PCE ELECTRIC INC

On December 26, 2009, at approximately 10:30 p.m., we experienced a flickering of half of our lights and then they went out. We checked the breakers and during our search for the problem, we smelled a burning in the basement. At that point, we decided we needed a professional to check things out immediately. We could not reach our normal electrician, so we called PCE Electric Inc. whom we found in the phone book. Upon calling, they said that it would cost $295 for them to come out at that time of night for an emergency call; we agreed, because we were concerned about a fire in the house. We then called our Home Warranty company to get authorization for any work that needed to be done. The electrician arrived about an hour later (~12:30 a.m.), and within 15 minutes he was diagnosing all sorts of problems, i.e., --cloth wires in basement needed to be replaced; --electrical meter needed to be moved from inside the house to outside the house; --the 200 amp system that was just installed 18 months ago needed to be replaced (i.e., complete replacement with 400 amp); --found burned meter and wire coming into home due to frost and thaw along with deteriorated conduit and wiring buried in ground and fused together; --replacement of damaged 30 space panel with 40 space panel (see attached report). Shortly thereafter, he told us we would need a 190 foot 20" trench dug into our yard through the driveway and walkway at an approximate cost of about $15,000, but any finish of the driveway and walk would be our responsibility. He got on the phone with someone and then told us he had manpower and equipment in motion and ready to come out and start the job first thing in the morning. At that point, he had done no work and was there for about two hours just chatting, writing a report, our bill, and planning for the big job. We immediately explained that we simply wanted him to ensure the safety of the house that night, and we would deal with the rest later. He then got on the phone with his boss (Joe), and told us that the bill for that evening would be $1,035 on top of the $295 for the emergency visit. When we protested, he told us to talk to the boss. Joe told my husband that if we did not pay that amount, he inferred he would pull the electrician out of the house immediately. We were concerned about a fire in the house, so we agreed. After being paid, the electrician then proceeded to do nothing except turn off a few breakers and left us with partial electricity. First thing in the morning, we called our usual electrician, and the first thing he said to do was to call our electric company--PECO (Philadelphia Electric Company). PECO arrived at 8:00 p.m. (12/27) and within 10 minutes after arrival, the PECO electrician found the problem (wires inside weatherhead and conduit (metal) shorted out and blew a hole in the metal conduit on pole--see PECO report) and due to the high risk of fire to our house, he immediately cut off all of our electricity. [Note: the PCE electrician never found that problem and never even looked at the pole as can be confirmed from his own report.] The PECO electrician said we are only the 2nd home all year that he left with no electricity, but he said he could not have slept that night if he had not shut us down; that's how much risk we were at for a house fire and keeping it on would put us in a very dangerous situation. He then told us to call our electrician. When we told PECO's electrician about the PCE electrician's assessment and charges, he was speechless and couldn't believe PCE did not find the real problem and in not doing so put us in extreme risk for a fire. We spent the night with no heat and no electricity. The next morning (12/28), our electrician and a partner came and fixed the problem. Two men worked for approximately four hours to repair service entrance conductors on the pole, and charged us $1,260 for parts and labor and it was all over by 3:30 p.m.. Our electrician said we did not need to do ANY of the work that the PCE electrician mentioned and explained in detail exactly why we didn't need it. After talking to our own electrician, it became quite clear that the PCE electrician was providing us with a lot of half truths to make his case sound pretty convincing. It was at that time we called VISA to dispute the charge. VISA told us to call back in a few days after it had been posted. We called back on 1/4 and await paperwork from VISA. They were most helpful and understanding during both calls. The morning of the 27th (while we were calling our electrician and PECO), PCE called our home warranty company to get the previous evening's work approved and to get authorization for the big job in the morning even though we never agreed to that. Nevertheless, our warranty company called us to tell us that both requests had been denied and that we should get away and stay far away from PCE Electric. Joe, from PCE Electric called us in the morning and we told him what PECO had found and that he had put our lives at risk. When Joe began defending his situation and saying that the weatherhead problem must have occurred after his guy left, my husband just hung up. Joe proceeded to call us all day long (maybe 10-15 times), but we did not answer his calls. He did leave one message to the effect that he wanted to make arrangements to come out and do the work that was discussed--we could not believe his audacity! We do not feel PCE deserves to be paid due to the life-threatening situation that our family and home was put in as well as their apparent fraudulent, negligent and poor quality of service. Our home warranty, PECO electrician, and our electrician all agree that: Our home and lives were put at risk. They gouged us on the cost for coming out on an emergency visit They exploited our unsafe situation by threatening to leave without ensuring our safety that evening if we didn't pay the amount they wanted. (Albeit, even though we paid, they still left us in a very dangerous situation.) We were left without toilets for two days, and heat and electricity overnight in 20 degree weather. If the original diagnosis had been correct, we could have resolved the situation much sooner. My husband was in pain due to a shoulder injury and the stress and cold exacerbated his pain. Family visits for the Christmas holidays all had to be cancelled. Plans to go out for holiday events had to be cancelled. We are grateful for your help in resolving this unacceptable situation with this vendor. We also feel blessed that our home did not catch on fire and all is well.

They were very prompt. I felt a little bit as though they were patronizing me as an elderly woman as we discussed the problems with the system and options to resolve it. I think I was overcharged for the services actually performed.

Onsite technicians corrected the problems and were friendly and competent. I am posting to Angie's List because I have no idea if the price ($1,515) for two technicians for total of four hours for the above listed items is low, high or fair price? When I agreed I was told that there were shorts in the main branch circuit, in three circuits. I misunderstood this to mean that the wiring in the walls needed to be fixed. My initial reaction when coming home from work and seeing the invoice itemization was that I could have gone to a store and picked up a breaker, a switch, two outlets and a light fixture and installed for significantly less than this price DIY. Am I incorrect thinking this? Would others have understood "serious short in main branch circuit" to mean that a breaker, a switch, two outlets and a light fixture needed replacing? If so I will stand corrected. It would be important to me to know if this price is fair. Have others had similar work done and was the price similar?

KNOWING THAT THEY OFFER FREE ESTIMATE ON WORK TO BE DONE, I WAS FLABBERGASTED WHEN I WAS TOLD BY SCOTT THAT ''TROUBLESHOOTING'' ALONE WOULD COST $600 TO $700, WHETHER THE TROBLESHOOTING TAKES LESS THAN AN HOUR OR NOT. I ALMOST HUNG UP, BUT COMPOSED MYSELF AND ASKED AGAIN FOR A FREE ESTIMATE AND WAS FLAT OUT TOLD THAT TROUBLESHOOTING COST WILL BE CHARGED. AFTER POLITELY ENDING CALL W/ PCE, I'VE CALLED ANOTHER ELECTRICIAN AND THE MOMENT HE HEARD SYMPTOM, HE KNEW WHAT WAS WRONG WITH ELECTRICITY AND CAME OUT FOR A SERVICE CALL THAT DAY(I HAVE A BABY AND THEY WERE VERY SYMPATHETIC AND CAME AT 7PM!) AND CHARGED ME ONLY $65. PCE'S WEBSITES SAYS THAT THEY ARE ''HONEST, AND FLEXIBLE'' I DON'T AGREE.

RELIABLE, GOOD WORK. THEY WERE VERY PROFESSIONAL.