Based on recommendations on this board, we hired Wizard Electric to remove some knob & tube, add some GFIs, and do some other wiring. Their initial bid (time & materials) seemed comparable to others, but they ended up ultimately charging us three times as much as their bid (in the interest of full disclosure, I note that we did add some work to the job description, but it was certainly not 3, or even 2, times as much).
Immediately after they left the first time, we noticed some significant problems--e.g., the heater fan no longer worked at all, and when we ran our toaster and microwave at the same time, it would short out all our lights in the kitchen area (which is horrible when it's suddenly pitch black when you're making dinner for your toddler).
After repeated calls & messages (at least 10), they finally came over to fix the problems. About 10 minutes after they finished "fixing" the problems, I went to use the microwave (that had worked fine earlier that day) & it made a horrible popping/electrical screeching sound & blew the circuit again. They came back, & then said it couldn't possibly be their fault because they hadn't worked on the microwave outlet!! (As if I had been changing the wiring myself in those 10 minutes). Sure enough, they figured out a way to fix it (two of them working for 40 minutes).
The physical appearance of the work also was quite shoddy. In the outlets they changed, they cracked out large areas of the drywall surrounding the outlet. Similarly, one of the GFIs did not sit flush (the top half of the outlet stuck out of the wall at an angle about 3/8 of an inch farther than the lower part)--& this was after they "fixed" it.
To top it all off, after they came out to "fix" the problems they caused the first time, they charged us additional money to fix things that were solely their fault. For example, because they did not properly feed the phone wire through the wall originally, they then charged us a lot extra to feed it through properly the second time. (And didn't tell us it would cost more to clean up their mess until they sent us the bill.)
And these are just a few of the problems . . . .
We will never use Wizard Electric again & urge anyone who wants quality work done to avoid this contractor. I will be searching for another electrician for additional work needed & hope to be able to post a review steering you his/her way.
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