Ervin

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Todd Ervin, An Electrician to Avoid.

www.toddervin.com

I would NOT recommend hiring Todd Ervin. Do yourself a favor. Hire someone else.

Todd made excuses for being late or not showing up. He directed foul language at us which our house guest heard and told us about. We were about to fire him but he pleaded and said the foul language was not directed towards us. We learned that he hired our plumber to do his work, offering to pay him which he never did. We just learned about this from our plumber, now putting us in a position of having to pay him. We fired Todd after getting tired of dealing with him not completing his work. I had had enough when he began swearing at my wife over the phone. Our children and I could hear him through the phone. Obviously, an unsophisticated and unprofessional individual. Todd was not cheap. He had been paid good money to get the job done professionally and quickly. There is absolutely no excuse. We tried to get some of the money back. We have sent him texts and left voice mail messages for him but he has refused to respond. He simply kept all of the money advanced to him even though he didn't finish the work. We are now contacting the California Contractors State License Board so that people can at least be warned. Todd's behavior is unacceptable and his business practices unethical. Do yourself a favor and hire someone else. I wish we had!

Eric F.

San Carlos, CA

Ellamarie F.

DO NOT USE THIS ELECTRICIAN!

I met Todd through a referral from Pacific Coast Spas. Pacific Coast Spas said that I should use Todd as my second choice, not my first. Todd is friendly and a happy go lucky guy. He seemed fine but as soon as we decided to use him, he wanted money upfront. I needed a quick turnaround for my job. He would be handling the wiring and hook up for my new BBQ Island and hot tub.

Trenching was required. I already had one estimate for the electrical work in both areas at $2,500. Todd proposed $2,600 before I offered to get the trenching done myself. He then said that the cost would still be $2,600. He said that he had not factored in the trenching yet. Given that I needed this fast, I paid an additional $1,200 for the trenching through my plumber and agreed to pay Todd $2,600. He wanted $600 upfront to purchase materials. Then he asked for more money the next day even though he could not work yet. He was to have shown up but did not. He said that he had problems with another job. He then said that he would be back the next day. He again needed money so I told him that I would pay him in full but I wanted the job completed.

The trenching was completed and he asked the plumber to do work for him. I did not know about this until recently. He left the wires exposed. We showed him that he had not completed what he was supposed to. Todd did not show up. I decided that I was going to fire him and called other plumbers. We sent a text that we were done and he showed up shortly thereafter with his story that he had personal issues. He said that another client had issues and he had to deal with it. He did not have to tell me this so I thought okay, given that I already paid him, he was apologizing and giving his word that he would complete what he could do. I was still waiting on the hot tub and the BBQ island so he had a nice deal getting paid in full that far in advance.

While he was leaving, my best friend from out of town was upstairs in the bathroom which has a window. She told me that he was yelling and cursing about me. My husband and I confronted him and he acted like he had no idea what we were talking about. He simply kept saying he was sorry and asked me to let him finish his job. Foolishly, we did not engage another electrician and still had Todd do the work.

We were leaving out of town for our daughter's graduation and Todd had not been completing the work. We had issues with Pacific Coast Spas. They sold my hot tub after they had been paid in full. I went ahead and purchased another hot tub from Creative Energy.

Todd needed to have the work done but was not responding. When we were on our flight back home, we caught him on the phone and said that he needed to do some of the work. He began yelling and let's just say that I think that he has more issues. His yelling was so loud that everyone in the line at the airport could hear him. We said that we were done.

One of my daughters was at home which Todd did not know about. He came onto our property. She said she saw him around, acting as though he was supposed to be there.

Todd spent very little time. The plumber did all of the trenching work. He had one guy that he engaged to put the dirt back on. We asked him for $1,000 back even though we paid $1,300 to get the job completed and also redo some of his work.

In addition, the plumber who came back to finish up the work for the BBQ said that Todd owed him a $100. He seems like such a nice guy but then he asks for money and disappears with excuses for not showing up. He may eventually get the job done but I can tell you that if you're paying a professional price, then this is what you should get. He was unprofessional, rude, and not dependable. I have waited to post a review because he seems unstable and I am somewhat afraid of him but I decided that we needed to write a review. There are many other good electricians. If you are having a job done, get several references if you're spending a good amount of money. NEVER give any money in advance. I learned that this is actually not something that the Board recommends. It's not illegal but they need to do their job first.