ERICSON ELECTRIC INC

I had a few electricians come out to give me an estimate. Ericson did 2 things the others didn't think of doing. He took the cover off the panel to make SURE there were no cables in the way of installing the 2 new circuits in my panel. He also measured the distance from the exterior outlet and where the heat pump would be to make sure it was 25 ft or less (thats in the code). The others just eyeballed it. They were also the only one to send me a copy of my consumer rights and had me sign it. In the estimate itself there are a few things I look for and Ericson had all of them. I want to see a breakdown of exactly what the job is and what the estimate covers. I also like to see a clause about any changes made to the job be in writing and the price changes when the scope of the job changes. That protects both of us. Something I'd never seen before (and I like it) The estimate said the job was not to EXCEED (stated amt) but could be less if labor and/or materials were less than estimated. They arrived right on time, went right to work, did the job and left. Couldn't have gone more smoothly than that.

They were the only company to responded to my phone calls. Derick came out and quoted a rate of $150/hr. It was a "small job and shouldn't take too many hours". Tear out only took 5 hours ($723) and seemed reasonable. The next bill was for 22 hours ($3787), they got the kitchen rewired and 8 can lights in. I watched the apprentice on one of the days and she only installed six boxes in that time. The next 7 hour bill ($1200) was for fan wire with new switch and two can lights. The final bill for trimming everything out, installing two island receptacles, fixing switches in the garage and adding two receptacles for garage door openers, adjusting hot water heater supply and landing stove wire in panel was for 19 hours ($2948). I should have gotten a hard quote from the start, but unfortunately we were in a time crunch. The things you should know are: They charge travel time, so if they worked six hours, you get charged for eight. Everything I explained to Derick was not relayed to Guy, so I spent over an hour explaining what needed to be done, my dime of course. The original wiring was not approved by the city, so it had to be redone. Again, it was charged on the bill. I did all the cleanup because I didn't want to pay $150/hr for it. The journeyman's work was worth $90/hr but the apprentice was not worth $60/hr, based on what I saw.