I came to this place back when it was a shop in Mountain View around 2012. I had a 1996 acura integra, and the owner of this shop I forgot his name and I'm sorry he was really helpful in installing a stereo and a sound system for a decent price. I came back to get my window tint and electrical issues i had with the car, and this guy was always helpful. Couple year's later, I got a mazda rx-8 and came back again for a sub and Amp for the car and window tint, and again, the guy was really helpful. Years later, I came back for window tint for a subaru sti and again as before never I had an issue with this guy. He was the definition of customer service. I got a Jeep srt later in the years and came back to get window tint only to find out he closed down. I was really bummed not gonna lie. I didn't want no one touching my car but this guy. He treated your car as if it were his and had pride in his work. I was just curious as to what happened to his shop and found out he is mobile! I'm definitely going here if I need any of his services. Amazing guy and highly recommend! He worked on 3 of my old cars and was always happy with the results. read more

The best audio, security, electrical shop around! Bar none. I had my stereo installed here a few months ago, the price was right and the work was done quick! So I bought this push button starter for my car, instructions said easy install, yeah right. First of all, turns out the relay was bad (thanks Amazon) I never would have known this but Thong caught it and used his own with the button I had already installed in my dash and, boom shakalaka boom! It's works like it came with the car. He is excellent! read more

Custom Audio - Car Stereo Installation Near Me

Okay so the decor is pretty old and dusty, he must not be into cleaning much =) A lot of the other reviews complain that his English is not the best, and while that's true, it's fine people just need to relax lol. The service was friendly and genuine. I had a new head unit and 4 speakers installed. Everything works wonderfully well and seems to be professionally installed. If you want audio equipment installed come here. If you want a fancy waiting room and coffee go elsewhere. This place is just fine. read more

I've received nothing but professional and great customer service to tend to my questions about their products. Very quick install times with the products I've purchased from them! High reccomend! Ps...that guy Chet that works there is a STUD! read more

I am mystified by all the 5 star reviews on here as well. I went in for a new radio to replace the factory radio for my Mini Cooper. I wanted to have Sirius XM and Bluetooth for my phone. My factory radio sounded great, but I needed those options. I looked into getting adapters online so that I could keep my factory unit, but for what I thought was roughly the same price. I could get an 8 year newer system. I went in and asked for something top of the line, and was shown a Kenwood Head unit for $179, so after installation, misc things like a harness etc. I was thinking I would be int he range of $300-$350. I was quoted $475, which seemed a little high, but given the awesome reviews I thought I was paying for top quality service. I dropped my car off the day after and everything seemed ok. They were perfectly nice, so I told them to take their time as I didn't need the car all day. About 3 hours later I got a call stating that he didn't know my car had some specialized Harmon Kardon system and amp. He DID NOT have the harness for it, and that it would be an extra $175, with no credit being given for the harness I had paid for the day before. I was pissed, but still thought it was ok because I was going to have an awesome system that would far outweigh the factory stereo. I picked up the car, and found out that the Factory amp had been cut out, and there was no way for me to match the quality of the factory system without adding another amp. AND if I were to add that amp I would have to buy all new speakers. ARE YOU SERIOUS? $650 for a $179 dollar radio that doesn't even sound as good as the factory one?? I even had him look into adding a powered subwoofer, but he has not called me back. If I were another type of person this would be going to court, and I would be getting my money back. I don't have the time or patience to deal with this, so someone else will be getting my business to fix this botched system. I would suggest looking for another stereo shop/installer. read more

Thong seemed capable enough when he installed a Kenwood Navi in my Volvo. So I asked him if he could hook up my iPod cable to my factory Honda Accord. He said, "buy the part on line, I'll install--no problem." Unfortunately, he did not follow the instructions. On the way home from the shop I found out that the CD's wouldn't play--or eject!! After my THIRD trip back to Custom Audio today, I am out $80, My iPod cable is back in the package and the CD player in my Honda Accord with navigation only shows the error code and I have to go to the dealer to see if they can get it running. Yesterday I called the purveyor of the iPod cable USA-Spec--their first question-did you follow the instructions? I had to answer that the installer did not remove the CD's --the first step __in bold__ in the instructions. I guess my biggest issue is that even though the stereo worked perfectly before the attempted installation, and failed on the way home from the shop--Thong and his wife will not take responsibility to repair the damage. I'll update once the Honda dealer takes a look. What a Bummer read more

