CDS Home Services

Receptionist argued with me about what my problem was because she said the problem was with my generator, when I've already had a generator person out who told me the problem is with the electric panel. Then she asked if was already a customer. I said "no" and she said "sorry, then, I can't help you". I asked if she was saying she didn't want a new customer, and she said she was focusing on existing customers." wow. just wow.

Exactly as described in the discussion with the estimator. The price was the best of the estimates. In addition to price, the reason I hired them was because of their experience and everything seemed very well organized. The process involved several steps in part because BGE was involved and inspections were needed but that was known from the start. In all, everything took about 3 months. I was impressed with the people that came and their planning and work were excellent.

They might do great work but I can't get them out here to do the work. Paid $200.00 up front about the 5th of Nov. They insisted they would be here in Nov and "everybody pays in advance". It is now Dec. 5th and I can't get them to give me a date for the service...even if it's weeks away. Of course, they never told me they were booked a month in advance.

CDS called me to check on the date and make me sure of the maintenance visit. The technician was on time, told me what he was there for and provided an explanation of his work when he finished. Very professional..

Great. Would recommend to others. They did other electrical work.

The quote was average. Another company was a better deal.

Fantastic. They did very very well for us. We got it on sale and we did look around. There was a little bit of confusion as to when they were going to come out, but once that was settled they were great. Do not hesitate to use them. If they had a good price and a warranty to throw in as well go ahead and do that.

Fine, even though the location of our house on the lot and the location of basement windows forced creativity with the location of the generator.

The service was really nice! The workers stayed the whole day. They were sweet. 6 months later they came at no charge because our light fixtures were wobbling. They were nice, courteous and cleaned after themselves.

It was pretty good. They were a little slow getting things installed but other than that, they did quite well. The work was okay. It is acceptable/average.

Home Depot put me in contact with this company in order to install what I described to them as a "standard bathroom Exhaust Fan with Light" over the tub. When I spoke to their office to set up appointment, I was quoted a flat price of $129, which was a little more expensive that the installation of my current identical fan/light. However, I felt that the Home Depot connection might guarantee satisfactory service and a relatively reasonable price. WRONG!!! When the technican arrived, he said the Work Order had specified installation of a "vanity light" and that my type of fan/light would be much more expensive. He volunteered to call his office to check, and was told I had given them the incorrect information and that the price would be approximately $250!. Needless to say, when I became outraged by what I perceived could be a "Bait and Switch" technique, the price was decreased to $159, presumably to get the job done. While this might appear to be a workable compromise, all I can say is that my current IDENTICAL fan/light was installed 3 years ago by a Virginia electrical franchise, who charged by the hour, and did the job for $98. A more recent quote from an electrical-qualified handyman company quoted me an hour's work at their less than $100 rate. My inescapable conclusion is that CDS Electric is extremely overpriced, obviously has a serious communication problem in their office, and might very well have a bit of an integrity problem as well. So I have removed them from my call list, and will suggest to Home Depot manager that they might want to be a little more cautious about recommending this company in the future.

They did fine and found that we did not have the problem we thought we did. They were able to solve the problem that way.

They always call twice a year and show up when they say they will and leave a detailed report behind. Perfect record!

They did a very fine job and I have used them for additional jobs since.

It was satisfactory. They are prompt and delivered everthing they promised.

It turned out very well. It was a good experience.

CDS has a listing of their prices on their web page so I had an idea of what to expect. However, the light fixture I wanted installed is in a two story foyer and so I requested someone to come out and give me a quote. Derek showed up on the given day and time and said it shouldn't be a problem to reach the light fixture with a 14 ft ladder... the other option and more expensive would have been to use scaffolding. I was given a quote and a few days later I scheduled the install. The crew of two men, professional, pleasant and polite showed up on the appointed day and time. The were able to maneuver the very large ladder in the small foyer taking care not to hit anything. I was very pleased with their work. I mentioned to my wife, although we don't use the services of an electrician often, I think we just found one to use for any of our future electrical needs.

