That time a homeowner argued with me about wire color for 20 minutes

I was doing a panel swap in a 1970s house up in Maplewood and this guy kept insisting the white wire going to a switch should be hot because his buddy told him so. Tried explaining code to him, showed him the nec book, and he still said I was wrong. He actually stood there and measured voltage from the white to ground and said see it's hot. Took me pulling out the switch and showing him the neutral bundle to finally shut him up. Has anyone else had a customer just refuse to believe what's in front of them?

3 comments

3 Comments

mia7001mo ago

People like that will argue with a code book in their face.

emmaclark1mo ago

Right, like you can argue with something written in black and white.

markh851mo ago

Right, exactly. "Written in black and white" is the perfect way to put it. I had a guy once try to argue with a printed receipt that clearly showed he was charged the right amount. He kept saying the font was too small, like that changes the numbers. @mia700 nailed it with that code book comparison, some people just won't accept it no matter how clear it is. It's like they think if they argue long enough the words will rearrange themselves.