Should I fire this electrician?
I hired an electrician to do some work around my house. Re-wire lights, sprinkler system, fix a doorbell and add an outside power outlet to the side of my house.
The day he came for the quote he was late. He was supposed to be at my house at 2:00pm and didn’t show up until about 4:30pm. His reason was that he had to pick up his daughter.
He gave a very good quote for the work. I found out that he was a neighbor. We are also involved in a very big city project together, but I did not recognize him.
We chatted for a while and I found out he was going out of town for a weekend away with his family. He is a very nice person, but it stuck in my head that he may not be reliable because he was so late and did not call. (He claimed my phone did not work when he called.)
I hired him to do the work and upset everyone. My husband was very angry and we fought about it–he was concerned about the money and need for the work. I cleared 2 days of my plans so I could get this work done. I advised my study group that I would not show and arranged a ride to school for my daughter. I even asked my mo-in-law to come and sit my younger child.
The electrician was supposed to be here at 9am, but I got a call at 8:00 and another at 8:30 advising me that he had family problems and could not make it today….he asked if he could come at 11:30 or 12:00 tomorrow.
I told him it was ok. I am having second thoughts. Is he going to flake on me again? Did he just extend a family vacation or was there a real emergency? I know when my husband finds out the electrician flaked there will be a big fight again and a bunch of “I told you so.”
(The work can wait, but it would be nice to have it done now. I may not win the argument with my husband a second time.)
(This is supposed to be a 2 day job.)
