Electricians. To hire or not to hire. (house, neighborhood)

[hamiltonlaw]

Recently I hired "The Wire Nut" to come install a ceiling fan in my house. The "technician" was more of a salesman than an electrician. I felt like I was at a car dealership in my own home. He told me that for a basic install of a pre-assembled fan (that I already own) would cost eighty dollars, thats if he worked off of a six foot ladder. More if the ladder was taller. Then he told me it would be more if he had to assemble it. Well, I thought "this seems like a racket." Where I come from they charge an hourly rate and when I asked what the rate was I was told they do not have one. Who ever heard of such a thing? Irritated as hell I asked him to leave and called one of my friends who suggested I look on craigslist for an Electrician. I was skeptical, but I needed my ceiling fan installed.
When I got on there I found many so called licensed electricians. But few who actually were Electrical Contractors.
Well long of the short is, I called a company called "Elemental Electrical" and I spoke with the actual owner who is a master electrician. He was very helpful and upfront about the cost and time it would take to install and offered to come out and look at the situation for free.
He came in and was able to give me an estimate of how long it would take and his hourly rate ($65) which I thought was quite reasonable. I allowed him to do the work. He charged me the cost of a new electrical box (needed for the fan) and his labor 1-1/2 hrs to do the whole thing including assemble the fan. The other place was going to charge another eighty bucks just to put it together.
The moral of the story is sometimes it pays to hire the little guy. As this guy explained it to me (which really makes sense) "you can hire me to work for you directly for $65 per hour or you can hire me when i can't make it on my own and I'm working for the other guy. Either way you're getting me. Isn't it just better for both of us if I get to work for myself?"
Good point
Anyway I just wanted to share that. I'm sure I'm not the only one who's felt they were getting taken when hiring a professional. It's tough to know if your going to get what you pay for these days.

[davebarnes]

I have found the best source of trades people to be: The hyper-local newspaper.
Look for the guy who has been advertising in the (for example ) Wash Park Profile for the last decade.
I found:
electrician
house painter
handy man
plumber
in this manner.
And, I am happy with all of them.

[ChrisFromChicago]

I've started Angies list, thats fine.

Backup is BBB AAA

I don't go anywhere without some kind of referral though. . .at the very least, try your realtor

[kitty61]

Originally Posted by ChrisFromChicago

I've started Angies list, thats fine.

Backup is BBB AAA

I don't go anywhere without some kind of referral though. . .at the very least, try your realtor

Do not rely on anything, anything, BBB recommends. There is a long and sad story accompanying my remark. But to describe it would be long winded and off topic.

[emm74]

Like Dave said, I go with the local recommendations. My handyman lives in my neighborhood and I've gotten to know his family. He came with plenty of great recommendations and I know I can recommend him to others because his reputation is his most important part of his business.

[himain]

Originally Posted by emm74

Like Dave said, I go with the local recommendations. My handyman lives in my neighborhood and I've gotten to know his family. He came with plenty of great recommendations and I know I can recommend him to others because his reputation is his most important part of his business.

I agree. That's the type of person you hire-Someone who's livelihood depends on his reputation.

[Robert5]

This seems like an ad. I suggest the names of the contractors be edited out.

The first contractor gave you a reasonable quote.

The last contractor appears to have given you a quote for an hourly rate and an estimate of 1.5 hours. It is not clear from you post if the work was done yet. 1.5 hours seems very optimist for the quoted work. Assembly of a typical ceiling fan alone is an hour.

[davebarnes]

Originally Posted by Robert5

This seems like an ad. I suggest the names of the contractors be edited out..

Why?
The original post is 4 years old.

[Robert5]

Originally Posted by davebarnes

Why?
The original post is 4 years old.

Lol, I would not have replied if I knew it was four years old.
But doesn't the fact that the OP never posted again somewhat prove my tardy hypothesis that it was an ad?