Renaissance Electric and Power Systems

BECAUSE of good reviews on Angie's List, we called Erik at Renaissance Electric. I did read some bad reviews, but decided there weren't many in comparison to good & just took them with a grain of salt. Scheduled Erik to come out to replace a bad ceiling fixture with a new ceiling fan. Took a bit of phone tag to get on the work schedule- they said they were pretty busy. Erik offered a quote over the phone with alternate scenarios should things need more extensive work. He called a few hours before the scheduled time to confirm the appointment & alert us he might be 15 mins late. Instead he arrived right on time. He answered questions about other electrical issues we are concerned about in our newly purchased home, and offered estimates of costs along with his recommendations for brands of good quality fixtures. The fan install was a snap; though I wanted it flush mounted- Erik said it was not the right kind. I was disappointed that I got the wrong one, so when he left I pulled out the installation instructions & sure enough- it could be flush mounted. We enjoy a courteous professional- and Erik seemed to be.... No profanity, no odd jokes, friendly & informative- until it came time for payment. Erik said he would only honor the Angie's List special price that was advertised for this service, (that we called & mentioned) IF we would submit a good review on Angie's List that day. Ok- whatever... it seemed he did a good job anyways- fine. Then he asked for us not to write the check to Renaissance Electric- but to him directly because tax time was coming. A little odd- we weren't really sure what that was supposed to mean...from other reviews we were under the impression that Erik owns this company or part of it,....but whatever....so we didn't give it much thought. He left advising us to call after the holidays for more work- as they would be very busy. So we thought we would call him back later to do some more work... BUT, when we called Renaissance Electric back for some more services- 2 months later- they were busy again. Left message, then later spoke with Ryan who said he would send someone by. Never happened. So a few weeks later I sent over an emailed estimate request for the same work, and Ryan called back. I don't think he even realized that he had promised to send someone out & never did. I didn't mention it- we're pretty easy going people. This estimate included looking at the ceiling fan that had been previously installed, as it is now malfunctioning. He gave a quote (which we thought was a little bit high- & said the work would require ( 2) people....but whatever...we just wanted to get the stuff done....been over a month ), so we set up a date to do the work: the earliest opening was a week later. The night before the scheduled work date, Ryan called to say he would not be able to come at the scheduled time ( very busy). He asked if they could come by later on in the day. No problem- I say & suggest if he is too busy that we could change the day if needed. He assured me that was not necessary, he would definitely be there- just later. Next day- 20 mins before Ryan was scheduled to arrive he left a voice-mail to say he couldn't make it. I called back - no answer... so I left a voice-mail for him saying ok give me a call later that day to reschedule. Two days later Ryan calls to say sorry we are real busy. By that time I had had enough time to rethink the entire experience with their company & decided it best to schedule another electrician instead. We're pretty easy going people, but all the little things finally added up to a big enough problem that I just didn't want to use them. In conclusion, there actually was some truth to the bad reviews I read about Renaissance. I decided to write them off because there weren't very many. I would agree with some of them that Renaissance is way too busy to be efficient at responsiveness (even called me as late as 8PM twice). I would also agree that they seem to want to rush in & out- and a pro should be able to recognize if a fan can be flush mounted- I just don't think he wanted to do it. The payment thing was weird to us- still not sure what to make of that...and we got the same work done by another top rated Angie's List member for less...& he did it all by himself. It is not our goal to run around slandering people that don't work out for us. We gave Renaissance a lot of time to get it together, along with the benefit of the doubt more than once. Things just didn't work out for us. On a side note, I have discovered a few things on Angie's List that may prove helpful to you (reader). Some contractors (I'm not referencing Renaissance) seem to do something called "high bidding" when they do not want your little job. They quote you a high price for the work or tell you it's really difficult & you shouldn't pursue it- because they don't want small money or tough jobs. Also, even though someone may have high Angie's List ratings- you should pay attention to whether or not the customer would actually hire them again. I was researching a contractor in our area who bashes critics with negative responses. Something very interesting about this contractors reviews caught my eye. The customers who wrote relatively good reviews would not hire him again when asked. Interesting....

Eric was great. He showed up on time, completed the work faster than estimated & did a very neat clean job.

Through multiple emails of pictures of our issue, Eric gave a good estimate and was very detailed. Made an appointment , then he called day of the make sure it was still good. Showed up when he was suppose to and finished in 2 hrs. Gave some extra suggestions for other issues in our house. Coming back to do second panel in my basement. Great service.

The job went well. It was done professionally and the job site was cleaned up upon completion of all electrical work.

It was good. It took a long time, from April to September. It seemed to take a long time to get around to doing it. They know what they're doing.

He arrived on time. Even though he wasn't feeling well, he stayed upbeat and courteous and worked efficiently.

Three men came, Ryan, John, and Joe. Got to work and worked hard all day to finish in the early evening. They did an excellent job, everything requested (some of which was not easy given that the house is over 100 years old), some additional things we discussed as they went along as well. Very communicate, very professional, courteous. Price was very reasonable. I will defintely use them in the future for any electircal work we need to have done.

First, they called me the same day I placed the call after I left a message regarding my phone issue. Second, because I work from my home, Renaissance prioritized the job, set a date and time-frame when I could expect them, I received a call on the day of the repair to confirm the appointment and the work to be performed and they also moved the service time up so the service was actually performed ahead of schedule. The work was completed quickly and my fax and phone tested to ensure everything was working. The service representative was courteous and very efficient. He even took additional steps to ensure the problem would not happen again. I am very impressed with the level of service and the cost was very reasonable. I would recommend Renaissance anytime and I would not use anyone else by Renaissance in the future.

