Where to begin. I had intermittent power outages house-wide. I called A-Tex Electric and they sent out a repair person. I detailed the issue to the owner in advance via phone and text, so they knew what was needed.
After arriving, the repair person went to determine the cause. Then, after a few minutes, he asked to go to the bathroom and stayed in there for nearly 20 mins. Then, after finishing, he went upstairs and I didn't see him for quite some time. It turns out he was up there replacing four light sockets without telling me, so I never approved the work, and I didn't need the work. He ultimately said I'd need to replace all of the sockets in the house (which were all functioning fine btw), but he couldn't quote me a price. I then asked if he could do the work and he said he didn't have time, so I asked him why he would come out if he didn't have time to do a repair.
Then, he claimed to have no idea how to estimate the cost even though he had worked for A-Tex for 12 years. According to him, he didn't know if they charged by the service or by the time.
We ended up calling the owner and getting a voicemail. Then he called back and we stayed on the phone for 10 mins while the repair person just stood there.
Then he left saying he would get me a quote via email.
Well, sure enough, I received a bill for the four socket replacement repair for $420! So they expect me to pay $420 for four sockets to be replaced, which I didn't want, need, or authorize.
I called the owner of A-Tex and told him I found the bill to be high and that I felt like I was being taken advantage of. He claimed they charge an hourly rate of $120 (which isn't on their website, nor disclosed when I spoke with the owner), he charges for drive time, and he rounds up to the highest hour. Then you pay for parts.
Of course, the 20 min bathroom break and 10 min phone call with the owner while the repair person stood there (just to get a quote for repairs!) was on the clock, unbeknownst to me. That bathroom break and phone call cost me $60! And that time triggered the cost of another hour or work even though it went into that third hour by a few minutes.
Then the owner made my jaw drop when he said they couldn't actually fix the intermittent outage because by the nature of the problem they can't determine the cause since it likely wouldn't happen while they were there. I asked him, So you sent a repair person out knowing that the problem couldn't be diagnosed and the repair couldn't be done. He said yes, and apologized.
Ultimately I offered to pay $120 for the $420 since I didn't want the work done, didn't authorize the work, didn't need the work, the repair person was there unnecessarily (by their own admission), and the bill was padded with a 30 min drive to my house, a 20 min bathroom break, and a 10 min phone call to the owner.
To add insult to injury, in a later email with the owner he told me that he had a $240 minimum, yet another price consideration that was never disclosed (and would've kept me from using them) and that he would put a lien on my house if I didn't pay. I would win in court because the work was unauthorized (and thus there was no paperwork showing that it was), but the effort of that would be too much.
In that spirit, I'm writing this review to warn ANYONE that is thinking of using them that they will be screwed over with impunity. Buyer beware for certain. Don't walk away from A-Tex Electric....RUN!
