Upstairs my 60+ year old home, a single, 15-amp circuit breaker, handled 2 bedrooms, a sewing room,…read moreand a bathroom. That was fine in the pre-computer age, but, now, constant breaker tripping due to excessive wattage (a hand-held hair-dryer is enough to blow it). One day, for no apparent reason, the power went off to those rooms, and I went to the basement to reset the breaker, only to find that it wasn't tripped! I flipped it a couple of times to no avail. So, I called a few electricians, but, everyone was busy or said it would take a week-plus just to get an estimate (and, in some cases, charge me $100 for the privilege). Mannino sent a man the next day, who gave me a $8,000 estimate which, allegedly, included a senior discount, which isn't listed on the itemized receipt; basically, rewire the 15-amp outlet in the bathroom; install 20-amp circuit breakers and corresponding outlets (one in each affected room) to avoid future blowouts (i.e., put high-wattage devices on the 20-amp outlet); and install new switches (I had done so some time ago, so, I thought that part was unnecessary, but, I let it go). That was a lower cost than I expected, but, the shock (no pun intended) came when they said there would be an upcharge to use my credit/debit card! I could understand that for a far lower-cost work, but, most companies waive such for higher-priced work, such as this (who carries that much cash? and don't add to the pain of wallet-punched customers!). Three separate days and workers to do rewiring and installing, the last part of which involved 2 men: one to do the room-to-room work, while the other was fed wires through the walls and attic and down to the outlets (n.b., this was in the fall, so, it was cool in the attic). They had to cut holes in the basement floor, and drywalls throughout the ground and second floors. They don't repair drywall, but, fortunately, I can, so, that wasn't an issue (took a couple of weeks with a rough cost of $150, incl parts and paint). One of the repairmen was a bit gruff, patronizing me for the short time he was here, clearly unhappy dealing with an "uninformed" customer, to the point of forcing me to listen to him explain ("I want to educate my customers" . . . whether we want to hear it or not!) about "daisy-chaining" the wires; I had never heard that term used for anything other than computer networks (I'm a computer programmer/webmaster/computer repairman), so, I asked whether he meant "wiring in series." He was visibly chagrined that I knew that (I'm also a handyman for over 40 years; my father was an electrical engineer who taught me a lot, but, not enough to do a major repair/install, like this; he wouldn't have done it, either!). The other three men were much more affable, and, politely, explained everything they were going to do before they did it (one of them said that the first man's planned layout - - which would have required cutting across the ceiling drywall, which would have been much harder to repair - - was not necessary, thank goodness). All-in-all, they did a great job, although, for some reason, one of the wires gave the attic guy a lot of trouble, causing him to drill many times for a single wire. I have yet to inspect the attic to see what damage, if any, was done, but, whatever it was, it isn't visible from inside the house, so, I'm okay with that (so far!). Between the credit card upcharge ($330), which no other repairman - - plumber, mason, landscaper, etc - - has charged, the alleged senior discount (again, not listed on the receipt), and the gruff repairman, I deducted a star.
P.S. My drywall repair went great! You can hardly tell that anything was done there, unless you walk right up to it and compare the new paint vs old! Anyone need a handyman? ;)
