Handymen are indispensable for their skills, especially during emergencies.
In such situations, people may be willing to depart with any amount of money to fix a problem.
But one customer in Singapore decided against that when an electrician purportedly charged over S$2,000 to replace a circuit breaker.
She later learned that the unit didn’t require replacing at all and called the electrician out for alleged scamming.
On Sunday (19 Mar), the customer recounted her unpleasant encounter through a post in the Complaint Singapore Facebook group.
When her workplace experienced a power trip at midnight, she searched for a 24-hour electrician and discovered a contact on Google.
Source: Facebook
The electrician apparently quoted the woman an astonishing transport fee of S$350 if no repair is required.
As the woman was in a desperate situation, she agreed.
Upon arriving, the electrician inspected the situation and informed the woman that the circuit breaker unit was broken.
He allegedly advised replacing it, which would cost S$2,300.
Alarmed by the price, the woman consulted another person and decided against changing the circuit breaker entirely.
According to the woman, a faulty refrigerator had actually caused the power trip.
However, she did not mention how they arrived at that conclusion.
She also alleged that the electrician was not thorough in inspecting “each breaker to see what cause(d) the trip”.
When she searched for more information about the electrician, she realised that there were many negative reviews about him.
In the accompanying screenshots, several others expressed that they had similar experiences with the electrician.
Source: Facebook
They also alleged that the electrician is unlicenced.
The woman ended her post by urging others to be wary of this electrician.
MS News has reached out to the electrician for comment. However, he has not responded.
For your safety, it is important to only engage licensed electricians to work on your power supply.
The Energy Market Authority (EMA) provides some helpful tips on how you can verify if an electrician is licenced:
Source: EMA
By going through the proper channels, such cases of overcharging and false inspections can be avoided.
Have news you must share? Get in touch with us via email at news@mustsharenews.com.
Featured image adapted from Adobe Stock Images, for illustration purposes only.
The authorities have investigated and closed the incident with no follow-ups required, MFA said.
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