Surge Guards, to buy or not to buy

While overnighting at my niece's, on the way to Hawking Hills, Ohio, I plugged into her garage outlet. My Progressive Industries power management unit wouldn't allow the power to flow. Spent an hour changing the polarity on all her garage outlets as they were all wired backwards. She wouldn't have ever known there was a problem until someone got zapped. Apparently the previous homeowner was a do it yourselfer without electrical knowledge. (My sig photo is taken in front of her house)
Get the best protection you can afford.