Complaints

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• Initial Complaint

  Date:04/29/2025

  Type:Service or Repair 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.

  I am filing a complaint against Jesselectric for poor workmanship, failure to complete contracted services properly, unsafe electrical work, and refusal to honor their satisfaction guarantee. Jesselectric was hired to install a 200-amp panel as Phase 1 of a renovation, per my architects plans. They quoted and accepted payment for this work. However, Jesselectric later installed a 125-amp panel and claimed a 200-amp upgrade was unnecessarycontrary to our plans and agreement. We never rejected professional recommendations; we relied on Jesselectrics expertise and approved extra materials when suggested. We expected safe, code-compliant work matching our contract. Work began without an approved permit. A permit was only pulled November 2, 2024, after repeated requests. Even then, the plans filed did not match work performed, such as changes to the main breaker and new feed wiring.On January 30, 2025, the city inspector failed the project. Jesselectric arrived late without the necessary plans. Multiple violations were cited, including: Open neutral bus bar, Improper conduit sealing, Mismatched breakers, and others. Following the failed inspection and significant safety concerns, we issued a formal termination letter. Jesselectric initially replied, claiming willingness to correct some issues, they never scheduled repairs, never arranged reinspection, and no corrective work was performed. They abandoned the project for over 90 days. Jesselectric advertises a "100% Satisfaction Guarantee," stating customers unsatisfied with service would receive a refund. Despite invoking this guarantee, Jesselectric refused to provide a refund. I am requesting a full refund of $5,123.50 for incomplete, unsatisfactory, and unsafe electrical work.

  Business Response

  Date: 05/09/2025

  To whom it may concern:

  This customer has been impossible to deal with from day one. She hired us to replace her interior 125A panel. Her remodel was going to involve converting her garage into a master bedroom, adding lights and bathroom. Her old panel was a Zinsco panel which is uninsurable in the State of *******, so a panel change was in order. This is where I made my first mistake with this client. I did not open up her panel, because when I checked her exterior panel, I saw that the interior panel was backed up by a 125A breaker which was the correct size for that panel. Little did I know that when we went to do the install, the wire that they fed her panel with was severely undersized. This was a serious code violation that she had been living with since she purchased her property. When I brought it up to her attention, she gave me a really hard time about paying extra to upsize the wire. I gave her a considerably low price to do this because I knew that I should have caught this on my initial visit. Her small attic was termite infested, therefore her drywall ceiling was severely compromised. So much so, that we could not avoid doing damage to it when we crawled in there to pull the wire. I had to pay to have this fixed. When we went to disconnect the old wire from the main breaker, the main breaker fell apart in our hands. She refused to pay for that because she said it was my fault. There were many delays with her permit because she hired a GC midway through the process which created a master permit, and slowed down the permit process because everything had to be submitted again. Also, her husband had an accident, had surgery and was convalescing, so he was not available to receive contractors at the house.

  I have attached a file with only a small portion of the communication between us. During this time, her husband also had surgery and they were unavailable for at least two months.

  When we finally got access again to finally get our inspection, the inspector cited numerous violations, most of which were her outside panel, which we did not replace, because from the very beginning, she did not want this done. I quoted her for what she asked me for and she nickel and dimed me every step of the way. When the inspector left, I offered to correct all of the violations, free of charge, even though Only one of them pertained to my work. At that point, she refused to let me go back into her house to fix anything, until about three months later( the time that she claims that I abandoned the job) at which point I received her termination letter, citing all of her existing violations and demanding a brand new outdoor panel, free of charge or a complete refund of all work done, including the wire that we pulled. I responded immediately to her demand, since at this point, she just wanted all of her money back so that she could pay her new GC. This includes monies paid for her smoke detectors, pulling the new wire, the panel change and the $583 main breaker that she never paid me for. I even had a third party, friend of both of ours, intervene to try to find the win/win but she refused. I am a small contractor and cannot afford to be bullied into making corrections to work that was never mine to correct. The following is the response to her letter of termination and demands that she made 90 days after inspection

  Dear *****,
  I did speak to your GC, and I don't think he fully grasped what I was saying.
  No, I did not agree to do all the things that you have listed in your email. First of all,
  because it will not be code compliant and second of all because you did not pay me 
  for all the items that are in addition to my scope of work. There are so many things wrong
  with your requests, that I must address them one at a time.
  
  
  REQUEST: Install the 200-amp panel as originally agreed upon (GC said youll do the outside panel, not insideplease confirm).

