We pay a premium to use Burtner because we expect a level of service and expertise that is worth…read morethat price, and they have been professional and proficient in the past, but our recent experience with them left much to be desired.
We needed to have an outlet for an ev charger installed in our garage. When I called to make the appointment, the woman I spoke with said, "We've done just tons of these lately," which made me hopeful that they could help us navigate decisions regarding car charging stations for our garage.
The estimator came out and gruffly said he had no experience nor advice about car chargers, had never estimated one before. He looked at the breaker box, pronounced the sub-panel more than sufficient (as I'd already said when making the appointment) and left, sending an estimate for north of $900 to install the outlet.
As a consequence of his inexperience, we turned to Dr. Google and ordered a plug-in charger to work with the outlet specified in the estimate.
When the electrician arrived, he was gruff and smelly. He said, "Well, where is it?" When we asked what he wanted, he said, "The car charger." It hadn't arrived yet, but I pointed out that the estimate was for a 240 volt outlet.
"Nobody told me," he said, then asked to look at the breaker box. After informing me that he'd have to remove a significant chunk of drywall to make the installation, he left to go get parts and was gone for 45 minutes.
When he returned, he said he could thread the wires through the hole for the outlet and wouldn't have to destroy our drywall after all. He completed the work (once present and equipped) in under 30 minutes.
In retrospect, I wish we'd post-poned the visit until the equipment arrived and hard-wired it, and I fail to understand why this small job cost nearly one thousand dollars when it came without any information or assistance in making decisions around this technology. Or, if that price is in line, why the two Burtner employees we interacted with could not be pleasant nor knowledgeable.
I've told two friends about this, and both recommended electricians who would have been more timely, friendly, and less expensive. And both said, "Sorry to hear that. Burtner used to be a good business."