SUNSET ELECTRIC INC

On 9/23/10 at 11:25am I called SB and the phone rang 33 times without the machine answering as usually happened.  On the 33rd ring I heard the answer machine click on and after ring #37 the machine answered and I left a message asking if he had finished.  

On 9/24/10, 8:00am I called and left same message.  Have you finished or been to the house?  No reply.  

On 9/27/10 at 8:00am I left a message stating “I’m still waiting to hear from you.” At 12:04pm I called SB again and I did not leave a message.  At 12:32pm I called SB again and there was a new outgoing message on his machine without the Solar Bear name but in Mike’s voice.  I left the same message and again received no reply.  

On 9/29/10 I received a call from a friend that lives at Arrowhead and she advised me that on 9/27/10 she went by my cabin and found Mike working in my garage.  She said she talked to him briefly and he told her something about a recall on the remote monitor.  I don’t know if there was actually a recall of the monitor or Mike was fabricating another story to justify his extreme tardiness in completing the contract. At 1:11 the same date, I called SB and the old message was back on the machine.  I left a message stating, “I heard you were at the cabin.  Thank you, but I still need to know the status of everything” Please call me.”  I received no reply.  

On 10/4/10, at 11:54am, I called and left a message asking what is happening. “Let’s try to make this an adult situation.  Please call me.”  I received no reply.

On 10/6/10, at11:59am, I called SB and left message.  “What’s happening?”  “Please call me and let me know.”  At 12:02 I called my cabin to see if he had left a message up there.  He had not.  At approximately 1:00PM the same day, I received an email with a new “Final Invoice” attached from Mike at Solar Bear.    The email starts “You had asked me if there was a way to use a portable generator for emergency backup if the Standby failed.  I would not recommend or endorse the use of the small generator.”  Mike then writes out the 8 step operational procedure list that I had insisted upon from our very first conversation in October, 2009. After the procedure list, he addressed the questions from my phone message from 9/13/10, pertaining to the unconnected ROMEX and the battery blanket.  He wrote “Also, the wire that is run in the crawlspace was for the auxiliary power for the battery warmer is not needed and is a spare circuit to the Generac Generator.  The wire is not powered and may be removed if you do not want it there.”  This should take care of my obligations and I would like to be paid my final invoice.”  The invoice was for $164.25 for parts for the garage hookup.    

On 11/5/10, I replied to Mike’s final email.  I asked “If that circuit was run for the battery warmer, why is it no longer needed?”  “Did you plug in the warmer when you were there in October?”  “Is it functioning now?”……I received No Further Replies……   Before sending Mike anymore money, I knew that I had to verify Mike’s claims so, I scheduled another trip to my Cabin.  

On 11/26/10, I arrived at the Cabin and found the Generator turned to the “OFF” position so that it could not have operated in the event of a power disruption.  Upon further inspection, I found that Mike had rolled up the wires to the Battery Warmer Blanket and wedged them out of sight to the back side of the battery.  I did not notice until my next trip to the Cabin in June, 2011 that when connecting the Battery Cables, he had only pushed the connectors down halfway on the battery posts and tightened them.  This allowed for only half of the available surface contact.  I also looked at the Remote Transceiver that Mike had installed on the generator in my absence and noticed that it was loose and easily moved around (.5”), enough to allow blowing snow to enter the back of the wiring compartment of the Generator.  I also noticed that one of the bolts and two washers that hold down the generator control panel were missing.  I could not see them anywhere in or around the cabinet.  I am concerned that they were dropped inside the cabinet and could be sucked up during operation and cause damage to the unit   Mike knew that I was not planning to return to the Cabin prior to the heavy snowfalls but still left the new generator turned “OFF”. I don’t know if it was intentional or incompetence.   On my last departure from the Cabin, I had set my thermostats all to the lowest setting expecting the generator to offset any utility power disruption and protect from freezing pipes.  I turned the generator to manual and it started and the remote Monitor seemed to be functioning properly so I set the generator to “auto” before leaving the Cabin until the following summer (June, 2011).  

On 6/24/11, I was able to travel back to my cabin in Colorado for the first time since the previous November.  Both the remote and the generator control showed an Alarm “Inspect Battery”.  Upon closer inspection of the battery, I then noticed that the cables had been connected poorly.  I turned off Utility Power, ATS, and the generator and pulled the 7.5 amp fuse.  I then disconnected, cleaned, and reconnected the cables properly.  After restoring power and ATS, the control panel on the generator came back up to the 24 hour clock and froze up.  After several attempts, the Remote was showing “No Radio Signal” I then studied the installation and operation manuals for the remote and learned how to reset the transceiver.  I attempted this operation several times with no results.  The generator still locked on the 24 hour clock mode.  The remote still showed no radio signal with both units within 3-5 feet of each other.   Mike installed Model # 5875 at my cabin.  Not Model #5744 that he had referenced in all of his correspondence to me throughout.  I am sure that he found this unit at the last minute because of my original request for the aluminum cabinet.  After numerous subsequent contacts with Dealers and Suppliers, I learned that the Battery Blanket that Mike had wrapped around my battery and not connected, was an old model that was not recommended anymore because it became too hot and would burn up the battery.  I was told that the #5875 was pre-wired from the factory to plug in thermostatically controlled heating pads for the battery and crankcase oil (Cold Weather Kit #5947).  

When I first started working with Mike, he had told me that he was in the process of changing names of his business from Sunset Electric to Solar Bear Electric.  I knew that here in the Southwest, it is common practice for construction companies  with dubious reputations and practice to change their business names frequently to avoid previous problems and “start fresh”.   It crossed my mind in the beginning but Mike is very smooth and accommodating with his dialog and convinced me that he in fact was a “Professional”, running a “Family Business”.    Mike is cordial as long as he is due money and is receiving regular checks from you.