Hi Lite Electric Inc.

At the time my wood floors were being installed (see another review of mine, for which the floor installers got 10 points), one of the circuits in my house failed... the floor nailer gun had drawn too much power off a particular circuit. I tried to reset the breaker but the power just wouldn't come on.

I didn't have internet at home during the construction (modem went AWOL - got packed away inadvertently), so we couldn't look for an electrician on Homestars. We needed power a.s.a.p.

I went to the Yellowpages and found Hi-lite. "Small jobs done immediately. Save money! Upfront pricing - no guessing."

The person I spoke to on the phone told me that I would get things fixed in an $80 visit, and that was the beauty of the upfront pricing. "Would there be any additional costs?" I asked him. "I can't discuss that now," he said. "Wait till the electrician comes." That should have been a red flag for me.

It cost me $80 to get the electrician to the door with a little presentation and a glossy menu of service levels; to actually do ANY work would cost more than the $80. I was already $80 in the hole, and trapped. $319 (yup) and 15 minutes later, I was told that one of the circuit breakers had a small flaw on it, and that it would cost another $600 to pop that switch out and put a new one in. Over $1,000 for this job!!! Shellshocked, I said: "No, thank you. I can't afford to have this work done by you. I'll have to get it done another way." (BTW, a new replacement circuit breaker costs around $40.)

I cut things off at $430 ($80 + $319 + tax), paid the bill and couldn't get the serviceman out the door fast enough. Throughout, the serviceman was very polite and professional. However, his company is obviously laughing all the way to the bank.

Shameful.