Gleeson Electric

Thanks Courtney

My original intention was to not even acknowledge this comment but it is just so far from resembling the truth I felt I had to. Please keep in mind that I do this on the side, I have a full-time job outside of this; which she was also aware of from day one. This woman has a hard time with the truth. I would encourage anyone she might contact to do work in the future to be very leery. I performed all of the work on a T&M basis. My rate is $52.00/hour which she was aware of upfront. I reduced my rate to $42.00/hour when she told me she was running out of money. Obviously the work of a viciously spiteful person. $52.00/hour is extremely reasonable for a COC Licensed Electrician, $42.00/hour even more so. The "crew" are her friends and they were never without lights. The entire first floor of the house was entirely gutted. She fails to mention that I went over on my own time and set up (4) dedicated circuits in the basement so that extension cords could be run upstairs and work lights plugged in. That same day I also left an extension cord and an LED worklight for her to use throughout the project. I know that sound completely outlandish on a gut rehab project. My worklight lasted a total of one day (the cord got chopped off when I was not there and no one would own up to it). She and her "crew" said that the halogen and LED worklights were too harsh for her "crew", they were harsh on me as well but that's the nature of construction. I had set up pigtails numerous times only to have to remove them for other projects and when she told me she was running out of money I decided not to waste her money wiring temps over and over. I did threaten to call the city, only after she threatened to contact the BBB and thumbtack and whoever else it was. At that time, she also told me she wasn’t going to pay me the money that she still owed me, my only leverage to get paid would be to call the city since she told me from day one she didn't want to pull permits for any of the work and she wanted me to give her receipts that said "repairs' on them so she could write the "repairs" off on her taxes. And a clarification on the “permit” she allegedly has. There was never a permit posted anywhere on the house. She did remove a load-bearing wall (which also was not properly supported prior to being replaced causing her basement door to no longer close and major cracking to occur in the dining room walls that had just been skim coated). Unless I’m crazy, the city of Chicago typically requires a stamped drawing and report from a structural engineer before they would then stamp a construction drawing authorizing the wall to be removed. I just logged into my city portal account and searched her address and I’m puzzled because the only permit that was pulled was by another “electrician” that upgraded the service on the house prior to me. There are no other permits listed under her address. As to “he put the lives of the carpenter and plumber in danger”, she fails to mention that she left an opening in the 2nd floor bedroom uncovered where a chimney had been removed that I made a cover to put over so I didn’t fall into it when I was working up there. She failed to close a 3’x3’ opening in the kitchen floor for over a month after cabinets were removed. She never tested floor tiles that she removed from the 2nd floor bedroom that were the perfect size and age for asbestos. I've been doing this work for 26 years and have been involved in new high rise construction with my day job downtown for the last 20 years. Being a real tradesman, I know how to get along with tradesman and generals and I certainly understand how the construction process works. Her "tradesman"-her friends and her "general"-herself could have certainly benefitted from having a better understanding of the process. My "periodic disappearances" were because I have a father with advanced Parkinson's disease and a wife who was just diagnosed with progressive MS. So I did not disappear, I always notified her when I would not be able to make it. Family first in all things, if you don't agree with that, please don't consider hiring me. I did not make an "unauthorized key without her permission". I asked her before I did it if she would mind me doing it since going through the lockbox was tedious and a pain at night when it's dark outside. She told me that would be fine. I did have a copy of the key made. The key never worked, it would not even slide into the cylinder. So I did not at any point have a key to her home. I used the lockbox every time I entered and left the property. I will put my work up against anyone anytime-that's all I will say about that. The last day that I worked there (Saturday-St. Patrick's Day), she came over and I could tell she was upset about something. I had my son with me and I could tell she didn't want to talk in front of him. She told me she was going to come back in the afternoon. I had a feeling that something was going to transpire, to the point that I even gotmy cart and all of my tools together and left them sitting by the front door when I left that night. My last comment. According to her I am such a spiteful person. Even having a feeling that something wasn't right, I stayed at the house until midnight working on the lighting. I installed all of the fixtures and receptacles throughout minus the pendant lighting and ceiling fans (in those locations I hung pigtails), I also installed all of the switching so that the lights could be controlled normally. I am not sure why, if I am such a spiteful person and a C- electrician, she would have allowed me to stay in her house for another 10 hours doing work. When she told me the following day that she was going to "fire" me when she saw me the day before. When I walked out the door that evening, 90% of the work was completed. All of the wire that I pulled in the kitchen that hadn't been terminated was labeled for exactly what it was; anyone could finish the work. I It was very convenient then to get a message the next morning that I'm being "fired" and that I am not getting paid the money I am owed from a person that had told me the week before that they were running out of money. I will not acknowledge this woman or anything she has to say in the future. If you are interested in hiring me I would encourage you read the other reviews and reach out to those people for their opinion.