Total billed cost for service to inspect a red-tagged elevator, determine the phone needed a new motherboard, and installation: $7,382.59. Mon June 1: I called SmartRise about a downed elevator. Overtime approved. Your tech arrived on site and found the elevator red tagged. Cab was between floors and he would not move it because doing so without State permission would cost him his license. He didn't bother calling the state for permission to move it. He just left. BILLED COST FOR SERVICE: $3,558.00 (inv 50652) Lily in your office and she said he would be back out the next day but I needed to contact the State to get permission for the elevator to be moved and inspected. Tue Jun 2: I emailed the Monrovia office and received confirmation that the only compliance order on file was to fix the phone. I advised Lily and she referred me to Debbie in your office, who had to fill out paperwork for the tech to sign when they correct the problem. Wed Jun 3: I was asked to confirm that the phone was the only outstanding issue, which I did and promptly advised your office. Debbie emailed me: The State advised you on what to do. So, once you send in that compliance, let me know when its (sic) cleared and we will send the technician. At this point it was clear there had been a breakdown in communication inside your company because now I'm supposed to file paperwork with the state and report back to Debbie. Then Kirk chimed in and told me he needs to send a mechanic (didn't that happen on Monday???) and it was billable and he needed to send me a proposal. Thu Jun 4: No proposal received on Wednesday. I followed up with Kirk. TWICE. I finally received a time and materials "estimate": MECHANIC LABOR RATE: $479/hr. PRICE: $ TBD. I signed the proposal and sent it back. TWICE - because the first proposal was wrong. Fri Jun 5: I called Kirk and we had it out. He finally understood where SmartRise failed OUR client. He had a tech out who actually checked the phone and found the dial tone that I said was there. The tech advised he couldn't program the phone and a new board was needed. COST FOR SERVICE: $1,197.50 (inv 50642) Mon Jun 8: Kirk sent an estimate which I signed and sent back. Tue Jun 9: I received your email because of the review I posted. Not a phone call. No information about the 50% deposit required and if it could be waived. No apologies for the lack of service and the week plus that has been wasted in back and forth with your company. No confirmation that the signed proposal was received and the part has been ordered or when it will be installed. Just a concern for your company's public-facing image and my posted review. You and I exchanged a series of emails. You told me "the elevator phone is tested during our routine service visits" but Kirk told me "The frequency for checking the phone operation can vary with and can be months in between." So which is it? And when I said "Again, sounds like internal communication problems and conflicting work standards. Please provide maintenance logs for the past 12 months. Thank you." Your response was "We will be communicating directly with the board moving forward" and that you would no longer work with because of the "chaos" I've caused. COST FOR SERVICE: $2,627.00 (inv 50630) So here we are... for 8 days over 22 residents (many elders) had to walk up and down 1-4 flights of stairs because your tech didn't diagnose a problem and because your office failed to communicate with each other. If you don't want to be publicly called out for lack of service, do better. read more

Avoid this elevator maintenance company at all costs. They often claim they came when they never did, and completely ignore requests for proof of service records. They always lie about being "on site for an hour," when in reality they spend less than 15 minutes. The technicians are unskilled--when something breaks, they don't know how to fix it and just waste time. Another company came and repaired the same issue for free in under 15 minutes. Despite doing nothing, they charge outrageous fees: 2.5 hours for driving, $25 for gas, and demanded $1,200 without providing any real service. This company is dishonest, incompetent, and only interested in overcharging. Stay away. read more

Thank you Art and team for getting my mom's home elevator up and running... I have no idea where we would be without you!! You guys rock!!

As a first responder (Firefighter) we deal with frequent Elevator Emergencies in our City. This usually occurs from power outages or mechanical failure. Unfortunately, due to our remote location we don't have a good selection of vendors to reach out to for assistance. They also seem to always happen after normal business hours. After contacting Smartrise and talking with the owner Art, he provided me with his personal cell number if I should need help in the future. I have since called him 3 times for advice to help rescue people stranded in a commercial elevator. All three instances ended in success. Art also agreed to come out to our fire department and provided us with formalized training in elevator mechanics, safety and rescue techniques. Again, another example of the professionalism, dedication and commitment to their craft! Smartrise is your smart choice!!! read more

I wish I could leave a negative number rather that one star. Smart Rise asks for 50% payment before they begin any work, once they start there will be a request additional services and another 50% on that request. You end up spending 250% over the original estimate. They will walk off your job if all thier demands are not met. Do yourself a favor and stay away from this company.... read more

Had an emergency at work with an elevator that was stuck. I called 6 companies before reaching SmartRise Elevator. They responded promptly, and got our elevator working within 2 hours of my call. Highly recommend using them for anything elevator related. read more

