Trautman Dan Electric

I was referred to Manny by my plumber. I called him and asked how much to put in a 220 volt dryer plug at my office. I described to him he would need to run electrical no more than 10 feet up a dry wall and then run the conduit on a drop ceiling with 5 ft ceiling clearance which would be very easy. He’d have to run it no more than 20 ft to my breaker panel and install a breaker. He quoted me $350. I said great come in and do the job. When he arrived he brought his apprentice. Didn’t say much to me and left the apprentice to do the job. It took about a few hours to complete and Manny return to check the work over. They never left me a bill and said they’d mail it out to me. When I received it I was shocked to see that the bill was almost $800 with tax. He charged me 5 hours for labour and parts!!!! I called manny to complain and he said he thought it was a residence. I told him I had told him it was my office and when he drove up did he not think to tell me his misunderstanding prior to the start? In addition I was very upset as I thought Manny was doing the install and not some apprentice who was slow and that Manny could use to drive labour charges higher. I’ve contacted him and text messaged him twice and nothing. I launched a BBB complaint as well. I contacted my plumber to ask where he knew this guy from and told him of my experience. He too was furious at what took place and contacted two other electricians that he would have sent me but were busy at the time and they too quoted around the $350 mark. One of these electricians were also familiar with my office and the layout. I’d recommend that who ever books this electrician get the quote in writing before starting any work with them even if the job is small.

I scheduled a time for Manny to come to the house to provide a quote to replace lighting and he cancelled the time and rescheduled for later but then never showed up and didn't even call back to follow up and reschedule.

I was referred to Dan Trautman Electric by another electrician in town. Brent was great. He explained everything as he went along and ensured all the work was completed to code. This included the addition of special circuit breakers to meet our kitchen requirements. It was reassuring to know the job was being done right.

The work was done VERY satisfactorily by Brent but when the invoice came, it showed 2+ hours more than the actual work time on site, (even when allowing for travel time) No response or communication from them despite 3 letters to Manny about it. Get a max. on hours and rates before you decide to use them.

Manny charged me $221 and hour to install 3 light fixtures and 3 switches. I supplied all the fixtures and switches. He told me the reason he charged so much was that installing light fixtures is difficult. He sent his partner to do the work because he had a broken foot. His partner worked for 1.5 hours. 20 minutes of it was spent installing a dimmer. When he finished it didn't work. Said my $18 Leviton SureSlide 600 Watt Single-Pole/3-Way dimmer was cheap Chinese. I had to go back to Home Depot and get another. Once I had another dimmer Manny did the install this time and it took him 5 minutes. A few days later Manny drops off a bill for 3.5 hours.

I had a major problem last year when we were trying to install a new light fixture with old knob and tube wiring...I desperately looked in the phone book and as luck would have it called Manny.....he came to my rescue quickly and professionally...since then I have hired him a few more times for some odd jobs in the house including installing some lights and a wall oven. He knows that I will soon be renovating my basement and he will be definately the guy I call to do my plugs and lights...good to know that there are still decent contractors out there.