I spoke with an administrator at Electrician Magician in regards to replacing a non functioning ceiling fan in my 90 year old mothers condominium on March 30, 2016. I gave a detailed description of the situation, i.e. ceiling height, ceiling angle, fan was purchased. The cost was $149.00 plus GST for the first hour and it should only take one hour any time after that is billed at $115.00 per hour.
On Wednesday March 30, 2016 the electrician rang the condominium who I buzzed in. He came up and surveyed the area. The two story building has an elevator but the electrician and I thought the 12 foot ladder would not fit inside it. I showed him where the stairwell was and we both went back down the stairway to retrieve the ladder and tools. I assisted him with the ladder as it was somewhat cumbersome. Back in the apartment he began to work.
Once the old fan was removed he assembled the blades on the new unit and went back up the ladder. I thought that the old down rod could be reused; however, when we turned the fan on it had a wobble to it. The electrician and myself tried to rectify the problem to no avail. The electrician commented that the diameter of the old rod being less than that of the new unusable very short down rod was the issue. We worked out that I would travel to the home depot on MacLeod Trail and the electrician would go to give a quotation for another job nearby and we would meet back up directly.
The electrician arrived 10 minutes before I did and we went directly back up to the apartment. The newly purchased down rod was the same diameter as the new unusable very short down rod. After the installation the wobble was still the same. After some time in our attempts to rectify the problem I commented that I could not continue to pay $115.00 per hour and he should stop and I would try to balance it later. The bill came to $397.95 for 3 hours of labor.
The following day I thought about this and thought it was not right that I should have to attempt to fix the problem and that is what I paid Electrician Magician for! I phoned the office and stated this and they (administrator) agreed...and that the owner was back on Monday April 4, 2016 and he would call me to discuss. Monday came and went, Tuesday came and went, Wednesday came and went and I called and left a voice mail to call me. The administrator called me the following day Thursday April 7, 2016 and said that the owner would not warranty the work as I had supplied the parts. I asked the administrator to ask the owner to call me as this needed to be remedied.
I think I have a reasonable expectation that the people I called are well versed in the installation of the device. They contend that since I supplied the parts they would not warranty the work. My question is "why would they move forward if this was not the right part"? I think they are qualified? If they do not do this properly, what else could fail. I am wondering if the fan is secure? I hope that it is at least securely attached? I hope that the electrical connections are sound? I hope?
I had gone back to where I purchased the fan and afterwards the new down rod and spoke with a person in the department. The person informed me that the down rod I purchased is the correct one and the amount of money I paid out to the contractor was ridiculous.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $397.95