Thought I did the right thing?

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JROD

Member
Location
North Carolina
I?m posting this note for advice, to vent, leave myself open to criticism and as an example of what not to do.

Two weeks ago I got a call from a lady who is replacing her ceiling fan and she has an extra red wire coming out of the ceiling and she doesn?t know what to do with it. Feeling chivalrous and concerned for her safety I agree to come out and take a look at it. She is replacing her ceiling fan with a remote control fan and the installation only requires a hot and neutral. I disconnect and cap off the red and I wire the unit. As I?m getting ready to leave she shows me a black rubber gasket that was left over from the fan/unit that she put together and asks what she should do with it. Since it was a call out and she was on the clock she decided it wasn?t worth me looking into it.

Fast forward two weeks and she calls me this weekend because she wants landscaping lights installed and to complain that her fan wobbles when it runs, when the fan starts turning the light fixture on the fan shifts an 1/8? and goes back to place after the fan stops running and when she dims the lights on the fan there is a low humming noise coming from the unit. She is afraid to run the fan or the lights. All of these things the fan did two weeks ago when she signed off and accepted the work because she didn?t want to pay me to look into those ?minor things?. The kicker she said to me that her mother bought the same fan and had installed by a professional electrician and it doesn't do those things and she wants me to fix her fan because that she is afraid to use the fan until it is fixed.
 

jeff43222

Senior Member
By all means, feel free to fix her fan. Make sure she pays your regular rate.

She was the one who decided to install the fan herself. She was the one who forgot to put the gasket on (may or may not be needed; often depends on which type of mounting the installer chooses). She was the one who didn't want to pay you to look into those "minor things."

You did the best you could under the circumstances that she created.
 

al hildenbrand

Senior Member
Location
Minnesota
Occupation
Electrical Contractor, Electrical Consultant, Electrical Engineer
Jose'

From your description, I get the impression that she had done part of the assembly and mounting of the paddlefan.

If so, remind her that she was part of "her professional installation".

There is never enough money available to do the installation right the first time, but there is always enough money to do it over again.

Sounds like she needs to learn, still, what her mother already knows. . .pay enough to do the installation right the first time, it saves in the long term.
 

kingpb

Senior Member
Location
SE USA as far as you can go
Occupation
Engineer, Registered
No matter how bad you need the work, stay clear of the landscape lighting. This is the type of customer that will never be happy, and will take advantage of you if given the opportunity.
 

charlie tuna

Senior Member
Location
Florida
jrod,
something you have now learnt---maybe(?) --- never take over a job --- no matter who did it without being able to cover your butt!! have an understanding in writing with the customer where the responsibility starts and ends. if you took the fan down and started from point zero --- you'ld know what was going on. since you didn't -- you basically accepted her portion of the installation as "being correct".... to do this on the average fan it would have been included in your "minimum charge" time and she wouldn't know the difference of what you were doing. the most important issue of installing a ceiling fan is proper support. another issue is that it is assembled correctly. consider it falling from the ceiling or a blade coming off at full speed?? without an agreement -- in writing --- the liability of the fan is yours. hopfully enough you are making enough money off these jobs to pay for call backs that are out of your control. like if the fan has a defect and must be replaced. or there are parts missing from the original install... when a customer attempts to install something beyound their capabilities they must know ahead of time what the penalties can cost them. many times it's just the matter of a wrong splice --- and in their head "they" did most of the work and the amount of the bill doesn't fit well with them....
 

macmikeman

Senior Member
I say always get a signature before any job starts no matter how small. My boilerplate states we are not responsible for any existing defects in the wiring system at the premises. Then when the insulation on the old conductors crumble, or the old florescent starter craps out, or the old receptacle outlet crumbles in removal and on and on and on, the customer pays. Anything wrong I discover, the customer pays to fix, or it doesn't get fixed and I note that in the job sign off sheet. And on 1 out of every 2 jobs I go to the owner or the handyman botched something up, so it comes in real handy to do this step.
 

peteo

Senior Member
Location
Los Angeles
Jose,

"I?m posting this note for advice, to vent, leave myself open to criticism and as an example of what not to do."

What not to do? You provided your customer with a safe connection as she requested. I don't know what probem you perceive, but customers in her position always have a couple options:
1) Read and follow instructions
2) Contact manufacturer for support if needed
I do not hesitate to ask customers (especially DIY females) whether they're capable of following up with calling the company. Invariably they get the message, that you're not being hard on them but at the same time they have their responsibilies separate from yours.

Your job is finished. Great work. My personal experiences with customers such as this, suggest that she may be best off with low voltage DIY lighting. That way she can tailor the installation to her desires without professional design or installation assistance. She needs outdoor receptacles added or repaired would be a different matter entirely.
 

DGrant041

Senior Member
Location
Peoria, Illinois
JROD said:
...and when she dims the lights on the fan there is a low humming noise coming from the unit. She is afraid to run the fan or the lights.

...The kicker she said to me that her mother bought the same fan and had installed by a professional electrician and it doesn't do those things and she wants me to fix her fan because that she is afraid to use the fan until it is fixed.

Hey I have a somewhat related question: What causes the lights to hum? Is it the type of light bulbs or is that part of being on a MWBC? I have some lights that do that. . .some don't. [Of course I'm reffering to incandescent lights on a dimmer circuit. My dimmer is in the wall, his is in the fixture.]

Any thoughts?
 

W6SJK

Senior Member
The filaments are vibrating because of the dimmer. Sometimes changing the bulbs helps. Try googleing "dimmer hum"
 

ramdiesel3500

Senior Member
Location
Bloomington IN
Well, let me see if I understand the situation here! She had a red wire that she did not need any more because her fan is now remote control. So here is a silly question. Is she dimming the light with the remote control or is she using the wallbox dimmer switch from the light circuit of the old fan? Now, maybe, we know where all the humming is coming from!! You can't run a ceiling fan motor from an incandescent light fixture dimmer.
 

JROD

Member
Location
North Carolina
Thank you all for the advice. Good advice and insights!

She is using the remote to dim the lights.

I usually don?t take these types of jobs but she seemed pretty concerned and confused over the phone. Lesson learned Charlie T, I am staying away from jobs started by others.

I have left her two phone messages to talk with her, but she hasn?t returned my calls. As Peteo suggested, I am going to ask her to contact the manufacturer.

Thanks Again Everyone.
 

Atricaudatus

Member
Location
Eastern NC
macmikeman said:
I say always get a signature before any job starts no matter how small. My boilerplate states we are not responsible for any existing defects in the wiring system at the premises. Then when the insulation on the old conductors crumble, or the old florescent starter craps out, or the old receptacle outlet crumbles in removal and on and on and on, the customer pays. Anything wrong I discover, the customer pays to fix, or it doesn't get fixed and I note that in the job sign off sheet. And on 1 out of every 2 jobs I go to the owner or the handyman botched something up, so it comes in real handy to do this step.

Mac,
could you post a copy of that boiler plate you mention here? Sounds like a good ides, and something I might want to use as well.

I'm sure all of us run into this sort of customer from time to time. I had one lady who hired us to run a dedicated circuit for a computer. Eight months later her AC unit crapped out and she had the nerve to demand that I fix it for free because "it was working before we came, and nothing else has been done since your guys were here." [so obviously it must have been caused by something we did!] :lol:


Thanks.
 

macmikeman

Senior Member
Hey, I will do that. You have to wait a bit though, cause the sun is coming up and that means time to saddle up the horse and go "get er done" . I will try maybe over the weekend.
 
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