Mike
Our experience with Ryan Harelson/Firefly Electric was and continues to be extremely negative. After being hired to replace a residential electrical panel and being paid approximately half of the total cost as a deposit, a series of unprofessional actions occurred that led to our dismissing him as our contractor. These included erroneously stating that the new panel could remain in the existing location, unnecessarily directing us to move an existing water line at our cost to accommodate the new panel, failing to inform us that a tree would need to be significantly trimmed, multiple cancelling/re-scheduling of the proposed work, and demanding additional money. SRP conducted a pre-work inspection and stated that the panel would need to be moved approximately 20 feet from its current location, and that the relocated water line done at Harelson’s direction was still not within SRP standards. Harelson stated that he consulted with SRP but they would not tell him if the panel needed to be moved; he recommended that we simply install it in the current location against the SRP directive, and “see” if it would pass final inspection. He said that if it was not acceptable to SRP it would be an additional $3,000.00 to move the panel afterward. After all this, Harelson then requested additional money to begin the work, in direct contravention of the contract, which stated that the remainder was due after all work had been completed. At this point we lost confidence in Harelson/Firefly Electric, and hired another contractor to finish the job. The new contractor had no problem coordinating with SRP, and immediately found that the panel would need to be moved. After requesting a return of our deposit from Harelson and being denied, we filed a lawsuit and won a judgment for the entire deposit plus expenses. During the course of the legal proceedings we found that the statutory agent listed for Firefly Electric is non-existent, and the business location listed on the company website is also not correct; however, Firefly Electric still shows these false listings. The lawsuit resulted in multiple mandatory court appearances, one of which Harelson did not show for and another at which he was obviously impaired, to the point that the judge asked if he had a drink before court that morning. Also, discovery in the court action revealed that Harelson has one account for both his business and personal expenses. Despite the judgment in our favor, a court-directed payment plan, and approval to garnish assets, Harelson has refused to pay and has repeatedly stated that he is filing for bankruptcy. There are many electrical contractors in the Phoenix area; our recommendation is to select one that does not list false business information, is not currently in debt to former clients, and is not filing for bankruptcy.
