I recently had an bad experience with this vendor that I think I should share. I've never posted a Yelp review before or a negative review anywhere that I can recall, but considering Mason's request on the unpleasant last phone conversation I had with him, I'll go ahead and do so. I quote: "Please, post a review. I can't wait to respond. I love it!". If that sounds like a service provider that you'd feel comfortable hiring, you should probably skip the rest of this.
In February, I requested estimates from several well-reviewed electricians here on Yelp to install a 240V outlet for the Tesla I was going to take delivery of in March. Volta responded quickly and was the most impressive vendor. Mason and other bidders pointed out that the electrical panel in our 60's era home didn't meet current standards and strongly recommended that we replace it. While I had not anticipated an extra expense that was several times the cost of my original requirement, I was impressed with Mason's expertise and confidence, had him give me estimates for both jobs, and hired Volta to do what he was recommending. He explained that the job would require having our Dominion electric meter replaced and the estimate included the following statement: "Installation includes new meter base. ***Dominion approval/walk through required for upgrade, price assumes Dominion replacing all service wire and weatherhead. Pricing assumes no disconnect necessary.*** Includes all coordination with Dominion, Miss
Utility and Fairfax County inspections".
The job was scheduled and proceeded satisfactorily. The outlet was installed and is working well. It turned out that Dominion now has a requirement that their meters be located on the front of side of houses and since our existing one was on the back of the house. One might think that a master electrician working in the Northern Virginia area would be aware of this requirement and account for it in their proposal, but tried to take the added expense in stride and authorized Volta to proceed. There was also a extra expense required to prune a bush unless we wanted the large electric meter box facing the street.
Volta informed us that they had completed the job and despite the fact that the old meter and exposed wiring around the back and side of our house were still there, we paid their final invoice promptly and in full. At this point, Mason informed us that the removal of the old meter was Dominion's responsibility, but that he would continue to coordinate with them to have this done.
Weeks go by, and I realize that nothing has been done about the old meter and wiring, so I contacted Volta and sent them pictures of the existing situation. They expressed frustration with Dominion, but promised to contact them again and that they would have one of their people come out to our house and that: "In terms of the temporary wire that was cut and as merely hanging off of the new work we are more than happy to come out and take that stuff down. Dominion will need to be responsible for their wire as far as I'm concerned." I was happy to hear that and didn't catch the "their wire" caveat. Weeks more go by, I notice the old meter had been removed by Dominion, but that the old, unconnected, inch thick feeder cable was still running halfway around our house, over the siding. Keep in mind that we're not the original owners of the house and had no input or knowledge as to how and by whom this ugly setup was created. I contacted Volta again to ask what happened (or why it didn't happen), but at this point they went into full "not my responsibility" mode. I was told to contact Dominion myself, which I did. They sent a tech out the same day, but didn't do anything and left a note on my door saying "all runs of entrance cable greater than 20' are customer owned". Turns out, I was supposed to have known this, but the pros at Volta weren't. I emailed Volta with Dominion's message, explained I was very dissatisfied asked once again if they would go ahead and take care of it so we could go away happy. I can't imaging it would take a professional with the proper tools more than an hour or two to take this wire down, but apparently the line in the sand had been drawn. Mason called to say that I would have to "stay unsatisfied" and expressed frustration with all the time he had spent dealing with Dominion (let's remember the "Includes all coordination with Dominion" that was part of our estimate). He ended with the quotes above about a review.
So I now have the option of paying another electrician or handyman to clean things up or attempt to do it myself. The irony is that if Mason could have been polite about it, acknowledged his customer's frustration and offered to do it for a hundred bucks or so, I probably would have gone ahead and paid it. But he "loves" writing responses to negative reviews, so I'll await my comeuppance as an unreasonable customer.
Good luck all. -Andy read more