Complaints

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• Initial Complaint

  Date:12/28/2022

  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.

  On Monday night, 12/26 I noticed a fishy smell in my house. I ******* it and read that a fishy smell could be an electrical problem and recommended calling 911 and an electrician immediately. The smell was coming from the breaker box and the breakers were hot. I contacted Longacre Electric who told me to shut off the breaker and they would come in the morning. They came the next morning 12/27. They ran the dryer because that was what had been running when the smell started. The electrician stated that he didn't smell anything and the breaker was not hot. He was there less than 20 minutes. He charged $50.00 and left. That night I turned on the dryer again and the breaker got hot and the smell returned. I called him back and said he would come back but would charge another $165 plus the cost to replace the breaker. I called another electrician who came out this morning. The breaker was not hot and the fish smell was not present, but he removed the breakers and found 4 breakers starting to melt. He replaced them. I feel that Longacre was negligent in not finding the problem thereby putting our lives and house in danger of a fire. The first thing that should have been done was to remove the breakers and check them. Instead he did nothing and I would have had to pay him another service call for him to come back, without getting credit for the $50 I already paid. I could understand the $50 charge for coming out and finding nothing wrong, if nothing was actually wrong. I would like a full refund.

  Business Response

  Date: 01/22/2023

  My wife got a message from friend on 12/26/22 at 8:08pm on ******** saying “your I husband is an electrician right?” (Attaching copy of conversation between my wife and her/homeowner will be sent). My wife had instructed her to call my phone and gave her my number. When she (homeowner)called she explained how she was doing wash and the dryer was running and she could smell a fishy smell and the breaker was hot and upon ********, she (homeowner)explained that it said to call 911 and an electrician right away or fire could start. Now if the couple were so concerned as the boyfriend (homeowner) stated in his complaint “longacre was negligent in not finding the problem thereby putting our lives and house in danger of a fire”why didn’t they call 911 and have them come out and makes sure it was safe to remain in their home or even stay with a friend or family member if they were that worried about a fire starting over the night instead of ONLY contacting me? Therefore I believe they are just trying to push all of the negligent on me and not taking any fault of their own actions by failing to take the proper action by calling 911 first. While still on the phone with her (homeowner) I had instructed her to shut the breaker off and that I would be out the next morning to check it out. On 12/27/22 I arrived at their residence and I turned the dryer on and left it run to see if the fishy smell would return or if the breaker would get hot. While the dryer was running I had the panel door off smelled inside and tightened all the screws on the breaker and neutral bar and kept feeling the dryer cord and dryer outlet to see if it would get hot. After 20 minutes or so of not smelling the fishy smell or anything being hot i told her (homeowner) I couldn’t find any electrical issues. She (homeowner) asked me what she owes and I told her “ DONT WORRY ABOUT IT” she then said “ YOU CAME HERE AND TOOK THE TIME OUT OF YOUR DAY AND USED GAS TO COME HERE” I followed up with that statement with “fine”HOW DOES $50 SOUND?” She (homeowner) agreed and I left after being there for about 30 minutes. Later on that night on 12/27/22 she (homeowner)had sent me another messages saying her boyfriend (homeowner) started the dryer and the fishy smell had returned and I told her I would come back out but it would be $165 for a service call and whatever the material would cost. They had someone else come out and he found the problem and fixed it. On 12/28/22 the boyfriends (homeowner) mother called yelling and using profanity towards me, demanding a refund and telling me what I did wrong and what I should have done. I apologize to her for not being able to find the problem and fixing it but was glad another electrician was able to resolve the problem for them, but I would not be giving them a refund. Now I don’t feel as though I should have to refund her (homeowner) for the following reasons.
  1) when you take your car to the garage with a leak and they take it for 20 minutes trying to find a problem and are unable to find the leak. you still get charged.  
  2) my normal services call fee is $165 and when she (homeowner) asked what she owed I said don’t worry about it which means it was FREE and she insisted on giving me something for my time and gas, so why should I have to reimburse something she insisted on giving me? If I was gonna charge her I would have charged $165 not $50. 
  3) the boyfriends (homeowner)mother had no reason to call me demanding a refund for something her sons girlfriend instead on giving me and being unprofessional, disrespectful and rude by using profanity towards me. With that being said even “if”I charged her $50 (which I didn’t)I shouldn’t have to refund her with the way the boyfriend’s mom also spoke to me. 
  
  Through all of this I have been dealing with the female homeowner as she was up and down the steps often so wouldn’t even know what all I did and didn’t do. the boyfriend (homeowner) wasnt home while I was there nor did he spoke with me directly. The boyfriends mother doesn’t even live there and had nothing to do with the matter. I understand the boyfriend writing the letter as he lives there but his mom had no reason to contact me being disrespectful and with regards of a refund since it wasn’t her I was dealing with during all of this. I don’t even understand why I was reported to the better Business Bureau as I didnt even charge  her/homeowner as she instead in me taking something.