I work customer service in a highly technical field. I repair high end luxury vehicles. It's…read morealways in my mind that I'm handling the first or second most expensive item most folks own. Second only to their homes. I'm well aware of the exacting standards needed. The self discipline needed and the attention to detail and care for details needed to restore someone's prized luxury vehicle. Those same standards apply to working in or on someone's home. My previous reviews explain how I met Jake at Barker Tech. This is a new review with new perspective. It's been over two years since I paid Jake and shook his hand. In those two years Jake has reached out 3 times to check on my home and his work. It just seems to be how he is. In those two years I've reached out with some admittedly stupid questions and each time he's addressed my concerns without any snark or down talk that some techie guys use when speaking to plebes. I needed additional home tech stuff and naturally I reached out to Jake. His response was timely given his work load and he immediately offered elegant solutions to an inelegant problem. (Someone in my neighborhood is actively using my gravel yard as a dog pit stop and leaving me nasty surprises ). Jake offered some very clever options up to and including an outdoor speaker paired with my existing camera system (that he installed ) to politely ask the offending dog owner to remove their dog waste. Ultimately my wife vetoed the idea of me having the ability to leave audio messages for bad neighbors. But Jake's suggestion of an upgraded new camera with AI facial recognition and a wider field of view was perfect. Within a week Jake personally came back and upgraded the camera thus negating the one small blind spot the offender had been using. He kept his word. He sent me tutorials and worked with me not even being home to ensure that I was 100% satisfied with my upgraded surveillance view before leaving. Setting standards and holding yourself to them are key to excellence. Keeping your word and delivering what you promise are key to excellence. But. Excellence isn't derived from robot like adherence to guidelines. It's a combination of many intangible things. It's rare these days to encounter true excellence in almost any field. Jake at Barker Tech is an excellent example of excellence in action. Trustworthy. Reliable. Professional. Meticulous. Passionate. Informed and informative. Personable and Diligent. I'm a client for life.

It's not often you come across someone in business who reminds you that basic human kindness still…read moreexists. Jake at Barker Tech did that for my wife and me. Our home has an older AV system installed years ago by another contractor. Over time, the system became outdated, complicated, and the contractor became harder to reach and increasingly expensive. My wife and I separated several years ago, but she still lives in the home and has always struggled with the universal remote and the setup's complexity. Recently, she called me in distress because she couldn't turn on the television in the living room. Under normal circumstances, that would be a small inconvenience. But my wife is currently battling stage-four ovarian cancer and only has a few months left. All she wanted was the simple comfort of sitting on the couch and watching TV. I called Jake and explained the situation. Without hesitation, he said he would come take a look. The next day, he and one of his technicians, Wilson, showed up and spent over an hour patiently troubleshooting the system until they got everything working again. When the work was finished, I asked what I owed him. Jake said there would be no charge given my wife's condition. I was honestly taken back. In a world where it often feels like everything is transactional, Jake chose compassion instead. This wasn't just good service, it was humanity, and I'll never forget that kindness. If you're looking for someone who truly cares about his clients and takes pride in his work, Barker Tech is the real deal.

We had a great first meeting and were waiting for a quote that never came. We were straight-up…read moreghosted. We reached out multiple times in a variety of ways and never heard back. We can only speculate that somehow our project needs were not big enough for them to want to work with us? We can't know what happened because they simply stopped communicating with us. Sad but true. For this reason, I have to say their business is not to be reccomended.

Wow just realized I never updated the review. After paying Cham to come out, and to come back, and…read moreto come back, and to come back...each time a new person who complain d bout the last persona work. I finally gave up and went with another service. He was great when it was new and a big bill. Not great when you need to get his worked fixed right.

Came on time and evaluated project. Couldn't do project because of some issues which interrupted…read morethe project.

Do not hesitate. Full stop. Henry and his crew (shout out Ramon!) packed all my gear, set it up in…read morea new house, and attended to everything. I was super picky and he and his crew accommodated everything and the quote was the exact price I was charged. They answered all my dumb questions, explained all the options, and came back TWICE to tweak things I wanted. One of the best customer experiences I've had. Don't hesitate to hire these guys.