  
  I told you that the only place that you can have a 200A panel is outside, and that is what you have. We had an almost impossible time just running wire to give you 125A on the inside, after discovering that your inside panel was only wired for 60 amps. We found this out when we tried to pull the new wires, and they were welded together. That was truly a fire hazard that you had been living with for God knows how long. I explained to you that the 200A was a typo from my office and from an electrical perspective, it does not make sense and would be a waste to put a 200A panel in there, because most of your load is in the outside panel. From my understanding, the reason for the inside panel change was for you to have spaces to pull additional circuits for your master bathroom and bedroom. When I told you that you would have more than enough power for your Tesla, I was referring to the capacity of your outdoor panel. Tapping out of the inside panel for this was never an option. The inside panel can only be backed up by a 125A breaker, no matter what size panel you put in there, unless you replace the outside panel, which you did not pay me to do.
  Replace all necessary wiring to support the 200-amp panel and meet the required power demands.
  Again, we could barely squeeze 125A rated wire in your tight ceiling, and we damaged your ceiling in trying to do this. Running 200A wire inside would require us making significant openings in your ceiling in order to be able to run a conduit in there. If I would have legitimately quoted you for a 200A panel, I would have quoted you to run 200A wire also. How you would think that you are going to go from 60 amps to 200 amps for the same price, defies all logic and reason. FYI, the cost of a 200A interior panel with up to 24 circuits starts at $3500. I didn't charge you anywhere close to that amount for your interior panel. 
  Install arc-fault breakers (AFCI) where required to ensure compliance with electrical code. 
  I did not touch any of your existing branch circuits and I did not install any new branch circuits. That is the only time that I am required to install arc fault breakers. This request is not even close to being my issue and sounds like something that your GC told you to ask for, without knowing my scope of work. Any 120V circuits added to your panel must be AFCI protected. We have not added any circuits to your panel.
  Correct all code violations so that we can officially close the permit.
  Out of all the violations that the inspector cited, the only ones directly related to our work are the missing neutral jumper and the opening just above the live parts. Oh, and not realizing that your old main breaker was not up to current code. Contractors fail inspections all the time. When this happens, we correct violations and reinspect. These violations do not give you a justifiable reason to demand that I correct every single existing code violation in your existing panel which I did not change for FREE or refund you for all of the work we have legitimately done. I understand that you are getting information from your new GC. With all due respect, he may be a very good GC, and he may know SOME electrical codes, but he is clueless as to how what he is telling you to ask for or are entitled to. What he is suggesting is required, is not related to my workmanship and the work that I was contracted to do.
  However, I will address them all one by one. It is not the best use of my time on a Monday morning, but necessary for sure.
  
  
  Outside Panel: THIS PANEL WAS EXISTING AND CUSTOMER DID NOT WANT TO PAY TO REPLACE
  Conduit Above Live Parts Needs to Have Weather-Rated Seal
  The violation for an opening above the line side in the outside panel is valid. I would like to point out that it is barely 1" above the required height, and of course, we will correct it at no additional charge to you.
  
