Since receiving this report, I have struggled with exactly how to respond to this individual’s comments. I would prefer to say nothing and let Angie’s List members come to their own conclusions based on the other comments members have made, but I feel the allegations made by this customer are serious and must be addressed. This job was a fairly extensive renovation of an older home. Our work was completed under a reputable general contractor with whom we have done numerous projects. This customer insinuates that this relationship was to his detriment. I believe this reply will demonstrate otherwise. From the very beginning of the project this customer “supervised” and questioned our every move. On more than one occasion this customer took it upon himself to redo electrical work he claimed was incorrect. On another occasion this customer began installing some of his own electrical wiring for items not included in our estimate. In which case I had to appeal to the general contractor regarding liability concerns. I find it telling that even with this customer’s constant “supervision” he claims that fixtures are “off-center” and electrical boxes were installed “crooked.” I assure you that these locations were approved by this customer or he would have insisted they be relocated, or perhaps even relocated them himself. This customer alleges that, “much of the time was spent rectifying [our] errors.” On hourly rate jobs we are always careful to keep track of any time or materials required to correct any of our errors. Over the 160 man-hours we had in this job, the customer was credited for 9 hours. Only 5 hours were for rectifying any errors, the other 4 were credited by me simply as a good-will gesture. This information is all well documented on invoices that were provided to the customer. Though I contest nearly everything this individual has to say, the most outrageous claim this customer makes is that the final bill was, “initially about double the initial quote, despite there being no changes to the scope of work performed.” For the record, my original “ballpark” estimate for this project was 5,900.00. The total billed invoices were 7,160.00. In an effort to pacify this customer this amount was discounted 900.00 from a projected total completion cost of 8,060.00. Below is a list of quoted work from my original estimate, followed by my emailed explanation to the general contractor for the added costs, which was originally followed by a detailed list from one of my employees. “Ballpark prices based on walk-through”: Bonus room wiring-1600.00; Basement wiring-1,200.00; Add 6 cans in living room-600.00; Add 2 cans at fireplace-200.00; Add 3 cans in hall-300.00; Change meter to meter/main panel-800.00; “Bathroom renovations???” (Question marks were included)-3 @ 400.00. Total Estimate-5,900.00. To: [General Contractor], Sent: Thursday, February 24, 2011, 12:36 PM. “Below is the detailed time and materials list from Jeff for the rough electrical wiring for the main floor, upstairs and attic level renovation. Though [name deleted] is right, we did not do some of the items included in my original "ballpark" estimate, the scope of the original estimated work changed completely. Though we didn't install cans in the living room and at the fireplace, we did install a total of 19 recessed cans throughout the main, upper and attic level of the house. We may not have changed the meter panel, but as a result of the bonus room moving to the attic, we had to fish homerun circuits from the attic level all the way down to the basement electrical panel. The scope of the work in the bathrooms was never nailed down on the initial walk-through and ended up being much more involved and difficult than was originally anticipated. We also addressed a number of other items that were never included in my original "ballpark" estimate. You know as well as I do that it's nearly impossible to gauge what you're going to run into on these jobs. That's why it clearly says on my original estimate that these were "ballpark" prices. Please let me know if you or [name deleted] have any further questions.” The “number of other items” specified in my employee’s list were: Demo and rewire 2 outlets in bedroom. Install ceiling fan wiring for great room. Remove 2 receptacles and dimmer switch in dining room. Install wiring for three bedroom ceiling fans. Remove existing Wiremold conduit and fish wiring for new receptacle in great room. This customer received the above explanations for the cost overages in detail yet refused to accept that any charges over the original “ballpark” estimate were justifiable, emailing the general contractor that he was not going to pay any more than what he had been billed for the rough electrical wiring (An amount that basically amounted to be just over the price of the originally estimated work). Below is a copy of the general contractor’s reply to the customer’s email: On Feb 28, 2011, at 8:19 AM, [General Contractor] wrote: “This is an unreasonable expectation in my opinion [name deleted]. I have shared this expectation with Rick Harrington and out of respect for his and my relationship and in an attempt to not further any more ill will, Rick has generously agreed to do the trim out for $900.00. I believe this represents half of what he estimated to complete the job. In the event that this is not acceptable we will have to pull his name off the permit and you will have to hire another electrician. I have had way too many years of great success with this man and his men and will not get involved in the mess that will occur with another electrician finishing up behind my trusted sub-contractor. If you would like to finish the wiring job yourself I am not sure what would be required by the inspection dept. I don't think you can do it without having a license but I am not sure. Please let me know your decision.” When the customer initially balked at this offer, again unfoundedly alleging that the scope of work had not changed, the general contractor responded with the following email: From: [General Contractor], Sent: Monday, February 28, 2011 11:32 AM: “I have discussed this with Rick and he does not understand your complaints in light of all the work that was done and necessary. He has agreed to finish for the $900.00 and will lose money as a result. We are willing to go over all the work that was done in detail but frankly feel you will end up agreeing that what was done and charged for is fair. Rick showed you the numbers and discounted where you felt he should so we are still confused by your position. Nevertheless neither of us have the desire to continue defending Rick's position so if $900.00 is agreeable to you, that is the way we will proceed. Hopefully this additional $900 in discounts will be sufficient for you to make the call to proceed.” I trust it is becoming evident the lengths I went to in order to appease this customer. He makes numerous other claims that I wish I could dispute but unfortunately, am only allotted so much space to reply to a report and am using every spare word. I appreciate this customer commending my employee Allan and his attention to detail. What this customer does not know is that I personally gave Allan specific instructions to address any and all remaining issues this customer had regarding our work. According to our records, Allan spent 23 hours completing the trim out and doing just this. Two additional employees spent a combined 14 hours on the trim out. In the end, this customer paid 900.00 for 37 hours of labor and 800.00 (my cost) in trim out materials. Finally, I would ask for members to take note that this report, though submitted in December of 2012, was for work that was completed in March of 2011 (21 months after the work was completed). On 04/23/2012, this customer called our office requesting a service call. With any other customer I would not have hesitated to send one of my electricians out to look into the issue, regardless of whether the customary one-year warranty period had lapsed or not. After leaving two additional messages in as many weeks, I decided (in hindsight, perhaps mistakenly) to send the following email. From: Rick Harrington, Sent: Friday, May 04, 2012 10:40 AM, To: [name deleted], Subject: Service Call: “Mr. [name deleted], I have received your messages but have chosen not to return your calls. This is something I never do, but I have no desire of getting in a discussion with you that I feel will only result in an argument. In the first message I received, you freely recognized that the one year warranty period had already run out on the work which we had performed at your house. If you had called within that one year time period, I would have promptly sent someone to look into your situation. However, since the one year warranty period had elapsed, and our working relationship with you on your project was one of the most unpleasant experiences we have had in the sixteen years we’ve been in business, we have no desire to work for you again. We suggest that you contact another electrical contractor for your services.” Less than two hours later I received a lengthy email from the customer which ended with him ensuring me he would, and I quote, “advise as many people as possible, either through direct contact or websites such as Angie's List, of [our] failure to correct [our] errors.” Regrettably, this individual has followed through on his promise and I have been left with no recourse but to respond. I believe the fact that we did not hear anything from this customer for such a long period of time speaks to the fact that any mistakes we did make were indeed rectified. Though my preference is this report be removed from our page, I trust that the explanations I have given will suffice in reassuring Angie’s List members regarding the quality and integrity of my company. Sincerely, Rick Harrington