Bay Electric

My relationship with Bay Electric started shortly after I moved into my new (well, really old) little house on First Street in Belmont Shore. The house was a fixer-​upper, so I had to change the oven. Yes, the most important item in the kitchen was not operational! The existing old gas oven from 1965 (Roper brand…) was all rusty, with multiple layers of oily residue from generations of users without proper culinary hygiene… I tried to fit another gas oven but all «modern» gas ovens were a lot taller than the available space.
To make the long story short, an electric oven was my only choice and hope. At the time, I got several quotes– Bay Electric Co. from nearby Naples Island gave me the most reasonable price. I had to change the whole electrical box, and then a new high-​voltage cable had to be installed into the kitchen. The whole thing cost me a little bit below $ 3000.
Job was executed very well, professionally. I thought I had found a GREAT COMPANY that I can use also in the future, should I need to further the home improvement project.
The problem I have with Bay Electric Co. (in the face of Mr. Gary Sekins, owner) formed shortly afterwards. As part of the contracted job, he had promised to arrange to bring Edison, the local electrical utility, to approve/​legalize the job. In addition, my home-owner’s insurance company required the cable that goes from the pole to my house to be moved & attached to the new box (to comply with «building standards»); at the moment, the cable is still attached below the roofline of the house, which could become a fire hazard, and is considered «illegal» according to California Building Code.
As I said, the first part of the job was completed very well, in early February 2006, so I trusted Mr. Sekins and went ahead with a full payment. «No problem», the owner said– «within a week or two, I will arrange the inspection /​approval from Edison, and they will also switch the cable from the street pole to the new electrical rod that protrudes above the roof line».
Almost 6 months later, I still haven’t got closure here. Since I never heard from Bay Electric Co. anymore, I called their number multiple times; meanwhile, Mr. Sekins changed his phone number and became unreachable directly. The only number that still works is the office phone (as seen above).
The Administrative Manager (Assistant)‘s name is Arleen Nixon. I leave her a message; she never calls me back. Sometimes she picks up, probably not knowing who is calling– and when she hears my polite voice, she immediately promises to schedule me right away, and apologizes in a dry but servile way… Then, nothing ever happens.
What really upset me is that recently Ms. Nixon received her Realtor License (congratulations!) so now instead of electrical services, I started to receive Real Estate advertising from Bay Electric Co (already twice I got her junk mail with a beautiful business card featuring a color photograph of Ms. Nixon).
You can draw your own conclusions, whether or not to hire and use this contractor… I would say, it is fine to use this company as long as you hold off on paying your dues… Because once you submit your payment, you will never hear from them again; and they won’t complete any promised remaining jobs! ARGH!