Roemke Electric

Robert W.

We just had Roemke Electric out to replace three exterior lights... also replaced a blown GFI plug and found two bad light switches...

Showed up on time 9am Monday morning... worked clean and efficiently, and we will use them to install a video security system next.

Very impressed!

Pamela W.

We've used Roemke Electric before, and I just can't speak highly enough of his Electrical work. Prompt, reliable, reasonable, thorough... I could go on. We don't even consider having anyone else. He did the electrical on our kitchen remodel and everything was perfect and immaculately done, not to mention just good people.
If there were more stars to be given, I'd be using them all.

Ben B.

To summarize: I paid Mark $8,000 to do a job, the city inspectors found that his work was not to code, and he disrespectfully refused to fix his work.

Looking back, the issue with Roemke Electric is that they don't take pride in their work. They didn't respect me, and didn't respect my house. They tried to get the job done with minimal inconvenience to Roemke and didn't care that I would be living with their work for years to come.

I originally found Mark on Yelp and called him because of the 5 star Yelp reviews. I didn't consider that many of those jobs weren't inspected by an expert to ensure they were done in accordance to standard electrical practices and building codes. I asked Mark to bring my electrical up to code as part of a larger permitted remodel. This included replacing my panel, rewiring the kitchen, installing a dozen new lights, etc.

Questionable Billing:
We agreed on a fixed price. When it took his crew longer than he expected to complete the work, he converted the bill to hourly (without running it by me) to collect a higher payment for the same scope of work. The bill details included:
- Rework on the range circuit that was improperly installed multiple times.
- Phone support at the full rate for an inspection after he refused to have someone there to walk the inspection. Josh talked to me while at another job. Double billing?
- Shopping for ladders. I overheard Ben complaining to Josh how long he had to wait for a HD employee to get something off of a high shelf. Apparently, I was expected to pay for him to stand around.

Shortcuts:
One example is when Josh explained to me how he was purposely using nebulous labels in the panel to prevent the inspector from finding issues.
Each of the 3 inspectors I spoke with told me I should be using a licensed electrician, thinking I hadn't done so based on what they saw (one didn't believe me and provided a website to lookup Mark's license). For example, Roemke put arc fault breakers on GFCI circuits, but neglected to put them on the circuits where they're required. The panel had to be completely rewired for ""phasing and multiwire"" issues that both the inspectors and the new electrician I hired spotted within minutes of taking off the panel cover.

Terrible communication:
Both with me and among themselves. When I called, I had no idea if it would be answered or whether I'd get a call back at all.
Roemke punched 3"" diameter holes in the ceiling because Ben marked up the ceiling to position canned lights without bothering to use a stud finder and didn't clean up the markings after they realized those spots wouldn't work. Another guy came in later, saw the marks, and started cutting. They unnecessarily marked up my ceilings in two rooms. When I asked why they didn't just lightly use pencils that I could erase, I was told that they expected me to repaint the ceilings afterwards. Seriously?

I was way too nice and paid more than the originally agreed upon price in order to reach what Mark claimed to be his break-even point. I paid prior to final inspection and Mark assured me that he would personally come out if needed. When final inspection was done, it was a mess. They found issues with everything they touched not meeting code (including the range plug that had been reinstalled twice). He charged me for running a bunch of new kitchen lines, yet the inspector found the two kitchen receptacle lines were the original (non-dedicated) lines. The kitchen lights were on the old circuit. What did they actually run? While I do have more circuits in my panel, three of them didn't control anything.

I reached out to Mark and offered him the opportunity to complete all the items on the inspection plus the additional items that were outside the original scope of work to offset the loss of having to come out to fix his work. He agreed, and I emailed him the inspection notices. He then ignored me for a week. He finally texted me, ""You can find someone else,"" knowing full well that he was in breach of our contract by not completing work to code and that it's extremely difficult to find an electrician that will complete someone else's botched job.

I spent an hour over the phone with a city inspector trying to understand all the issues, and half a day calling electricians trying to find one that would be willing to take on this job. I had to pay another electrician for two and a half days of work to clean up the mess Mark left me with. I spent half a day cleaning up the damage/markings made to my ceilings. I spent another day doing drywall work because his crew used a sawzall on drywall, destroying the cutout piece and making a huge jagged cutout. They should've used a drywall knife and left the cutout for me to slip back into place after they were done - that would've saved me 10 hours of work.

I went out of my way to be courteous at every misstep, and am wishing I hadn't trusted Yelp to find Mark in the first place.

Thank you Mark for a great life lesson!

Trinity A.

I cannot say enough good things about Mark... Mark is awesome and fantastic guy... I got crazy quotes on fixing the electrical in my kitchen, other electrician wanted to tear my ceiling down and remove my brand new granite... Mark came out and fix my problems... I am so impressed with Mark I can't say enough good things about him.. I don't even have a vocabulary that would express or elaborate on the great customer service I just received... if all electrician operated in the manner that Mark did today, this world would be a better place... God bless you Mark and thank you so much.....

Bonnie M.

From beginning to end, the process, the quality of work and the people could not have been better. Mark responded quickly to my e-mail request for a quote and came to my home that same day to look at the job I needed done. Josh and his crew came to install a ceiling fan in my living room which has 28' ceilings, another ceiling fan and some light fixtures and dimmer switches. They worked efficiently and all of the guys were very polite. They deserve the 5 Star rating.

Robin G.

Josh Stromel, Foreman, responded very promptly to my call. Very polite and helpful. He scheduled an appointment the next day. Josh evaluated damage to my electrics caused by water damage, forwarded a repair estimate that night and completed the necessary work two days later - all this at a time when the company was extremely busy. Mine was an 'emergency' call that they worked into their schedule. I was not a prior client. I have Jeff Thranow, Costa Bella Builders, to thank for the referral. Wish it was as easy to deal with all contractors as it is to work with Jeff and now Roemke Electric.

Araceli H.

I hired Romeke. They stuck to their original quote even though the job took a bit longer than expected. The crew was quick and thorough. I will definitely hire them again.

Arthur U.

They did a great job on the lighting on our remodel. The crew arrived exactly on time and did a beautiful job faster than I thought possible. It has been two yeas since they installed our lights and we have had zero problems with anything they installed, so I just wanted to check in here and report that their stuff lasts!

Amanda B.

I haven't quite had the pleasure of working with Mark... Yet. I called him to go to one of our stores in Capitola and briefly gave him a description of what the issue was. His integrity was such a breath of fresh air and he helped me get this resolved without him going to the store and charging a fee. That to me is the best customer service you can get. Mark, if I run into any more electrical issues at our Bay Area locations, you'll be hearing from me.

Thanks again for your time.

Barbara W.

I would highly recommend Roemke electric. Mark Roemke has handled everything from a complicated troubleshooting job to replacing our outside light fixtures. He is very professional and personable...actually answers his own phone too. Arrives when scheduled or calls if he's delayed.