BAIT & SWITCH
Our small business used Pinnacle Electric for a small tenant finish project.
The original and only estimate received by us, the customer, in Sept. 2013 was for $4,500. It did not state or mention that there would be an additional estimate or other charges coming later. The final bill received in Feb. 2014 was $15,300.
We made a specific attempt via email to Pinnacle on Jan. 19th, 2014 requesting an updated estimate before the project was completed. No updated estimate was ever produced.
We were never sent or informed of an updated estimate for $8,100 which Pinnacle produced in November of 2013 but did not share with us. We did not receive said estimate until after the work was completed and after we had received the final bill totaling $15,300 in Feb. 2014.
Pinnacle charged us for repairs that had to be made to electric fixtures they installed which began malfunctioning immediately after installation. The malfunction was directly attributed (by the manufacturer) to the way they were installed.
We were charged for 44 hours at $65/hr for the installation of 2 sauna heaters. Both the sauna manufacturer and the sauna heater manufacturer both state that this installation should take only a couple of hours.
Pinnacle is not aware of the NES code for hot tub installation 680.41. It requires an automatic emergency shutdown button. Despite my asking if it would fulfill code requirements and being told it would, Pinnacle installed a breaker box with the mechanical equipment on breakers, which does not comply with NES code or the health department. I will have to have this emergency shutdown installed at additional expense to me now.
When the final invoice was received, it was more than three times the amount of the original estimate. Immediate payment was requested with no grace period or reasonable due date.
After we wrote a negative review based on these issues on Yelp 2 weeks ago, Pinnacle wrote us a 4 page (poorly written) letter full of personal attacks and insults and THREATENED TO SUE US because of our Yelp review. They demanded we pay in full and remove the Yelp review by 3/3/14 or they would sue us.
Definition of Bait & Switch:
"Contractors who give you a low bid but later "discover" additional issues or tell you about extras that weren't included in the estimate."
http://www.scambusters.org/baitandswitch.html
We experienced the above to the letter - a classic case of Bait & Switch. In fact, many "extras" were listed on the final invoices which were actually just required items to complete the scope of the project. read more