ComplaintsforAbbott Electric, Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  04/13/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Complaint re: invoice ****** 1/18/2023 Security light not working. Abbott Electric demands customer credit card number to book appointment. They'll bill card regardless of customer satisfaction with service. Service fee was about $120. When electrician arrived, I showed him I'd purchased a dusk/dawn security light with light sensor from ****** Cost was over $100 with tax. He suggested I look at bulbs he brought with him. There were approx. five bulbs to pick from. He showed one that was similar to original bulb. He suggested that we use light fixture already on the pole instead of my new purchase and save installation time. I considered his suggestion and agreed we should use existing fixture. I would return my new fixture to Lowes. But now I've received the bill and find he billed me $222, about twice as much as the new security light that I bought from Lowes. I feel like I was conned. I should have insisted that he use the new light that I already purchased. Labor fee was also higher than expected. Abbott was already charging over $120 for the electrician to come to the house. Was he paid by the minute? Quarter hour? I feel the electrician logged on extra time to stretch his bill. I saw him lower the bucket truck and look for something that he supposedly dropped. I came out of the house and tried to help look for missing bolts/screws. We searched, then he revealed that he had the same kind of screws stocked on the truck! Why were we searching for lost screws/bolts if he already had them in stock? Minutes added up as we searched and now it seems like an excuse to add labor time on the bill. Labor billed $363, took longer than necessary. Total bill $585. I feel Abbott Electric overcharged. They have my credit card number and will use it to pay bill whether I complain or not. To sum up: Electrician came out, used bucket truck to install new outdoor light bulb. Not a difficult service call. I won't recommend Abbott to anyone else.

  Business response

  04/21/2023

  This correspondence is sent in response to the complaint letter sent by ****** **** regarding a residential service call which we completed at her home on January 18, 2023.

  Ms. **** contacted us on December 29, 2022 and scheduled a residential service call to troubleshoot a security light that was not working that was installed at a height of 20' off the ground near a gravel driveway.  We confirmed with her at that time that the fixture would require us to use a bucket truck to reach the fixture and reviewed our service rates and billing process with her.

  On January 18th our electrician called Mr. **** to let her know we were on our way.  Our electrician was unable to reach Ms. **** so he went to her home to wait for her.  He tried to call her again and knocked on the door, no answer so he continued to wait for her.  The only reason I mention this is because we didn't charge for any of the waiting time.

  Our electrician worked on the fixture and found that the metal halide bulb was not working.  He advised her that he could rewire the fixture and use an LED bulb that would use less energy and solve the issue.  The customer agreed with our electricians recommendation so he completed the work.  Upon leaving, he again reviewed what he had done with the customer and secured her signature on his work order acknowledging the satisfactory completion of the work described above (see attached copy).

  On April 17, 2023 we received a payment from the customer for the full amount that we billed along with a note outlining the same complaints that have been raised in this BBB complaint.

  It is our position that our electrician performed the work necessary to fix the issue that the customer originally called about. 

   

   

  Customer response

  04/24/2023

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
  
  [Provide details of why you are not satisfied with this resolution.]
  
  Regards,
  
  ****** ****

• Initial Complaint

  12/06/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I scheduled an estimate for repairs four weeks out from 8/19/2021. Two individuals showed over 2.5hrs late after I called the company asking where they were. They spent about 30mins on site and said I should hear by the end of the week with a quote for services (2 days). On Monday I called the company and was told that I would have a quote in a couple days. I still hadn't heard by mid-week so I called another company who came out, quoted me on-site and I scheduled them for the following week. Over 2 weeks after having Abbott Electric come to my home for a quote (and over 6 weeks since my initial contact with the company) they finally called and left me a quote via voicemail. I had already had the job quoted and completed by another company so I ignored the voicemail. In October they called asking if I was interested and I explained everything that I have above and how absolutely terrible their customer service is and that they had done themselves a disservice by taking over 2 weeks to get me a quote in which time I found another company and had the emergency electrical repair that we needed done. I was informed by Abbot Electric that they would still have to charge me for a service call. However they didn't provide me any services. Money is exchanged for goods and services. There were NO SERVICES RENDERED. I told Abbott Electric that they shot themselves in the foot on this one for being unable to get a simple quote completed in a timely manner. And because they failed to produce that I went with a company that could. I was told again that they still had to charge me. I told them if they wanted to, that's their choice and I would Immediately report them to the BBB. So, that's where we are.

