PCE ELECTRIC INC

Approximately 2:30 pm on Thursday, 1/7/10, the power went out in one of the second floor bedrooms and the adjacent home-school room. This had happen several times before and occurred when the small (listed at 1,500 Watts) space heater stayed on for a long time (several hours). I was familiar with this problem happening and knew which circuit breaker needed resetting to turn the electricity back on for the two rooms. I unplugged and turned off every electrical device/equipment that was on the circuit. This time the breaker did not reset (stay in the ?on? position). Each attempt at resetting failed, even after waiting 20 minutes for the breaker to ?cool down? (actually not warm, but I tried this approach anyway). This is a copy of my email to PCE Electric on 1/9/2010: Dear Mr. White and others. I dispute your bill of $1,475.00 as of this date for limited service provided on 1/7/10. Your charge of $1,475.00 is an over charge of at approximately $1,000.00. Your technician did not provide the extent of services estimated on the bill/form, I was instructed to sign off as to satisfaction before any work was even done (aside from a brief visual inspection), and I was instructed to sign other documents as an alleged after-thought on the part of the technician. The only materials installed were two circuit breakers. The only work performed was to replace the circuit breaker that was short circuited (per the first sentence on the bill), a visual inspection of some wiring in the attic, the opening of a few receptacles for visual inspection in the affected area of the second floor, the opening and closing of the panel box cover, and some other simple testing of circuits. The time spent and the minimal cost for two circuit breakers does not warrant the charge on the bill by any stretch of the imagination. I asked that the circuit breaker in question be replaced within the first hour of the visit and if this had been done, the work would have been finished, as this is the only device repair that was occurred. Contrary to the estimate of proposed work, no other devices, etc were replaced, no wiring was judged to be defective within the walls, and no problems were identified at the limited number of receptacles, light fixtures, and related switches (approximately 8 items total). Additionally, I was given an estimated time of arrival by the technician of between 5 and 7 pm by your dispatcher/answering service. The technician arrived approximately 9 pm and stayed for approximately 3 hours. I certainly acknowledge some work of was done (as stated above), but not the overcharge amount per your bill. The solution to the problem was to instruct me to not use the space heater in the bedroom and to replace the defective circuit breaker. I told your dispatcher/answering service what the problem was, namely the defective circuit breaker and this was the only part/device repair that was carried out.

Half of the electrical power went out in my house on the evening of Sunday, January 25, 2009. The power went out on the on the first floor and basement of the house shutting down the furnace, refrigerators and most of the electrical outlets. The temperature was below 20 degrees outside. I tried to determine what the problem was and could not understand why only 50% of the power was off. I called PCE Electric from their ad in the Yellow pages that they offered 'Emergency Service'. I scheduled an appointment for the next morning for them to fix the problem. They came out the next day (Monday, January 26, 2009) at 10:00 AM and determined that one of the two cables from the underground main power cable (supplied by Met-Electric power company) had slipped out of the connector in the meter box. PCE advised that the whole meter box needed to be replaced. Also, they advised that I had 300 amp service (200 and 100 amp panels) in the house and should really have 400 amp service because of the electrical usage in the house. They advised that the work would cost $5,500 to complete and that it would take most of the day to complete the work. They advised that because of the weather I would not be able to get another electrical contractor out that day to repair it. They installed a 400 amp meter box outside and replaced the existing 100 amp panel inside with a 200 amp panel inside. I applied for a permit with the local township. An independent inspection company inspected the work for the township. The inspector would not approve the work due to inadequate grounding of the new panel. He also advised that PCE Electric overcharged me $2,500 - $3,000 (more than double the price) for the work performed. I have since talked to other local electrical contractors and they say the job should not have cost more than $3,000 tops! I contacted PCE Electric to come back and fix the code violation. They agreed to fix the grounding problem so that it would pass inspection on 3/13/09. They intalled the additional grounding. I am awaiting for the inspector to approve the work. I also advised them that I wanted to file complain with a PCE management representative that they overcharged me for the work done. They would not provide the names of anyone in the company. The said to file a complaint on their web site (completed on 3/18/09). PCE Electric seems to be taking advantage of people that are experiencing electrical emergencies and overcharging them for the work because they are in an emergency situation and do not have a lot of options. I am willing to pay a premium for immediates service! However, double the price is 'gouging!'