I've brought all my cars here over the years and the owner lee hooked me up. I've known lee personally for like 5-6 years and he's a good dude. Weather you need a 2 way remote start alarm to a custom box to a double din indash with headrests and a back up camera. Lee gots you. The other thing is his prices area reeaaallllyyy good. I remember I got quoted like $450 for a alarm with installation. Lees price was $150 cheaper and he knocked it out in an hour. The other shop said 2-3 hours ! Now there not in business anymore " bay stereo" haha. Anyways if you need anything done or have any questions hit up custom audio and tell them that D sent you ! Good lookin out lee ! read more

Useless The aftermarket backup camera system on my wife's MDX stopped working. The systems consists of a backup camera, a connections hub and a rear-view mirror with the built-in display. Brought the car to Custom Audio. The guy took the car in with no delay. The second star is just for that. After an hour he called me saying he could not fix it as the connections hub was not working. I asked him some clarifying questions just to find out that he did not really take the time to identify a problem. He just found out that one of the three components of the system was working fine, but did not bother to investigate which of the two remaining components was faulty. Refused to look any further when asked. Charged me $40 without helping with anything. I am now back to square one minus $40. read more

The radio/CD player that came with my 2003 VW Jetta TDI was on its last legs when I stopped by Custom Audio last Friday evening after work. I was looking for a replacement that would give me AM/FM/CD and iPhone support. Mark greeted me as I entered the store and quickly showed me a couple of reasonably-priced and in stock units that fit the bill. He also showed me the cable harness and trim package I would need since I was going from a 2-DIN to a 1-DIN unit. I pulled the trigger about 5:25 and Mark and his partner sprang into action. I was a little concerned they might have trouble getting the original unit out, because I had taken it out few years ago to install an after market iPod adapter and due to my inexperience bent up the locking tabs. No matter. Within a few minutes they had the old unit out. By 5:50 the new unit was installed and working great. They even ran a new, switched power line back to the fuse box to ensure the unit turns off when the ignition is switched off (the old radio relied on a CAN-BUS message to turn off). After the install, Mark hopped in the car and gave me some quick operating instructions and adjust the backlighting color to match the rest of the instrument panel. By 6:05 I pulled into my driveway a fully satisfied customer. Thanks, guys! read more

I went to Custom Audio to have an iPod adapter installed in my 2006 Audi A6. The adapter was the Dension Gateway 500 [http://www.dension.com/icelinkgateway500.php], which integrates with the MMI display better even than Audi's offering. I purchased the adapter from Enfig Car Stereo [http://enfigcarstereo.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/DENSION_GW51MO2.html], as they enjoy an excellent reputation for customer service. While the installation instructions didn't seem too difficult, I was uneasy about disassembling the car interior myself, and particularly about messing with the MOST fiber optics. After several email exchanges, I dropped off my car with Thong Le, the specialist at Custom Audio. I went away for a couple hours, then returned right as he was finishing. He showed me where he proposed to install the mounting brackets in the glove box, expressing his worry that the screws not poke through the facing. If they did he'd "kill himself"! This humorous exaggeration was indicative of the care and craftsmanship that Mr. Le brought to the job. The job was done well, in a reasonable amount of time, for a reasonable cost. The iPod now works great in my Audi, thanks to Dension, Enfig and Custom Audio! read more