  
  Feeder Breaker to Interior Panel Has to Be Replaced with a New Breaker Rated at ****** *** (Ampere Interrupting Capacity)
  *We replaced the existing breaker with an exact match to the one that was previously installed. This breaker was over 40 years old, and the *** rating back then 2400A, which I was unaware of. I did not realize that. It was before my time. The new *** rating for this main breaker is ******A. By purchasing an exact match to your breaker, this change was not reflected. If we would have not had to change the breaker, it would have been grandfathered in. Of course, we will change this breaker to one with the correct *** rating, at no additional cost to you.
  *The violation of the missing jumper for neutral bar in the inside panel is also on us and will be corrected at no additional charge to you.
  *The violation of the missing bonding bushing was not created by us, however I said we will correct in order to pass our final at no additional charge to you.
  Two Ground Rods, Water Bond, and Intra-System Bond Bridge Installed to Exterior Panel
  *The violation of only one ground rod was not created by us, however I said we will take care of it in order to pass our final at no additional charge to you.
  *The violation of no grounding bridge was existing, however I said that we will correct it in order to pass our final inspection at no additional charge to you.
  UL-Listed Dead Front Required
  *This violation was existing in your outdoor panel, and I cannot fix. This is not something that can be corrected without doing an entire panel change. They don't sell dead fronts without the entire panel. This would have been caught by the inspector even if we didn't have any other violations. I was very clear in explaining to you when you said you wanted to pull this permit that any existing violations caught by the inspector would have to be addressed. I never said that I would do it for free, nor should you have expected it.
  *The violation of no ground to a waterpipe was existing, however I said we will correct it in order to pass our final inspection, at no additional charge to you.
  All Breakers in the Exterior Panel Need to Be Square D QO Type
  *The violation of mismatched breakers in the outside panel was not created by us, however I said that we will take care of it in order for us to pass our final inspection, at no additional charge to you.
  **** Breaker Required for Pool Equipment
  *We did not install any pool equipment or any pool equipment breakers. This violation has existed in your panel for quite a long time. This is another existing violation that you are somehow tying to my installation of your interior panel. I will provide the labor at no additional charge to you, but you will have to pay for this breaker.
  Inside Panel:
  Open Neutral Bus Bar in Panel. 
  **The violation of the missing jumper for neutral bar in the inside panel is also on us and will be corrected at no additional charge to you. 
  Revision Required for Work Done Not Shown on the Original Plan
  *The reason why the drawings do not match the plans is because when I originally made the drawings, I did not anticipate having to change the feed wires and the main breaker. These were casualties of the original negligent undersized wire feed installation, and the wear and tear of a 40 year old breaker that broke in our hands. I will revise the drawings to reflect work actually done. Keep in mind that this means that your final will not be scheduled until revision is completed. We will schedule work upon approval of revision. Just to make sure we get it right. This is now out of my hands and we must go through all the necessary steps to comply with the city's request.
  Repair our ceiling, as you previously committed to in writing.
  *I had already made arrangements with ****************** to call you to make repairs, until I got your email. Once we agree on the things that you are asking me for that are my responsibility and what is way beyond my scope of work, I will be more than happy to send him over.
  Personally supervise the work and ensure that a licensed and competent team is handling the installation and repairs.
  *I would not have it any other way. I will have eyes in the back of my head for this installation.
  
  
  The following is a list of the invoices that you paid for:
  
  
  Invoice #****-1   $3069.50
  This invoice was for the replacement of your inside panel.
  This work is complete other than the missed jumper between neutral bars.
  
  
  Invoice # ****-2   $583.20
  This invoice was for the breaker that broke when we removed it in order to run the new feed. The breaker had to be removed but it was so brittle from so many years of wear and tear, that it broke in our hands. We replaced it with an exact match to what was there.
  
  
  Invoice # ****-1   $1470
  This invoice was for the cost of the new 3-3-3-5 SER cable that we had to run. Please note that I only charged you for the wire. We had to use this special cable because we could not use existing conduit and there was no room to run a new conduit. I did not charge you for
  any labor costs which was considerable, considering the limited attic space that we were working with.
  This is what led to the damage to your ceiling. It only went downhill from there.
  
  
  
  
  In conclusion, I believe that you have gotten a lot of conflicting information from different parties. I am all for looking for the win/win for all of us.
  I have already offered to correct almost all of your existing violations that have nothing to do with my installation, free of charge. I will put in any necessary revisions, and I will also have your ceiling professionally repaired. 
  The only other items that are still your responsibility are the dead front for your panel and the **** breaker.
  I'm sorry that this took so long to get to you. I have literally been working on it all day, as I put out a thousand other fires.
  Blessings!

  She refused to allow us to make any corrections so I just let her go through her process, and this is the result
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Thank you,
  ******* S ******
  
  
  ********************************************************* | ************

  Customer Answer

  Date: 05/09/2025

  Attached is the invoice and the receipt of payment for the breaker. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 05/09/2025

   
  Complaint: 23264870
  
  I am rejecting this response because it is unprofessional, contains false statements, and fails to address the fact that Jesselectric did not complete the work and the job did not pass inspection. The contractors comments about my wifecalling her impossible and referencing my surgeryare not only irrelevant but condescending and inappropriate. Her tone in written and verbal communication following the failed inspection and our termination letter has made us feel uncomfortable. Based on her conduct, we no longer feel secure that she can complete the job impartially or professionally. She also falsely claimed we did not pay for the $583 breakerproof of payment of the invoice is attached. Finally, Jesselectric own contract clearly states: If you are not 100% satisfied with the service we have provided, we will refund all of your money. We are invoking that guarantee and requesting a full refund due to incomplete work, failed inspection, and unacceptable conduct.

  Sincerely,
  
  ****** ****