ComplaintsforEmery Electric

• Initial Complaint

  08/19/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  This complaint pertains to electrical work on a custom house construction, including whole house wiring between July 2020 & Sept. 2021. This also refers to installation of lights, plugs, fans and more. We were not advised by electrical contractor or the general contractor of specifics, ie, # of plugs, lights etc. We were asked several times what we wanted in many of the rooms and we willingly expressed our wishes. We were never told no we cant do that. We were allowed to believe that all our requests would be included in the house, yet many were not added as we requested such as the whole house surge protectors and connection for a generator in case of power outage. Our complaints &/concerns include:1-No box for internet wires in garage so wires just hang out a hole in sheetrock. Is that the general contractors job?2-Garage exterior front motion sensor Double flood light.(at peak) - does not work. 3-Back patio motion flood light does not work properly - needs proper adjustments.4-No plug at area of the end of eating counter. To use anything electric in that area of the kitchen, the cord (or extension cord) must be stretched across the floor or across the kitchen sink.5-No extra plug in mechanical room for all parts ofi water treatment system. 6-Placement of a larger, more light producing light fixture in mechanical room for proper viewing and management of equipment installed in that room.7-No additional plug in storage room of basement.8-Dining light fix. Multiple people continue to hit their heads on it. It is too low and poorly placed. They promised to fix it.8-Powder room light and fan switch must be separate. No light is needed in daytime due to sun tube.9-Problem with light switch outside guest room.7-No explanation of smoke alarms and no guide to circuits controlling smoke alarms or details of their operation.We never received explanation of operation of heat unit thermostats, water heater timers, smoke alarms etc.

  Business response

  09/20/2022

  See attachment. 

  Customer response

  10/04/2022

   
  

  ****** response regarding our complaint with Emery Electric, contracted by ****** Construction to install the electric work in our custom home at ******************************************************************, follows.

   

  To start, we did not draw up, or sign a contract with Emery Electric for any of the work they performed or did not perform on our custom home at *******************.  Any contract was between Emery Electric and ****** Construction.  We requested a copy of the electric contract/bid from ****** Construction before pursuing these issues,  but never received anything from **************************.  

   

  When speaking throughout the electrical work with both ****** and ********************************* regarding the listed items of our concern, they assured us that they would be completing all items we inquired about to which ***** is now stating was not part of the bid/contract.  

   

  We are saddened to hear the accusations and tone in ********************************** reply.

   

  We will begin our reply to ****** letter by going through each paragraph and giving our reply.

  Paragraph #1-

  Both addresses ***** speaks of are listed for Emery Electric.

  Paragraph #2-

  We did not receive a copy of Emery Electrics bid that they submitted to ****** Construction, even after we made that specific request to **************************.  Therefore we have no knowledge of the work Emery Electric was to perform, but for what they told us and agreed to do at our house at ********************** as outlined in our initial letter of concern. We were informed by *************/Highline that they do not provide the box for low voltage and that either electricians or general contractor provide that box.  A year after the ** was issued to this house the low voltage wires still hang out a hole in the garage sheetrock.  This is unacceptable.

  Paragraph #3-

  *********************************** replied to two of our many attempts to contact him.  One in the Fall of 2021 and one in the late winter of 2022.  Both responses from him indicated he would be in contact with us.  We never heard a word from him again, or received an email or text.  We continued to attempt to contact him as he expressed in one of his two messages that he would follow through on our requests.  We never received any further calls, emails or texts.  We were always at home or carried our cell phone with us and have an answering machine on our home landline phone.

  Paragraph #4-

  Emery Electric was very specific about the fact that yes they would be wiring in a plug at the end of the peninsula.  Never did they indicate to us that the inspector said it was not required or that it was not part of their bid/contract.  And now without that plug at the end of the peninsula, as they promised, we must run an extension cord ** across the kitchen sink to the nearest electric plug if we have anything requiring direct power. That alone is a safety factor.  Code requires such a plug as of July 31, 2021.  

  Paragraph #5-

  Again, we never saw a copy of their bid/contract as that was drawn up by the general contractor, ****** Construction. More electrical plugs should have been planned for ******************* to accommodate all parts of the water treatment system that required electrical power.  When we spoke to Emery Electric specifically about that needed plug, they assured us verbally that they would include that.  Never once did they speak of the bid and what was included or not.

