I requested service for my new home (old house, we are new) and found this company as a possible contractor. Upon moving in, my wife and I realized that although the wiring is present for a doorbell, our tools recognized that no electricity was getting to the wires at the doorbell. To help us, we requested a "free consultation" from Three Brothers Services given their fantastic reviews.
The first time they sent a technician out, the individual did not provide any pricing information nor any inclination of what the scope of the project would be, but stated that he would reschedule to go over the details. He also stated that he would only reschedule for a date that both my wife and I were present. I work long days an hour away (my wife's name is on the deed), so we had to wait until I could take a day off of work. I made sure that I could take off within a work week of the technician's visit.
Thank goodness I was there for the second consultation! The technician asserted that although he did not know whether the issue was our transformer or the wiring, he had priced the project to include both. When I requested clarification (why would we pay for rewiring, drywall, and labor if it turns out that the transformer just needs replacement), the technician stated that he could not provide the price for just the exchange of transformers. He stated that their company has a flat rate, though he eventually gave me the price of $495. When I then requested the price (trying to build potentials) for the transformer replacement AND rewiring, he quoted $2,000. The technician then continued onto his real purpose: selling us on additional work that we never requested nor needed. The technician asserted that our panel, though "is in good shape," could use an update. Then, he stated that some of our hardware was out of date. I asked him what he meant by hardware, and he stated that he was referring to some of the outlets...
We recently had a THOROUGH inspection of the house, which required multiple outlets to be updated. No details on which/how these outlets needed to be updated was provided by the technician. When I referenced the inspection and resulting updates, the Three Brother Services technician could not provide any details on what changes were required. Furthermore, he quoted $7,000 just to exchange the electrical panel (the national average is under $2K, including labor, permits, and profit).
At this point, I thanked the technician for his time and informed him that we were not going forward with his company. The technician then insisted that I pay him $150 for "diagnosis." To be clear, I had already used my own equipment to note that there was no power going to the doorbell wires, the technician had not figured out what was wrong (was it the transformer or somewhere along the wiring?), and I had taken a day off of work to meet with this man because apparently my wife is not allowed to make decisions for our household (she and I have been on the same page since day 1, and, yes, she is 100% able to make such decisions). Yeah. It is a solid no from me.
**Edit. There was no such agreement for a dispatch fee. I was told online as well as over the phone that the appointment served as a free consultation and that a $150 diagnosis testing fee would be applied if testing was required. There was no test conducted by the technician beyond what we had already confirmed (no power to the doorbell wires) nor were we ever notified of any testing if it did take place. read more