I took my beloved 2010 Sprinter with custom cabinetry and home theatre system in for some minor work. The TV was wired to accept input from a nearby car audio receiver and I wanted an HDMI cable hooked up to the TV and audio out from the TV run to that receiver. Seemed like a simple enough job. Custom Audio agreed to do it for $200, which I thought reasonable. But, things went south. They got the HDMI cable connected to the TV and ran it through the car in a professional way but the audio wasn't working. They had found a PDF manual for the TV which they showed me where they connected the audio cable, which was labeled in the manual as audio *in*. I pointed out the mistake and they were really frustrated because it meant disassembling the cabinetry and re-assembling it again, which was really tedious. They kept the car longer and did that and when I returned, I tested the system and the audio still didn't work. We tested the receiver's audio in and confirmed it worked so it meant the TV wasn't sending audio out for some reason. I paid them an extra $50 for having to go through the trouble of doing the cabinet work twice and went on my way. At home, I took out one of the speakers from the left of the TV and examined things myself. First, I determined they used the wrong TV manual and that there was no RCA-style audio out on this particular model, so Lord only knows where they wound up connecting the audio cable. Probably into a couple of component in jacks. Second, there is a mini-RCA headphone-style audio out jack on this TV fairly close to the hole for the left speaker. I plugged a headphone to RCA cable into the jack, hooked it up to the receiver, and boom, it works. While doing this, I realized that the TV could be easily accessed from this speaker hole and that disassembling the cabinetry wasn't necessary. Which is a bummer because at some point in the two different times they went through the disassembly / reassembly process, they caused minor damage to the bespoke cabinetry. Nothing major, to be fair, just small cracks and weakened adhesive on some of the minor touches. I should mention that they never called me during this process; I called them twice and both times they said it was ready and I should come over. They also didn't test the system at any point, which I found odd because it's not like HDMI devices are exotic and if they had asked I would have left them a device or two they could use to test it on demand. I'm a little torn as to the rating for all of this. They took on a job that was clearly out of their comfort zone, which I appreciated, and they did hard work on it. It took more effort than they thought it would and had far more to do with home theatre work than car audio work, and clearly, they're in the business of cranking out car audio projects that they can readily estimate and execute. At the same time, there are some basic things they could have done that would have made this a success instead of a failure and I'm scratching my head as to how little ol' me, a mechanical idiot, could figure this out in just a few minutes. So, three stars, which is probably a bit more than should be justified by the experience. read more

Awesome. This place won't win any prizes for having a decked out lobby or awesome decorations, but the service was absolutely perfect. The short version: he offered to debug my car's (super annoying) audio problem on the spot without an appointment for a very reasonable $40, and then sold me a cable at his own cost ($5) that fixed it. Now the long version: I asked the guy if he could debug a super annoying problem I was having with my headphone line in on my stereo (it would only play in the left or right speakers, but not in both in stereo), and he was like "sure, it's $40." He was super up front about not being able to guarantee anything but that he would try. I was desperate and feared I'd have to get a new $3k nav system / stereo combo to fix it, so I readily accepted. I had been fearful of any potential fix or debugging, because the problem didn't always consistently occur. He offered to do the work on the spot so I wouldn't have to make an appointment to come back. After about 20 minutes, he came over to have me look at the progress. The whole car dash was opened up (as it has to be to debug these things) which looked kind of cool. He showed me all the connections, including one I thought looked suspicious (I'm an engineer myself, and I didn't trust the original installers much), and I think he found and re-seated a loose connection. But he said he couldn't consistently reproduce the problem and expressed doubt that his fix would work. He did enthusiastically demonstrate to me the tests he had performed saying "Hey I don't want you to feel like 'G******it' you didn't do anything.' I was like "It's cool, I trust you." But seeing how it was set up, I was convinced that it was worth buying a cable to try on another port on the stereo. He was willing to set it up and thought it might help, but like I said, he wasn't sure because he couldn't reproduce the problem consistently. Being a tech nerd, I know that cables similar to the ones he had sell for like $15 at radio shack, but he installed one for me for $5. Every since, my line in has been working perfectly! It's been several months now... highly recommend this place even if just for the fact that the guy seems honest and knowledgeable. read more

Certainly wasn't expecting to have a 5-star experience getting aftermarket help with car stereos, but Thong's the man! My tape deck, which I used to connect to my phone, broke on my 2004 Camry, so thong suggested I install Bluetooth. He ordered it on Monday, it arrived on Wednesday and it only took him 10 mins to install. I'm really happy with his work. I plan to get this as a gift for my brother who also has an old car. Definitely recommend! read more

I found Thong to be very honest and up-front. First off, Thong's services are very affordable. Compared to all the other Car Audio business in the area Thong undercut their price by about 30%+. Thong also did a great job installing a stereo deck, amp and box for me, stereo sounds great! Took about 1 1/2 hours, pretty quick if you ask me. My Viper Alarm remote wasn't working and Thong said he'd check it out for $10. Thong determined that the remote was busted and waived the $10 for me. All in all it was a very good experience with Custom Audio. I'd highly recommend. read more