  Business response

  12/14/2021

  Our company has received the above referenced customer concern.  Please see our response to this complaint below.

  *** ******** scheduled a service call with our company on August 19, 2021.  The electrician determined that there was a bad underground wire that would need to be repaired.  *** *******z did not authorize the repair at that time but rather requested a budget for repairs and running a new line.  When our Residential Service Manager followed up with *** *******z about the budget, we were told that the work had already been completed by another contractor.

  As a result, we sent *** *******z an invoice for the time our electrician spent determining the cause of the problem which included our standard service charge and our hourly charge for the ½ hour of time spent on the job.

  When *** *******z called in to schedule this service call, it would have been explained to him that there would be a charge for the service call.  At that time, *** *******z was asked to provide us a credit card number to secure his appointment.  The card would be used in the event he chose to charge the card for the service call.  This is standard procedure when we set up a service call.

  Obviously *** *******z did not understand that he was scheduling a service call if he now feels that he should not be charged.  As a result of this misunderstanding, we will void the invoice that was sent to him. Therefore we consider this issue to be resolved.

  Thank you for your attention to this matter.  Please notify *** *******z of our decision to void the invoice and let me know if there is anything else you may need from me.

  Have a great day.

  ***** ** *********

  CFO

  Abbott Electric, Inc.

  Customer response

  12/14/2021

  [A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]

  Better Business Bureau:

  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********* and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me.  I will wait until for the business to perform this action and, if it does, will consider this complaint resolved. However I wish to point out what the company did not accept any responsibility for being exceedingly late the day of the requested quote for repairs. That the company did not respond to multiple requests for a quote total costs for over 2 weeks from the time the electricians came to provide a quote for services. Also that no quote was provided on the day in question and that nobody would blindly ask for service not knowing the cost. The company's customer service was still unacceptable to charge for a quote for services when they cannot do their job to get a quote in a timely manner is unprofessional. The day the two people came to quote a price, they provided no services. They took measurements and then shot the breeze on the back steps for 20 minutes and provided me nothing on that day.

  Regards,

  ****** ********

• Initial Complaint

  10/01/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I called Abbott Electric on 8-12-21 to have 4 grounded outlets installed inside my residential home. The woman who answered transferred me to ****** who asked me questions pertaining to pricing. After I informed him my bathroom was on the second floor, T**** gave me a price (not an estimate) over the phone for this work to not exceed $600 unless plastic piping would have to be installed down the front of my house, in which case it would not exceed $800. The piping was not needed for the 3 hour job, which was completed on 8-24. When I received my bill a month later, it was for $980. I called as anyone in this scenario would and spoke to *****, who angrily reduced it to $800 and said, quote "you just cost us $200. We gotta eat too. You just ruined it for everyone else by calling and complaining." He also told me that even if he caps a price over the phone, Abbott can still bill you for more money and I would like an explanation of this as well as an explanation of my bill before I pay it

  Business response

  10/07/2021

  We worked out a resolution to the issue and the customer is satisfied.

  Customer response

  10/07/2021

  Better Business Bureau:

  In regards to complaint I* ********, the project manager of the business, T*** ******, personally called me and apologized for the uncharacteristic behavior of his manager ****** and in good faith he reduced my bill after personally evaluating the work order. I appreciated the time and care he took to speak to me and resolve this complaint.
  
  In a return of good faith, I would like to withdraw and remove my complaint against Abbott Electric as the matter is now resolved and I believe the owners to be sincere in their care of their customers.
  

  Regards,

  ***** ******

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