Hai Lin Electric

We were looking for an electrician to install our outdoor heater on our deck.  My husband Matt met with several electricians and decided to hire Harry (not to be confused with Harry our dog).  He seemed trustworthy and gave us a reasonable quote.

A year later, we hired him to re-do some wiring for us in our living room.

He is a really honest guy and does what he says he will do for the price that he said it would cost.  He always turned up when he said he would and called whenever he was running late. We really had no problems with him.

Plus he has the guy from Oceans 11 who is small enough to crawl through the smallest of spaces, it's really amazing.

Give him a chance, other reviewers seemed a little harsh.  Everything still works BTW!

While Hai Lin's prices are competitive, they alone aren't the main reason this electrician is getting a whopping four stars from this here Yelper.  No sireee Bob.

You see, once upon a time, this lil Yelper received a quote from another electrician.  This man, let's call him Alex quoted me the most reasonable price to install an additional electrical outlet in order to bring my early 20th century home into the modern era.  What's more, Alex agreed to come within a week's time.  That's perfect, I thought, this means the new outlet will be installed just in time for me to watch the newest episode of Mad Men on my new *flat screen tv* in its most opportune location, opposite my comfy, cozy, new sofa!  

Whoaaa nelly, before any of you get all excited and ask, Hey, why aren't you reviewing Alex, then?  I mean, he facilitated you watching Mad Men right on time, dude! -- I have some very bad news.  

Alex the Electrician never showed up that foggy, cold SF morning.  This was much to my dismay, of course, as I'd rearranged my entire schedule AND took off work to meet him at my humble abode.  Four angry messages, and countless desperate internet -- and Yelp -- searches later, I came across one friendly and efficient Mr. Hai Lin.

Hai Lin deserves the four-star rating I gave him because:

(1) He ACTUALLY picked up the phone when I called (imagine that, no voicemail!).
(2) He gave me a reasonable estimate over the phone right then and there.
(3) He agreed to come and help me out that day.  
(4) He was EARLY for the appointment.  
(5) He cleaned everything up and was respectful of my sweet lil pad.
(6) He actually did a really nice job and was friendly to boot!

So, that is how Hai Lin Electric came to be my electrician, and finally got posted onto Yelp.  

Thank you Hai Lin!

I wish I didn't have to offer this middling review.  Harry did fix an outlet problem that I thought would require new hardware, but turns out was not required.  However, I sense that other electricians could have achieved the same result.  One star because I called him late one Sunday afternoon to schedule an appointment, and it turned out that he was available immediately that evening and quoted a price over the phone that was reasonable.  It seems that he will work with your schedule, which is good.  

Oh god.  Twenty minutes before our appointed time, I get a call from him and he asks whether I have a ladder.  Hmmm, is this not an essential piece of equipment in an adequately prepared electrician's van?  I did have one and told him to come over and use ours.

Though he had expressly called to ask whether I had a ladder, and after mentioning its location in the house twice and even showing him where in the garage it was, he proceeded to remove his well-worn sandals, climb onto our dining table barefoot, plant his feet on the table linens and walk on top of the furniture!  After insisting that he USE THE LADDER, he stayed on for another two hours and then informed us that he would have to come back the next day to finish the job because he didn't have the right tools.

I have no doubt that he works earnestly, but no standing on our furniture with stinky feet, please  And it took two days to install a two-pendant light fixture.

The light he installed in the backyard no longer works.  It used to turn on and off on it's own, now it just doesn't work at all.  

The doorbells stopped working for a while.  First in the top unit, then in the middle unit.  I replaced the doorbell units, but apparently the top unit's door bell never worked, even after Harry supposedly connected them.  I had contacted him a few months after he did the work to have him come take a look at things to see why it wasn't working.  He said he was out of town and would contact me when he returned.  When he returned, he said there was nothing he could do.  I'm pretty upset that I paid him to do work that didn't even hold up for a year.

Thank you Luna K. for your review of Hai Lin!  

If not for your review, I would have never known about Harry (owner of Hai Lin).  I ended up using Hai Lin b/c a couple electricians on Yelp wouldn't take my business (I live in the Westlake District of Daly City- very close to SF and accessible via 280!)

Here is a breakdown of my experience.

1- Other than Luna K's review, I knew nothing about this company.  After calling around gathering price quotes for my job (install 8 recessed lighting on a 3 switch dimming panel) I realized that Harry had the most reasonable price.  Due to a tight budget, I trusted Luna K's review and went with Harry.

2- Despite the Chinese company name (Hai Lin), Harry speaks English and is quite warm/friendly.  His crew does not speak English but that was not a problem for me since Harry was around for 70% of the job.  The last 30% of the job was interesting (due to the language barrier) but the 2 crew members seemed very nice/respectful- I even bought them lunch - which they totally appreciated per their huge smiles! =)

3- I met with Harry twice.  Our 1st meeting was the day after my phone conversation.  He showed up to inspect the electrical circuits and show me an example of the recessed lighting he would use.

4- 2 days after the phone conversation, Harry and his 2 man crew showed up at my house 10 min early!

5- Since I had the day off, I watched the crew test my circuits (to figure out if I lighting could be added), cut exact 5 holes in my ceiling, run cables across the ceiling to the other lighting fixtures, and make certain that certain lighting fixtures were controlled by (1) of the (3) switches I had installed.

