ComplaintsforStout Electric, Inc

• Initial Complaint

  05/17/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  5/16/24 - Paid: $0 The owner (****) came out and gave me a quote to install a breaker box shutoff for my Spa for $525. His paperwork specifically says "quote" in 2 locations on the form. Quotes are set prices that cannot be changed, while estimates can be modified.His workers come out to install it and they say that they can't install it in the location because the spa is right next to it. They said the box needs to be 3 feet away from the spa and they need to run a pipe along the wall into the breaker box with another pipe going to the spa. They call the owner and the worker tells him that he can't put the box there because of code. So the owner tells them to tell me it's going to be another $250. I had him call the owner back and I tell him he should have known all of this when he came to quote the job since the spa is right next to the box. When I told him he needs to honor the quote he said, "I'm not doing it" and then told his workers on speaker phone to "get out of there" and they just left.

  Business response

  06/03/2024

  On 4/5/24 Our Estimator / Superintendent **** (Not the owner) went to the subject property to give a quote to install a spa panel for the customer. The customer at that time showed the estimator where the spa was going to be located. (Note: The spa pad area shown in the picture that the customer provided was not onsite at that time.) The area that Rich was told the spa was to be located was on the south side of the junction box. The estimate was written, and a copy was given to the customer.
  On 5/14/24 the customer called to schedule the work and although this was outside of the Quote good for 30 days from the above date(Which is specifically stated at the bottom of the quote. I believe this is the 2nd location of the word quote that the customer so graciously pointed out.) Still, we went ahead and honored it and scheduled with the customer for 5/16/24.
  On 5/16/24 Upon arrival one of our techs noted that the spa was marked to be set in a location that was different than what was relayed to him by the estimator as quoted. Instead, the customer had the spa set to be installed in the center of the junction box where the sub panel was to be placed. Unfortunately, that change of location on the part of the customer made it impossible to place the sub panel in the original location due to the building code requiring a 3 splash clearance. At that time the tech told the customer that he would have to run the conduit and wire approx. 10 farther down the wall to set the box. The customer then asked how much more, so the tech called Rich to ask what the additional charge would be. Once told the cost of the additional work the customer became angry and asked the tech to call **** back and then the customer got on the phone and began screaming at Rich that it doesnt matter, he should honor the quote and began yelling expletives and cursing. It was at this time that **** felt he needed to remove his guys from the hostile environment that the customer had created.  As to the customers assertion that **** Should have known all of this when he came to quote the job How could he have known that he would put the spa in a different location? The location changed so the scope of work changed therefore the quote would have to change.
  We are sorry that we were not able to make the customer happy, but after he got confrontational and angry, we felt it was best for us to walk away from this job. 

  Customer response

  06/17/2024

  The response the company gave is lies. I have video to prove that I did not make vulgar comments to them. I also provided screenshots of where the hot tub was going and my backyard is so small there's no other place for it to go. I have complete video proof of the interaction and their lies about the interaction. The video is 45mb in size so I can't send it through here. If there's a way to get it the BBB, I'm more than happy to provide proof. 

  Business response

  06/18/2024

  We are so sorry the complainant feels the way he does. We stand by what we have said in our previous response. We have been in business for 37 years we have a very good reputation and a very good standing with all our customers. It's too bad we didn't get a chance to show that to ******************. We have nothing more to say on the matter and hope ****************** got his spa up and running and is enjoying it in these hot summer months as he should be. 

  Customer response

  06/18/2024

  
  Complaint: 21723833
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  
  Stout Electric says they stand by their response when you can clearly see in the videos I provided that there was no reason for them to leave the job site and their previous response that I was irate and yelling profanities was a lie. As I stated in my original complaint, there was no place else in my backyard for the Spa to be placed. They never asked for dimensions of the Spa or where it would go. It's only logical that it would be placed in the corner because if it was in the middle of the yard there would be no way to maneuver around it. They also never measured how much additional distance it would be and the person making the quote just threw out a number of an additional $250 without even looking at anything. Even their employee in the video said he did another job where they placed the box next to the Spa and was told they couldn't do that again. Clearly they don't know how to bid these jobs if they've made mistakes in the past and their own employees are correcting the person making the quotes. Their Supervisor who quoted the job was inexperienced and unprofessional. He made a quote, and in the end they didn't want to honor it. When I stated that they should stand by the quote, he just told his guys to leave. 
  
  Next step will be to file a claim in small claims court. Demand Letter attached. 
  
  Thank you,
  ************************************

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