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MRS. CLEAN

trbo20 wrote:
wrote:
I put the project together.

Out of the blue, a guy who has worked for me before called on Saturday.
I told him the problem and he offered to hang it for free. I would
never consider not paying him fairly. So, he hung it in three hours and
I paid him $200. He was worth and a master to watch.

As it turns out, I took the panel in for an expert opinion and was told
that replacing the meter clip would not have been sufficient to do the
project right because there were other things wrong with the 30 year
old panel.

Meanwhile, the first guy billed me $340 ($66 per hour) to shop for a
clip that would not have fixed the meter because there were other
unfixable things (but he didn't catch that.) In case you don't
remember the "other guy" he quoted me $1,000 for a $100 panel and
$1,000 to hang it (at 3 hrs labor, that $333 per hour, he makes more
than an attorney).

Any ideas of what I should be about the $340 bill to shop for the part
that would not have passed inspection?

BTW, I got the permit, power cut, signed off on permit, and power on
done in just a little over 5 hours. I explained I had someone on a
respirator inside. Utilities ever brought out a generator so the house
would not be fully operational. Not bad for a broad.

Still, what to do about this $340 shopping bill...

This isn't really on topic, but it reminded me of something that
happened a few months ago.

My wife had a lawyer for her business and was once charged an
extraneous fee that she thought she shouldn't have to pay. She
called to discuss it and after a 10-minute conversation, they
begrudgingly agreed to remove it.

The next bill from the lawyer included a $50 charge for the 10-minute
"consultation".

She now has a new lawyer.

Never use an attorney!

I actually wrote my holograph and filled out the pleadings to probate
my estate complete with instructions to my beneficiary of what to file
and when.

I got a big kick out of probating my own estate from the grave when I
die.

This saved $100,000 in statutorily mandated attorneys fees.