Mr. Sparky
 

Has anyone had Mr. Sparky come to your home to provide an estimate for electrical work you want done and then give you a line about additional work that needs to be done to keep your home safe? Just checking after hearing complaints from some of my customers. I am a licensed and insured master electrician. I can't justify some of the prices I heard about.

I would stay away from franchised electricians like Mr. Sparky. You are much better off dealing with a local electrician, who has a reputation in the area.

There were previous threads about this company, try a search. As I recall they would do a high pressure sales pitch for surge suppressors and other type of work.

A friend had them out about a gfi that was tripping, they changed a switch for over $300 that did not solve the problem. They also got the pitch about changing the way devices were connected to the wire for some un godly amount.

I'm still trying to figure out whose brilliant idea it was to name this company "Mr Sparky".

Shouldn't it be "Mr No Longer Sparks" or maybe just "No Sparks".

The last thing I want is some numbknuckle creating sparks and arc flashes.


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A good electrician, plumber, HVAC technician, or any other skilled craft person does not need to buy a franchise and share their profits and advertising costs with a large company. So, I would stay away from those types of franchise businesses.

Saw the title and thought the thread was about that chair kept at the Florida State Prison.

Come to think of it, that's "OLD Sparky".

I have used Mr. Sparky a couple of times and found them friendly and reliable, but as a previous poster stated, when they're finished comes on a heavy sales pitch to replace your surge protector or replace all your gfci outlets claiming eventually they will fail. Just ignore it, tip the guy and you'll be fine.

Sparky quote on a subpanel and 240 outlet was $1200. Lenhart did it for $750 and very pleased with the work.

Don't knock franchises for skilled personnel. I am a CPA who went into private practice joining an existing accounting franchise - Comprehensive Business Services - in 1991. They provided software for my type of business - serving small businesses, sales training, marketing, annual and semi-annual conferences to update skills and tax knowledge. and a network of 500 other offices to ask and learn from.

Franchises have a much better chance of surviving five years than a non franchised business. Like any other business - which is owned individually - there are good and reputable owners and not so good. If it's a good franchisor they will ensure that their individual franchisees are maintaining a high ethical standard.

As above, stay away from franchises, same goes for dental work.

Stay away from that company !

I used Mr. Sparky twice in the past 1 1/2 yrs. Neither time was there any such pitch for more services.

If this is the local Mister Sparky of Lake Mary, with an office in Belleview, I would suggest reading the customer reviews and complaints posted on Yelp and BBB.com. These reviews are 1 star out of 5 on BBB, and 1.5 stars on Yelp. The company has 6 complaints on BBB within the last 3 years. One customer on Yelp wrote that they quoted her $5,000 to install 4 ceiling fans and 1 chandelier in a new house where there were existing junction boxes. Another customer wrote that they told them that a whole house surge protector is required by the electrical code, which is not true.

I used JJElectricians LLC Sparky to replace a GFCI. It was about $90.Two other electricians recommended on this site wanted about $250. He came on time and was very efficient. He didn’t try to sell me anything else. He was very good at communicating with me. He had a strong English or Scottish accent. I would use him again.