Best Businesses in New York, NY

Here is an update to my original review.  I have written this as a reply to the business owner's response as Yelp does not appear to allow me to reply publicly to the business owner.  As a side note, I am considering lodging a complaint with the Better Business Bureau regarding this incident.

Hitch, as I noted in my initial review, a civilized and normal response to a bounced/bad check should be to reach out to the person who cut the check in order to rectify the problem in a business-like fashion.  Why was I singled out to bear the burden of your mistrust of others?  As you say, you have encountered this issue before with other customers, some of whom I am sure were perfectly honest and were, like me, a victim of a misunderstanding.  Were you as duplicitous with them or did you make an exception for me thinking that I would just roll over and let this go?

You lied to my face about a problem with work that you performed.  You made me anxious about (i) the safety of the people staying in my apartment (which included a 2+ year old child), and (ii) the potential for property damage.  Hopefully you can see how twisted that is.  If not, then I feel sorry for you.

Sure, you do not have the time to wait for a few weeks for a check to clear or go to small claims court.  I understand that as I am a busy man too and I certainly did not have time to waste for you to come to my home under false pretenses.  Do you think that I have ample time to read through fine print that does not constitute a contract that I am (1) agreeing to, or (2) attaching my signature to?

If you were not comfortable with a check or if that was not your preferred payment method, you could have told me while we were conducting business in my home that Venmo, Paypal or credit card were alternative payment options.  The onus is on you (as the business owner) to inform me (your former client) of this.  Why was this not done?  Please do not rely on the fact that you sent me something in writing more than a month ago at this point.  We met face to face to settle payment when the work was done.  This could have easily been avoided if you spoke up.

More importantly, your first instinct should not have been to lie to me.  You have seen the building and the apartment I live in.  Does it look like it belongs to someone who (a) could not afford to pay your fee, or (b) would willfully and intentionally avoid payment for services rendered?  If you had even thought this through for a minute and reflected on our course of dealing, I do not think you would have approached this the way you did.

Lastly, I want to fully acknowledge the fact that you saved me significant cost with respect to my light fixtures.  Thank you for that.  However, I will also say this - cost was never an issue for me and I would have gladly hired you to do more extensive work if it was necessary.  What is important for me is that my home not be a fire hazard and that the lights function properly.  In addition, we agreed on a fee rate for the work done (in your words, let's get this down to the minute) and you wound up overcharging me for the work.  How is that fair or honest?  Again, please do not try to rely on a set of terms that we never agreed to for this work.  Especially when we had reached a hand shake deal on cost during our course of dealing.

I am sorry that things have turned out this way as well, but I have not done anything unconscionable, unethical or dishonest here.  Sadly, I cannot say the same for you.

Returned our call and fixed our circuit breaker issues very quickly so our a/c can start working again.

We had a problem with our ceiling fan transmitter. Richard got back to me right away with a quote. Came the next day fixed the problem and also fixed another wire problem.  Very professional and pleasant. Would definitely use him again.

Mickhael was friendly, efficient, and did a great job installing 2 air conditioners and changing an outlet, which required work at the breaker box. Highly recommend.

Waited weeks for an electrician w numerous texts, emails and phone calls w Alex. On more than two occasions we were told someone would arrive between a 2-3 hr window. No show. Today, when someone did show up, he seemed disoriented, elderly, and possibly intoxicated. I had to help him put his shoes on while he had a sever flatulence issue. No regard for his surroundings. We could barely understand his speech. Definitely not someone we wanted to work w the electricity in our home.

He came very quickly and solved our problems very thoroughly. He found some other problem that we didn't know existed and could have caused a major headache, and was able to fix it. Could see that he's very experienced and knowledgeable. Highly recommended.

I needed help with removing an old light fixture from a vaulted 13-foot ceiling, and then with installing a new, hanging chandelier in the same place.  After asking around without much luck, receiving difficult responses, or what I considered to be outrageous estimates, I connected with Jem Lighting and Led Specialist on Yelp.  John was super responsive and accommodating of my work schedule, gave what I considered to be a fair estimate for the job, and had no issue with the higher ceiling.  Better still, we were able to schedule his visit for the following afternoon.  As our conversation on Yelp suggested would be the case, John and his crew arrived on time, were super nice, professional and experienced.  They efficiently and carefully removed the old light, installed the new one, were mindful of the apartment at all times, and helped with installing all of the bulbs once finished.  Afterwards, they even asked about a broom and helped sweep up the floor.  Further still, after discussing a potential dimmer switch and the height of the chandelier, John offered to stop by within the week to assist with either additional task, if necessary.  Bottom line, if I have another lighting or electrical issue, I'll be reaching out to John and Jem Lighting and Led Specialist.