  Paragraph #6-

  When we indicated we needed a plug in the storage room they readily agreed to put one there.  Yes, it was a verbal agreement that we were lead to believe was an easy fix. Again, no indication that it was not included in the bid/contract.

  Paragraph #7-

  The request to change the light fixture in *******************, in order to provide adequate lighting for working on the water treatment system, was accepted by Emery Electric as we purchased the fixture ourselves and placed it in ******************* for them.

  Paragraph #8-

  The dining room light fixture was never placed in the correct location or at the correct height.  To place a dining table centered under the light, the table would not be centered in the area of the room meant for the table.  Such a placement would block the only passage way from the interior hallway to the living room.  To keep the table out of the passageway, it must be pushed against the outside wall.  Wth the light fixture being installed so low, we and others have hit our heads on the sharp corner multiple times - another safety hazard.  

  The statement that the customer/owner has been unavailable and not returned phone calls to make arrangements is absolutely incorrect, not true.

  Paragraph #9-

  Common sense indicates that it makes no sense to turn a light on during the day in a room where the sun is shining directly into the room. Upon our discussion with the inspectors we learned that the fan/light combo switch is not an electrical issue, but a mechanical issue.  When we inquired about this to ****** Construction and Emery Electric, a quick explanation of the requirement could have ended that request very easily, but neither forwarded that updated information to us.  

  Paragraph #**-

  The issue with the light switch outside the guest bedroom was listed in the very first request sent to ****** Construction.  Its an occasional issue but needs review to be sure its not a faulty switch. 

  Paragraph #**-

  Any information or directions for smoke detectors, water heater timers, thermostats etc were not found anywhere.  Drawer in the washroom of the house?  Not sure what room that would be?  

  Smoke alarms that start screaming in the middle of the night due to a bug or some other false alarm have no means to be turned off without a tall ladder or ripping it out of the ceiling.   Is this what 90 year old or wheelchair bound persons must do to shut off these screaming alarms?  What circuits are these smoke alarms wired to?

  Paragraph #**- (final)

  The information contained in this last paragraph is very troubling.  Where would Emery Electric get privy information regarding information, that is untrue, regarding the Munleys speaking negatively about many many (sub) contractors? And that the customers seemed to not be happy or satisfied with ANY of the work done within this custom build.  We can list multiple sub contractors that did great jobs and willingly fixed anything not in order.   Emery Electric goes on to say the customers were very difficult to work with throughout this process.   

       Frankly the last quote sounds like words right out of the general contractors mouth.   Its very true *************** did not like us asking questions to better understand the work being done, afterall this was billed as a custom home, therefore it was to be built to the specifications of the owner.  Its not important to list all the good relations we had with most of the subs.  We know the facts, including the real problems. 14 months to build a house that easily could have been completed in 6 months tells the story. 

       Interesting comments since the customer (Munleys) were VERY SATISFIED with most of the subcontractors, including Emery Electric, until they didnt complete the job as promised.  If ***** and ****** were honest about our communication with them they would have to agree that we, the owners, complimented them regularly on their work and were VERY happy with them and did expect that they would complete all they promised. 

       Without knowledge of the details of a bid or contract (even after requesting a copy) between the general contractor and Emery Electric, we believed that all Emery Electric verbal promises would be honored.

        NEVER did we or would we even consider requesting any contractor to bypass any code or regulation.  That comment should be withdrawn, as it suggests lack of integrity on our part. NEVER would we even consider such action.  

  To BBB:

   

  In our last written communication regarding #********, we failed to include other items of concerns.  Please see the following.

   

  1)- Motion activated exterior lighting (2 locations) were not programmed correctly and therefore do not perform properly.  Lights do not come on 90% of the time when activity is in the area and when they occasionally are activated the on time is not adequate - a minute or less. One of these lights was installed at the peak of the garage roof that is inaccessible to the owners.

  2)- Owners (******) supplied Emery Electric with several new rolls of household electric wiring that we were assured we would receive credit for in the final cost of the wiring job at our house.  Where is the documentation of that credit.

  3)- Owners requested whole house surge protectors, but never received them.  We understood that was an extra and were willing to pay the extra cost but they were not installed.

   

  Thank you,

  *** & ***********************

   

   

   

   

   

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