with the inspector on our behalf to resolve the concerns without having to do any additional work. We greatly appreciated their advocacy on our behalf and are very satisfied customers! We would definitely use Mainstream the next time we need electrical work. They are somewhat more expensive than other providers in our experience, but standing behind their work and being there for their customers makes it worth it. Thank you!

We rated Mainstream Electric with F's because we feel they failed as a company in our community during a time when thousands of people were without power and decisions had to be made quickly without the opportunity of making a thorough review. We asked Mainstream to be patient while the insurance company reviewed the claim. Mainstream was paid in full just 19 days from completion of their work. In those 19 days we were put through h***!! In those 19 days we had a lien placed on our building, a Cashier's Check lost in the mail due to Mainstream refusing to accept it and many sleepless nights. The timeline below gives more detail. We were desperate to get power to four families in our multiple dwelling. Downed trees had pulled service wires from the main building. Mainstream gave an estimate that we thought was excessive, but they could begin work immediately so we agreed. Elaine Damschen, President of Mainstream will be quick to point out that I had agreed to pay for the work upon completion when I first called them and that they have it on a recording. That is true; however, my untrained eye saw that a roof mast needed to be replaced and would be an affordable fix. This agreement was made before Mainstream came to the job site. When they got there, their proposal said we needed to bring the power in our building up to code and they couldn't do the work unless we agreed to do that. We've had electricians do work on that building in the past and this is the first time we had been made aware of being out of code. Our tenants had already been without power for six days. We were on a waiting list with three other companies and, quite frankly, I felt trapped. Our insurance adjuster deemed, by the amount of the bill, we were taken advantage of due to a disaster and he wanted his company to review it. We explained this to Mainstream but at no point suggested that their bill would not be paid in full, only that it would take a week or two at the most. Upon reviewing the breakdown of charges, it is quite apparent why Mainstream did not want to cooperate. The way the proposal was written made it look like the job itself would require $14,262 of labor and materials to complete the work. After reviewing the breakdown Mainstream provided us on Dec 2, it appears that of the $14,262 charged, the total direct cost for the job was $5,537. The rest of charges ($8,725) went to Advertising, Employee and Manager Wages, Uniforms, FICA & Medicare, SUTA & FUTA, Worker's Comp, IRAs, Education Expense, Payroll Expense, Recruiting Expense, Tools, Facility Rent, Shop Supplies, Repairs & Maintenance, Utilities: Gas, Electric, Garbage, Water, Telephone. Computer Software, Janitorial, Vehicle Fuel, Maintenance, Administrative Insurance, Accounting, Professional Fees, Legal Fees, Bad Debt, Outside Consulting, Dues/Subscriptions/Licenses, Office Supplies, Office Expenses, Bank & CC Fees, WA B&O - the list goes on. The proposal was completely misleading as it spelled out necessary electrical work to be done--saying nothing about the overhead expenses or even what percentage would go to "cost of doing business". The insurance company was in total disbelief regarding the charges but because I had signed the proposal and the work had been done, they agreed to pay. Mainstream badgered us and inappropriately and unnecessarily filed a lien on our property. This was 4 days after completion of the work. It was only 19 days between when the work was finished and full payment was made. They had received a partial payment of $5,537 from us on Dec 4, 2015 which they refused and has since been lost in the mail. When asked if Mainstream