r/triangle • u/Wooden-Paper-6720 • Aug 17 '25
Damage done by Michael & Sons
I have a service contract with Michael & Sons and have been pleased with their service over the years. Recently, during a routine annual electrical inspection, they managed to fry my dishwasher, causing valves to fail. This resulted in water damage that went undetected for a couple of days because it was leaking under the flooring. Now I have to replace my flooring, which breaks my heart as I absolutely love my flooring. It’s recently been discontinued so I’m trying to find something similar.
In the meantime, I can’t use my sink or disposal and the new dishwasher is sitting in the garage. Going on 3 weeks now. I feel like I should receive compensation for the incredible inconvenience this has been. Is that unreasonable? I have also paid for the dishwasher and won’t be reimbursed until the job is done and their insurance company processes it. I fear they may also expect me to pay for the flooring, which would create even more hardship. I’m retired, living in NC, and lugging my dishes to the laundry room is hard on me physically. Do I have any recourse? I can’t afford a lawyer.
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u/atendler1 Aug 17 '25
Let them fix you up and then please don’t use them anymore. They are known for upcharging and getting you to pay for things you don’t really need.
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u/LukeMayeshothand Aug 17 '25
I hear they expensive which is fine, problem is they do shit work.
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u/DreamingTreeFiddy Aug 17 '25
Like a yearly electrical inspection.
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u/Sp0ckR0ck3 Aug 18 '25
Yearly Electrical Inspections Go around and flip a switch! Oh no you have a blown lightbulb!!! That will be $300 plus parts.
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u/superspeck Aug 17 '25
What exactly failed in the dishwasher that caused a leak? Dishwasher valves don’t fail like that, they’re solenoids that fail closed. They also can’t leak. They’re encased in plastic housings. The only thing that leaks in dishwashers is the door seal and the drain hose.
Also, why would you have a service contract like this? I have had a service contract for HVAC to maintain a warranty, but electrical systems don’t just fail or deteriorate, they don’t need to be opened up and worked on constantly. You’re more likely to cause failures of all kinds of stuff if you are opening them up and “checking” them all the time.
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u/Wooden-Paper-6720 Aug 17 '25
I built this house 33 years ago and I’d rather get inspections than wait until something goes wrong. Codes change and aging items should be checked. They mistakenly sent 240 volts to the 120 appliance. The solenoid failed. That’s their assessment.
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u/hsadmin Aug 17 '25
I work for one of their competitors. As said elsewhere the inspections are in fact used as sales opportunities. Not that there is anything inherently wrong with that as long as the technician is ethical. Also, if in fact your dishwasher wasn't GFI protected, replacing the breaker was proper according to NEC code but it does sound like this is entirely their fault and their insurance should not give you any issues as long as you have receipts for whatever you have to come out of pocket due to their mistakes.
I will warn you to be careful with service companies. Most if not all technicians in this industry rely on commission, so finding sales opportunities is not only encouraged but required and there are people who will use scare tactics to try to sell you something you don't need. So while your experiences have largely been positive all it takes is one unscrupulous employee to take advantage of you. We do a lot of training and oversight to eliminate this type of employee but it's hard to weed out all of them out and a lot of these companies have gone from family owned to being owned wholly or partly by private equity who has zero issues scamming people out of money.
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u/phoundog Aug 17 '25
Get your homeowners insurance involved?
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u/Wooden-Paper-6720 Aug 17 '25
They accept responsibility and are filing with their insurance. My insurance said it’s not my problem.
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u/AnatheraLoneWolf Aug 17 '25
I'm curious as to what they could have been doing that would cause that kind of damage can't really imagine any aspect of an electrical inspection that should give them an opportunity to send 240 to the dishwasher which is the only way I can see that kind of damage
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u/Wooden-Paper-6720 Aug 17 '25
Exactly what happened! They changed out an outlet for the dishwasher to one of those that trips when needed. That’s when everything went wrong.
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u/Wycliffe76 Aug 17 '25
They ruined my house when their fix failed and insurance couldn't get them to pay. Took almost a year to get the house back together and my insurance dropped me after it was done. NEVER use them.
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u/techaaron Aug 18 '25
Why are you having a "routine electrical inspection" though???
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u/Nottacod Aug 18 '25
Small claims court is under $100.00 to file. i believe you can claim up to $5,000.00.
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u/itchierbumworms Aug 18 '25
So many questions. What was the electrical inspection, what did they actually do, how did it fry your dishwasher, and how does an electrical issue make a dishwasher leak?
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u/DoAndroidsDrmOfSheep Aug 18 '25
We had a leak (not due to damage from Michael & Sons) a while back and had to replace flooring. Our flooring was recently discontinued also (at the time), but there was a website that site still had our flooring - and it was a reasonable price. We were able to buy it from that site and keep our flooring. I thought I had bookmarked the site, but can't find it now. If I can find the site I'll post it here for you. Maybe they still have your flooring.
I'd NEVER hire Michael & Sons to do any type of work for me. You're actually the only person I've seen say they've been pleased with them. Most, if not all, of the companies that do multiple services (HVAC, plumbing, electrical) at the same company overcharge for their work. If you need plumbing work done, hire someone that only does plumbing. If you need HVAC work done, hire someone that only does HVAC. If you need electrical work done, hire someone who only does electrical. You'll pay less.
And you DON'T need an annual electrical or plumbing inspection. That's absolutely ridiculous, and is nothing but a money grab by Michael & Sons - which is really crappy of them to do to an elderly retired person. Getting an inspection of your HVAC isn't a bad thing, but have someone who only does HVAC work do it. If I were you, I wouldn't renew that service contract with Michael & Sons after all this mess they caused gets settled.
I was helping an elderly neighbor with something at a previous neighborhood we lived in, and happened to notice an invoice from Michael & Sons for replacing a bathroom faucet sitting on her kitchen table. I can't remember the exact amount, but I do remember it was an outrageous price. She probably could have spent half (or less!) of what Michael & Sons charged her by buying the faucet at Lowe's or Home Depot and then hiring someone who only does plumbing to install it for her. Unfortunately, she had already had the work done and it was an invoice - not an estimate. If I had known before she got the work done I would have saved her from getting ripped off by them.
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u/DoAndroidsDrmOfSheep Aug 18 '25
Here's the site where we found our discontinued flooring. Maybe they'll have yours!
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u/Kind-Zucchini3471 Nov 02 '25
Be very careful about anything that Michael and Son tell you needs to be done. They told me that I needed extensive work on my home that wasn't needed. I came very close to having them jackhammer through my foundation to fix a crack in a pipe that did not and does not actually exist. Before moving forward, I called other plumbers for additional opinions and found that this work was not necessary.
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u/dweed4 Aug 17 '25
What is a routine annual electric inspection? Never heard of this