Great Experience. I had a car stereo with a blue tooth installed and then went back with my other car for another install. It turns out one of my cars did not need this special size casing which we originally thought was needed. They were honest and told me of this and then took the $30 off the price. I would never have known unless they were honest. Honesty matters to me a lot. Their prices were better than the place across the street. Only by $20 or so, but hey $20 is $20. Also there was a slight issue with the first installation, noting terrible just had a hard time getting the coding to work so I went back and the tech helped me out, sort of good after sale service. The language is a little hard to get through so they might come across in a manner that you will not feel confident, BUT I am sure that if you get your car stereo done here, you will be good to go. read more

Just had 4 of my stock speakers replaced by Thong and he did an excellent job. I went to Best Buy before to get a price quote and just for the labor along it would of been $250.00 for labor and parts not including the speakers. Labor alone from Thong was only $150.00 and i saved about 100 dollars. Took my car in this morning at 10:30 and got my car back in about an hour and a half. Don't let the store front fool you, I would recommend this place to my friends. read more

A real "JERK." This Vietnamese guy is obviously "over-hype." Came in today to get my CD player installed and get my window tinted. He was very unhelpful...He couldn't install my CD player without a bracket...understandable but I asked for a reason and advice and all he can give me is a "shoulder shrug!" Best F*%@%#ng advice ever from an audio specialist! read more

I needed to add a remote entry to my base-model Honda fit. He told me it would take an hour or so to install, but it ended up taking 40 minutes. The shop seemed well-stocked, and there was a good variety of product. The price was good, the service fast and friendly, and it worked! I would have gone for 5 stars except there was no coffee for people in the waiting area... read more

Took my car after some low life loser got into my car. I decided to get a security system and went to Custom Audio. I have worked with them once before to install tint on my 4runner, and they were great to work with. This time around, I got the same great service. Thong and his wife are very pleasant to work with. They installed the Viper 350 plus at a great price! Since the price was lower than I expected, I had them install some other options that my older car needed (such as power door locks). Now I feel like I am driving a modern car and feel secure when it is parked. Thong even fixed something that has been broken (sticky brake light) when I first purchased my car free of charge! EXCELLENT SERVICE! I will definitely come back and recommend to my friends. THANK YOU CUSTOM AUDIO! read more

Custom Audio - Thank you Custom Audio for adding a security system to my prized possession! - Car Stereo Installation Near Me

All I have to say is, Mark is the man! I read all these positive 5 star reviews on Custom Audio, so I had to see for myself what all the fuss was about. Now I understand why! Mark is honest, friendly and listened to what I wanted done. I brought in my Audi A4 to get my iPod/iPhone integration setup and he was very knowledgeable and thorough during the whole process. From start to finish. It was a clean setup and didn't take him too long at all. Great job Mark! I'm definitely coming back here to get my windows tinted. You should check it out too! These 5 stars don't lie! read more

I went to Custom Audio based on Yelp reviews. My wife's minivan needed a new passenger side speaker and I just wanted to replace it cheap. They switched out both front speakers (it's better to replace both at the same time) for around $140 ($95 for speakers and the rest for labor and tax) and did it very quickly. I was in and out of there within 45 minutes. Maybe it's just me, but issues in life almost never seem to get resolved this easily! I was very pleased. read more

The factory installed rear speakers in my '86 Tercel had finally given up the ghost, so I went to Custom Audio based on good Yelp reviews. The guy there didn't try to upsell me or anything, and installed the speakers in 5 minutes while I waited. I paid $56 for everything, and I think I got a great deal. No more rattling when I play a bass heavy song :) Thanks Custom Audio! read more

I've had stereos installed in two different cars by these folks. Top notch work at fair prices. They were able to work on both my cars as walk-ups, I didn't have an appointment. The best was just recently: the battery on my Accord ends up dead if I didn't run it around every few days. They took a look at it and figured out that it was the factory radio (the one that doesn't work) was draining power, disconnected the power to it, and that was it. $20 later and all was well. I would recommend their work to anyone, including my own family and close-friends. read more

