One Call Professional Services

In 12.12, Rideout Repairs (RR) rewired my home. The work was finished in January 2013. It was not done properly. I had browned out lights, high power bills, over loaded breakers (16 items on one breaker!) & more. I paid $12,000. In 6.2013, RR subcontracted the work to Steven Fisher (SF) of OCPS to get my house up to code (about $3,000 worth of work). At that time, I individually contracted with SF of OCPS to install 11 outlets for $550, 10 of which he said were required for my home to pass inspection (1 outlet every 6 feet - see below for specifics). SF of OCPS demonstrated an utter lack of respect for my schedule or urgency surrounding the rewire. I lost the ability to take a vacation b/c I waited on OCPS for almost a month & a half to complete the work. I was always told it would be only 2-3 more days. In 6.2013, RR hired SF of One Call Professional Services (OCPS) to fix the problem & stressed time was of the essence. RR was told it would take 6 days. SF of OCPS told me it would take 6 days but we planned for 2 weeks in case of unforeseen issues. On 6.26.13, the 1st day of work, SF said his wife had been diagnosed with a serious medical condition. I asked if the work would still be done as planned or if someone else needed to do it. He assured me he & his team would get it done in a timely & professional manner. Here are the problems I experienced: 1. Excessive Delays Out of 19 possible M-F work days, OCPS was onsite only 6 days due to repeated delays & no-shows. I scheduled my work/life around them from 6.26 to 8.7. to get the work done. Time was of the essence. An OCPS agent working on the job, Steven Jr., labeled the electrical in my basement as "dangerous" stating "it was a wonder I hadn't had a fire already" due to poor wiring. 2. Working without a Permit. OCPS failed to get a permit.. Work began 6.26.13 & ended 7.24.13. A permit was not pulled until 7.23.13 despite repeated assurances. On 7.19.13, I called Codes Admin to see if a permit had been pulled. On 7.22.13, OCPS was fined triple fees for working without a permit. SF failed to show or let me know he would not on 7.22 & 7.23. He was here on 7.24 only after RR, agreed to be here while work was done. 3. Property Damage. On 6.26.13, OCPS caused $487 in damage to my commercial-grade stove. An OCPS agent, Cody, moved my stove away from the wall by pulling on the oven handle. I discovered damage when they put it back to the wall. SF of OCPS attempted to repair & when he couldn't, he called A1 Appliance to schedule the repair. Despite assurances, SF of OCPS failed to pay for the repair. He ignored requests from me & A1 Appliance. He told Bret Rideout of RR that he did not damage the stove & that he would not pay for it. RR paid for the repairs & docked OCPS' check for the damages. My stove was thus damaged for a MONTH. 4. Potential Fraud & Failure to refund $500 On 6.26.13 SF of OCPS represented to me that my 1927 home would NOT pass inspection without the installation of one outlet per six foot of wall space. I agreed to purchase 10 outlets per code & one extra (total of 11) for $550 based on his statements. I paid OCPS $550 by check per our written contract. On 7.22.13, Tim, an inspector with Codes Admin, visited my home. He arrived to speak with SF of OCPS to discuss the lack of permit. Unfortunately, OCPS did not show again. Tim told me that the 6 foot rule applied to NEW construction, not to my 83-year old home. SF of OCPS is an experienced licensed electrician. As such, he knows the code & what it applies to & what it doesn?t. This was a material misrepresentation of fact (my house wouldn't pass codes without the extra outlets every 6 feet) to induce me to act (pay him $550 for the extra outlets) which I did. Based on these facts, this seems like a deceptive or fraudulent act, in my opinion. On 7.24.13, SF of OCPS broke the contract me with & refused to install the remaining 10 plugs. He said he would refund me so we would be ?done?. I agreed. I pointed out one plug out of ten had been installed. I pointed this out in an effort to be fair & pay for services rendered. In the presence of Bret & Earl from Rideout Repairs, we agreed he would refund the pro rata amount ($500) by certified check & it would be mailed to me on Monday, 7.29.13. Originally, he stated the 10 outlets were necessary for my home to pass code. On the 24th, he changed the story & said the outlets were needed only if I did the service upgrade to my home, which I had originally considered. I stopped considering the upgrade when I learned from Tim at Codes this was not necessary & my house was fine with its current service. At that point, I clarified he