I had a bitter sweet experience with Freddy. He was able to come in almost immediately. And he installed the hot water heater. Although since he operates solo, you might have to help him with some heavy lifting. In my 30's that was not a problem but if you can't lift weights you might want to think twice or ask him to bring a helper.
Originally we agreed on a price of 575 dollars(for everything). However, because he said he will have to pay transaction cost of 3% for credit cards, I upped the total to 600(400 dollars on card) bucks. We also agreed that I will pay him 200 dollars in advance(once he starts the job).
After he was done I asked him to install 4 hand spray's. He proposed 40 bucks but then settled for 30 dollars. His power reciprocating saw gave up during the job so he had to cut through the existing copper pipes manually. Even still, he finished the job in about 70 minutes. Even at 120 bucks, this is a fair price. Considering, he was already there on the job and did not have to make an additional trip. But he decided to charge me at 35 a pop instead for a total of 140.
Gave him the card and he ran the car for 49.25 dollars more than we agreed. I asked him for a receipt but he told me since it was a manually keyed in amount he couldn't print one up.
I do have his handwritten invoice on me. On the invoice he did have 30 bucks originally which he struck out and made 35 for the hand spray. For the rest he put 35 dollars. For the heater he put 600 and put 200 dollars in advance. Even if you go by his numbers he was supposed to charge me 540 dollars on the card(Although we had agreed on 520 bucks) but instead he charged me 569.25.
I called him and he said he it must be the credit card machine that tacked on processing charges and he will send me a check for the extra cost. Its been more than 3 weeks but I still have to see a check in the mail. He has not responded to my messages to him either.
Bottomline:
He is available on short notice. He did a reasonable job(although he did say you do not need a drip pan under the heater. No No No. Don't take his advice on it. A drip pan is an insurance against hot water heater leaks which could result in thousands of bucks of savings if you ever have a leak).
However, do NOT trust him with your credit card. You are better off paying with cash. In my case it resulted in an ~50 dollars additional charge. It is still possible that he is planning on sending me a check but has not gotten around to it yet. If I see the check from him I will up my rating to 4 stars.
4 stars for service.
1 star for honesty.