My sister bought a Toyota Yaris during the summer as a gas saving commuting car. The only problem it had was no power locks/windows. Sister ordered parts for power locks, keyless entry and alarm system online and we called around for quotes on installation. Best Buys gave us a quote of $300 and other stereo installation places told us the best they can give us was $280. We found Custom Audio on Yelp so I brought it in to get a quote. They told us that the installation for all three items was only $150! wow, that's half of what we were offered at other places. Since we were getting such a good deal, I asked them to install other parts in our car. I ended up getting power windows and power trunk release all ending up for ~$500 for parts and labor: Labor for power locks, keyless entry, and alarm : $150 Parts and labor for power windows: $200 Parts and labor for power trunk release: $80 I dropped my car at 10am when the shop opened and picked it up at 4pm. my sister loves the convenience of the new installations. It's been a month and she hasn't had any problems. I enjoyed the service and deals. I would recommend anyone to ask a quote here before considering other places! read more

Called for a quote for installing a backup camera, and was given a range, which seemed reasonable. Drove to the place, and was asked a completely different amount, 30%-45% more than the initial quote. Waste of time, and poor customer service; they gave me the updated cost, and literally walked away read more

Quick, efficient, clean installation. I provided all my own parts/materials so my cost was only $50. What a great service and operation. WELL WORTH having their expertise, getting it done in 1/4 the time i'd have taken, and no scraped knuckles either. I'll be back in the next few weeks for my wife's auto sound needs. Thanks Mark! read more

Horrible experience. I left crying. While it seems like he did a good job of installing it, I felt pressured into buying a radio. I wasn't sure what was wrong with my sound system and wanted to get a diagnosis before committing to anything. He insisted I needed to get a new radio first, which there could have been logical reasoning for that, but did not care to explain. I was trying my best to communicate with Thong but it didn't seem like I was getting through to him. He then closed my car door on me. His son was in the store and I went to him for help in communicating with Thong but completely denied me. He was extremely rude. "Can I please get some help?" "No." I don't recommend coming here. There are other places that are better deserving of your money. read more

Six stars x 2. After disasters with installations at Fry's and Best Buy, when I was in the market for a new in-dash GPS/Audio/Bluetooth system I looked on Yelp, saw all these shiny reviews of Custom Audio, and headed there. Extra bonus is it isa very convenient location for me. Mr. Le was happy to drop everything and help me choose from his limited selection - but they included two models I had on my search list. Good price for the unit and to uninstall what was in the car & install the new unit. He was obviously in the middle of an install when I arrived, so I asked when I could bring the car back to have it done. No problem, he would do it right now, it would take about an hour. It took more like an hour and 3/4, but that was still faster than any other place I'd been, and he asked all the right questions, and when he was done I had a great unit expertly installed. Yesterday I received a replacement remote for my Clifford car alarm, but it would not pair with my device. I noticed Custom was an authorized installer, so I took the car in, and once again Mr. Le dropped what he was doing, and figured it out for me - I had been sent a remote for the wrong series of the right model. While also helping another drop-in customer, he sold me the right unit for less than half what I paid for the one from Clifford's web site. Excellent quality work at a reasonable price, with a smile. Can't beat it. read more

These guys installed an ipod connector for me. I thought they were great and fast. My only issue was that once it was installed I couldn't close the glove compartment the same way. Maybe that was my bad in terms of choosing a place. read more

I've had two installations here, and extremely pleased both times. A couple of years ago the CD player in my 2001 Jeep Grand Cherokee died. I got a Pioneer head unit to replace it, that had bluetooth and USB audio, with iPod/iPhone integration. It was a very clean install, but I was eager to have the same capabilities in my 2007 Audi A4. I did some research and concluded the Dension gw17ac1 was the way to go. The two dealers in the area that carried Dension wanted to charge list price of $200 for the unit, and $80 - $125 for installation. I got it online from Enfig Car Stereo in New Jersey for $140, and Le at Custom Audio offered to install it for $70, so a total price of $210 - about 2/3 what I otherwise would have paid. Le did a clean install and the unit is incredible. I can now control my iPhone 5s through the Audi steering wheel controls, and also have access to Spotify, podcasts, etc. The sound is incredible - it actually sounds better than CD's from the car's factory in-dash CD changer. Some reviews have mentioned that Le's English is not very strong, as he is from Vietnam. That may be true, but he does great work, and quotes prices significantly lower than the competition. Highly recommended! read more

