From Andrew J.
Leader Home Solutions LLC
- Incompetent (not knowing which wires are meant for indoor and outdoor, then blaming the customer for agreeing to install the indoor wires outside, when I was NOT informed as such).
- Unorganized (nearly impossible to come out to fix an issue unless you threaten to report).
- Unprofessional (blames anyone but himself)
In August 2022, I hired Valterson and his crew for installation of low voltage wires and switches for outdoor lights in both sides of the drive way.
After the installation, I paid for the service using Zelle, and visually and verbally confirmed the number by showing my phone to Valterson. The next day, I found out that I had actually mistyped a digit after he started complaining that he still has not received the money. His apparent reason for confirming a wrong number to send to was that "he was tired" after the work, and that since he didn't receive money, I need to send the money right away. Thankfully, the number I sent the money to didn't have a Zelle account set up, so I could cancel the transaction. It's jarring to think that he would take zero responsibility on this and that he wanted me to double dip on the expenses.
But the story does not end there unfortunately.
We realized that he installed an electrical timer for only one (inner) side of lights, when we thought it'd be for both sides. After much back and forth, he stated that the timer can't control both sides of the lights, so would need to change to two separate cheaper, more mechanical, switch to control the sides of the lights separately. It took over a month of him constantly cancelling and rescheduling to come out and install the switches.
Within 2-3 months of the initial project completion, a set of lights (~ 70% of lights on that side) in the far side of the drive way went out. It took over a month for him to come out to inspect one day, then he just left saying he needs to get supplies. Then he just DID NOT COME BACK. He said "oh I have to help out my assistant elsewhere". It took another month of constant rescheduling and cancellation for him to finally come out and fix the far side of lights. During the waiting, the inner side of lights broke also, but because we had guests staying, Valterson couldn't enter and fix the inner side.
After he fixed the far side of the lights, he said "oh wire can snap and not work sometimes, it's very natural." We will come back to this.
We had another electrician come out during the whole 2+ months of waiting to look into the mechanical switches instead, because, you guess it, they stopped working. I've told Valterson explicitly that ignores the the switches but to focus on the lights, but he kept saying "someone else touched the switches", as if that affected the lights and thus was the reason. No one touched the wires for the lights, and although the switches were not functional in terms of being able to turn on/off automatically, they could still be used to switch the lights manually.
At this point, even though we don't have short term rentals and Valterson could theoretically enter the section of the house to fix the inner side of the lights, I've given up. He will keep saying "someone else touched the switch". Again, the lights stopped working before the switch. The wires for the lights weren't touched, and lights on the other ends of the switch weren't working. But to Valterson, this whole switch is THE reason why the lights aren't working, and is 0% his fault.
Coming back to his statement of how wires snapping is natural.
Since I've given up, I looked into having the outstanding inner side of the lights fixed by another electrician. I've asked them, other electrician, and even Home Depot and Lowe's employees, and they all unanimously stated that the wires used to install the outdoor lights are NOT rated for outdoor usage. White color wires for 14 gauge is meant strictly for indoor, are more prone to UV ray damage, and are prone to external damages due to less insulation. Oh behold, maybe installation of indoor rated wires may have resulted in snapping of a wire in the far side of the lights? Maybe Valterson should have recommended an outdoor rated wires for an outdoor project? And even if the lights worked at the time of the completion of the project, the wires are a ticking bomb essentially for them to fail?
When I confronted him this morning, as expected, his response was: "i worked the project as you wanted. the lights worked at the time of completion. when i came back to fix the lights later, i saw that the switches were touched by someone else. now i see you are trying to get more fixed than what you asked for." At no point, when he was doing the project that he will be using indoor-rated wires. I said yes to all his suggestions.
It's mind blowing that an electrician would install indoor-rated wires outdoor, take months to come out to fix issue, then pass the blame on anyone else but himself.
