ComplaintsforK Electric Huntsville, Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  05/15/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Two circuits in our new home bedrooms trip when using a printer or vacuum especially. K Electric did the original installation of the circuits and have come out to look at the fuses. Per the fuse manufacturer, in the bedroom the fuse that was originally installed by K Electric which has **** and AFCI protection should be maintained. The manufacturer recommended against removing the **** or AFCI protection stating that newer fuses may have less sensitivity and not falsely trip. K Electric when coming to resolve the issue did not check what the code on the breaker was even. K Electric wanted to swap out to a breaker without the protection provided when they originally installed the electrical. The issue persists after their last visit and K Electric has now told the builder they refuse to warranty their work which still has a warranty through at least September 2023. K Electric has not contacted me and has now missed their scheduled appointment today saying to the builder they will not be back to our house again to fix the issue.

  

  Business response

  05/15/2023

  Please find our rebuttal that was also filed with the State Electrical Investigator, however, I hope will also suffice in giving some clarity for this complaint with the BBB as well.
  
  
  Please let me know if anything additional is needed or if I should prepare another letter directly to the BBB.
  
  
  Thank you!
  
  *****
  
  
  ******************* | Office Manager
  
  K Electric Huntsville, Inc.
  2464 ************
  Huntsville, ** 35811
  ************
  ************************************

  

  Business response

  05/15/2023

  In addition,

   

  The State Electrical Investigator agreed with the method we attempted to correct this issue with at the first visit. After the homeowner had spoken with the investigator on 05/11/2023-  he allowed us to come back to the home on 05/12/2023 to correct the issue. The job has since been completed.

   

  Customer response

  05/17/2023

  The rebuttal provided by K Electric contains numerous falsities that I will try to outline below. I feel that K Electric is either inventing a story based on "memory" or sparse notes to support their position or, perhaps more or less likely, knowingly lying to avoid an issue with the BBB by blaming the homeowner.

  At the onset, I would like to state that the supervisor, *******************, stated that their "fix" for the latest issue is to "downgrade" the electrical - his word exactly. It also appears that K Electric is conflating several issues that have happened with their installation and wiring over the last 6 months. After the visits in March 2023, I contacted 2 additional contractors to have their opinion on the suggested "fix" prior to K Electric's visit last week and they both suggested not removing the **** protection in the bedroom. More recently, another electrician that I contacted regarding the latest set of issues suggested that K Electric most likely incorrectly installed the electrical wiring creating the issue. 

  K Electric's response:

  ? Monday, December 5th, 2022:
  -[He swapped (2) switch plates.] On the December 5 visit, the technicians replaced a single exhaust fan in the master bathroom. I don't know what switch plates K Electric is referring two. Likely their notes are mixed up with another job.

  -[The homeowner had trouble with dual function breakers tripping in a couple of rooms in home.] This is false - the issue was isolated to a single bathroom in the master bedroom.

  -[****** determined that the breakers were reading a ground fault trip due to several pieces of equipment (Printer and Vacuum).] This is false - the breaker tripped when the shower was run for a long period. We were not connecting printers and vacuums in the bathroom. I don't know where K Electric is getting this information but it is wholly false.

  -[****** suggested to the homeowner that we should swap to Standard Arc Fault breakers.] This suggestion was made without checking what the issue was; not one person at K Electric has looked at the code on the breaker.

  -[****** determined that moisture was getting inside the bath fan and was causing a ground fault trip.] ****** did not do anything to determine this, it was a theory provided by the homeowner. No "investigation" was performed by K Electric.

  -[****** checked there was no receptacle on circuit, so he suggested to swap to Arc Fault also.] ****** did not determine no receptacles were on the circuit. In fact no one at K Electric has provided or a wiring diagram or tested a single outlet in our home!

  -[The homeowner would not allow him to swap breakers.] **** is required in bathrooms by AL code. K Electric attempted to perform and pushed for electrical work not in code.

  ? Tuesday, December 20th, 2022:
  -[****** determined that one of the outside plugs was getting water into it.] ****** did not thoroughly investigate the outside plugs. He walked around the house and from the 5 seconds spent on the side of the house determined it's possible that water was intruding into an outlet. This theory was provided by *********************** at ***********************, not K Electric. 

  -[****** placed silicone around the outlet to insulate and isolate water penetration to the outlet.] ****** did not silicone any of the outlets. *********************** at ******************************* (which should have been sealed by K Electric in the first place) at this warranty appointment.

  -A large piece of information left out by K Electric regarding this visit is that *********************** told K Electric to swap the breaker in the bathroom with persisting issues to a breaker having both AFCI and **** protection. K Electric did so and the issue was fixed, thereby showing that K Electric's electrical knowledge was surpassed by the builder and homeowner who determined and championed the safest solution.

  ? Monday, March 13th, 2023:
  -[****** ... explained why his printer was tripping the breaker and suggested swapping to an Arc Fault breaker to remedy the issue.] This is false as well - ******, like the other technicians who had come to the house - did not check the code on the breaker to determine why it was flashing. He merely advanced a theory of what may be happening.

  -[The homeowner refused the technicians suggestion, so a new dual function breaker was installed.] This is false - no new breakers were installed because ****** was not provided the equipment (dual function breaker) to perform the work as the technicians had on Dec. 20, 2022.

  -[Suggesting we are incompetent and do not know how to do our jobs, that we are unprepared and unreliable.] This statement was supported by the fact that K Electric did not want to install the **** protection breaker in the master bathroom and did not provide their technician ****** the equipment to solve a similar issue in the similar manner.

  -[The homeowner stated that he refused the technicians suggestion because he had called the breaker manufacturer (*****) to acquire their suggestion and best course of action.] This is incorrect - I had not called the manufacturer during or prior to their visit. This statement is twisting the truth.

  -[... schedule a visit with the homeowner and homebuilders warranty department along with our technician in the coming days (03/16/2023).] The visit was on March 15, 2023 not the 16th (noted below as well).

  
  ? Thursday, March 16th, 2023: - [Incorrect date provided by K Electric]
  -[**** is a Master Electrician and attempted to communicate with the homeowner a solution for the electrical issue.] ****** suggestion was not informed by any inspection of the breaker. His knowledge of the situation was informed only by speculation and 2nd or 3rd party statements.

  -[Coles suggestion was that of our previous technicians: to swap to an AFCI breaker only that would correct the tripping issue and is still within code and a safe method for the homeowner.] The safety of this technique is not supported by the manufacturer and constituted a downgrade of the electrical system in the home, as stated by **** (he specifically used the word "downgrade").

  -[We informed the homeowner that we would not be back for the same issue again.] This is an outright lie. This statement was not made to the homeowner or *********************** at ***********************. This is supported by *********************** being called by K Electric the afternoon before the next appointment to inform him that they would not show up. We have evidence to support our claim.

  
  ? Wednesday, May 10th, 2023:
  -[Warranty Claim submitted; we did not accept request.] This is again an outright lie. The claim was submitted well before and K Electric informed *********************** on May 9, 2023 that they would not come out.

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