Yianni was professional he worked with my schedule. Unfortunately something came up with work and…read morewasn't able to complete my job. however Yianni showed up on time and was ready. Definitely my fault but Yianni was excellent in communication.

Yianni was professional, on time, and pleasure to work with. He's an expert at what he does and…read moreaffordable.

The salespeople here certainly know their products well, but once the sale happens things quickly…read morefell apart turning into a huge time suck. Emails with product information were incorrect and took multiple attempts to get accurate information. They called me back a couple times on the wrong phone number. Reason I didn't answer - it's not my phone number. My correct phone number was right on the receipt! It started when they called me to pick up my TV and was told upon arrival that it wasn't there. There's an hour in my life I don't get back. No one picks up the phone there - not in sales and not in service. No way to leave a message and the phone goes on eternal ring. More time sucking. Emails and phone calls go unanswered and take several days to receive responses. They'll probably say they'll call you at 10, but instead call you at noon. The sale has already been made, and it's very clear you are no longer their priority, nor do they care about your time, their personal reputation, or their company's reputation. Turn'em and burn'em. They don't stand behind the products they sell. Did they once even hint at apologizing for anything that transpired - nope! They attempted to make a profit off of my warranty issue by selling me a second full-rate installation. I had already paid someone to install the defective TV, now I've got to pay them, with profit? At least give me a discount. If you want expert advice, this is a great choice. But, after you get the advice, go somewhere else to buy what you want at a place with decent post-sale service.

Wish negative stars was an option. Stay away . Far away . They will sell u a dream then u will…read moredeal with a nightmare. I Spent $8,000 on a 8k TV , soundbar & remote with custom install . First they brought me the wrong TV . It was a 4k tv not an 8k and these guys swore that it was the correct TV but I stuck to my guns and kept telling them I bought an 8k tv. At the end I was correct and these clowns had to take the tv back and bring me the correct tv ( it's a $2,000 difference in price from 4k to 8k tv). So they needed to go all the way to the third floor of my house and do 2x's the work since they don't know how to read tv boxes which clearly show 8k & 4k in huge letters. Btw this was all during covid and I told them I didn't want to much traffic going through my home . Well that didn't happen as they needed 4 ppl to install one tv. Then the install was horrible as they drilled extra holes in my wall (they did not measure correctly the first time) & they damaged my furniture when they dropped a drill on it ( my furniture was very expensive). Now I'm going through technical issues as the soundbar is having issues with the TV when using arc. They did come fix it but now they need to come hide another wire behind the wall . The remote that I paid about $500 for with custom programming works when it wants to . I don't know what else to do do I called a customer service phone number to complain only to be told that the magnolia brand will be going out of business. Like wtf . Now I'm gonna be stuck with shitty tv soundbar & remote that are not compatible with each other????? My wife is so upset and she constantly reminds me of the terrible time she is having with the remote. I bought a system from magnolia 15 years ago and that system works better than this new one but it was almost $20,000 and is installed in my theater room . My three other system which are in my living room and two kids bedrooms also work better and were purchased at Best Buy. Those are Sonos, Bose and LG sound with LG and Samsung tvs . As of now I hate this place. Message me if you would like pictures and videos as I have documented everything and will be speaking to my lawyer if this does not get fixed asap.

