Paid to receive a quote that was 50% higher than others
We're getting a service upgrade and EV charger installed at our house, and I've requested quotes from 6 different electricians. I spoke to Hellen over the phone and she explained that they incur a cost to send an electrician to collect info to generate the quote, so they charge a fee for quotes. I've worked in roles where we provided quotes for Engineering work and we considered it to be a cost of doing business, but I can understand her reasoning and she made their policy clear up front so that's fair. Hellen seemed to know her stuff and I saw the positive reviews, so I was willing to pay for a quote. However, I mentioned to her that I was hesitant to pay for a quote without knowing how competitive it might end up being. She assured me that their level of service and choice of components will be better than most so they won't be the absolute cheapest quote, but they're competitive.
When the electrician arrived, he thought he was quoting a job like a de-icing system or something like that. He was polite and pleasant, but wasn't overly knowledgeable about service upgrades or EV chargers. Most of the other electricians mentioned some tips, described their suggested approach, or otherwise provided more value during the quoting process than this person did - and this was the only quote that I had to pay for. Worse than that, the quote was high. I received quotes from 6 different electricians (all reputable ones on Homestars), and this one was 50% higher than the next highest quote!
- Approximate cost of services:
- $90.00