would reimburse us for the cost of canceling our Cashier's Check, Todd Damschen, owner of Mainstream, said "You can try to collect it." Mainstream Electric, in our opinion, is a highly advertised, dangerous entity with which to do business. Beware!! Their charges may exceed 200% of competitive and acceptable charges for similar services. This was easily the worst business experience we have had in many years of property ownership. Their business model is not designed to provide good service at a fair price. Rather, in our opinion, it is to aggressively advertise for potential customers and then manipulate the collection process through intimidation and to manipulate the legal system to ensure payment for gross over-charging. Below is a timeline of this ordeal: Tuesday, Nov 17, 2015 Catastrophic Windstorm Wednesday, Nov 18, 2015 called four electrical companies. Put on waiting list on all four. Monday, Nov 23, 2015 Mainstream first to arrive. Started work but then had to stop to wait for a part to be ordered. Wednesday, Nov 25, 2015 ordered parts arrive Thursday, Nov 26, 2015 - Thanksgiving Friday, Nov 27, 2015 Insurance adjuster arrived from Texas. Reviewed job in process and expressed serious concerns about over-charging in the face of a disaster. Advised me not to pay bill until Mainstream provided a detailed invoice. Saturday, Nov 28, 2015 Mainstream completed the work Nov 28, 2015 that evening Mainstream made three calls badgering for payment. Suggested they could not pay their technician without our payment. It was explained to them that payment would be made but because the bill was larger than our insurance company could justify, we would have to wait for the insurance company to send us a check. Monday, Nov 30, 2015 the Adjuster called Mainstream asking for a detailed invoice. They emailed him the proposal I signed on Nov 23. It was not a detailed breakdown, rather it showed general statements of materials needed to do the work. The adjuster felt wording was cloudy and wanted more specific detail. Asked again for a detailed breakdown. Wednesday, December 2, 2015 Mainstream filed a lien against our property for the $14,262.07. Wednesday December 2, 2015 Mainstream sent their breakdown of the proposal to be sent to the insurance company. It showed that $5,537 was the Direct Cost. The remaining $8,725.07 went to their business as partially outlined above. Thursday, December 3, 2015 we purchased a Cashier?s Check for $5,537 to help Mainstream pay their employees and supplies. This was sent to their PO Box as instructed by the Accounts Receivable person via Certified Mail. We emailed them letting them know. She emailed back thanking us for the partial payment and asked when they could expect the remaining balance. Thursday, December 3, 2015 our insurance company notified us the Mainstream invoice would be going before a committee for review as the bill was more than 200% of normal charges for the work done. Friday, December 4, 2015 the Cashier?s Check arrived at Mainstream?s PO Box. USPS tracking showed it was ?available for pickup? Wednesday, December 9, 2015 USPS tracking showed the Cashier?s Check was refused and was being returned. Due to holiday mail and windstorm problems the Certified Check did not get returned to us. After four weeks, we were required to purchase a Surety Bond at the cost of $221 in order to stop payment on the Check and have our funds reinstated. Saturday, December 12, 2015 we received a Certified Letter from a Lien Processing entity notifying us that our property was encumbered by a lien from Mainstream Electric. Tuesday, December 16, 2015 our insurance company informed us they were mailing us a check. Wednesday, December 17, 2015 we hand-delivered a check for $14,262.07 to Mainstream Electric and obtained signatures stating a lien release would be forthcoming. Monday December 28, 2015 we were emailed by Elaine Damschen, President of Mainstream Electric, with an attached PDF file showing the lien release had been done. Today, January 17, 2016 the Cashier?s Check still has not surfaced.