Danny is knowledgeable, pleasant, reliable and fair. He quoted me a fair price came when he promised and did the work neatly and correctly.  He did outdoor plugs, indoor smart plugs and outdoor lights. I would use him in the future without reservation.

Quick to respond and set up time with me! I needed a burned out outlet replaced and they came by a day or two later. Pricing was slightly higher than with others I reached out to but not too much. Would work with them again. Thanks!

Don't recommend. He was like you didn't pay me from three years ago. I said why didn't you say anything? Nothing. Slightly aggressive and annoying. I would hire someone else.

We bought a 2 family home in Brooklyn and Cel Electric installed new electrical service for the entire house. Very happy with the service.. will definitely recommend and use them for all my future needs. Will rate them 10 out of 10.

We highly recommend this company. They are very responsive, quick to figure out the issue and then quick to do the work. Will definitely use them again.

I tried to change a light fixture in my very old walk up apartment and ended up disconnecting all the power for the whole place. I tried in vain to fix the issue before consulting yelp to bring in a professional. I called early on a Friday morning and Ilin was at my apartment within an hour. The job a diagnosed and fixed for a very reasonable price (for NYC prices anyway), the work was professional and more than I could have asked for given the short notice. If I have any further electrical work to have completed (although I learned my lesson and am not touching light fixtures in 150 year old apartments any more) I will call Ilin first.

Our thermostat wasn't working and it turned out to be an issue with the wiring between it and the furnace.  I contacted DLP that evening and they were here first thing by next morning. Don worked quickly, yet took the time to explain what he was doing. Extraordinary professionalism and great work all around. I'll definitely keep DLP at the top of my list for any electrical needs that requires a professional.  Highly recommend.

Initially, we were impressed with their professional manner.  They gave a quote which seemed reasonable.  Because of the extensive work we needed, the owner said he had a construction crew that they worked with.  Well I'd like to say this story had a happy ending, but it did not. We were hit up for another 10K for supplies .  Our mistake, lesson learned.  Never give money up front.  Their construction crew did not know what they were doing.  After a week we decided they needed to leave as we were not only furious at the shoddy construction, but every night we would shake our heads in disbelief.  We called in a real professional who apologized that someone in his field would actually call it a professional job.  Imagine that.  We are still trying to correct the mess they left us with.  With regard to the electric work, we were naive and probably would have done things differently.  The job was ok, but just ok.  Moral of story:  NEVER give money without proof of work.  ALWAYS, know what you want and how you want it done.  ALWAYS get references.  ALWAYS get a reference from people that you know.  FINALLY, check YouTube.  There is always video for any work that can be done by yourself.  Would NOT, and WILL NOT recommend this company.

I want to warn folks thinking of hiring Zabivay for plumbing handy work. Here's the summary:
* hired Zabivay to install drain systems on 2 ikea sinks. The agreement was to install the drain systems so the vanity drawers would close.
* He said he had done this many times and was no problem. We were away and had another
 contractor install the sink and vanity. We were not able to see the final, completed work.
* He charged me $540 for this work.
* We immediately rented out the apartment for 2 months and did not hear complaints from the
 renters. After they moved out and we walked through, we saw the problems.
* I contacted Zabivay about the work and he was not willing to correct the work.
* I had to hire another handyman, who did excellent work (Dave, at Elegant Design) to fix this
 work. He explained this was plumbing 101:
 - buy a longer pipes so the drain system would be farther back, so the drawers would close
 - this was not $540 worth of labor.

I've attached photos of Zabivay's work and Dave's corrected work, as well as my email conversation with Zabivay to show our communication and Zabivay's willingness to correct his work.

For plumbing handywork, I would not recommend Zabivay. Call Dave, he does great work and charges fairly.

Avi is a lifesaver. His team was originally only available the following week. But when I told him I needed the light fixed in the kitchen of my elderly parents, he fit me in after a cancellation within a few hours of talking to him. Very reasonably priced. Came with 2 men to handle the kitchen light and ceiling fan installation to save on time.  Arrived on time. Very pleasant and understanding on the phone.

Katie is one the most efficient and creative installation artists I've gotten to work with. Her attention to detail when working on projects is impeccable and is only made better by her charming personality. I've had many issues around my space that she was able to come up with simple and effective solutions. I would highly recommend her, especially if it involves power tools. She always finishes a job perfectly and with finesse. You'd be crazy to go to anyone else.

Had a great experience with Cooper Electrical Services. Needed additional light switches installed. Seems simple but several other electricians failed to even return my call. Roman answered immediately and set up installation for the next day at a time of my convenience. The work was done quickly and efficiently by Victor and the price was reasonable. Extremely satisfied.

I had a good experience with Gladiator Electric. I needed a fan/light installed and connected to a switch that was dead in my house. Mike took care of it as well as some other minor work I needed to get done. He was relatively quick, straight forward, reasonably priced and professional about his work. I recommend and will use him again.