Mister Sparky ripoff Refused to give ball park estimate by phone but prices are pre-printed Paid service call to find out Marietta Georgia

I absolutley understand your frustration - no one likes to be jerked around.   Yes it's true most task have pre-established cost levels, but not all.  

I'd like to offer a differnt scenerio - If you had been the quoted the standard fee for the work based on your description over the phone.... then once the tech arrived found that your specific repair was out of the norm or extreme safety issues had to be cleared up that of course took the cost higher - wouldn't you be screaming bait & switch?

I wish it was possible to not charge to send a competent tech across town to quote every repair, but the pure economics don't work.   I can assure you, the $59 of a diagnostic fee is not a profit center when you calc in the truck, gas, overhead, insurance and labor.

At the end of day when all the cost conversations are mute - the quality & safety of the job is all that matters.  Thats the focus here.

I can understand your frustration, honestly.  However, even though the prices are "pre-printed", you will also notice after looking further that the same items are listed more than once.  There are things that the guy that comes to your house to do work has to look for.

The priority isn't to get a little travel charge, believe me.  That doesn't pay for the time the tech spends driving out to your house, the gas the truck uses and all the other expenses involved with running a business.  The idea is to make sure that you get a legit estimate. 

I've been doing electrical work for a long time and believe me, most of the time, it isn't just "adding a circuit".  What if your panel has no more available space for additional circuits? What if there's a more logical and less expensive option?  What if you get a ballpark price over the phone and when the tech gets out there to do the work, it's an 8 hour job instead of the 4 hour job that the "quoted" price reflects? 

You see, it's not that they want to just get in the door and collect a travel fee.  The customer service rep is NOT an electrician and cannot possibly see what it will take to add the circuit over the phone.  People always assume that things are so simple when in fact, when done incorrectly or in an unsafe manner, electrical repairs/installations can have disastrous results!

I have no clue what you do for a living and it is really none of my business.  But for example, what if you were a mechanic and someone called you up and asked you to fix their car?  It won't start and makes a funny noise when you turn the key. Could you possibly give them an accurate estimate for a repair having NEVER laid eyes on the vehicle?  The honest answer is no. 

A lot of people use Mister Sparky and are extremely satisfied with the service they receive.  Others are not as satisfied.  But even McDonalds doesn't receive good reviews 100% of the time.  Think about it, what probably costs them less than a dollar to make and they're selling it to you for over $5. 

Fact of the matter is, no one expects to work for free.  But until you know what work you'll be performing, how can you tell how much someone needs to pay.  As your post stated, you wanted a circuit added.  But you failed to give all the necessary details needed to get a quote from someone who has never done an ounce of electrical work in their life?  If all the electricians are in the office answering the phone, who will be out to your home to do the work?  Did you explore the website to see if there were any Free Estimate or Free Service Call coupons available?  I think that could've saved you at least the travel fee you were upset about paying.

In short, any Joe can do electrical work.  Question is, do they know what they're doing?  Did they did it safe?  Can you get in touch with them in 6 months if a problem occurs?  Will they guarantee their work and fix that problem for free?  Yes, you will pay more for a company like Mister Sparky to do work but at least you know you can find them if something goes wrong.  At least their technicians have the knowledge of the National Electrical Code AND local jurisdictional codes to ensure the work is done properly.  They don't just throw a guy in a truck and hand him that "beautifully laminated book" and tell them, go get 'em Tiger.  No, they have earned their job and position through years of experience and training, whether with the company they work for or others. 

Yes, money is always an important factor when deciding on who to use, I'm no idiot cause I do the same thing.  But always going with the cheapest isn't always the way to go.  Remember, you get what you pay for and thanks to the average handyman, Mister Sparky, and other companies like it, stay in business because after those things go wrong, the average customer gets fed up with paying multiple "electricians" to fix their problem and eventually call one of these reputable companies because they know the work is not only guaranteed, but the tech is held accountable as well. 

I know, cause it's what I do for a living.  I see it EVERY day and I talk to customers like that EVERY day.  Sure, I get the occasional "you guys are priced too high" or "my friend said he could do it for this much".  But I also know what can happen when things are jerry-rigged.  I lived in a house where an "electrician" did some work and not long afterwards, things went wrong and the house was never the same.  One big reason why I do what I do is because of that. My question to people would and always be, how much is peace of mind and quality work worth?  There's a reason why people buy mercedes instead of fords. 

Hopefully, this will enlighten people about service industries in general, not just Mister Sparky.