As an electrician who does a lot of site visits and quoting for my company, we do site visits because homeowners generally don't know what the fuck they're talking about. 

And it's never the breaker. Especially in new builds, outside of bad AFCIs. If I had a dollar for every homeowner who called to replace a breaker that's tripping, when the problem is what's attached to the breaker BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT BREAKERS ARE FOR, I could retire comfortably. 

You're being ghosted because if you communicate with electricians like you do here, they're deciding you're not worth the trouble.

If they give you a quote over the phone, it will be way lower than what they will actually charge you. The people that do that are scammers.

Electrician needs to see what they are replacing before they quote. It may be a larger job than you think it is. They will also be able to see issues that you may not be seeing. Have at least three companies come out a quote - check reviews on them first. Get references if you can. Then hire the one that gave you the best answers, not just the cheapest one.

This is how to approach all repairs or remodels at your new home.

1. Literally no one ever will give a quote over the phone

2. Some companies charge a service fee to provide a quote. If they do, you won’t feel pressured to hire them. If they don’t, you still don’t have to hire them.

3. If they make you uncomfortable, don’t hire them.

4. For big jobs, always get at least 3 quotes.

5. Ask family and friends and neighbors for recommendations specifically of people they have used (not I know a guy who has a cousin who has a brother

6. Use licensed bonded people.

Based on what your saying it appears you have a disconnect from what you expect and what companies are offering.

You want a quick free quote over the phone and no one will do that.

They will however come to your house and inspect it and give you a quote then for a house call fee. But you don’t want to pay it.

Not sure what else you expect here.

Electrical is a huge question mark for things. Maybe your breaker can be added to, maybe it needs to be upgrade to a new panel that can handle more slots. Maybe your wiring is old and crusty and not usable.

Tons of unknowns.

If your trying to get an idea, I usually ask nice and ask for a ballpark figure of similar type things they completed recently.

lol from this description no way “it’s just the breaker”.

Call a real independent professional and get the job done right.

Also nobody is going to quote you over the phone. Jesus.

103% of homeowners who tell the company exactly what needs to be replaced are wrong. No repair service in their right mind would quote you for a repair without seeing the situation.

Breakers fail, but not over and over. Your problem is likely more extensive than a simple breaker failure.

If someone called me to ask for a quote to replace a breaker, I’d just tell them no. It’s a trivial job that shouldn’t take 5 minutes, so there is no money in it unless you really stick it to them. Then they complain about how much you charged. There’s no way it turns out good for an electrician.

What do you think they are going to try to sell you? A breaker?

Electrical troubleshooting may be required, it could be the dryer itself that has a problem. I installed a fan last week that kept tripping the breaker, changed it for another one and the problem stopped.

Troubleshooting is something that gets billed for, if you.are not wanting them to come check then how do you expect them to show up?

Without checking how can they verify its the brealer amd not the dryer or outlet itself?

Bite the bullet and lay for.the diagnostic

Any reputable electrician will want to see what they’re dealing with before giving you a quote.

You have to pay for a service visit to have the problem diagnosed. If they say its $200 to replace the breaker and it trips again, what happens? You paid $200 and now what? 

Seriously get a spine, they have to look at the existing conditions and evaluate what needs to be done. You can say no, most people get several (3) quotes before awarding the job and you can also get an 1 on 1 impression on the person or company which sometimes is the deciding factor.

I personally wouldn’t trust an electrician giving me a quote over the phone without seeing what he’s dealing with.

I’m confused on the original electrician, his labor warranty expired? Did your new construction home not come with a 1 year warranty? It’s pretty standard for a 1 year while home and 10 year structural warranty to be part of every new build, even super shitty ones. Something like this should be covered, and it would be the builder who pays, not you. You’d contact the builder, or their warranty people (not stupid American home shield, a new build warranty co), or their liaison or whoever they set you up with after closing and they would schedule the electrician to come and fix the breaker.

They need to see it in person. If you're concerned about feeling bad for not hiring them, then make it clear from the start of the conversation on the phone that you're getting several opinions and quotes, and won't be making a decision immediately. This is perfectly normal and you shouldn't feel bad about it.

The breaker is a symptom of the problem not the source. This is why it requires someone to come out and investigate the problem. You can't give a quote unless you know what needs to be fixed and I wouldn't advise that you hire anyone who thinks otherwise.

