Best Solar Water Heater Installation in Seattle WA
Electrician
TLDR -- Did zero work after 6 weeks of numerous missed appointments, took our deposit, has not fully refund. Escalating with Venmo to get our money back, filing complaint with Department of Labor + Industries, BBB and considering small claim court. Bottom line: Don't ever pay a penny until the work is done.
What started out like a great deal with a good guy slowly devolved into a long series of missed appointments, excuses and and us having to resort to reaching out to Venmo to get our deposit money back.
We were super hopeful and happy to have found Eugene. Great energy, lowest quote for a 200amp panel upgrade--50% cheaper than the next lowest bid.
However, he began missing his appointments without any notice. We had to reach out to him the morning of to confirm.
1. First time was apparently our fault for scheduling it the day before we had to fly out of town, thinking that it would be a one-day job?...Maybe we thought that because we were told it would be a one day job? OK. Rescheduled. NBD.
2. Second try, Eugene had forgotten to take a measurement of our house for the external metal conduit so now he has to come over to take the measurement. OK...he comes over without a measuring tape. NP, I got one. Rescheduled again.
3. Round three, metal pipe isn't ready/his guy is running behind on a job. Rescheduled again.
4. Round four, his shop got broken in.
At this point, my wife is ready to bail. I'm dumb and naive enough to want to keep working with him. Ultimately, we made the call to move-on and ask for a refund. Eugene agrees. Then over the next several days, he promised us he would drop off a check because he had maxed out his Venmo. Check never came. Eventually, we got him to give half of our deposit back via Zelle.
We continued to support him and wanted him to succeed so my dumbass decides to give him another chance. OK. Back on the schedule.
5. Day of appointment, Eugene says he can't do it bc they're short on people and offers to give the refund back. Bummed, but OK.
Then over the course of the following week, it was promises after promises of us getting the refund. At this point, I'm over it and just want my money back so luckily I had Buyer Protection turned on for the Venmo transaction so currently I'm in the dispute process. I look like an idiot in the eyes of my wife. Mind you, we were already scarred from previous contractors and horror stories from our friends of contractors bailing with thousands of dollars of deposit money. Never thought it would happen to us.
The complicated part of this whole thing is that Eugene seems to try. He doesn't ignore my texts. It would be a lot easier if he was an a-hole, but he's not.
As children of refugees and small business owners ourselves, we have an abundant amount of empathy for Eugene trying make it in this industry as a minority. It aint easy but it doesn't negate the failures we outlined above--like not returning money owe, that's called theft. We hope he gets his things together or able to get the help he desperately needs.
Having said all that, we do take the necessary steps to keep contractors accountable, including litigation. We don't enjoy the process but unfortunately, it's a last resort measure that is sometimes needed.
What started out like a great deal with a good guy slowly devolved into a long series of missed appointments, excuses and and us having to resort to reaching out to Venmo to get our deposit money back.
We were super hopeful and happy to have found Eugene. Great energy, lowest quote for a 200amp panel upgrade--50% cheaper than the next lowest bid.
However, he began missing his appointments without any notice. We had to reach out to him the morning of to confirm.
1. First time was apparently our fault for scheduling it the day before we had to fly out of town, thinking that it would be a one-day job?...Maybe we thought that because we were told it would be a one day job? OK. Rescheduled. NBD.
2. Second try, Eugene had forgotten to take a measurement of our house for the external metal conduit so now he has to come over to take the measurement. OK...he comes over without a measuring tape. NP, I got one. Rescheduled again.
3. Round three, metal pipe isn't ready/his guy is running behind on a job. Rescheduled again.
4. Round four, his shop got broken in.
At this point, my wife is ready to bail. I'm dumb and naive enough to want to keep working with him. Ultimately, we made the call to move-on and ask for a refund. Eugene agrees. Then over the next several days, he promised us he would drop off a check because he had maxed out his Venmo. Check never came. Eventually, we got him to give half of our deposit back via Zelle.
We continued to support him and wanted him to succeed so my dumbass decides to give him another chance. OK. Back on the schedule.
5. Day of appointment, Eugene says he can't do it bc they're short on people and offers to give the refund back. Bummed, but OK.
Then over the course of the following week, it was promises after promises of us getting the refund. At this point, I'm over it and just want my money back so luckily I had Buyer Protection turned on for the Venmo transaction so currently I'm in the dispute process. I look like an idiot in the eyes of my wife. Mind you, we were already scarred from previous contractors and horror stories from our friends of contractors bailing with thousands of dollars of deposit money. Never thought it would happen to us.
The complicated part of this whole thing is that Eugene seems to try. He doesn't ignore my texts. It would be a lot easier if he was an a-hole, but he's not.
As children of refugees and small business owners ourselves, we have an abundant amount of empathy for Eugene trying make it in this industry as a minority. It aint easy but it doesn't negate the failures we outlined above--like not returning money owe, that's called theft. We hope he gets his things together or able to get the help he desperately needs.
Having said all that, we do take the necessary steps to keep contractors accountable, including litigation. We don't enjoy the process but unfortunately, it's a last resort measure that is sometimes needed.
Seattle, WA