Posts: 241
Threads: 15
Joined: May 2007
I feel the need to briefly share our negative experience with an electrical contractor in our area. Of all the subs employed on our project, this person was the only disappointment. I will not name this person nor chronicle the details of our experience on this site but do intend to contact the relevant licensing folks. I will be happy to privately share details of the problems: misrepresentations and outright lies to us and our contractor. My intent is not retribution, but to warn others who might use his services. We have now heard other complaints about this person. The only negative on a wonderful project! Guess we've been lucky!
Posts: 703
Threads: 37
Joined: Jun 2008
rbonplaza; Unable to e-mail through pw, please email me details at dickwilson836@msn.com. We are in the beginng stages and wish to avoid problems such as you encountered. Thanks, Dick
dick wilson
dick wilson
"Nothing is idiot proof,because idiots are so ingenious!"
Posts: 9
Threads: 4
Joined: Feb 2008
I would like to know about your experience... I am just starting to work with our electric now. I would like to know if it is or not the same outfit. mitchie777@mac.com
Mitchell C Hale
Posts: 299
Threads: 49
Joined: Jun 2003
rbonplaza; As a licensed electrical contractor I would like to strongly encourage you to contact the DCCA. Just the other day I had to fix a bedroom where the the receptacles had never worked (not connected to the panel) and a 3-way switch was miswired. Yet the owner did not want to complain, just pay someone else to get it done right.
I would be interested to know what type of response you get from the state.
Jerry
Posts: 2,314
Threads: 59
Joined: Jun 2003
quote:
Originally posted by jerry
rbonplaza; As a licensed electrical contractor I would like to strongly encourage you to contact the DCCA. Just the other day I had to fix a bedroom where the the receptacles had never worked (not connected to the panel) and a 3-way switch was miswired. Yet the owner did not want to complain, just pay someone else to get it done right.
I would be interested to know what type of response you get from the state.
Jerry
Jerry, it takes 4-5
YEARS for the DCCA to investigate a complaint, and unless the infraction is very serious all they do is to send a Warning Letter. No wonder nobody wants to file a complaint with them.
Aloha,
John S. Rabi, GM,ARB,BFT,CM,CBR,FHS,PB,RB
808.989.1314
http://www.JohnRabi.com
Typically Tropical Properties
"The Next Level of Service!"
Posts: 236
Threads: 51
Joined: Jul 2006
John,
Isn't there easy web access to a county listing of contractor complaints. Seems to me you mentioned that some time ago in another thread like this.
Aloha pumehana,
Brian and Mary
Lynnwood, WA\Discovery Harbour
Aloha pumehana,
Brian and Mary
Lynnwood, WA\Discovery Harbour
Posts: 2,314
Threads: 59
Joined: Jun 2003
You can check both the licensing status and complaints history at
http://hawaii.gov/dcca/quicklinks/online...ss_online/
Aloha,
John S. Rabi, GM,ARB,BFT,CM,CBR,FHS,PB,RB
808.989.1314
http://www.JohnRabi.com
Typically Tropical Properties
"The Next Level of Service!"
Posts: 241
Threads: 15
Joined: May 2007
I was going to kill this posting, fearing legal retribution for exposing a really flakey contractor.
But today, my contractor sent the following note about this electrician:
John called me this morning. He claims he was unable
to fax in any request from Maui, so he was going to email the form to me so
I could fax it in. Apparently all the fax machines in Maui are inoperable.
He says again this morning that he is going to send the request to me, but
nothing so far. His call was from HPP, so at least he's on island.
This refers to our electrician's request submitted for a final inspection. We need this inspection to get our final inspection and COO. When our contractor called the electrical inspector, we found out the electrician's license had expired.
The potential damage to us is that if we don't meet the final construction deadline, we will incur additional fees and will have to re-subit a ton of paperwork, at a very hight cost.
How one sub-contractor can cost you so much is a lesson I want to share with everyone building here in Puna.
Posts: 2,655
Threads: 42
Joined: Sep 2006
Shouldn't this primarily be the GC's problem? It sounds like you have a GC.
Pua`a
S. FL
Big Islander to be.
Pua`a
S. FL
Big Islander to be.
Posts: 241
Threads: 15
Joined: May 2007
Yes, the contract is through our GC for the main house permit. The reason for me writing here is to give caution to future clients of this subcontractor. The ultimate consequences are the GC's, but for us, it means more work, possibly legal costs just to get to the end of the process. This guy is not a bad contractor- his folks did really nice work. My caution is that he has absolutely no integrity in meeting his obligations and the worst client communication of any sub I have ever used. We did have a separate relationship with him for our solar system, and agreed to have him do the main electrical work based on his bid to our GC. The problems with our direct contract were not regarding the work, but his misrepresentation of his schedule and purchase of the equipment. Outright lies. We felt as if we were begging him to complete his agreement.
