I had water leakage to bathroom downstairs which triggered the circuit breaker to go off. I had no idea what it was and was thinking of worse situation (e.g., wires broken due to short-circuiting). I googled and found Mr. Electric instead of using our usual electrician just to give it a try. I called this Mr. Electric office located in St Catharines. A lady answered the call. When I asked her whether they have free estimate, she said yes affirmatively, so I asked her to send someone in. Half an hour later, a guy shew up and then told me how they work. It is 89 dollars plus tax just to do a checkup. I felt quite surprised because it is different from what I was told over the phone, but I felt guilty that he came over in a professionally painted car all the way from St Catharines, so I complained a little bit and agreed to it, which was my biggest mistake. He just did a 30-second job and easily found it was just the circuit breaker being off, but it was wrongly connected because when it was off, there was still power to it. He said it would cost me 190 dollars to fix it. I knew it was a ridiculous charge since the circuit breaker only costs under 20 (BTW, I spent 20 bucks plus 15 minutes to replace and fix it). I refused it but had to pay the 90 some dollars for the easy diagnosis. My wife was totally upset with me and the way I was set up to agree to the service simply due to my useless sense of feeling guilty (just like paying 20% tips for services instead of 15%).
So please be well notified of the way Mr. Electric works, at least this one. They DO NOT offer free estimate, but they will not tell you until someone shows up. If the lady on the phone had told me that the initial diagnosis would cost, I would not have asked for the service. The office should not play the language game (e.g., estimate itself is free, but the diagnosis before the estimate is not free, though I will not tell you over the phone until someone shows up at your doorstep). This is the only thing I want to complain here. I think it is improper sales gimmick. If you are a nice guy (or stupidly nice in my case), you may be set up to pay.
For me personally, I will NEVER EVER use Mr. Electric again and will stick to asking someone I know and had worked for me before.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $100.00
- Company Response
Dear Mr. Chen,
I would like to clarify how our pricng works, but would like to appologize first for any misunderstanding. We do not charge for estimates. If there is a job that is clear in scope, like a panel change, pot light install, added circuit or any other addition or revision to your electrical system we do provide you with a set price to complete this work. When there is an issue that requires trouble shooting to diagnose, than we do charge what is called our Basic Diagnostic Charge. This allows us to properly diagnose the issue at hand and provide a proper price for repair. I do agree in this case it did not take long to isolate the issue, but if it was a broken wire due to short circuiting as you metioned above, it would have taken much longer to find. This would have also been coverd by our Basic Diagnostic Charge. Again I appologize for any misunderstanding, but the reason we do our pricing this way is so all parties know what the price will be prior to starting the work. I would be more than willing to discuss this with you in person if you would like to call me at the office.Dennis Teeuwsen