This is a pretty small, indie shop located at El Camino Real just north of Castro in Mountain View. I go through cars pretty often but this is my second time here in a month (for different projects) if that's any indication. Working with Patricia and Le is a pleasure and hassle-free. I had them install a double din navigation and backup camera in one of our cars. Works as it should. I ordered the dash kit and wiring harness ahead of time. I highly recommend. Note: John H mentioned coffee - there's a Peet's just around the corner (1-2 minute walk) and a couple Starbucks, etc a block or 2 away (one North as well as another across El Camino). read more

+ Good service, answering my basic questions about Bluetooth stereos + Installed in 30 min with no reservation + Install included installing a microphone for phone calls where the wiring was cleanly hidden + Very happy with new Pioneer Bluetooth stereo in my old Tacoma read more

I ordered alarm system from Amazon with installation at this shop. When I show up few days before the date to ask for details the owner yell at me and kick me out from the store . I never experience such customer service in my life before.I call Amazon and cancel service. read more

Called yesterday and got a good quote for purchasing a Viper 350 plus car alarm and install for $199+tax. Decided to go in today to have it installed. The owner was very friendly and stated the install should take about 1 hour. I decided to go for a brisk walk to Whole Foods about 1.8 miles down the road in Los Altos, about 30mins away and returned in about 1hr 10mins only to find out install not finished, it would take another 20mins - hence the four star rating. Otherwise great price, friendly service and nice professional install in ~1.5 hours. I would recommend Custom Audio for a future car install. read more

I had a great experience here at Custom Audio. I went in to have a backup camera with a rearview mirror installed. The owner told me it would take about four hours to do the work as the car that I own is a model that was just released (so very few shops actually have any experience working on it). Four hours later, I get a call letting me know the work is complete and everything is working. After inspecting the car, I couldn't even tell that this was a custom job. They had to remove the entire back panel to get to the license plate light (to install the camera). I found no evidence that anything was removed, the back panel was re-installed perfectly. Great service, great work and one of the cheapest shops around. Five star. read more

My work van got broken into, which motivated me to get that car alarm I had been putting off. My boyfriend found this shop which was open on Saturdays. In one day they installed the alarm, a brand new pioneer big screen deck, and a back-up camera. I had to order online by in dash deck because they did not sell the android auto (plug smart phone into) compatible deck. Nex4100. They also only sell Memphis speakers of which I am not a fan so I ordered speakers, amp, crossovers, subwoofer, and another amp from crutchfield. I had them prewire for the amps. Aside from not having the best products in store and trying to sell thier outdated stock, they did an incredible job installing everything!! Definitely would recommend with doing product homework. read more

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They're quick and work hard. Will install anything you bring in, but selection on hand is a bit thin. Lots of pioneer, kenwood, and jvc decks as well as Memphis audio speakers. If you want something else they'll have to order it or you have to bring it in. Quick and fair installs. read more

Came in on my lunch break from work to have a new radio put into my husband's Jeep as a Father's Day present. From the time I showed up and chose a radio to the time it was finished was about 45 minutes! It took me longer to walk across the street to Taco Bell to get lunch and come back! I wasn't expecting to be able to have time to install it, I figured I would pick out the unit I wanted and come back after work to have it installed. The radio I chose has a CD player, aux cable hook up and blue tooth. Very basic unit to replace the stock unit I had. I was shown how to work the radio (I'm a hands on person, so reading a manual wouldn't work for me) and I was back at work in about an hour. Very thorough service. I will return in the future for any car audio needs. Highly recommended! read more

Every time I drove past this place I'd always see someone coming out and then decided to check the Yelp reviews before I took my girlfriends car in. She has an 03 Audi A4 and had purchased a double din navigation system with bluetooth and microphone but Audi's are a pain to remove, so instead of fighting with it I decided to get a quote from Thong. Quoted price was $50 for the install as I had all the other parts. Took him about an hour to install the unit, mount the gps antenna on the dash and the microphone in the top of the window. Very clean install, quick and never tried to upsell me. Girlfriend was so pleased that a week later she took her car back to have tinting done which cost half the price of all other Mountain View shops!! I'll definitely use them again when I need some work done!! read more

I been here three times now and a loyal customer. This humble shop has been good to me over the past 4 years and they've always been no b.s. in their pricing and workmanship. Mark is professional, prompt and friendly. They are patient and always worked well with my schedule. I highly recommend them for their excellent skills and prices! read more