previously said they were "necessary" to pass rewire inspection. It is now 8.17.13 & I still have not received a refund. On 8.4.13, I emailed SF of OCPS, six mailing days after it was to be posted, I had not received the refund. I further stated failure to deliver a check by the 6th, inspection day, would result in a BBB report & other remedies as applicable. No response. On 8.7.13, the inspection day I scheduled, SF of OCPS was onsite for the inspection. When I asked about my refund, he said $500 was not correct & we had only agreed upon 8 outlets. I disagreed. He then said Rideout Repairs wanted him to do other non-electrical work on my home. I told him this contract was not between he/OCPS & Brett, but between us & I wanted my money immediately. I followed up with Rideout Repairs & was told this was not true & they had no plans for OCPS to do any other work for them. On 8.10.13, I emailed OCPS requesting my refund with a detailed list of where the 10 outlets were to go & comments made at the time of placement determination. I requested they respond as failure to do so was not making the situation better, but worse. No response. 8.17.13: I have still not received my $500 refund. I?ve filed a complaint with the BBB, am posting this on Angie?s List, & am completing paper work to make a formal complaint with the contractor licensing board. 5. Poor Follow Through. OCPS scheduled the inspection on 7.29.13 without seeing if I was available. I was not. I asked them to reschedule it. They requested a date & time window which I provided, 8.6.13 from 9-11. No one arrived for the inspection. I called Codes & learned the inspection was never rescheduled. This wasted yet another day of my life & calendar waiting on OCPS. I personally scheduled the inspection for the 8.7.13. 6. Poor communication. SF of OCPS failed to respond to texts or email communications regarding scheduling issues, non-completion of the work for several days at a time. I didn't know if they would be on site or cancel yet again from day to day for around a month & a half. I began cc?ing Rideout Repairs, the party paying about $3,000 for the rewire work. According to the business manager, Sheri, at Rideout Repairs, SF of OCPS was mad I included cc?ed them. Some of the communications revealed inaccurate information given to both me & Rideout Repairs by SF of OCPS on work progress, client happiness & work performed. 7. Unprofessionalism SF of OCPS continually called me ?honey?, ?sweetie?, ?baby? or ?darling?. I told him not to do so during our first phone call, that this was a professional relationship. He said he would try not to, that it was habit. It continued. On the first day of work, I told him again I was not okay with it & proposed each time he called me one of these pet names, it would be $20 off the bill. We shook h&s on it. He understood I was serious as on that day alone I counted up almost $100 in discounts due to the pet names. (Note: Steven Jr., Cody & Butch were the three others on the crew & were well mannered & polite at all times.) On July 24th, SF of OCPS arrived on site to complete the work. He was here on the 24th only after the General Contractor, Rideout Repairs, agreed to be on site while the work was being done. He appeared to be so angry that he would not speak to me directly or acknowledge me. In conversations with Brett of Rideout Repairs, he referred to me as ?she? or ?her? while I was st&ing right there. Eventually, he did acknowledge me but he was clearly very angry & unable to be professional. On August 7th, SF of OCPS, ab&oned the inspection by Codes. He, inspector Bill T. from Codes & I were going through the electrical work. I asked questions of the inspector & Steven about the work (as well as asked Steven for my refund), including pointing out there were still overloaded & incorrect-per-wire amp breakers, SF of OCPS became so angry he ab&oned the inspection & left stating, ?I can?t stay here?. He had previously told me not to say anything during inspection. The safety & quality of work of my home is my priority, not protecting the work he did or didn?t do. Bottom line: He did a poor job, with poor communication, failed to follow code rules, broke my property, gave me incorrect information to induce me to pay him money for work I did not actually need, & has failed to refund me. Shame! 8. Work quality. The electrical work failed inspection. Wire was unstrapped, junction boxes not covered, tamper-resistant GFIs not installed in three locations, overloaded breakers not reallocated, 20 amp breakers on 14 gauge wire (should be a 15 amp breaker), reallocations not noted on the panel, there was still 16 outlets/lights on one breaker.