Bates Electric — Local services in Windsor Township

Forwarded to The Better Business Bureau:

On July 1st, 2023, there was a terrible rainstorm with heavy showers. This caused my electricity to go out, and my generator was not working. I called Bates Electric, Inc. and left a voicemail. No one called back. Due to no electricity being available, my sump pump was not working, causing my basement to flood. The electricity was off for four days, without a single returned telephone call from Bates Electric, Inc.

On July 14th, 2023, there was a worse storm than on July 1st, 2023. My electricity went out again. I called Bates Electric, Inc. and left a message. No one returned my telephone call.

On July 15th, 2023, I called again and spoke with a staff member named John, requesting for someone to come out to repair my generator. John told me that no one was available because a service technician was on vacation. John informed me that if he could find someone to come on Sunday July 16th, 2023, I would be charged a $350 service fee, plus $350 per hour for labor with a one-hour minimum, but if I scheduled service for Monday, July 17th, 2023, the fee would be half that amount ($175 per hour). I scheduled a service call for July 17th, 2023.

A technician arrived on July 17th, 2023, but quoted the rates I was given for Sunday service. It was only after I stated that I was quoted a different rate did the technician agree to the $175.00 per hour rate. The technician claimed that "everything was fixed" at 4:00 p.m., and left my home. At 7:00 p.m., I found out that the technician was not truthful, because the generator still was not working. I called Bates Electric, Inc. at 7:00 p.m. on July 17th, 2023 after I saw that the generator was not working. No one answered the telephone, ergo I left a voicemail message.

On July 18th, 2023, I saw a weather report that there would be a storm that evening. I called Bates Electric, Inc., and a person named Paige answered the telephone. I informed Paige that my generator still was not working, even though the technician claimed that it was. Paige told me that no one was available to come out. I asked to speak with a manager. A person named Stacey got on the telephone, and told me that no one is available. I advised Stacey my basement was at risk of being flooded. Stacey then said that a technician named Steve would come over to fix the generator.

Steve did not ring the doorbell announcing that he was here. He called, stating he was outside working on the generator. I did not see him anywhere on my property. I looked down the street and Steve was pulling apart someone else’s generator. He stated he assumed that was the right house because he has done work there before in the past. Steve worked for an hour, then abruptly ended service, citing that he has another job to do, and did not have time to fix my generator. I pleaded with Steve to finish the work at my home, because I had property at risk. Steve told me to, "Call the office," and left without completing the repair of my generator.

I called Bates Electric, Inc. again and spoke with Stacey. I asked to speak with Andrew Bates, the CEO of Bates Electric, Inc. Stacey was told by someone in the background, "Tell her I am in a meeting."

I informed Stacey that the technician left without repairing my generator, claiming that he had another job that he had to get to. Stacey told me that the only way that someone would come back out on July 18th, 2023 was to charge me the rate that is charged on Sundays, otherwise I need to "wait until they get someone that actually has time to fix the generator."

On July 19th, 2023, someone finally came and repaired the generator, giving me a total bill of $1,894. I am an elderly widow, a person of color, and have complex health issues. In this entire experience, I felt dismissed, unheard, and given horrible service. This experience felt like discrimination, whether it be for my race or age. I felt like if I were in an affluent area, I would not have been the recipient of such callous treatment. Bates Electric, Inc. is a company that should not...

WARNING: DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH BATES ELECTRIC. We had an entire new construction electrical ran by Bates Electric. Read all the 1-star reviews. If you do, just prepare for headaches and some sketchy, unreliable work that will cost you pain and money down the road. There are plenty of reputable electricians with 4.9+ reviews on the STL Area.

Number of Problems:

Knew when we built the home 5 years ago that they poorly placed the electrical panel in the basement. They failed to install per the approved SLCO plans and placed it between the egress window (potential bedroom) and plumbed area for potential bathroom. An absolute horrendously placed electrical panel. Install was done with no regard with other disciplines of plumbing, HVAC, etc. The moment I saw it, knew it was going to be a problem. Kindly asked to move it and they said it would cost b/c it’s already installed. Now that we are finishing the basement, we’ve had about a dozen licensed professionals stop by and saw this and said something along the lines of "who is the idiot that installed the electrical panel in that location?” Now nearly 5 years later when finishing the basement it’s been a SLCO Permit headache dealing with the electrical panel and in the bedroom.

Within a year of moving in INDOOR outlets that were NOT sealed properly and were freezing from the outside moisture (see picture).

There is an outdoor outlet that has never worked on the side of the house.

Breakers keep popping on outdoor outlets. So frequently that the outlets are virtually inoperable. They went 15A instead of 20A. Once again, not great common electrical sense for outdoor outlets.

Overall, this is not a company I would do business with. Once they cash the check, there is no follow up or even communication to warranty their work. They’re the standard volume based business, not a care for the the little guy (the personal home owner).

For the person responding on behalf of the company: I have called your office, been forwarded to answering machines and left messages. Only to never receive a response. And now, once the customer post publicly…..an attempt to rectify things? If I decide this is worth my time I’ll stop by in person. But candidly, you’ve already wasted enough of my time and money. No reasonable minded person would do business with a company with such lack of trust and integrity.

Also, when reading such a negative review, it’s easy to brush it off and think it’s just a high-maintenance complainer that not happy with anything. However, please take a moment to see my roll up of reviews. I’m a reasonable and patient person that is not hard to satisfy.

One positive is that the electrician working on our home was flexible and always tried to meet...

I had asked my EV charger to be installed in my garage and also to move one breaker to second panel to make room for EV breaker. I was not happy with the the young man who they sent to do the actual work. He was not very professional.

1- He did not fish the cable from the electric panel, which is in basement, directly under the dry wall of garage. He cut 2 pieces into dry wall (instead of 1). He left the cut dry wall pieces loose in the dry wall.

2- When asked if had properly torqued the cables into the 50A breaker and in the EV charger to 17.5 ft-lb as per instructions of EV charger manufacturer. He response was "No I tightened it pretty good"

3- While drilling holes for the charger mounting bracket on the wall, he made extra set of holes and left them unused/un-repaired. Even a novice like me knows how to find studs in the wall for mounting bracket!!

4- Lastly he left without labeling the 1) moved breaker and 2) the EV breaker in the panel which is code requirement. I had to call their office and have him call me back to help me label the two breakers myself.

I saddens me to get this kind of quality for the amount of money I paid for this work.

UPDATE 07/28/2023: Bates electric reached out to me. They not only refunded me $135 service fee but also their tech came to my house to torque the cables both at breaker/panel side and charger side to proper spec. Wall work i have to get it...