This provider does excellent work but I would not use them again due to their high prices.

We are renters here and our wonderful landlords as soon as we found out there was a problem authorized the repairs. Robert from Mainstream came out and explained everything to me. we literally had wires melting together and half the house was wired to one 15 amp breaker. Robert had to spend a total of 3 days here rewiring and repairing everything so the price was well worth it. There were no surprises we were told in advance how much everything would be and Robert did several estimates to find us the cheapest price. I highly recommend Mainstream and ESP Robert. btw Robert did all of this with his wife ready to give birth to their son any minute, and he was still very concerned that we were safe and that our house was not going to burn down.

**Read the negative reviews of this company before you have work performed. I had read only he positive reviews but not the negatives and those previous customers who gave negative reviews had opinions that were definitely things to be wary of. This business is not ran in an honest or fair way. The previous negative reviews were brushed off as work not preformed but the work wasn't done because the customers could see how this business conducts itself. Unfortunately, I had authorized the work to be done. When my husband wanted a detailed receipt of how they arrived at the high amount charged they would not provide me with that information. All I have gotten is a run around for this past week that they would e-mail it too me or someone was working on it. I understand they would charge for a trip charge if I didn't go with their bid. But it is not fair business practice to not explain how and why they came up with this total of the work performed, if a customer requests it. I have no problem with the technician. He was on time, professional and did quality workmanship. It is the business that customers need to be cautious of. This is one company that I will not be recommending to anyone.

Great job, worked through minor issues and price stayed the same....overall happy with service. I received several estimates with explanation to each project for future needs, I made my choice and that work was completed with that same price tag. It was an all day project and it was completed in that day. Cleaned up was completed and now I have service in that 2nd bedroom with electrical outlet for additional electronics to be kept in the closet rather than cluttering the office area. Mainstream electrical guys were both polite and professional at all times, answered my questions and gave some advice as well. Super happy that the job got completed right and professional looking.

These guys are true professionals! They were in constant contact to let me know when to expect them. They came out on time and did the job in a super timely manner. They left no mess and made sure to ask me questions and communicate with me with some options. After they left my husband came home and had some questions that I hadn't thought to ask. We called and they made me smile again by setting up another convenient appointment to send the electrician back out to answer my husband's questions! I would definitely choose them for any electrical projects in the future. The whole team was excellent to deal with!

The provider arrived at 8:30 am on time. Tested the outlets and said they had low voltage. Went around the house and tested other outlets found them working perfectly. Looked at the switch in the stairwell and said he was going to write up a bid. He came back with what he told me was two options. "1. Diagnose stairway switches & outlets that have no power. Install 3-way switches for lights. 1yr warranty Investment: $947. 2.:Diagnose why 3 outlets have no power; stairway switches. Investment $416." So I chose option #2. Five hours later he tells me that for another ($1000.)Thousand he can run wire on the out side of my house with two boxes and provide power to the outlets. I said no. The next day I called another electrician (Randco Inc) and they installed a new breaker in the breaker box and all is well for $115.22. What a joke. So I paid Mainstream Electric Inc. $416.00 and got nothing.

Mainstream is very professional and the response to a request for a quote was extremely prompt. The guy who came was very pleasant and professional. I am sure they do great work judging be all of the reviews on Angies list. The issue here was price. I expected them to be a bit more expensive then some other. Reading some of the reviews they will be the first to tell you that. So I was thinking mabye a couple hundred bucks for or something. No it was much more expensive, like crazytown expensive. I have since had the job done for 1/4 of the price I was quoted, and done very well. So I would say, if you have a bunch of disposable income, by all means hire them. Yes, you get charged for the estimate visit and they tell you that plainly so people complaining about that on these reviews need to pay attention. So if you want to save $50 and get a 75% discount on electrical services there are other options out there, which I will write a very nice review on.

There is a charge for the electrician coming to the house and looking at the job. I feel that this fee should have been waived when I agreed to hire the company, but it was not. The response was quick, and I was scheduled for the following day. The electrician showed up early (called first to okay it), quoted the job and while other work is needed, he didn't push me into anything more than what I wanted at the time. He was able to finish the job without me being present, and take payment by phone, which is a huge plus, as I work long hours and it is difficult for me to get away.

It went find. I would recommend them to anyone.

Went well except price! Example: I priced Ceramic fixtures in garage at $2.49 at ACE and $2.99 at Fred Meyer and security lights were $25 and $30 at the same stores. The itemized cost for replacing 3 ceramic fixtures and one security light was $532.78 plus $46.35 tax. Parts cost $39 + tax & labor $493.78. It took way less than an hour for these 4 installations! The previous bill of $1106.04 would probably yield the same accept for the price of the heater which, I bet would cost less than $100. I would only use them again only if I got a firm itemized cost up front. The electricians were neat, clean, friendly, and knowledgeable. I liked them and hope this won't get them in trouble!!!