Cobb County Electrician scam or honest mistake? (insurance, credit card) - Atlanta - Georgia (GA) - City-Data Forum

Cobber · 03-04-2017, 07:59 PM

Hi All, I own a house built in 1955 in Cobb County, Georgia and here is my electrician scam story:
A tree branch fell, hit the power line, and canted the electrical mast on my roof. I paid for an electrical inspection. The electricians came to my house and just glanced at the canted electrical mast and said it could not be rewired the same way because of code. They pointed to my neighbor’s house to show me how it needed to be rewired. The neighbors have their electrical mast going up the side of the house. My electrical mast comes in through the roof and into the attic. The electricians also came inside my house and looked at my circuit breaker panel. The electricians said that my circuit breaker panel in the stairway was not up to code because it was in the stairway and that I needed a second grounding rod added to be up to code. When they gave me my estimate of $6,000 they asked if I wanted to put it on my credit card. I responded no and told them I would file a homeowner’s insurance claim because of the large estimate.
My insurance company said that they would only give me $900 for the electrical mast repair and that the electrical company doing the repairs need to say which electrical codes are required to get the house up to code. I called the electrician company a couple of times and asked what the codes are and they said electrical code are not always black and white and hard to understand. The electrician company asks me how I would pay for it and I said again, if insurance doesn’t pay for it, it’s not going to happen. I got an email/second quote from the electrician company stating that, “…since work doesn’t have to be done inside the house, only the electrical mast has to be moved and a kill switch added to the side of the house totaling $2200.” I called the electrician company again and asked why the work inside didn’t have to be done and what the required codes were to move the electrical mast. Again, they would not give me a straight answer. At this point, you are probably thinking, “What an idiot!” I sure felt like an idiot trusting an electrician company with 4 star plus reviews. Well, the story continues….
I called a second electrician company for a paid inspection. Their electricians got on my roof and crawled in my attic and said it could be repaired as-is and that the house only needed a couple of minor repairs. They even saw that the wiring from the transformer to the mast was damaged so they contacted Cobb County. Since the wires are the county’s responsibility, that wiring was repaired at no cost to me. I ultimately chose the second company to do all the necessary repairs for less than $1,000.
I went online and filled out as many reviews as possible for the first company. I even called the main office and asked to speak to the top manager. I finally got a called from the owner. He asked me what he could do to rectify the situation. I asked for $1500 in compensation and specifically for this amount to be taken from the electrician and the manager that tried to scam me for a couple of thousand dollars. He said he will get with his employees to get their perspective and get back with me. What do you think will happen?

Fubarbundy · 03-05-2017, 06:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cobber

What do you think will happen?

Probably more likely than any compensation...

DreamerD · 03-05-2017, 08:46 AM

...I don't understand. Did you already pay the first company something? I thought that you only paid the second company becaude they were willing to do the repairs for.less than a thousand.

JOinGA · 03-05-2017, 09:04 AM

How much did you pay for the first inspection that resulted in the $6,000 estimate?

dblackga · 03-05-2017, 09:19 AM

I think you're bored - why spend this much time and trouble over such a minor issue? The first company didn't do anything for you, you've already left bad reviews scattered around the internet -- NOW you want them to pay? Why would they pay you anything? This is why you get a few estimates when you have work done.

Don't hold your breath on getting any "resolution" from the first company. There's nothing to resolve. They gave you an estimate, they provided what you considered sub-standard service, you chose another company. Why is this any different than any other home repair?

LTCM · 03-05-2017, 11:33 AM

Lol. This gets my vote for worst post of 2017. And the year just started.

So much fail it's insane. Watch out for the lawsuit incoming...

ekman243 · 03-05-2017, 07:29 PM

If I went from a $6,000 quote to a $1,000 quote for something that is over my head and I know nothing about , I'd be dancing in the streets.

JOinGA · 03-06-2017, 04:33 AM

If this person PAID for an inspection, which is what they seem to be saying, and it resulted in a $6,000 quote that was way, way out of line, it seems like they would have a right to be upset. I would probably want the price of the inspection back. I would not, however, expect anything beyond that. If it was a free estimate, then no case.

Cobber · 03-06-2017, 01:16 PM

I paid for the inspection. Everything the first electrician company said I needed to do, the second electrician company didn't do and got it signed off by the county. I am not worried about a lawsuit if it comes. Everything I said is fact.

samiwas1 · 03-07-2017, 08:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cobber

I paid for the inspection. Everything the first electrician company said I needed to do, the second electrician company didn't do and got it signed off by the county. I am not worried about a lawsuit if it comes. Everything I said is fact.

What lawsuit would come?

I do not think you'll get anything besides maybe the returned cost of the inspection back. They're not going to pay you damages for quoting you a higher price. If every business who tried to talk people to buying more than they needed had to pay thousands in retribution, there'd be nothing left. Don't get me wrong...I don't appreciate a business trying to talk me into something I don't need, but it's pretty well a standard.

But, one thing is true: the electrical code is highly complicated and hard to understand. It could easily be the electricians misinterpreting a part of the code, or it could also be the second company and the inspector not fully understanding the requirements. Trust me when I say that I have gotten in plenty of arguments with inspectors over what is actually allowed in the code.