Complaints

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• Initial Complaint

  Date:03/04/2024

  Type:Customer Service Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  We are requesting a refund of $455.52 because unnecessary work was proposed and billed based on false/manipulative info.
  We lost power in a small hallway/room in our house. The circuit breaker for that part of our house tripped, was stuck, could NOT be reset.
  The electricians with "Powerful Electrical, LLC" came out examined the circuit panel and breaker. After the check, they told us that they needed to test all outlets/switches in the affected area and gave us an estimate of $455.52. Since we saw that they checked the circuit panel and stuck breaker and proclaimed that they needed to examine the issue further we were under the impression that there was no problem with the breaker. 2 days later they first inspected some switches/outlets. Suddenly they stopped and checked the breaker again, explained that the breaker was broken and that it costs us an additional $180.
  They replaced the broken breaker and presented us with a bill for $635.52.
  When we objected and asked that we thought they had checked the circuit breaker days earlier and why they didn’t do this first, we were told that it was a very rare problem and they had no way of knowing it was the circuit breaker. Professional electricians tell us that a faulty circuit breaker is a common problem and always checked FIRST.
  After posting a review on BBB, Powerful Electrical responded:
  “We tested the breaker and found it to have proper voltage. Given that it was an AFCI breaker for a lighting circuit, we needed to investigate further...”
  This information is false!
  The power outage did not only affect a lighting circuit, but all power outlets in the area. NO equipment in the area was operating and PE knew this.
  We feel defrauded by Powerful Electrical, LLC because we were given the impression that the breaker was not faulty, but that all the switches and sockets needed to be checked.
  We wouldn’t have agreed to have outlets/switches checked for $455.52 if they had told us that they did not test the breaker first!

  Business Response

  Date: 03/09/2024

  ****** & ***** ***********, 
  
  Thank you for bringing up this matter with us regarding our last visit. 
  Troubleshooting an AFCI breaker isn’t a straightforward task and it’s one of the most complicated to get right quickly and often takes a couple hours! 
  When Stan came out to your home 11-13-2023, he was greeted by *****, and it was explained that the lighting circuit wasn’t working in the front foyer and at the top of the stairs. He visually looked at the panel to determine the type of breaker, manufacture and what size it was. He then went upstairs to look at the affected area with *****.  
  We presented a troubleshooting repair of $455.52. 
  It was accepted and was scheduled for the 15th, two days later. 
  It’s important to note that Stan drove 45 min to the jobsite and started the service call by presenting the same option as discussed for $455.52 and he collected a signature for permission to get started. 
  He went to the truck to get his tools, returned and made small talk with the customer as it was around Christmas time. ***** walked Stan around the house again explaining what wasn’t working. 
  Stan and his tech began opening devices as that’s the best way to identify the issue. After taking some time and opening several switches and outlets, we fixed a couple wires that had cuts in the insulation and is another reason why AFCI breakers trip. 
  We turned the breaker back on and it didn’t reset. We explained that to ***** and he approved the additional $180 to replace the faulty AFCI breaker. Troubleshooting an AFCI breaker is very complex and often fixed by finding the 2 conductors that are touching. Typically, it’s the grounded and grounding conductors making contact.  
  There’s no perfect way to do this and you must rely on experience to lead the way. 
  Just like the saying “Hindsight is always 20/20”, it’s easy to say we should have replaced the breaker first, now knowing that was the issue.  As a master electrician/Electrical Contractor, it is our job to troubleshoot the problems and find the solutions.  When we walk into a job we always troubleshoot to the fullest of our abilities and do not assume anything about a job. We could not have known the issue of the breaker upon arriving at the job without troubleshooting other areas of the circuit.  We made changes to areas in outlets that could have affected breaker as well.  Since we made those changes in the outlets.  We cannot completely say that the issue was the breaker with nothing going on.  If we had not made those adjustments to the outlets there still might have been an issue with the breaker.  It was our expertise and knowledge that allowed us to fix the issues at the outlets but also address the issue of the breaker.  It took time and knowledge to fix those issues, which is exactly what you paid for.   
  
  The price would have been the same either way as we would still have to troubleshoot the issue and replace the breaker. Our process was followed by providing an accurate estimate, then having the customer approve the job. Collecting a signature to get started to agree to the price, finish the job and collect a final signature saying everyone was happy, then finally collecting payment. We collected 3 signatures and were told yes 3 times to continue the service. 
  Regarding the feeling defraud, we apologize that y’all feel this way. Our suggestion wasn’t meant to disregard any troubleshooting method or technique. It wasn’t to imply that the breaker was fine. We just simply went with what was presented and decided to troubleshoot the circuit the best way we could. 
  We see that it was provided to us the avg cost to install and replace a breaker was $180 which is what we charged and seems to fall in line with what was said, however those prices are for a regular breaker and not an AFCI breaker. 
  We didn’t charge for an electrical inspection and therefore didn’t provide a comprehensive one, only a visual one which was free. There are so many different websites that can tell someone how to do the same thing in 5 different ways.  What works for one situation is not always relevant to what works in another situation.  It also does not change how we performed this job. It’s important to note that the circuit wasn’t working when we showed up and it was working when we left! 
  We simply can’t refund this because we did the work, we said we were going to and we collected signatures saying everything was accepted and working, then we were paid saying that the outcome was favorable.  
  Please see attached google searches for how to troubleshoot an AFCI breaker that has tripped, to show the different opinions online and note that the last step was also to replace the breaker! 
  
  Best, 
  Stan 
  Powerful Electrical