Alan is one of those guys that you meet that on first blush may seem like he's selling you a lot of…read moregear you don't need. I'm a former technology journalist and he had stuff I hadn't heard of. I ran his gear past people in the know who said "yeah, that's good." A sidenote: Sometimes Alan is slow to get back to you on phone or iMessage. He's booked solid. I don't like it any more than you do. But in the bay every single good professional is like this, because they are inundated with calls and need to do in-person evaluations to do a good job. I wish the world was easier too guys. Sorry. Alan did a giant (119") 1080p surround sound installation in my loft in Oakland late last year. It was costly, and Alan worked with me to bring down said cost with explanations behind every bit of rational and actual links to what he was getting. Alan also let me use gear I already had, which meant that the actual installation itself was quite confusing to look at at the end. I was furious, and not particularly nice to Alan afterward thinking he'd broken everything. No, what he'd actually done was an intricate, cost-effective amp/ethernet installation, built through the *ceiling*, leading to my aged receiver, to the speakers I had provided. In essence, if you know stuff about a/v, once you bring in someone's potentially bashed-up gear into the situation it effectively is a gamble to see what will work with what. Alan not only made it all work, including with a receiver that I would frankly describe as aged, he recommended the right places to save money to still have the effect I wanted - an awesome home theater. It came out looking and sounding amazing, and more importantly removable. He taught me in a non-condescending manner what he did and why he did it, and made a clear promise (and actually booked time to) fix any problems. There were no problems. Any anger I had was that I didn't understand how it worked and the only criticism I could give was Alan didn't leave a manual of his work. Alan is not cheap. Alan is also - and I use this term very rarely - an actual artist. He wants the thing to look and sound perfect. I just hired Alan to do a second job he has not started yet, and he talked me OUT of spending $3000+ on a new projector screen and $2000 on a new projector, telling me to keep my quite-adequate plasma screen, as it'd be just as good. I am sort of a gadget/network person and know what I'm talking about. If you want a cheap guy to do an okay job, don't hire Alan. Don't waste is time. He will charge what he charges for the gear at the price it comes out at (if not cheaper, and believe me I've checked). If you want someone to put down some cheap CAT cables and some HDMI cables he found on Monoprice and Amazon, give them a call. Alan is an actual professional who knows a lot. I take umbrage at anyone claiming Alan "focuses on dollars more than customer service." My own personal experience, even when I was not the most calm (calling him at 2:30am GMT from England, where I was at the time of installation), is that he cares more about customer service than most A/V people I've run into. And knows more than them too. Overall, what you get is the closest you can to professional at a consumer price. It's not cheap. It never will be if you want something that'll last, sound good and look good. If you want constant download speeds/constant signal throughout your home, Alan is going to find *what will do it.* To S.B.: I do not know specifically what equipment you were left with by Alan, however I have spoken to him about the networking gear he uses, which (I used to sell WIFI/WAN/LAN gear commercially) is Unifi/Ubiquiti gear. This prices much the same as a Netgear Nighthawk/high-end ASUS router, and gives superior service all around. Alan is not just a guy who knows things about audio/visual, he is actually very smart and knows about networking gear too. I do not believe you were sold a $1000 router. I imagine you were sold a $1000 setup which would cover your entire house. The WIFI never really working properly? Not really sure. And if it's 5x the price of a Mac airport - your comparison point - I'm gonna go ahead and say your knowledge on networking product is deficient. That's an $84.99 or $184.99 router, and if you're using that as a comparison point you're not buying a Netgear Nighthawk, Asus AC87U or Unifi AP AC - all of which are on the upper end of the routing scale and are the only routers a real professional would use. If your new guy used these as your comparison points. If you want your signal and your download speeds to be consistent and the signal to be constant across the house, you need good gear. This is not cheap gear and Alan is not a "cheap" provider who "just gets things done." I've got no fiscal benefit in having him around. I choose to spend tens of thousands of dollars with the man because he's just that damn good.

You may note that Alan hasn't had a review on here for many years. That's because his business has…read moregone down hill fast and things are not good. We've had multiple AV professionals in our house over the years and we've also had Alan. There is a major difference between the two. Cutting corners, sloppy work, and long delays are the norm. Not to mention he will put a lien on your house and threaten you with legal action if things don't work out. Trust me. Avoid. At. All. Costs.

Alex helped me with wiring up a number of ethernet plugs. He was patient and thorough with his…read morecraft. Will look to work with him on another project in the future.

The guys were super responsive! We called for unstable internet connection and got a response right…read moreaway. Schedule appointment same day within a few hours. They showed up found the problem and fixed it right away. Highly recommend. Only a phone call away. They were very nice and efficient