A-Plus Electric

EXCELLENT, PLEASANT, PROFESSIONAL, EFFICIENT, CAME BACK TO LOOK AT ANOTHER SMALL ISSUE, WILL USE THEM AGAIN AND REFER THEM TO FRIENDS.

He was fantastic to work with and went the extra to even make sure the light matched the other lights.

Went great. Scheduling was easy, team was early, work was good and clean.

They started out promising since they answered the phone and sent workers when they said. However, they ended up replacing my door bell, spent about 10 mins and charged me $267! When asked to sign a document saying they provided a quote before doing work, I declined and said I would not have agreed to that price if known ahead of time. When I called the office to complain, the owner asked "what, are we supposed to work for free?". I then told him I was going to give them a bad review on Angie's List and he said, "go ahead, I don't care!" I would not use them again nor recommend them!!

We needed electrical service. We were having smoke detectors that just would not stop. So, the guy came out. He replaced five smoke detectors, he showed us that moisture had got into our circuit breaker box. He had to replace three circuit breakers in there. He put on a whole home surge protector. It was Sunday service, and we were going crazy. The smoke detectors started going off at 4 am. We changed batteries, and they still kept going off. He said that because of the bad weather recently and a lot of electricity and storm clouds, we probably got hit with electrical surges. He said that smoke detectors are fragile for that sort of thing. It took him two hours to replace all of them. I think his explanation on everything was really well, really good.

The guy was nice enough on the phone initially. Quoted a price for someone to come out within the next 3 hours @ $125/hour. He called back 2 hours later and cancelled for unknown reason. Rescheduled the same for the next day (same time). The next day the technician turned up on-time and went to work. He identified the issue which was apparently a faulty wiring that ran between the fuse box and the heater and started to fix it. He never once quoted us the price or informed us what it will cost for any of the parts he was using. He also noticed that the smoke detector next to the water heater was missing and so again without quoting a price, went ahead and installed the same. I didn't think much of it at the time since i figured how much could some wiring and a smoke detector possibly costs. Well then I saw the bill. Two guys were there for just over an hour and they charged $310 in labor, they installed one GFCI breaker, replaced 80 ft of wiring and a smoke detector and they charged us $500! in parts. The cost of the 80ft of standard electrical wiring was $140 and the cost of the smoke detector $150! I don't know in what world 80ft of wiring and a smoke detector would cost $300. When I questioned the guy, he said and i quote "that is our price. I do not have to match anyone else". He didn't think it was deceitful for them to inflate the price beyond reason at all. We don't normally make the mistake of not reading reviews prior to hiring or asking for a quote before starting work but it was Christmas and we were desperate so we learnt an expensive lesson. Don't make the same mistake we did....

DO NOT HIRE!!!! I used this company because the main circuit breaker service line in my home was arcing and the insulation burning away. The electricians arrived at my home at 1:30pm and spent 1 hour changing out the 100amp breaker. I was not home so I asked my daughter to monitor their activity. The electricians replaced the cable with a #4 cable approximately 45 feet of cable by their count at a cost of $263.25. The service pole is 10 feet long and if you factor in extra wire to make the necessary connections it comes to roughly 39 feet. The average cost of this cable by the foot is between $1.69 to at most $2.81 per foot. At 45 feet that would add up to approximately $135.00 at $3.00 a foot. They replace the 100amp circuit breaker at a cost of $327.98. This is a Home depot brand circuit breaker average cost is $29.00 to $50.00. They replaced the service head at a cost of $48.16 which I am ok with, but then they replace the splices 3 total at a cost of 178.98, and added in a service charge that was never mentioned when I called to inquire. Did I mention they were there for 1 hour. Well apparently they can’t tell time because my daughter called me when they arrived to tell me they were there and then text me to let me know they were done and it totaled one hour they billed me for two. Don’t know how they have been in business so long but I will make it my personal mission to keep businesses like this from doing business at all.

This is the second time I used A-Plus Electric. The first time I needed to have the house rewired to accommodate a large portable air conditioner I was putting into a bedroom. At that time they also changed out my entire electrical box. They did the same work for my sister who lives a block away. Although my sister and I have the same type duplex, her house was wired differently, so tracing wiring was a little more difficult at her house. Both times I used this company I had Steve and Leo who did the work. They knew their stuff. They were polite and efficient. Although their pricing is higher than other electricians I have used, they usually get you into their schedule and I have never had any problems with their work. I will use them should I need work done in the future!

