Mister Sparky Avis 

Do NOT use this company! I had an emergency situation while being abroad and needed an electrician after hours due to a house sitter smelling smoke in my home. The technician, Mario, did arrive promptly and eventually informed me that our main circuit breaker is made of aluminum and due to the hot weather it was overheating and on the verge of melting and if I didn’t opt to get a new one installed that’s up to the current code I could have a fire. He said that the burning plastic smell that the house sitter was smelling was the result of the melting and the scent was coming through the walls. He quickly drew up a quote sent to my email for $19,000. Asked him to turn off the circuit breaker and leave it as is. I luckily, had the electrician from my warranty company come a day later and he said there was nothing wrong with the main breaker with 100% certainty. Turns out the real culprit was the AC air handler blower breaking. Stay away from this company!

High-pressure sales tactics. Insanely inflated prices. No proof of damage; we were pushed into a $22,000 replacement for a working system. Unresponsive customer service. Insurance coordination promised, but never performed.

What started as a high electrical bill revealed that I hired a company charging more than double market rate for electrical work that likely never needed to be performed. We called them for peace of mind after a lightning strike, even though our power was working fine.

Their safety advisor claimed our panels were fried, called it an immediate fire hazard, and stated a $22,000 option was the only way to keep us safe. Reassured he would handle our insurance coordination, we authorized the work.

In the weeks that followed, I realized what actually happened.

Price Gouging: My insurance company valued the work they did at just under $6,000, though mister sparky charged $15000+. Other electrician companies gave quotes in the $10,000 range, and informed us that Mister Sparky regularly marks up their prices significantly past market rate.

Unrequested Upgrades: Furthermore, the safety advisor explained that he would be replacing like for like to ensure we would receive full reimbursement. Instead, they installed significant upgrades in direct contradiction to what I was verbally told, leading to our insurance company refusing to cover the difference (see attached invoice photos).

Lack of insurance coordination, even though it was promised: Despite promising during the initial home visit to act as our liaison, the safety advisor never had a single conversation with our insurance company. He actually told us not to contact our insurance company, claiming we might just end up confusing them, leaving us with $15,000 not covered.

Questionable Evidence: They still have not provided the thermal images used to scare us. The system was 100% functional when they arrived, and the photos of the panels show no visible defects. They even pulled internet/data cables out of the box to make it look worse (see the photos of the blue/coax lines—those aren't even electrical cables).

Ghosted by Management: Management and the service email have completely stopped responding to emails. When I called to request the salesperson's full name and title, the agent straight up hung up on me.

Refund not issued as promised: I was also promised a $309 refund that was never delivered (see invoice page 1). After following up with management and realizing that I had a 3-year service plan attached to my bill unknowingly, the manager agreed that he would remove this charge. I have had zero further communication about this.

My lessons learned are to get second and third opinions (even in a perceived emergency) and trust your gut if you feel pressured into expensive, unrequested upgrades.

Stay clear of Mister Sparky!

Would not recommend at all!

Didn't fix the original issue and caused new issues.

Updated from 1 star because they did come back out and it appears they fixed the original issue and the new issue. Will need to wait until a good rain to verify original issue is fully resolved.

BEWARE. I was told that I needed two new 8 foot ground rods for my house in Austin, TX. The one for water was probably not to code and I did not have one for my gas pool heater. I should done my research, but I was trying to get my pool equipment electrical issue fixed. The guy comes out to install the 2 ground rods. When he brings the rods out, he puts them to the ground. They are 6 foot long. I had been told code is 8 feet. Then he starts driving them in the ground. He stops after he hits rock after pounding the rod maybe 2 to 3 feet down and cuts them off using a reciprocal saw. Then he sends me the bill. I contact Austin Energy who had to reach out to make them do the inspection that failed. They had to make it right. Otherwise, I would have paid for not up to code ground rods. Also note the water one was in code before they started their work since the 8 foot requirement has been in place since the 1920s. The guy then threatened to send me to collections. I paid the bill this am, but I worry for the person before me who got the first 2 feet of those 8 feet ground rods or the remaining 4 foot portion. They use scare tactics to upsell services and then do not even do a proper job. Then threatened to send me to collections per the voicemail I got.

This company initially presents a professional image; however, its lack of effective communication becomes apparent when it fails to honor scheduled appointments, reschedules, and ultimately arrives late at night. They arrived unprepared, lacking a ceiling fan, and failed to complete half of the job. The company attempted to have me sign paperwork as if the job was completed when, in fact, it was not. We contracted their services for a specific project, and a formal agreement stipulated that the electrical panel box could be installed adjacent to the dryer, later found out as it would not meet inspection requirements due to inadequate access to the electrical panel. During the initial project discussion, the company's representatives were not entirely transparent, as their primary objective was to secure a deal; unfortunately, they lack integrity. Although the company has courteous staff members, I simply cannot trust their assertions.

am very unhappy with their business practices. I was charged $99.00
for a service plan along with my services of $1,000 but they never said I would be charged this, and when I spoke to Chis he said it was to make the entire service cheaper hmmm is it just me or what? No matter how you spin it , when you charge someone that is a charge - not a discount!
He refunded us 45.00 that was it. we have spent thousands with them
and this is what they do!

Mister Sparky worked with a loan company to issue a fraudulent loan for $17,500 for work never formally estimated, approved, begun, or completed. When we requested the money be returned to the lender, they threatened, gaslighted, and just became creepy. The company CEO at the top was the most bullying and dishonest of them all. They tried to convince us our electric was unsafe and wanted to do outdoor work the power company is responsible for. When they refused to pay the lender back, we were told by the contractor and top CEO they wanted to destroy our credit, and the CEO said if we wouldn’t allow them on our property to do the work, they would come in different trucks and shirts to make us think they were a different company. At one time they promised to return the money to the lender, but they never did. We have been fighting this for 4 months. Now the lender is trying to destroy my credit. Mister Sparky uses predatory business practice in making customers believe work has to be done that doesn’t. And they use aggressive retaliatory business practice if you don’t allow them to do the work. Because of other creepy behavior as well, we will never allow them near our property, and I did not feel safe for some time after our interactions with them.