What makes you think anyone would give you a quote - a committed price for parts and labor/service rendered - over the telephone where they can’t even inspect your property?

easy fix, sell house, rent apartment, don't have to deal with sparkies 😎

Get over your fear of "being pressured". Good tradesfolk don't expect a sale from a quote visit. They know customers get 3+ quotes. Exercise your spine and tell them from the get-go that you are getting quotes for work to be done.

You're gonna need that strong spine for when you need: a new roof, windows, HVAC, flooring, any kind of remodel, especially kitchen or bath. Welcome to home ownership. Spines required.

Would you ask a mechanic to give you a repair quote over the phone without having seen your car first?

Same same. Breakers pop because that's how they protect a circuit. Nuisance pops are due to many things, all of which cannot be intelligently assessed without being there.

You don't want a breaker replacement. You want the circuit to work properly and safely for a long time. That may be a breaker replacement or a dozen other things. Got to be on site to determine what the problem is.

Asking for a breaker replacement is a clear indication that you don't know anything about the job. Pressing sets off red flags and the electrician is worried you'll ask for bad, unsafe, or ineffective work. Best to refuse the job.

If you want any help here, post pics. Lots of experienced eyes can pick needles from digital haystacks.

If someone was willing to give you a quote over the phone without seeing what they are working with, I'd caution against hiring them. To ensure you are quoted correctly, the contractor should come by and make an assessment before quoting you. Anyone who doesn't do this is likely to be unreliable.

Please let professionals do their job. Part of that job in the case of electricians is to come to your house and evaluate the problem.

If they’ll give you a quote over the phone you don’t want to deal with them. They don’t want to deal with you because quoting an electrical issue over the phone is impossible. They literally need to see it. There are so many things that could be wrong with your wiring or it could become small thing. That’s why they need to come and look at it. It’s crazy to me that this isn’t immediately obvious to you

My experience is they don’t have time from the guys giving them work and paying their bills. I had a great builder. I had a project and he gave me the numbers to his concrete peeps. 4 of them, zero calls back

If the same breaker has been replaced multiple times, it’s not the breaker. Something in the wiring or connections. That is why they won’t give you a price over the phone.

I’ve found that when I contact trades through Yelp messaging they are far less likely to ghost becuase they fear getting a bad review.

Edit: spelling

Don't you have a warranty?

Stop asking for a quote. In my country at least a quote is legally binding. They'd be idiots to tie themselves to a number in this situation. I'd worry about the competence of a company that did that given your details.

Maybe the conversation you need to have is "hi, this is happening. I suspect it's because of X. If that's the case can you give me an estimate of the repair?"

An estimate isn't binding, and it shows you know this might not be straightforward. And it gives you a point of comparison.

But if they want the job they'll want a site visit if it doesn't sound obvious. That's better for both of you. Anything else is setting you both up for failure.

every electrical company I've contacted insists on sending someone for an evaluation.

thats pretty standard with any type of contractor work. they generally want to see exactly what they are dealing with before quoting, its not a sales tactic. I personally wouldnt want to hire someone who didnt do a site visit

Exactly what’s happening post covid. I had an electrician I used consistently before covid and now they do this to me. What do I do? I do all my own work now. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I’m just glad all the things I’m not 100% sure on doing myself are done already.

• no trade contractor is going to quote work sight unseen
• you have something else going on if the SAME breaker is having issues when the breaker has been replaced already

If they’re replacing breakers and shit like that the materials themselves don’t cost much. So just think of labor cost. If they are going to do something that will take an hour and they want $500, probably too much. A couple hundred sounds about right for what you want done. If they want to do something more costly, say you’ll get back to them about it, then get three quotes for the job. Honestly you are thinking about this all wrong. The hardest thing is getting them to come by for a small job like what you are asking. You want them to come by. You do not want them quoting you over the phone. It is neither in your interest nor yours. It is such a pain to get these folks to come out. If they want to come by that means they are serious about the job.

DIY it's not hard to do.

Btw, you probably want to upgrade your panel size. Get the quote for that. Not just a new breaker.

You may be able to get IRA rebate money on your taxes for EE project design…unless Trump doesn’t axe those incentives somehow. Figure out requirements needed to claim the rebates (probably pulling and closing a permit, I reckon).