The electricians showed up on time to do the work. I had three jobs for them, one I expected to exceed the value of the Groupon I purchased and when I asked them them to quote it, it was much more than what I anticipated so I told them to perform the two other small projects I needed completed. When I spoke to the company they explained I would be responsible for the cost beyond the Groupon value I had purchased which I understood but I also expected to know if the job was going to cost more than the Groupon before the work was performed. I had inquired about this and was told yes. The electricians didn't have the part they needed to replace the photo cell so they had to leave and return. They began their work charging me the 15 minutes for the quote they had provided before they left. They started their work by changing out a photo cell that had gone bad. One of the electricians asked me I wanted him to check to see if an outlet worked and I said yes. After he had dismantled the outlet he told me it was rusted and needed to be replaced. All he asked is if I wanted to know if it worked? It was an outside outlet that I have never used nor intended to use. After completing the work outside the electricians, started on swapping a light switch with a timer switch. I had replaced one in my kitchen and it took me less than 10 minutes to unscrew the wires and reattach them to the new timer switch. After finishing the two small jobs that two electricians presented me with a bill for $334 for parts and labor charging me 1.5 hours at $155 an hour. My two prior quotes were for one electrician for one hour for both projects with the comments being it wouldn't take an hour to do but that was the minimum time. I don't mind a little added on for the effort but this "dynamic duo" charged twice the more expensive quote. I would never recommend this company. Their electricians were polite but reeked of smoke to the point that I left the door open after their departure. They gave their profession a bad name.

I was quoted $80 for the first hour plus parts. When a simple outside GFI outlet and cover were installed the cost for the parts alone was $88.39 which I find ridiculous. Also I was not told about a $48.00 surcharge and one of the parts I need they didn't have and they quoted me another $300 for that. While they were on time, I will not use again, very disappointed.

Please, please run in the other direction if you are even thinking about using A-Plus Electric, Niles, IL! They are a scam! But if you do decide to consider them, make sure you get a quote --in writing-- before agreeing that any work be done. Also, ask to look over a copy of their "Work Order & Contract" before any work starts so you can review the fine print that requires you to sign away your rights: "I hereby waive all rights to cancel this contract within three days". (Question: Why would a truly reputable company even ask their customer to give away their rights to overall project satisfaction...much less actually print it on their official Work Order form requiring your signature?) And read every word of the print on the back of the Work Order as well. We trusted too much (our mistake!) made the mistake of not getting a quote before they started the job and they gouged us in every unprofessional and irresponsible way possible. For reasons we can't understand, they felt they needed two men to complete some garage re-wiring ?even without asking a single question of us regarding the particulars of the job! So after it was done, we found they'd charged us at a rate of $155.00 PER HOUR., PER MAN, and also upped the cost of materials 4 and 5 times the costs we found on the Internet. Clearly, they charged us extra for coming on a Saturday - which was not at all what we requested...they were the one's who set the day & time of the appmt and with no mention of additional cost involved. It is so very sad that people like this are in the service business but only pretend to care about their customers and end up providing absolutely nothing that could be called "customer service". Two calls were made to Steve (the president of this 3 man firm) to discuss our dissatisfaction with the job and the outrageous cost. He was defensive from the start and when we finally pushed him to listen to our issues instead --as his customer-- he just talked over us. When we tried to tell him how stunned we were when he presented us with a bill for nearly $2000,he just told us that getting a quote was our responsibility and he felt no obligation whatever to have brought the rapidly escalating costs of our repair to our attention until it was completed... and too late. He continued to justify everything he and his partner had done .He hung up on us on this first call, and never returned the second call. If we could give this company ZERO stars as an option, we would do so. We just cannot believe they are on Angie's List because we think so highly of, and trust, Angie's... that's why we called A-Plus in the first place. A final message: Before you consider using ?A-Plus Electric, Niles, IL,? be certain that you Google them...you'll find an amazing number of Reviews out there? with very negative experiences of their own!

We purchased a 1950's house last June with many electrical upgrades needed. We studied Angie's List and chose A Plus because all customer reports were glowing and the costs listed seemed reasonable. We called and asked for someone to do four small jobs and then to discuss further work. In this conversation, my husband understood that the hourly rate was $80 for work and/or consultation. An electrician came promptly the next day as promised. After three hours the work listed above was finished and we were handed a bill for over $1000. The hourly rate was listed as $175. Comparing what was accomplished with customers comments on Angie's List where similar work had been done and costs quoted, it just seemed out of line. In a call to George he stated that we could not have been quoted the $80 rate by anyone there, that he had given us a 10 % discount, and thought the price reasonable. We are willing to say that we misunderstood the telephone conversation. But even so, I do not see how what we were charged coincides with what other customers say they were charged. And I will say that we have not had reason to use an electrician for these kinds of services for many years so maybe we are out of the loop as to what the expected costs should be. My grades and comments reflect only our personal feelings about this particular encounter. We were disappointed. And we will continue to research and talk to other companies before attempting the work that remains.

I CALLED THEM AT 1000 AND EXPLAINED MY PROBLEM AND WHAT I NEEDED DONE. THEY HAD SOMEONE OUT TO MY HOUSE AT 1300 AND GOT RIGHT TO WORK. HE LOOKED AT THE BREAKER BOX AND EXPLAINED ABOUT WHAT I NEEDED TO HAVE FIXED SO THAT MY SYSTEM WOULD BE COMPLIANT AND WORK RIGHT. THEY WERE FAST AND TOOK CARE OF THE JOB QUICKLY. WHEN I SPOKE WITH THE GIRL IN THE OFFICE SHE WAS VERY UP FRONT ABOUT PRICING, 1 YEAR WARRANTY ON THE WORK.