I had an emergency situation that ultimately called for a full panel upgrade. We scheduled a visit…read moreto check out the problem the next day, which was not an emergency inspection or anything. He came to check out the problem and give me a quote. Overall, he was thorough in explaining stuff. What rubbed me the wrong way was how after I asked him for a quote and told him I have one other person checking it out to give me a quote, his tone changed. I explained that this is an expensive project and it would be dumb to just get your price and go with it without checking with at least one other company. I'm not made out of money here.
He then gave me the quote and it was literally like twice the range of most panel upgrades. I get that you're licensed, but so are most of these companies. I feel like because of my situation (Edison had cut the power to my place), he was just taking advantage. Admittedly, I was desperate to get it fixed, but I'm not going to pay almost 12k for something that costs around 5k.
So he gives me the quote breakdown and four options (all way over average prices), and then I say thanks and that again, someone is also going to stop by and take a look and I'll text him either way. He then gave me a guilt trip about how they reserved the day for me and how it sucks that I'm not just taking the job. At that point, even if the second guy wasn't going to work out, I was not going with this company.
Fortunately, the second guy (also licensed) that came was able to pull some strings and get everything done --meter checked, permitted--the next day for a fraction of what Ready Electric quoted me. Power is back on and I didn't spend more than I needed to.
For those of you needing electric work: shop around. Oftentimes we need this kind of work done ASAP, but companies will definitely take advantage as was this case.
3 stars because they responded quick and did explain things thoroughly.
Clarification based on Ready Electric's reply:
The quote was $11,600 for a standard panel upgrade. Yes, my panel was in bad shape, but I was not misrepresenting the situation. If anything, to suggest that your most affordable option was $1k when it was really (according to you) not really an option at all (with zero warranty even) and to leave out your main recommendation (the panel upgrade) is misrepresentative. I credit you for going out of your way and explaining stuff, and I would imagine that as a business, that part of the getting business is time-consuming. Apparently there was an inspection fee that was waived, and the gentlemen that came even asked, "how did you get the inspection fee waived?" Well, no fee was ever mentioned upon calling and making an appointment, and had there been, I would have never made the appointment in the first place.
You mentioned that you understand people would get a second opinion and that's good; however, the whole reason I wrote my review (which I rarely do) was because of the guilt trip I was given for doing so. It was unnecessary and a poor persuasion technique. If I were to have said I have another guy coming to get a second opinion and you were like, "absolutely, just let us know if you decide to move forward with us," I would have never wrote my review, or I would've written one that praised the thoroughness of your quoting process.
Also, the guy I went with was a referral from my brother's current contractor, but he has never worked with any of us directly. So we didn't have an existing relationship or anything. In fact, when I told him what i was quoted, he laughed and said that's just people trying to take advantage. Again, the point of my review was ultimately to warn people to shop around and not go with the first quote you get, especially if you're in a pinch like I was. Another day without electricity is worth not getting ripped off.