I was extremely dissatisfied. I had two outdoor floodlights which were 2nd-story located, and I would have checked them myself but for lack of an extention ladder. I assumed either the bulbs or the fixtures themselves were bad and called CDS. When they got up there they determined there was no power to the lights. They spent an hour going through the house to determine why, with no success, and charged me $125 for the hour. Their proposal to my wife was to come back, and charge an additional $288 to run a new circuit to the lights rather than figure out why the power was out. When I got home from work, I went to the basement and checked a receptacle with a GFI trip test button. I tripped the GFI test, reset it and found out this was the power supply to the floodlights. Took me all of 5 minutes to find the problem. When I called CDS and asked them to rework their quote (because I had bought replacement fixtures thinking the old ones were bad and wanted them replaced, their "reworked" price was $238 ($50 less - big deal) even though they no longer had to run any new circuit. I told them to forget it. I am alsocancelling the prepaid service contract I gave CDS on my generator because I dont want them in the house again.

The workers were on time, courteous and knowledgeable.

They came when we had a problem and taught us what to do if it ever happened again, (easy fix). They inspect our generator yearly and answer any questions we have. We will use them again if we have a need for other electrical procedures. |Nice folks to deal with.

They installed this generator as a contractor for Home Depot. CDS representative came out to see what I wanted to do and made his recommendation for the 17kw. I was considering a 20kw which would have cost about $3000.00 more for the unit and additional work that would be needed for the install. The 17kw is enough to run all the important circuits in the house. We had 22 circuits and the 17kw had enough for 16. I am very happpy with their recommendation. Scheduling went as planned for delivery, installation and inspections. Unit works fine. I was so satisfied that I signed up for their extended warranty and service package. The total cost of service listed includes the unit itself.

I rate the whole experience as A-, not a full A. The first installation design/site location, which I finally approved over personal reservations, was overridden by second installation design by more experienced individual. Installation was made competently without incident. The first emergency use occurred when furnace was on. When the generator turned on the furnace would not function. A call to CDS initiated an immediate service call, for which I give A+++. The furnace failure was merely some type of installation glitch. Another issue was response, efficiency and competency of office staff. There appear to be too many people involved who are not on the same page. For that I give B. Would I hire CDS again, yes I would, but not enthusiastically. The total price was $7,734.00 including gas and electrical connections, and pad.

I hired CDS via Home Depot (HD). I purchased my generator separately because I had a HD discount. I'm a self proclaimed handyman and like to save money wherever possible so I agreed in the contract to patch drywall and dig the trenches for the electric and gas lines--ended up saving ~$250. CDS contacted Pepco to have new gas meter installed to provide appropriate pressure for generator. Pepco charged me $400 (6 months after the install). CDS subcontracted a gas plumber to run the new gas line. The gas subcontractor was knowledgeable, but not 100% professional. He was able to run the line through my basement in a clean, concealed way, but near the meter termination (inside the house) he neglected to run the gas line BEHIND some air ducts. It was not a huge deal since it was in the unfinished utility room, but a real professional would've ran it behind. He also asked me for caulk, which I had on hand, but a hired contractor should never ask the customer for supplies. The CDS electricians were very thorough and professional. The lead tech (with an Irish-like accent) mentioned that his name is tied to each of his jobs so he meticulous about ensure the job is done right 100%. He was VERY knowledgeable and courteous. There were some issues on the admin side. Because I purchased the generator (which did NOT include the battery) separately from HD, there was a mix up. Luckily I ensured the battery was written in the contract months ago. Anyway I went out and purchased a battery and the company quickly reimbursed me. After the install they performed an operational test and provided me the contact info for Pepco to perform final inspection. The following week there was an hour-long power outage in the area and it worked like a charm...and it is quieter than a lawn mower.

They also arranged for a county inspector to come out and check the connections. Everything went as scheduled.

We're very pleased with the final product. It looks nice, and performs well. They were very meticulous and careful. They had a couple of miscues between the different contractors. I was impressed with the quality of all the personnel, but they could use better coordination with the home office. They didn't disturb anything in installing the lines. Two of the tasks had to be redone due to miscommunication with the home office.