Midwest Electric & Generator, Inc.

Hello,This seems to be a mix up with The Home DepotWe have corporate looking into this matter and expect a response within the next hours

We understand that a letter was sent for the outstanding balance that is severely overdue. Our records show we have mailed several times and have also called, but have yet to get a response. Our system notes that the customer was responsible for payment of the services and the charge was approved by...

[redacted]. We have communicated with Home Depot and they have stated the customer is responsible for the charges. If any record was to show differently from that, please let us know.

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.  I wish that the business would have research this before responding to this complaint and also before sending a letter to a consumer for late payment almost 4 years old.  This is neither professional or acceptable.  Many hours have been spent and lost by all parties.  Time we don't get back in our short lives.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2016/01/28) */
We were dispatched to [redacted]'s rental condo on January 22nd for an issue with a kitchen circuit not working. We quoted the minimum service rate, up front, from our office and stated that if there was more than an hour of work, we would then start...

charging by the 1/2 hour. We were instructed not to spend more than 1 hour ( our minimum ) on site. Our tech arrived and worked on troubleshooting the problem. It was found that the electrical breaker was burned, has been arcing inside the electrical panel, and looked to be overloaded too many times. We cleaned the buss bar where the breaker was arcing, and installed a new CL listed breaker from our truck. We did not charge [redacted] for the parts.
The circuit and outlets were working again and the technician left with a satisfied customer.
We had received a call back from [redacted] on January 25th stating her tenant has now complained about an new intermittent buzzing. We at that point wanted to talk to the tenant, to see if they can describe the noise, to see if it was continuous buzzing, the same circuit, etc. [redacted] would not give us the tenant's number. She decided she would have the tenant give us a call.
The tenant then called and stated that the buzzing is not all the time, but intermittently humming. We had asked a few questions and stated we would talk to the landlord, [redacted].
We were able to pull the specifications online for that particular electrical panel, there was a notice about pitting on the buss bars due to loose breakers, and the buss bars were aluminum rather than copper ( manufacture is no longer in business ). We reached out to our technician that was on site and asked about the loose breakers. He had indicated that there were many that were very loose (connection between the buss and the breaker tab) ,but did not pull all the circuit breakers out of the panel as it would have taken more than the 1 hour to clean and inspect the entire system.
At this point, we reached back out to the customer to explain what the issue may be with the actual electrical panel, and that we were not comfortable just adding 11 new breakers to a potentially hazardous electrical panel. We did state that we would need to charge 1 hour to come back out to inspect the entire electrical system, also informed customer that if the buss bars were damaged to a point where it was not safe, we would need to change the electrical panel. We then talked about how serious of a problem this could potentially be as a fire hazard. She spent about 20 minuets on the phone with us, wondering if it was even her responsibility as it is multi-family, and about what would happen if she did nothing.
We urged her to get the problem fixed as we feel it is not safe in its current state. She stated back to us that she is "upside-down" in the condo, and does not want to invest any more money, including the service call to verify all conditions. It was stated that we could not come out there for free, as a company we do need to pay our technicians to come to the site, pay for the van, and the fuel to come to her rental. She insisted we take care of this for free. The problem would be, even if we came out for free, and learned the panel would need to be changed ( as we suspect ) there would still be the issue of a charge for the new electrical panel
At the end of the conversation, she stated that she will look around and see what she can find to be done. We asked her to please be sure to get it repaired as it truly is a major safety concern for the tenant ( that they may not even be aware of ). We did not speak either way with the tenant about the breaker, as claimed in the complaint.
The next communication that took place was a negative review on the Revdex.com website.
The day we received the Revdex.com rating, [redacted] called back into our office, and demanded to talk to a manager. Jessica our receptionist took the call, and offered she can talk to our owner John [redacted], she stated she did not care to talk to him, and started to berate Jessica. In the call, she over and over told Jessica how she will ruin us and use every social media tool she can, to be assured we lose business.
At the end of all this, we are competent licensed electricians, and we take safety very serious. A fire hazard needs to be fixed, bottom line.
We have never had a bad Revdex.com rating, or even a Revdex.com complaint. We do feel that we give our customers great value for our service. We will not jeopardize code or safety for a landlord that is losing money on their property, or conduct ourselves unethically in any way.
In closing, I personally offer to meet [redacted] at her rental condo, on my own time, for free, and show her the pitting of the buss bars, and show her why we have a concern,
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2016/01/29) */
As stated above John from Midwest Electric did not provide a full diagnostic of my electrical problem the day of, instead they came in placed a bandage on a much bigger problem versus communicating to me what the problem was. I was not made aware of the scale of the problem until afterwards when I called to complain about additional issues arising from the original work done. When I asked John to credit my 169 since the work is guarantee and nothing was fixed from the original visit but made worse John as stated above refused to credit and wanted to charge me an additional 169 to provide another estimate for the original work that should have been done/communicated. I would not knowingly place my tenant or anyone for that matter at risk for any amount of money! Please never suggest that again! I have two other electricians coming out in the next 24hrs to provide an estimate to get the real work started which should have been address on Jan 22. Let me make myself clear I do not wish to overpay for unnecessary work but by no means would I ever place anyone at risk. Your company has delayed the actual work that needs to be done thus putting my tenant at risk.
Once again YOUR technician NEVER mentioned a serious issue the day of!?!? Why would I ever choose to pay 169 to fix something that is NOT the problem vs putting that to the total cost of the acutal fix. You essentially want me to pay 169 to come out fix a bar in a breaker that has done nothing to do with the real problem than have you come out again to provide another estimate for 169 and charge me 1200 for a job? Why would you not provide me the option on the first meeting to say this is a larger job this is what needs to happen I can start now including the 169 moving forward...you sir are not honest nor fair. And please do not discuss the safety of my tenant over money since your "trained" technician did not say anything to the extent of the safety of my apartment!
I will provide an update once I get an estimate from the other electrician in regards to what Midwest Electrician failed to tell me the first time and wish to continue to charge me for a second review. Also when I originally called I asked for a real estimate but the women on the phone persuaded me not to get that and do the 169 trouble shooting?!?!
Also I would like to note as a consumer I am 100% at the mercy of service provides such as electricians to tell me what is going on since I DO NOT have a clue. If you would like I can show you how to use excel but I know nothing about breakers and wiring!?!
I came to you for honesty and fair work I did not get that and feel used and taking advantage of. You simply had to come back out and credit me the work and estimate that should have been done the first time to make this situation right. But your statement of "I need to make money" made it clear you have no interest in customer service or satisfaction.
This is the scenario: I paid you 169 the work lasted a day than it got worse, I called you to check it and you said I will cost me another 169 plus what ever labor and parts need to be done for the work?!?! You shoul dnot be apart of the Revdex.com
Final Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2016/02/02) */
Thank you for the message back in regards to your project. We are glad you had 2 other electricians come to your rental property, and that they also stated the electrical panel needed to be replaced.
We are glad you were able to hire someone to replace the panel, and per the pictures you had sent me, and I attached to this response, as you can see, as we stated, and the other 2 electricians confirmed, the panel was in need of replacement.
I am glad you were able to have the 2 other electricians confirm what we had told you.
Once the electrical inspection has passed on the new electrical panel, you will be set.
We wish you luck with your new electrical panel, and are happy that you were able to get it replaced
John [redacted]
Midwest Electric and Generator, Inc

