412 Emergency Electricians

I received a call from the provider on June 6 after I placed a request for help with a broken outdoor outlet on Angi List's website. I told the provider what I needed and the provider asked when I needed the service. I said well today would be fine. The provider said if they came that same day there were be an "emergency charge" attached to the call. I said I didn't want to pay the emergency charge, so I asked if he could come the next day. He said he would be there between 10 - 12 and I agreed to that time frame. He told me of his $146 travel fee due when he arrived even if he didn't do any work. He was pretty gruff on the phone and my husband who was listening to the conversation said he thought that the provider seemed like he was not a good person. I agreed to the travel fee. On June 7 the provider called me three times between 953 -957 with a voice mail that said he would not come unless I responded that someone was home or would be home when he came. I called him back when I saw the messages (I was at a doctor's appointment) and he said he would come and wasn't sure when he would arrive because of traffic. He showed up around 11. He introduced himself and asked if my dogs were friendly. I told them that they were. He walked in an immediately asked me to turn down my tv because he did not like discussing things with clients with background noise - he said he could not concentrate. I asked him if he was autistic and he said no just that he cannot stand background noise. I told him my husband was on the spectrum and I understood. He immediately asked me if he could only deal with me and that he didn't do well working with persons who had autism. He told me a story of his niece who is now 22 and autistic and how he did not get a long with her and this has caused him to stay away from his family for 7 years. He said his brother would make his niece kick him when she was 14. He asked for his $145. I told him that I might have to go to an ATM to get the funds, but when I looked I had $100 in my purse. I asked my husband to bring down the $45. Provider became very nervous and asked me to not have my husband come down. My husband gave him $60, but provider never provided the $15 in change. My husband told him that he thought the travel charge was too high and was bullsh*t. The provider became very angry and said that he would not be disrespected and that he was going to leave. I asked my husband to go upstairs, which he did. The provider told me that he knew he would not get along with my husband, which is why he asked me to keep him upstairs. I apologized for my husband offending him. I told him that my husband had cancer and various other life threatening illnesses. The provider said he didn't care that he had a wife with ALS who required medication that cost $22,000 a month. I told him I was sorry to hear that. At that point he started rattling off the charges. He said it would cost $1895 for him to investigate my home's wiring and the broken outlet to find out what was wrong. I asked him why it cost so much and he told me that he might have to trace wires into walls and take apart my circuit breaker to get to the bottom of why the outlet wouldn't work. He said that houses can burn down if electricians don't get to the bottom of why an outlet doesn't work. This didn't seem right to me, but I was a bit rattled over his interaction with my husband, his approach (which was gruff) and the thought of my house burning down. He told me that he had 7 other calls to go to that day so he could not dawdle at my house. He started to seem like he was in a hurry. So, I agreed to the fee. About 5 minutes later) he told me that problem was my outlet was broken, and my circuit breaker was as well (according to my research this is a very rare event). He told me it would take $2880 to fix both. I said that seemed to me to be too much. He said that was what it costed and if I didn't fix the circuit breaker I could have an electrical fire. So, I told him to fix both. He then went to his truck a couple of times (after the first visit he came back smelling heavily of aftershave or cologne, which I thought was odd). Less than 5 minutes later he told me the problem was a broken outlet and a circuit breaker. He told me that he had to replace both. Then, he told me that this would cost $2880. I said that seemed way too much. He said well you are paying a very experienced licensed plumber and that is what it costs. You can pay McDonald's prices and get McDonald's results. Again, he told me if these items were not replaced, I risked a fire in my house (not to mention I had an outlet that didn't work). I reluctantly agreed to pay his price. A few minutes later he brought to me the old outlet and the old circuit breaker. Then, he whisked them away. I never saw them again (I realize now that service providers often leave these items behind to substantiate that they were broken). Then, he told me I needed a whole home surge protector. He said without this, I ran the risk of there being a fire in my walls that is undetected that could kill my husband and my dogs/cats. He said he had this and it soon would be required for all new houses (and houses that are sold) to have this. I cannot find where this is true. I agreed to buy this, and he charged me $2125. Except for the $160 we gave him cash (travel fee), the rest $7035 was charged to my credit card. I told him that this seemed way too much and he told me that this is what the charge was and it would give me the peace of mind that my house would be less likely to burn down in a silent electrical fire. PLEASE NOTE: (1) ACCORDING TO THE INTERNET, THE TYPICAL CHARGE FOR REPLACING AN OUTDOOR OUTLET IS $30 - $60 FOR THE OUTLET AND $150 - 400 FOR LABOR COSTS. (2) THE TYPICAL CHARGE TO DIAGNOSE WHY AN OUTLET DOESN'T WORK IS ELECTRICIAN ABOUT $25 - $50!!! (2) THE TYPICAL DIAGNOSTIC CHARGE BY AN ELECTRICIAN TO DETERMINE WHY AN OUTLET DOESN'T WORK IS $75- $150!! (3) THE TYPICAL COST FOR A WHOLE HOME SURGE PROTECTOR IS $200 - 600 WITH LABOR COSTS BEING TYPICALLY $100 - 300. THIS MEANS THE SERVICES RENDERED SHOULD HAVE COST FROM $555 - 1510! The provider asked me to sign a paper that he said would prevent me from wanting my money back (required by PA law) because if I didn't sign the paper he would leave and not come back for 4 days, which is NOT what the PA law means. Again, based upon my research this waiver is NOT LEGAL and CANNOT BE ENFORCED. My filing of a complaint with Angi List on June 7 is my indication that I wanted this work rescinded and I was within my 3 day rightful period of time. Please also note: IN PENNSYLVANIA IF AN ELECTRICIAN OVER CHARGES AS THIS ELECTRICIAN DID AND I TAKE THIS TO A MAGISTRATE (WHICH I WILL DO, BELIEVE ME) I AM ENTITLED TO THREE TIMES WHAT HE CHARGED ME (WHICH WOULD BE OVER $21,000)!! I have stopped payment with my credit card and launched a dispute. My credit card company will receive this information as well. I will also contact the local TV consumer reporter and report my experience. I will contact the PA US Attorney General as well. I will also publish my experience on Next Door and Face Book. Unless, I receive a refund for my overcharge.

