The "jack-leg" electrician actually wields a double edged sword. He not only provides the customer with a poor quality product, and in BigJohn's example, resorts to downright DECEPTION, but also grossly undercuts the quality job that a real electrician would provide. It's unfortunate that hiring an electrician is not usually done in the same manner as hiring a gardener or a painter, where customers consider references or examples of their work. I believe that, even a relatively uneducated customer would recognize poor quality work vs. high quality work. There are many varieties of quality of work being done (or being perpetrated on cusotmers) - that ranging from highest possible quality (which members of ECN stand for), to that of such dubious quality that it should never be put into service.
Regrettably, most of the time it factors down to one single thing, as do too many things today...money. Quality, and the time required to secure it, are too far down the list.
Mike (mamills)