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2016/02/20) */
We were dispatched to Mr [redacted]'s home on 02/11/16, to troubleshoot a doorbell system, via a thumbtack.com lead.
We arrived at Mr [redacted]'s home, at the exact time he did, as our technician stated Mr [redacted] parked in front of his home, where our...

electrician Ryan was going to park. Ryan at that time, parked 6 car lengths up the street. Mr [redacted] and Ryan walked up the the home at the exact same time. Our GPS on board our service van, recorded we were on site at Mr [redacted]'s home 44 min. Our technician Ryan arrived on site, and started troubleshooting the non working doorbell issue. The ringing that My [redacted] heard, was actually the front doorbell ringing, via the wiring we were working on in the basement, not the back door. Ryan was able to troubleshoot the wiring until it extended into the door frame at the front porch. We stated to Mr [redacted] that the wiring was broken behind the wall, and that we could not remove the door frame, as it had years of paint, and may not come out in one section, undamaged. However, if he wanted to remove, or have a carpenter remove, we could work on running a new wire. Mr [redacted] was not acceptable to this answer, so Ryan decided that he would try to see if it would move. This is the time Ryan stated he was not a Carpenter, and actually used a pry-bar to see if it would easily move. Mr [redacted] was at this time inside talking with his family, so may not have seen Ryan's tools and pry-bar. The door frame was not moving and he was not comfortable with continuing to try and removing the frame, as he was fairly certain it would be damaged. Ryan then talked to Mr [redacted] about his findings, and gave him the option to remove himself or have a carpenter remove. Ryan collected our minimum service call fee, and gave Mr [redacted] a receipt.
About an hour later, Mr [redacted] called me at my office to discuss the project. I stated that I would talk to the technical, and give him a call back. Within the hour Ryan arrived to our shop, and I had him in my office to go over in detail what had happened on site. Ryan at that time told me that he offered Mr [redacted] the option for a battery operated doorbell, but Mr [redacted] declined.
I after talking to Ryan, called Mr [redacted] back to discuss. We went over his concerns, and I talked also on Ryan's concerns. We offered to install the wiring once the frame was removed, talked about the battery operated unit, and finally, at that time I actually was the one that brought up just surface mounting the wiring. I explained that we would need to drill an exposed hole between the porch and the basement, and another hole at the doorbell button, and would just staple it to the ceiling across the porch. I talked to him about the aesthetics of it, that it would be best if he removed the frame, but he was not concerned about the aesthetics. Being low voltage, it would be to code, and I had hoped he would be happy with this outcome.
I at this point told Mr [redacted] that I could honor 20 additional min of work on site, and waive any trip charge. However, we would need to charge for the additional time that was over 20 min on site. I calculated it would take 60 min To do the job so he would owe us 40 min, and the cost of materials. I told Mr [redacted], that we would do the additional work for $139, including the materials, and if it ran over the 60 min, we would just take care of it. Mr [redacted] at that time, wanted us to complete the job at no additional cost. I talked again that it will cost more than the 20 min to complete, and that was not accounting for the materials. We could not agree, so at that time Mr [redacted] hung up the call. The next communication we had, was the Revdex.com complaint.
I am willing to go back to Mr [redacted]'s home and complete the additional work, if he would like, but unfortunately, we are unable to complete the work for free.