Great work, solved on additional issues as well including fixing an outdoor plug issue. He arrived on time in the window and charged an accurate estimate. Will return with future business.

Responded quickly when I submitted a request at 8pm on a Sunday and was there the next day. Explained each step of the process and fixed my panel in one visit. I would highly recommend.

Tom did a great job resolving 2 complicated issues. He was great!

Tom was thorough and talked me through every step. He spent as much time as needed, and worked hard to make the service a fair price.

Tom was great! He looked at everything gave me information about what he thought could be causing the problem than proceed to test his suspicions. He was thorough and efficient. Pleasant to talk to answered questions and worked efficiently. Would call again if needed. A++

I’m very happy with the job that was performed. Tom was really nice and easy to deal with even though I was a little on edge. All in all I’m happy. Definitely a pleasant person

Our technician was Tom. Tom was up front and honest. He gave us all of our options coupled with advice for each of those options. Tom was thorough in assessing the issues with our furnace. Tom was extremely knowledgeable and relatable. Tom was also clear and concise communicator. Tom was efficient with work. He was thorough in all of the steps in fixing each problem. Overall, I would highly recommend him for electrical and furnace issues.

240V line installed for dryer hook-up. Tom let me know he was on his way, surveyed the area, provided quote. Once accepted, he ran wiring to panel and installed new plug/mounted it on the stone wall with wood panel cut out and was done in about 2 hours. Cleaned up the area and moved on. On time, on target-all I could ask for. Well done!

Yes job was completed... clean and neat. Professional.. got to it .. happy enough

The tech was informative and answered my questions. And talked me through the reason for changing my GFI to a regular outlet. However, the pricing is insane. ~185$ just to show up, ~1800$ diagnostic, and ~540$ to restore power because of how my gfic tripped other issues. This was to be able to put in an outlet and get my power started for my kitchen again. If you have an emergency these guys are quick but you will pay for it. Also, he wanted me to finish the survey before he was done and he would ground the outlet box correctly for me for no additional charges. Which while appreciated feels like the least that could have been done after over 2500$. The only reason it is three stars and not less is that the electrician did put up with my many questions and got things fixed less than 18 hours after being called during a holiday week.

Tom was very professional and efficient. Great work.

Tom and Dan were fast, professional, and incredibly helpful getting us a new circuit installed for our kitchen range.

Fast and friendly emergency service from start to finish! Very happy with the electrician who answered our call & scheduled our service, and the electrician on sight was knowledgeable and efficient. Thank you!

I was in a real pickle as my meter was pulling off the wall as shown on the picture. 412 jumped right on this and did work that exceeded my expectations. That not only did the required work but ancillary work that brought my electric and water up to code. I do appreciate work when it is done right. Dan great job!! Thanks that Ange was there to set me up with the right contractor.

