Most people don’t call an electrician very often — and when they do, it’s usually because something is wrong. A breaker keeps tripping. Power is out in part of the house. An outlet stopped working. Whatever brought you here, you’re probably wondering two things: How long is this going to take, and what’s it going to cost?
Those are exactly the right questions. At T.A.P. Electric, we want you to have clear answers before our truck ever pulls into your driveway. Here’s a step-by-step look at what our service call process looks like — so there are no surprises.
Step 1: The First Call
When you reach out to T.A.P. Electric, you’re not going to get a voicemail black hole. We’ll have a real conversation about what’s going on — what you’re seeing, how long it’s been happening, and any details that help us understand the issue before we arrive.
During this call, we’ll discuss:
- What the issue is and any photos you can share with us Ballpark pricing ranges so you’re not walking in blind
- When we can get out to you and who will be making the visit
- Scheduling options that work around your availability
For larger projects outside of a standard service call, we’ll encourage you to fill out our online form so we can set up a dedicated consultation to go over everything in detail.
Step 2: Scheduling the Visit
Once we have an appointment set, you’ll receive a confirmation by text or email. Before we show up, there are a few things that genuinely help the visit go smoothly — and we’ll ask about all of them:
- Pets: Please secure dogs, cats, or other animals. We love them — but for their safety and ours, we need them out of the work area.
- Parking: Let us know where to park so we can get tools and equipment in and out easily.
Who will be on site:
- We’ll confirm who we should be meeting and make sure someone with access to the property is available.
Special circumstances:
- If someone in the home works nights and sleeps during the day, you have a newborn, or anything else we should know — please tell us. We’ll do our best to accommodate.
Step 3: The Technician Arrives and Diagnoses the Problem
Every electrical issue has a root cause, and finding it is where the real work begins. Our technician won’t just look at the symptom — they’ll start at the heart of your electrical system and work outward.
That means we start outside at your meter and work inward to your main panel (and any sub-panels). A visual inspection of the whole system happens before we zero in on your specific concern — whether that’s a tripping breaker, a loss of power in part of your home, a broken switch, or a dead outlet.
A few things to be prepared for:
- Access is essential. Our tech will need access to your main electrical panel, the outdoor
meter location, and any relevant areas like a basement, crawl space, or attic. Please make sure these areas are accessible before we arrive.
It might get loud. If we need to open walls, run wire, or investigate behind surfaces, there will be some noise. We’ll always let you know before we do anything invasive.
We’ll keep you informed. If we discover something unexpected during diagnosis, we’ll stop and talk with you before proceeding.
Step 4: Resolution or a Clear Next Step
After diagnosis, one of two things happens:
- If we can fix it on the spot, we will. Many service calls are resolved the same day. Once the work is done, we’ll issue an invoice and collect payment in the form of cash, check, or credit card.
If the issue is more involved, we’ll give you a detailed written quote outlining exactly what needs to be done and what it will cost. We offer flat-rate pricing on many common repairs, so you’ll know the number upfront — not after the work is already done.
Step 5: Completion and Walkthrough
When the job is finished, we don’t just pack up and leave. Before we go, we:
- Clean up the work area — we leave your home the way we found it
- Do a walkthrough with you to confirm everything that was discussed is complete and working
- Collect final payment and issue a paid invoice, sent electronically via text or email for your
records.
We won’t consider the job done until you do.
Step 6: The Follow-Up
Within a few days of completing your service call, you’ll hear from us. Not to sell you anything — just to check in. We want to make sure everything is still working as expected, that our tech met the T.A.P. standard, and that you don’t have any lingering questions.
It’s a small thing, but it matters to us. Customer satisfaction isn’t just a phrase we put on a website — it’s the reason we built T.A.P. Electric the way we did.
Ready to schedule a service call? Give T.A.P. Electric a call or fill out our online form and we’ll get back to you fast. Troy and the team are based in West Burlington, Iowa, and proud to serve the surrounding area.