Affordable Electricians

I am writing the review I wish I had access to before hiring Alex with Affordable Electricians/Aqualine. I contacted what I believed to be a local electrician, Affordable Electricians, that advertised themselves as "honest & reliable". They mis-represent themselves as a local business, and are actually part of Aqualine in Renton. This was the worst experience I have ever had with a contractor. 30 minutes before the scheduled appointment, the electrician called to say he was running late due to child care problems and would not have time to complete the job. The appointment was rescheduled. The technician, Alex, arrived late to the second appointment, worked for about 2 hours, took an hour lunch break, and left around 4pm because his wife kept calling him. The job did not pass inspection because he was in such a hurry to leave and he failed to complete the final step at the panel. During the inspection, we were told over 90% of Aqualine jobs do not pass inspection the first time. We also learned the bid included a $140 markup on the permit, $100 markup on light fixtures, and $600 markup on labor. We addressed our concerns with Aqualine's office staff, who informed us the technicians set their own prices and we should take up our issues with him directly. We did so when Alex, the electrician, came back to finish the job so it would pass inspection. He lied to us and blamed Aqualine for the exorbitant price gauging in our bid and it wasn't until we started to call the Aqualine office that he came clean. His belief was that it is ok to charge as much as possible if people will pay it. My opinion is that is a morally reprehensible way to do business. After Alex failed to adequately address our concerns, we spoke to Eric, supposedly a manager at Aqualine, about the price gouging, poor communication regarding scheduling, and lack of professionalism. He admitted their pricing is higher than other companies, and higher prices within reason are fine if you are offering added value to justify them. Unfortunately in this case, we were obscenely overcharged, the job was done incompetently, and there is absolutely no justification for their pricing other than greed. I would not recommend Aqualine, Affordable Electrians, or whatever else they call themselves under any circumstances.