rapid electrical service and contracting

Rapid Electrical Service and Contracting is a Somerville outfit run by Joe, who by the company's own account on Angi has been in business 48 years. Angi rates the company 4.3★ across 101 reviews — a longer and more mixed record than a five-star listing would suggest. The strongest thread across the written reviews is Joe's own responsiveness: in a 2018 review, a customer described him calling back within hours of posting a search for an electrician and showing up the next morning as promised, walking through repair options and costs before starting work. In a 2019 review, another customer described him coming out on a Saturday night to fix a broken breaker for the heat, and a different 2019 account credits him with replacing a baseboard heater and thermostat and offering several solutions on short notice. A 2018 review specifically praised a clean installation of a new 20-amp circuit and cleanup of a "rat's nest" of old wiring. Pricing is the recurring sore point. A 2020 review said a quoted $180 job turned into a $250 charge; a 2018 review argued a $100 radiator install ran to $500; and two other reviews from 2019 and 2021 called the work "a little pricey" or "maybe a bit pricey" even while praising the job itself. One 2019 review is more serious — a customer said the work didn't fix the problem and that a sliding bathroom door was broken during the visit, with an extra HomeAdvisor fee charged on top; the business disputed the damage in its response. A separate 2018 review called the owner rude, with no further detail given. Given how often pricing comes up across the years, it's worth getting a firm, itemized quote before work starts — most reviewers who raised it still said the actual work was done well.