customer demanded free afci breaker upgrade then ghosted on the bill

had this homeowner in the chicago area call me out last week for a tripped breaker in their kitchen, turns out it was an old afci that kept nuisance tripping on the microwave circuit. i explained nec 210.12 requires them now and quoted $450 to swap it with a square d qo model, plus some 12/2 romex rerouting behind the cabinets. she flipped out saying her previous sparky did it for free under warranty and i should too, even though that was 5 years ago. spent two hours diagnosing and showing her the code violations, then she says she'll think about it and never responds to my invoice. saw a similar rant in the electricians network facebook group, but damn these entitled ones make me wanna stick to commercial jobs only. imho, next time im charging a $100 trip fee upfront for diagnostics. tbh, its BS how some folks treat us like were the utility company.

sounds like she was fishing for free labor, classic move.

document everything with photos next time, email the quote right there on site and get a signature before touching wires.

had the same crap happen with a gfci outlet job.

just walk away if they start haggling before the work, saves headaches.

chicago clients are the worst for this, always wanna lowball.

watched a dustin stelzer video on electrician u about handling cheapskates, he says quote high and let em negotiate down.

dont let em waste your time, bill the diag fee and move on.

ugh, been there with a similar breaker swap, felt like i was begging for payment.

same here man, these homeowners think were charities.

never start work without a deposit on residential, especially code upgrades.

im so over these ghosting clients, starting to screen calls harder.

frustrated as hell, just had one argue over a $200 panel label job.

another one tried to paypal me half after i fixed their subpanel overload.

sharkbite fittings are trash in walls, but for electrics ill fight you on push-in connectors over wago.

you guys ever had one call the cops over a bill? whats your go-to line?

customer calls at midnight cuz her christmas lights tripped the whole house, shows up in pajamas demanding i fix it free since its the holidays lol.

screw these clients, time we all union up and stop taking this BS from cheap asses who wouldnt know romex from romain lettuce.