Very fast I now have my new working clothes dryer!! Very pleased with the work

Dan came the same day and gave us detailed estimate. He was very knowledgeable and courteous. I would recommend this company to anyone.

The technician charged for a Trip Fee ($110) before beginning any work. That seem s fair. The next step was diagnosing the problem for which he charged me $525. That seemed steep, but perhaps reasonable, as some problems can be complex and challenging, even for professionals. Once the problem was found (loose wires in a junction box), another fee for repair had to be charged. That fee, turned out to be exorbitant given the amount time and labor needed for he repair. Furthermore, had I chosen not to pay for the third and final step (repair for $935), I still would have been charged for the first two fees ($635), and the problem would not have been fixed. It took the repairman under 20 minutes to. reconnect those loose wires, but for that to happen I paid $1570 plus the credit card fee (3 percent), making the total cost of the repair $1617.10. These repair fees are obviously unrelated to the time required to do the actual repairs, because they are quoted from a list the technician showed and repeatedly cited, stressing that the cost could be much greater and pointing to a significantly higher figure that he claimed could rightly be charged. In other words he seemed to want me to believe that I was getting a discount. This technique, along with the slow rollout of the actual costs strike me as deliberately deceptive. In addition, I asked before any charges were made to my credit card if this company charged a service fee for credit card transactions. The repairman claimed that his company did not charge such fees but that our credit card company might do so, thereby evading having to say clearly that his company passes this fee on to their customers. The contract, in fact, has 3% handwritten by him in a box to the left of a box labeled Total Fees which contains a figure that does not reflect the actual cost of the repair because the 3 percent credit card fee was left out. The amount of the fee in question is small compared to the total, but it strikes me as another example of this companies misleading methods.

Great customer service. Personable Got the job completed quick and efficient.

OK, I had Tom from 412 Martin electricians come out to fix my air conditioner. They did a fantastic job. He was very honest and upfront with me and did not try to upsell me. He also noticed my main breaker was aged deteriorated and did me a favor and Change that as well while he was here at Bargin!

Great guy, quick and easy fix

They were an awesome group to work with - found the problem, and a bigger one and fixed them both! Only reason I gave 4 stars was the pricing. A little high in my opinion.

Came out to help with an AFCI breaker nuisance tripping. Very thorough explanation of the process and ended up replacing the breaker as a first step. Work was completed quickly and Tom was very responsive. Would recommend him for his expertise.

From the initial phone call, "Tom" came across as being transactional. He stressed that he required a $125 payment upon arrival. Although I thought the "payment" was a bit high, I assumed it would be deducted from any additional servicing that needed to be done. Tom also stated that he would arrive between on Friday, June 6th, between 10:00 and 2:00. I told him that I needed a more specific time parameter. He said that he would phone me the morning the service was to be performed to accommodate my needs. On June 6th, Tom phoned at approximately 9:00 a.m. and said that he would arrive between 12:00 and 1:00. Once more, he stressed that he required a $125 deposit. I agreed and said that I would see him within the aforementioned time that was agreed upon. Tom didn't arrive until well after 1:00. Nonetheless, he made short order of collecting the $125 and presenting me with a contract that he spoke through quickly and filled-in haphazardly. He moved about quickly, making me initial the contract as he stated things that didn't make sense immediately. After I signed the $125 agreement portion of the contract and Tom ran my debit card, he informed me that there was an additional fee for using a card for the transaction. I didn't comment at the time, as he asked to see where the furnace was located. As we inspected the furnace together, I was relieved when he said that the furnace seemed to be in good working order. Following suit, he asked to see where the air conditioning unit was located. At that point, I escorted him outside. While we were standing at the unit, he pulled out a booklet and said, "Just so you know, it's $1,025 for an inspection and about $380 for every other item I find." I was in shock! I didn't know what to do. I questioned him about the price to which he replied, "Hey, you never know what's going on inside, it's better than replacing the unit...that could be $3,000 or more...etc. " He was essentially planting fear in my head. I said, "What if it's minimal and you don't have to do much...something simple?" He responded by saying, "I'll get it fixed." At that point, I ASSUMED that he would be an ethical pro and charge me accordingly. It was at that moment that I went back into my home.

Customer service is excellent. Job was begun the following day and finished the next. Our follow up conversations have been helpful BB as this was a stressful time following a major storm