6- The entire job took approx. 4.5 hours and while Harry was there he was more than happy to answer any of my questions.

7- Before Harry left, I paid him for the job (and was given a receipt copy of the materials purchased for the job- no markups!).

8- The living room area where the (8) recessed lights were installed looks great!  I am very happy with the job and some of you might see the job on an episode of HGTV's ColorSplash next season (our house was selected to be on the show!)

Russ

I am a real estate agent and I always hire Hai Lin for any electrical needs of the properties I manage.  His charge is very reasonable and he always keep his promises.  If he tells you he will arrive at certain time, he will.  He always put the problem upfront and tells you all the alternative ways that can be used with different charges for your choices.  He is very professional and reliable.  I particularly like the part that he is very trustworthy so that I do not have to be there 100% time for tenant occupied units as my tenants can also trust him.
Thank you Hai Lin

This is yet another instance when we say, What would we do without Yelp?!! Based on his reviews, we called Harry (or is it Perry?), the owner and he came out the same day. He was really nice and he found and fixed our electrical issue quickly. Also, his price was very good. Will definitely use him again in the future. Good experience!

I ordered a washing machine on a Wednesday and it was going to be delivered on Saturday afternoon.  

My old washer was hooked up using a 3 prong connector to a 2 prong outlet and I didn't realize that this was not going to work with these new efficent washing machines.

I read in the manual on Friday  that you should not install the washer, unless there is a 3 prong grounded outlet within 3 feet from the washing machine (an extension cord wasn't good enough per the manual).  

Since I bought the extended warranty plan (because, I read that these new washers are sensitive) so in order to comply with manual, I looked on yelp for an electrician who could help me install a 3 prong grounded outlet quickly.

I like supporting local businesses and sought an electrician in my neighborhood.
I also didn't want to spend too much money since I don't own the house.

I called Harry on Friday.  He quoted me $130 and told me he would arrive at 10 a.m. to intall the new outlet.  Harry was on time and installed and tested the new grounded 3 prong outlet.  

Before he left he asked how I learned about him and I told him Yelp.  He was pleased that I called him.  I explained that he had a few negative reviews and he wanted to know what were the negative comments.  I explained one person's experience.  He said his English isn't perfect and sometimes customer's don't understand him.  I thought his English was good, but then again I didn't have a very complicated job.

I would recommend Harry.  He was polite, able to understand the scope of the job and successfully accomplish the task within my deadline.

If you hire him, let him know I recommended him.

BTW, 4 stars is about as high as I go on ranking businesses.  You've got to be exceptional to receive 5 stars....

He helps out in a pinch and does good work. Prices are fair and the real-world advice is priceless. Recommended!

Thanks to Yelp and thanks to Harry, (Hai Lin Owner). Called him to schedule an appt about 1 week ahead of time. Described to him that we were changing our electric stove to a gas range and needed to change the outlet. Gave me a quote and a time for when he would come to do the work. He showed up on time (6pm) and went straight to work, got it done quickly and easily. Will definitely use him again!

I called Hai Lin on a Thursday afternoon after I found them on yelp. I explained the problem and they told me they would be over in 30 minutes. They called 10 minutes later to confirm my address to put it in their GPS.
An hour passed and still no one. I started calling again but no answer. Left messages but no one ever called me back. By then it was too late for anyone else to come over.
Thanks for wasting my day!
This is my first time writing a review but their lack of professionalism was insulting and I don't want anyone else to waste their time with these guys.

My neighbors and I are looking to upgrade our building's electrical from the street through the breaker panels.  I sought recommendations here on Yelp.  I made an appointment with Hai Lin to get a bid.  They didn't show and didn't call.  Annoying.

Bad, bad, bad! I suspect that the good reviews here were written by this man's relatives.  I had such a disastrous experience that everything has to be done over by another electrician.  Run for the hills--he may be cheaper but you'll have things that are 1.  not according to code 2. unusable, 3. ruin other parts of your project. 4.  look AWFUL

Now, this is really bad.
I have to say that Harry looked like a nice guy. Maybe that( along with some good yelp reviews) was  why I gave him the benefit of the doubt to start doing the job despite him not looking like knowing what he was doing. Well, I learned a lesson!
My track light was acting out. Instead of messing with it myself, I thought I would give it to the professionals! I looked at yelp and Hai Lin was supposed to be good enough and cheaper. Called and Harry was in my house an hour later. He looks like a nice guy. So far so good. He doesn't seem to know his way around the track light assembly. Then he drops a pin while he is opening the assembly( it was obvious he didn't know what he was doing) and a pin falls down and goes right into the vent! So far he was talking about repairing but suddenly it changes to replacing the whole thing! Fine! I'll pay for the replacement of the whole track. 3 hours later and he says he can't find a replacement set!  I tell him to replace the pin at least so i would have some light. He says ok. Another 3 hours goes by and nothing so I call and he says he can't even find the pin and he will call me whenever he finds it! This is while my poor track light is left wide-open and non-functioning! He hangs up and never calls me back or answers my calls for the rest of the day!
I am furious. The professional not only didnt fix my light, he made it worse! I say to myself,  It shouldn't be that hard. So I start messing with it and 10 minutes later I fix it myself!!!!!! well, at least temporarily.
He never called me back and conveniently forgot about me!  would not call him again in a million years.  Leaving people in the dark? Not too nice.