JIM'S ELECTRIC CO INC

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Our home buyer's inspection identified some electrical issues that they wanted us to address. Jim's electric did a fine job doing that work and the men were professional and courteous. The reason for our lower rating is that they also told us that since they were here that they were required to bring everything they saw up to code. It was as if they were working for the buyer instead of us. We expected a bill of $1200 to $1500 maximum but it was nearly $2,500 due in part to all the "extra" work they did. Despite being just 22 minutes from their office, we were charged $170 (or two hours labor) for them to drive to our place (twice -- $170 each time) in addition to the truck cost. We were told the "extra" time was to load the truck but the reason they had to come twice was that they didn't have all they needed. Jim said it was because he didn't want to charge us over time but if they hadn't done the extra stuff there wouldn't have been a need for overtime. The apprentice is paid the same as the journeyman ($85/hour). Two were here for a total of 9.5 hours/each and we were originally charged for 12 hours/each. Jim was cranky when we called to discuss the bill but ultimately reduced it by four hours and some supplies when we told him that we felt forced to have them make repairs that they noticed but we didn't ask for. When we asked for certificate of bringing it up to code, he would not provide it since he reduced the price. It is up to code but since he decided not to charge us for all the repairs we didn't want (we still paid for some of them) we don't have documentation of it being up to code. While they were here, they did good work and were persistent in finding and solving the problems we had identified for them to address. It was the extras, the overall cost, calculation of cost, and the crankiness of Jim that lead to the reduced evaluation.

They are terrific. They are a little bit higher priced, but you get the service you pay for. Whenever I have to have an electrical inspection, the inspector is always impressed with their work.