After a very painful kitchen renovation where more than half of the work had to be redone taking almost a month to complete, we were desperate to get back to normal life. Since part of the renovation was the relocation of the dishwasher, I decided to hire an electrician which I had never done before in my life. Whoever said "Live and learn" said this for a good reason. I am writing this so that others will learn from my mistake, which was not too expensive, but not cheap either.
The dishwasher in question already had its own cable and junction box and the work to be done was to extend the wire coming from the floor to the dishwasher's junction box via another junction box / cable combination and place both junction boxes into the cabinet and not on the floor where there was already enough slack for a direct connection anyhow. The cabinet installers -after some grumbling- had already drilled a hole to get the cable through.
I called up Nepean Electric and got a verbal quote from someone they sent home on the spot between 200-250 CAD. This was mistake #1 - this should have been a written quote with the work details on it. I had no idea whether this was a reasonable price and perhaps it was the desperation getting the better of me. This was mistake #2 - I should have asked for at least another written quote with the work details from someone else.
The next day, another installer came over. To give credit where it's due, he was kind and well behaved (like the other person who gave me the price). He checked the work to be done, got back to his truck to make some phone calls and to my surpise, then came back telling me that it was all good to make a direct connection, made the direct connection and then came back with an invoice of 250 CAD plus taxes. It is the most expensive cable connection I have ever seen in my life. But I just wanted to have this nightmare end and had to get back to work, so I paid and they left. So, all in all - get a written quote and get prices from at least two companies. Otherwise, you and your money will soon part like it happened to me.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $282.50