Our building was built in the 80s and we were having trouble with the elevator for years. Throwing good money after bad with the "other large elevator companies" who were dishonest crooks. They would say they could fix it, we'd pay them, two weeks later it's broken again. Service guys who never showed up. Thousands of wasted dollars. Then we met Kirsten. What a pleasure! She did a massive renovation on our elevator. All reliable. He charges a very reasonable monthly service fee and we haven't had issues in the two years since he did the work. I cannot recommend this small business enough. I am incredibly grateful we found SmartRise. read more

This company is a predatory business and I would be very weary of entering into anything long term with them. I am a board member of a 3 story condo with a very old elevator. When I joined the board we still had 4 of the 5 years on a "maintenance" contract. I cannot say why the previous board locked us in to this contract as everyone knew the elevator needed to be modernized so why would we enter into a contract for 5 years of maintenance if we were to modernize before the expiration of the contract? We seem to be locked into it and if you read the contract carefully it is written 100% to their benefit. They can make all the mistakes, they can literally not do anything, they want you to take responsibility if they kill someone because a door slams shut, and you'll have to pay them their fee every month. There is no way out of the contract unless for cause, at least on paper, and it even requires you add them to your insurance policy- why I'd agree to that I have no idea. The contract even auto-renews and the only way to cancel is to send them a certified letter no more than 120 days and no less than 30 days before the end of the lease. So if you aren't paying close attention, they just keep their claws in you for another 5 years. They convinced the previous board that we could easily get 5 years more in maintenance, but then a year into it they "discover" that the door parts are all obsolete and they want 1/3 of the price for a full modernization to fix the door, but they'll "credit" us when we do the modernization with them. It's all written so you are more than likely will have to go with them to save some money if you end up needing to modernize. I have now read a few other maintenance agreements and they are one, maybe two, pagers. No mention of liability, no insurance assignment, no certified mail renewal. Why would anyone accept such an onerous agreement? At this point we will just eat it and keep paying them the monthly fee for 2 years but not let them touch the elevators again. To top it off, they were adding bolts where they didn't belong on the door assembly to keep it together (until they couldn't add more bolts) to keep us from realizing the problem as they bought time, because had they come back after a year or two and admitted the thing was obsolete, it would have made them look bad - it would have been suspicious. But in that time the bolts they added stripped and people would almost get sliced in half because the door would suddenly start slamming shut and was completely hazardous. Why on earth are these people still in business? When speaking to an expert, who we chose to use as a light duty project manager on our modernization, when I mentioned SmartRise he literally had a pained look and he told me he has heard of so many problems with this company and he explicitly stated he would suggest we not use them for anything (the other two bids were fine, he said). Lesson learned: If your elevator is 40+ years old, do not go entering into a 5 year contract with these bastards. Just suck it up and modernize the elevator as you should have. read more

I wish I had read the reviews before I hired this company. Art L Gumm is the owner. We had a nice conversation. Seems like a nice guy. I told him about the exact problem with my elevator based on a previous person's inspection. He continued to say how there are lots of "shady" people in the elevator business and he can be trusted... He then said "let me send John out to see your elevator and we'll make sure you only get what you need". Next thing you know, I get charged for the service call - which I NEVER agreed to. Strike ONE! He then said he'll put the money towards the replacement of the PCL Controller, "which should cost between $1200-$2500". Next thing you know, I get an invoice for $3800 AND he didn't apply the service call to the price, which he originally said. Strike TWO and THREE We went back and forth, he was a rude jerk and then decides to cancel the entire project and KEEP MY MONEY. I'm now dealing with my AMEX card and about to file suit. He lied, stole, was rude and is a total rip off! DO NOT GO TO HIM!!! read more

Don't use them, very unprofessional , they keep sending repair orders and all the while they don't repair anything . Waste of time and money !!!! read more

Do not do business with this company !! Had two negative experiences with Smart Ride elevator Last visit their technician left with the promise he would return to finish the repair and never came back. Never called. And he left elevator off. I called company and they informed me that they couldn't fix my elevator and didn't offer to come out to turn my elevator back on. They just simply didn't care. But they took my money. Found another company, Galaxy elevator. They came out and fixed the problem and my elevator works great . I believe the other negative reviews read more

Customer service is foreign to them. They called to confirm an appointment . Then they call to advise they won't bill and expect you to pay you upfront. The day comes and no one shows no call nothing sitting home for 4 hrs. That's what I call Customer service. So if you can find someone else to do the job go for it as they are rude, unconsidered and unprofessional . Will not use them Again read more

