On August 30, 2013, I took a metal vintage floor lamp, one that had belonged to my deceased father for over 80 years but had been rewired and updated in the past and was still in good working order, to Benko Lamps; I foolishly just thought a different cord color would be nice.
The man at Benko said that he would completely rewire it and add a new socket, at a cost of $120.95, which certainly seemed high to compared to several lamps I have had worked on in different places I have lived in the U.S. and since the lamp was working fine, with no apparent problems, but - my family loves this lamp, so I deferred to his recommendation and agreed to have the cosmetic work done and at that price.
After 6 weeks went by, with no contact from Benko Lamps, I called to check for an update. I actually use the lamp to light my house. The store is only open a total of 19 hours a week, and they are a 45 minute drive, so scheduling for a pickup could be somewhat difficult. The man who answered the phone said one of the repairmen was sick, but they are still open for business and that the lamp was on his worktable now and that it should be done the following week - they'd give me a call.
No call was received, but since I knew someone was sick, I wanted to be considerate and give them time. But over 2 1/2 months went by from when I brought them the lamp, and not a single call from anyone there, so I called again on November 20th. The man who answered didn't remember my lamp, even with my claim check #, my name and phone #, after being read his information from the voucher they gave me, in his handwriting. He said he'd call back. I then became worried that they had lost my family's old lamp, so I called back and said I'd just like to pick it up today, repaired or not.
This time, a woman on the phone also had trouble with my name, my phone#, and had to go "in back" to check with the 2 repairmen there as to which lamp I might be talking about! The man finally got back to me, said they had the lamp and that it was not repaired and that I could pick it up. I cleared my schedule and drove to Benko Lamps - and found that they had cut the working wires off of it, so it is now no longer in working order. They handed me a wad of wire and would not return my paperwork upon my request and could not even look me in the eye.
So now I have lost money and time and my lamp is in much worse condition than when I took it to Benko Lamps. Even allowing for the repairman and/or owner's illness, they have a receptionist and at least 1 other person at the shop who could have telephoned to keep me abreast of progress, and I would have completely understood - but their behavior was at the very least unprofessional, and I would never recommend their business to anyone.