On Mon, 3 Dec 2007 05:09:13 -0800 (PST), John Ross
wrote:




wrote:
Well,
It hasn't happened again since the time of this post a couple of
nights ago. I came here to try and get an idea too of WHO to call
next. I was told by the electric company that if they come out and it
is not their problem then they will charge us a fee. And if the
electrician comes out of course he charges a fee no matter who's
problem it is.

I already have one fee from the electric company because they said it
wasn't their problem, I'm afraid I will call the electrician, he'll
come out and charge a fee and say it is their problem and to call them
back. I just have a bad feeling about all this! I can't afford to
be paying fees for people to say it's someone else's problem. Plus I
really don't see why I have to pay the electric company anything - I
pay them plenty of money every month! And if it's not their fault,
they did no work anyway so why the charge! Sorry to vent, just
feeling a little frustrated!

I guess we'll keep thinking on it and decide what to do tomorrow.
Thanks for the help, atleast we know what the problem probably is and
not to call that first electrician back.

Call another (i.e. better) electrician. If he says it is your problem,
then you pay to fix it and it is over.

If he is confident that it is the power company's problem, you call
the power company and don't have to pay. PLUS you demand a refund for
the first charge, since they were wrong and you never owed them money.
You could even try and have them pay for the second electrician, since
they told you that was what you needed to do and they again were wrong.

That first electrician sounded like a moron. I worked as a plumber
and also as a general handyman for years. The first part of being a
business person is to NOT leave the customer hanging, and then charge
them. If I went to a job and determined I could not handle the job or
simply did not want it, I clearly told them "I do not feel I am able
to do this job for you", and would refer them to something.....
There would not be a charge for this, because I did not charge for
estimates, and this was considered an estimate. If I came and took
the job seriously, I'd start to look for the problem, and go from
there. If your electrician had opened your breaker box and actually
done something, he should have found a problem, or at least isolated
it to whether it's in the house, or the electric company's wiring. If
he did not do this, he did NOTHING and you dont owe him a cent.

Since you said the problem is only that one circuit, why not just
replace that particular breaker, as I said before. Unless you got
some oddball breakers, they cost under $10. If this solves it, you're
done. If not you are only out a few bucks and have a good breaker to
sit on top of your box for the next time you have a problem. From
what you described, if the problem only exists on that one circuit, in
otherwords, the rest of the house is OK and the problem is isolated to
only ONE circuit, example, the one breaker that controls the microwave
and a few lights, then the problem is not likely to be the outdoor
wires that supply the house, which means it's either the breaker that
furnishes that circuit, or a loose wire somewhere in there. If you
want to save money, do some of your own testing.

Shut off the power at the main. Look for loose screws or charred
connections. Replace that breaker. Turn power back on, if problem is
nit solved, determine if the problem is isolated to one particular
circuit. If it is, then when you call an electrician they only have
to check that one circuit.

Good luck