Under no circumstances should you attempt to do business with Smartrise Elevator and owners Art L. Gumm and Andrea Gumm. After an initial service call, it was determined we needed a new break drum. I got a quote of $2,200. Over the next two weeks, I exchanged 4 emails with Kirsten Nicole attempting to clarify several things: how long the job would take, warranty on parts and a breakdown of parts vs labor. Unable to clearly answer my questions, she handed me off to Andrea Gumm who said, IN WRITING : "regarding the break down our normal bill rates are $314 per hour and this scope of work will take a mechanic eight hours to complete. On our pricing sheet we are more competitive on pricing and unfortunately it doesn't allow us to do a break down." Ridiculous! We paid a 50% deposit and scheduled the work. John arrived and completed the job in UNDER ONE HOUR. When we were invoiced for the remaining $1,100, I phoned Art Gumm and questioned why were being charged for an 8 hour job when it only took 3/4 of an hour. He was VERY smug and attempted to explain how it works in the "business world" and sometimes a job takes longer and you get lucky and don't pay extra and sometimes it takes a shorter amount of time, but there's a contract and we owe him $1,100. He said all this while laughing and sounding like a bully. I offered to pay him $600 and he refused. He then ILLEGALLY charged $1,100 to the credit card I had used for the deposit. Mind you, the authorization form states clearly that I authorize a ONE TIME PAYMENT. I contacted my credit card company and they immediately reversed the charge as it was unauthorized. Then, Art and Andrea Gumm used a fake but legal looking document that they printed from a google search to try to scare us into paying $1,100. I wrote a check for $600 and mailed it to them noting on the memo line that is was PAYMENT IN FULL. They cashed the check, but scribbled over the notation. Needless to say, that's where it ended. You'd be better off installing a rope ladder in your elevator shaft than dealing with these people. read more

DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THIS COMPANY! Wish I had read the reviews before I got them involved. The owner is a serial litigator. Foul language, super hostile and aggressive... miserable experience! He took me to small claims court yesterday, lied several times under oath and backdated a maintenance agreement in an attempt to win the case. The judge actually recognized him as a plaintiff in an earlier case that same day! Imagine a very small company that spends most of their time suing people. Boasts he has never lost a small claims case and threatens to ruin your reputation if you speak up. read more

Step 1: write this review Step 2: report SmartRise to the Better Business Bureau Where shall, I start? Art (either the owner or the manager) is one of the rudest people I have ever done business with. In a world of increasing competition, he will be out of business in no time with his " I don't care about the customer, I just care about the money" attitude. Hey Art, that's how you lose customers btw. I called SmartRise out to fix my elevator because it wasn't running properly, after Rudy (the technician) came out it was discovered that I needed to rebuild the motor and I authorized this service. $3,000 later the elevator still doesn't go up and down... hmmm ART YOU DIDNT FIX THE PROBLEM BUT TOOK MY MONEY! As with any service I would assume that the company would make sure that all aspects of the elevator are in working condition, not Art, he wants to charge me another $235 to come out to my house to fix the existing problem for the second time. I only found that out after he hung up on me. I promise, I will make it a mission to make sure every person I can tell knows what an asshole this guy is. I am reporting the company to the BBB and hopefully anyone looking for elevator service reads my review and skips this company. I sincerely hope that Art gets no more business after RIPPING ME OFF! I hope the lousy $3,000 was worth it! I think it is very important to point out that the time between the motor rebuild and me calling back because the elevator doesn't work properly is 3 days. read more

SmartRise Elevator Service - I was harassed with one line emails. Does that look like a company that cares about customer satisfaction? - Elevator Services Near Me - Santa Fe Springs, California

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SmartRise has been awesome to have as our maintenance elevator guys. Matt ( maintenance tech ) is always a pleasure to work with. We are a small commercial property company and it's nice to have respectful and genuine people help with aspects of our business we can't do ourselves. I'm not sure where these other negative reviews are stemming from, but believe me when I say these guys are great and very enjoyable to be around. Especially my man Matt Fanucchi. read more

I never write a review on anybody. I should've Read the reviews on this company before I sign the contract. They have earned their miserable rating. They are dishonest, and the worst company I have dealt with in business in 40 years. Horrible horrible horrible horrible horrible. read more

We are so grateful to have found your company and we appreciate the professionalism of all your employees. Thank you

Professional and knowledgeable in all aspects. You're left reassured and covered, where as elsewhere we have felt ignored. The techs are blue-chip as well as their salespeople. Thank you Smartrise. read more

The elevator tech that came, John Donathan, is super knowledgeable about the 20+ year old in-home elevator we have. He helped us diagnose our problem. The service call was expensive but I didn't want to skimp on something like an elevator. read more

Horrible company to deal with. They came out to help to bring the elevator to the first floor. It was stuck due to a power outage on the block. They came out at 3pm Thursday and overcharged us overtime and travel time. As you can see from their publish hours 3 pm is within their working hours. They didn't tell us the overtime rate nor tell us that we would be charged over time.The service took under 45 minutes. Smartrise billed us for two hours at 454.00 an hour, total 908.00. When I spoke to Art at the company trying to discuss the proper amount for this service, he used profanity and name calling. Art hung up on me rather than communicate. read more

