ComplaintsforMadsen Electric

• Initial Complaint

  11/14/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  In 2022 we hired Madsen Electric to rewire our house from k*** and tube wiring and paid bills for service on time. *** was completed in August 2022 with some later follow-**** Since the last visit in 2022, we have had issues with our outlets such that plug-in circuit breakers were melting. We called Madsen in September 2023 to ask if this could be inspected and see if there was another issue with the wiring. During that scheduling call they made no mention of a fee for having contractor come out to assess. ***** said contractor would stop by on way to another job. The contractor was a no-show on that day so I called again a few weeks later. Similarly there was no mention of fee on that call and another appointment was scheduled. Contractor arrived for second appointment, looked at the melted plug-in circuit breakers and said they were incompatible with new wiring and circuit breaker on the electrical panel. He told us just to not use plug-in circuit breakers for electronics. No work was done in the home. This advice or guidance could have been provided at job completion or over the phone. Contractor was here 5 to 10 minutes *** and made no mention of billing. On 11/13/2023 we received a bill of $275.75 citing a "min. service charge" for the visit. That was the first we were notified of any charge for the visit. I've reviewed Madsen's website and there is no obvious mention of service charge under their residential services. I believe this is a bad business practice and unjustified billing.

  Customer response

  11/14/2023

  Hello! There are fields on the complaint that were not in the form I completed. See details on attached invoice #*****. Amount of $275.75. 

  Thank you for your follow-up.

  *******************************

  

  Business response

  11/15/2023

  ***********************

  Customer response

  11/15/2023

  Hello. Madsen Electric responded with just a name: ***********************. There is no detail in the response to accept or reject. How should I proceed? I also attached the invoice for record.

  Also, this complaint is not an advertising issue. It is a billing issue as I designated in the form submitted to BBB, which I kept record of. Please let me know how to update. 

  Regards. 

  *******************************

  

  Business response

  11/17/2023

  This issue was brought to my attention by my residential department manager on Monday 11/13/23.  I asked if I could get some history on the project and the reason why the customer was unhappy.  I was told we did work on the customers house in 2022 and that the customer had called because they had an issue of a breaker tripping that they believed was tied to the work that we had previously completed.  We dispatched an electrician to the property to investigate the issue.  It was found that the issue was not related to the work that we did, instead it was related to multiple surge protectors being plugged in at different locations in the home and overloading the circuit(s). The homeowners were advised to discontinue the use of those power strips. A bill was sent for our time troubleshooting the tripping issue.
  
  Madsen Electric has a 1 year warranty on work performed.  In this particular instance if the work would have been an issue with our work it would have been covered under warranty.  I believe a mistake was made when scheduling the electrician with the customer.  I dont believe it was made clear that if this work was not related to warranty that there would be a charge,  and per Madsen Electrics policy that charge is a $250 minimum service fee.  We should have been more clear in that.
  
  I asked my residential assistant if they could reach out to the customer and try to clarify the reason for the bill ($250 minimum+sales tax).  I gave him the authority to offer to waive the minimum fee since it was unclear, but that we still needed to charge for our electricians time at $105/hr + tax.  The customers response was that they would contact the BBB.
  
  In regards to the complaint of advertising issues, Madsen electric does not advertise any of its rates or fees we do not offer flat rate pricing and every project is either individually bid, or ******* if it is a service request.  It is not a bad business practice it is how we have done business for 75 years and it is how the majority of construction service companies work.  To publish our pricing would put us at a competitive disadvantage.
  
  I do not know what the resolution is other than what we have already offered which to pay for time spent.
  
  Thank you,
  
  *********************** | Division Manager

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