Our neighbors tree fell and took out our power at our meter base. Russell Electric " Electric Doctor" came for an estimate and charged $225 just to show up. Their bid was just under $3000. This seemed high to me so I asked the serviceman if other companies would give me the same estimate. He assured me that their estimates would be within $200-300 of his estimate either way. He seemed honest so I agreed. While he was out getting a part I called Black Hawk Electric to get another estimate. They came out for free and did the job for $1130. In Black Hawk Electric's bill they divided the parts and labor. The parts were $563 and the rest was for 9 hours of labor. Their labor rate was $65 an hour which seems fair to me. If the parts would have cost Russell Electric the same amount and you subtract that from their original estimate of $3000 you would get $2427. If you divide thatamount by nine hours of labor you get $270 an hour and this is without counting the $225 show up fee! They call this their "straight forward" pricing and won't give you a labor rate per hour. Does this sound like a fair and honest company that you would like to do business with? My answer is no.

Our neighbors tree fell and took out our power at our meter base. Russell Electric " Electric Doctor" came for an estimate and charged $225 just to show up. Their bid was just under $3000. This seemed high to me so I asked the serviceman if other companies would give me the same estimate. He assured me that their estimates would be within $200-300 of his estimate either way. He seemed honest so I agreed. While he was out getting a part I called Black Hawk Electric to get another estimate. They came out for free and did the job for $1130. In Black Hawk Electric's bill they divided the parts and labor. The parts were $563 and the rest was for 9 hours of labor. Their labor rate was $65 an hour which seems fair to me. If the parts would have cost Russell Electric the same amount and you subtract that from their original estimate of $3000 you would get $2427. If you divide thatamount by nine hours of labor you get $270 an hour and this is without counting the $225 show up fee! They call this their "straight forward" pricing and won't give you a labor rate per hour. Does this sound like a fair and honest company that you would like to do business with? My answer is no.