My elevator was not working after a family reunion at my home. Thankfully, no one got stuck in it. Called Smartrise Elevator to come out. Art came out...Three fuses had blown. He replaced all three ($19.50 for 3 fuses). Took him all of 10 minutes....So, said to perform the annual maintenance since he was there anyway. After approximately 30 minutes he was done. I was charged $328.00 for the service/house call and an additional $328.00 travel fee (he was driving in from the LA area supposedly. I told him doctors don't even charge that much....TOTAL BILL: $676.50!!!! I WILL NEVER USE THEM AGAIN!!! EVER!!!..... read more

Courteous and on top of their game, a pleasant experience through and thorough! Amazing customer service! Wouldn't recommend anyone else!

We are a small private school in Santa Monica. Having been screwed by Swindler elevator company for years I switched to SmartRise a few years ago. The various elevator techs I've had have been top notch (especially Rick & Matt) and have solved issues and prevented problems that Swindler would and had ignored for years. We have an older Schindler elevator that many techs don't want to touch, but these guys troubleshoot and solve issues to allow us to keep our doors open and stay in business. We've been with SmartRise for over two years and they have been friendly, hard working, willing to work around our hours, and way more affordable then the big elevator companies. They call ahead and schedule for monthly maintenance at the beginning of each month so there are no surprises. I can't recommend my favorite techs Rick and Matt enough. read more

I had the good fortune to have found SmartRise in 2012. Since that time, they have performed full modernizations on 5 different hydro units on various properties that my company owns, completing the work on time and on budget on each occasion. They now hold the service contracts on all of our properties. Even the mechanical rooms are kept spotless. Our property managers have had nothing but good things to report at each location. The technicians have never failed to be both professional and courtious and the office staff has been pleasant and easy to work with. Thank you Art, great job on putting together a great team. read more

Apparently this company installed the elevator in the home we live in. We have an issue with the elevator not opening. I called and asked for service but apparently the ONE technician they have is out on Medical leave. That's all fine and good except they have no back up or replacement or referral in the mean time. So basically they don't care about anyone's problems. In fact the lady on the phone said "it's not our problem"---amazing service. What a terrible company!! read more

Although this company did satisfactory work on our old house elevator, they're customers service & management is non-existent. I had made 2 payments on the same invoice. I sent the invoice to accountants for payment, Smart Rise called me 1 week later asking for payment. I put it on my credit card the same day. Then I found out the accountants had sent to check & it was cashed. When I asked for a refund I never heard back, I had to keep calling for 5 months. To this day I have not received my refund. read more

Terrible company! They have no concept of customer service. My husband and I had them come out to fix our elevator, which had a motor issue after spending 3000 dollars on having the motor fixed the elevator was still not working properly. My husband called and asked if they could come back out and take a look to see what the problem was and they said it would be another 225 dollars to come out again. How ridiculous after spending 3000 dollars and the company couldn't come back out to asset the problem!! They will try and take you for every penny you have. Do yourself a favor and find and better company. read more

We highly recommend the Smartrise crew. They are very professional, accurate and explain everything perfectly. Will definitely use again and recommend. Glad to see this company on the Rise. read more

Great service, from the person who answers the phone to the service person who came out. Went out of their way to come when I requested. Service person showed up on time and did a great job of performing the service to our home elevator! read more

Agree with Peter C 100%. Looked up this company as insurance company is sending someone out and wanted to make sure they do not come back (unfortunately ran into them about 2 years ago to do elevator inspection on Home we were buying). Art is volatile. Threatened to place Lien on our house in escrow after charging exorbitant fees; extortion but I caved based on pragmatism. Look at the reviews people. Every single review is either one star or 5 star; that's a bit strange.....beware. read more

I would have given this company a zero but you have to pick between 1 and 5. They got us under contract then when the elevator malfunctioned, they asked for $2,800 to fix it when another company said that if their troubleshooting is correct, the going rate to fix it is $650. The new company checked the elevator and said that SmartRise diagnosis was incorrect. They troubleshot it and easily fixed it. We paid off the remainder of the contract to SmartRise since there was 3 months left and fired them. That's when it really got thick from SmartRise. They put a lien against our HOA and are threatening to sue us. Don't deal with these people. Don't make this mistake. read more

I am extremely happy finding you and your company on an internet whim. Getting past the contractor agreement and meeting you and your daughter was the first indication we found a company with the ethical service backbone our company so badly needed. In the very little time SmartRise has come aboard you have went above and beyond. Also your team has repaired or discovered more than any other elevator company has provided combined. Thank you for your knowledge and compassion. read more

I was pleasantly surprised to see a tech show up today to do regular rounds and PM on our elevators- first time in 25 years I have had an elevator technician show up without us calling! Thanks and keep up the good work. read more