I have a house that was built from ax cut and hand hewn logs which presents numerous unexpected challenges. the crew has worked diligently to overcome everything that's been thrown at them, they are professional and hard working, going above and beyond the call of duty working out the problems they encountered. The have done an excellent job and I would recommend them to anyone who needs electrical work done on their house.

I have ceiling fans in kitchen and bedroom and have appreciated room comfort, especially in summer. I had planned to install one in the den for some time. I found one I liked online and ordered it. When it arrived I knew I could not handle the installation myself, but right about then I saw Angie's offer to install a ceiling fan for $99.00 by Renaissance Electric. I jumped on it. Erik arrived on time. I had removed the overhead light fixture where I planned for the fan to go. But we had some problems. The box was installed at an angle and the wires were pretty brittle. Erik had to improvise with shims and other tricks to get a firm flush fit. He accomplished that and the fan looks and works great. I was impressed with all aspects of the job and certainly will use them again.

Initially I purchased a "big deal" for grounding, an appointment was made for a convenient time, he arrived promptly, did the job and provided an estimate for additional work, some of which could not be done because of the ancient wiring in my house. I was happy with the results except for an outdoor outlet which he did not replace because of loose bricks surrounding it. This may not be fair, but I think he could have made more of an effort to get this done, hence the "B" for responsiveness.

i was disappointed that when they got hers there were additional charges. this could have been my fault in not knowing what i was doing

Since I didn't need all the outlet changes that I had purchased, Eric did other minor things in my home that made up the difference. I was impressed and pleased with the resolution and the fact that he was so honest and professional. He proved himself to be so trustworthy and knowledgeable. I will definitely consider him my electrician for all future needs.

Contractor was on time and professional.

Erik arrived punctually. He has a friendly and open manner and proceeded to tell me that I had bought a good house but that some of the wiring was out of date and unsafe and would not pass inspection. It was obvious that he was very experienced and had many great ideas for lighting to improve the value of my home and general comfort which I appreciated greatly. The house needs alot of work but he was mindful about ways for me to save money on costs for the electrical work that I need to have done and for recessed lighting which I want to have put in the living room, kitchen and the hallway.

Well, he had to cut a few holes in the walls (unavoidable) and was unable to complete the installation of the TV (because Cable company had to install a box).

He did a good job and cleaned up after

We had purchased a big deal for the service, we bought it in April and they came one or 2 weeks ago. They did a great job. They answered all our questions, because it is our first time here, and we didn't know about the electric rules, so they answered all our questions and concerns.

Erick was great. He arrived a bit early, took a look at the wiring and panel and talked with me about what he found. I was relieved that the overall wiring was good and he didn't anticipate any surprises. While working, he did find one outlet that needed additional work. I was pleased that he talked with me BEFORE doing anything additional - no surprise bills! On the way out, he noticed an extension outlet plugged into a light socket that was a fire hazard. It was an easy fix - just unscrew it - glad he pointed it out. I would recommend Erick and will feel comfortable calling them the next time I need electrical work.

I was looking for a great deal on upgrading my electrical service. I found a coupon for an electrical upgrade and thought it sounded perfect, but after talking to the provider I learned this is just for a circuit breaker box upgrade, and my home needs a whole service upgrade. They then quoted me what the difference would be with the coupon applied to that ($2000 + coupon value). They were very professional and helpful over the phone, but the actual outcome was more expensive than what I was expecting so I decided to pass.

All the work was done well; however, we did not understand the scope of the project the same way. I had wanted an old fabric-insulated wire to be replaced leading to one room in my house, with additional outlets on that circuit. The fabric wire runs along the ground in an attic knee-wall storage area (rather than inside a wall). Contractor replaced the outlets and added new outlets to the circuit, but did not replace the existing wire saying that would be a whole different price point to trace out and replace the existing circuit. I agree with him, but I wish I had understood that before going in -> I can change outlets myself but wanted an electrician to change the wire. The new circuit was good - no problems. ~$45 to replace an existing outlet.

It was an Angie's List Big Deal that I purchased. It was fine. I ended up purchasing 3 of them because I had 3 panels in the house. They did a good job. All 3 of them still has a green light saying that it's still active and functioning. They were fast but not as neat as I would like because they cut into the wall board in the upstairs place and just kinda left a mess but I think that's the way they work. There was some miscommunication. I originally did not get an e-mail from them and I finally contacted them and we got it all together and they came out and performed the service. They were efficient and had everything they needed. They knew what they were doing, they handled the panels very well. I actually observed their installations. They were here when they said they would be.

I have no issues with the work he did, he came when he said he would, and stuck to the price he quoted. I never got a detailed estimate for the job which I requested since it was a $1200 job, and did not immediately receive a receipt. After two follow-ups via email I received a very vague receipt for services provided. It did not include model numbers or anything. I did not want to grade on quality being that I am not an electrician – I can’t really speak to that, however I have not had any problems.

From start to finish, everything went really smooth with Renaissance Electric. I called in looking to upgrade electrical panels and have a whole house surge protector installed. I was able to provide pictures that sped up the evaluation and scheduling process. Erik came out this morning about 15 minutes early and got to work. The work was fast....it only took about 2 hours. So far so good. Everything is back up and working with no issues. I now have several available slots in the new box for new additions and the house has surge protection.

As above. Owner never contacted me again to provide those "reduced rate" services.