The Spark Shark

Mitch G.

Started the Job. Took Most of the money and then disappeared. Told me he put in for a permit with the city for an Ev outlet and when I called them I found out he didn't. Filed a complaint with the state licensing board.

Shelley H.

Tom is the only local electrician I trust. He is extremely responsive and has helped us with our home's electrical issues a handful of times. The first occurrence was an emergency, as my chandelier had a hot wire and caught flame. He responded immediately and showed up at our house that evening, discovering a past electrician had wired our attic with commercial 220 wiring -- we're lucky we didn't get electrocuted not knowing and changing multiple lighting fixtures ourselves before the incident. Tom climbed all through the attic fixing multiple rewires, as well as fixing the chandelier and two light switches. He even checked our other bedrooms to make sure they didn't have issues.

Another instance, he came same-day to fix a kitchen island light fixture that had fallen out due to a faulty plastic plate (from another mystery previous electrician). He drove over an hour to us on a Sunday evening and we are so grateful for his immaculate work, same-day timing, communication, and friendliness. He's also a fellow vet like my partner so it feels extra nice supporting a local veteran-owned business.

Not only is Tom a 10/10 electrician, he's also a 10/10 human!

Paula C.

I hate leaving a bad review but I have a bad experience with this guy! I kept asking and messaging him when he is he coming back to Finish his job that he started he kept claiming his busy and doing other job. 6 months later Still did not get the job done. No call no text


I would never recommend this guys to anyone. Please read the reviews. Waste of time and money!

Tina T.

I relied on Yelp to find Tom from The Spark Shark. I deeply regret that decision and I am here to warn others.

Long story short: Tom took advantage of my trust, repeatedly lied to me, and kept my family and I in the dark without power for days. Even though he agreed to refund me the cost of the entire job, he has not followed-through on his word and since he has stopped responding to me, I now have to sue him in small claims court in order to get my money back. Given my experience, I would not recommend Tom for his services and I strongly urge you to look elsewhere.

Details: (Judge for yourself if this is someone you should trust.)

When reviewing the timeline below, keep in mind that Tom never got the required permit and never scheduled the city inspection despite his claims.

Day 0: There is damage to our house's electrical panel. SMUD turns off our power completely because it was a fire hazard and said the panel needs to be repaired before they will turn the power back on. We call several electricians before we land on Tom. He said that he will need to obtain a city permit first before he can do the repair on the electrical panel. He sounded like he knew what he was doing, had good reviews on Yelp, and we were desperate so we agreed to hire him for the job.

Day 1: Tom tells us that he will go to the city to pull the required permit and then come over to our home to do the repair. He eventually completes the repair and says that he will help us schedule the city inspection the next morning. (A city inspector has to review and approve the repair before SMUD will turn the power back on.)

Day 2: Followed-up with Tom in the morning and he said that the inspection was scheduled for later that day from 3-5pm. 4:30pm rolls around and still no inspector. Tom texts us and says that the inspector just called him and said he is still on other inspections and he can't get to us until the next morning, but we will be his first stop at 9ish. [Hindsight: A city inspection can only be scheduled once a permit is in place. Tom never obtained the required permit. He lied about scheduling the inspection and he lied about the call with the inspector so we were kept in the dark for even longer because of his lies.)

Day 3: Stayed at home all morning, but still no inspector. Texted Tom and asked him for the permit number and the inspector contact so that I can follow-up directly. Tom responds saying that he is on the phone with them right now and does not update me for nearly 4 hours. Frustrated, I called City Hall directly to ask why there was a delay with the inspection. The City Hall representative informs me that a permit was never issued (and therefore no inspection was ever scheduled) because when Tom arrived at City Hall to obtain the permit on Day 2, his contractor license was expired so they couldn't issue him the permit. (Please keep in mind that the city requires that a permit be obtained BEFORE repair work on the electrical panel is performed and Tom had informed us that he was going to get the permit before starting the job.) Tom subsequently texts me to tell me that his license expired 4 days ago, he didn't pull the permit, and that he would refund me the permit cost. I confronted him via text (since he wouldn't pick up my call) and told him that I had called City Hall to get an update and know that he had been lying to me for the past few days. [Hindsight: Tom said that his license expired 4 days ago, but when I looked up his license later, I learned that it had actually expired over a month ago.]

Day 15: After some back and forth correspondence, Tom agrees via email to refund me the entire job and says that he will do it later the same day or the next day.

Day 48: Still no refund and no responses from Tom. (I followed-up with him in between.) He has clearly lied to me yet again. I am now preparing to sue him in small claims court to get the money back that he agreed to refund me.

I can understand if Tom hadn't known that his license had expired and that it was an honest mistake, but instead of coming clean and telling us so that we can find other ways to restore power sooner, he decided to continue the lie at the expense of me and my family. We were without power for days, which already comes with its own distresses and inconveniences, and we also took time off of work to wait for an inspector who was never scheduled in the first place. We suffered lost wages and valuable time as a result of Tom's repeated lies and poor choices,

Tom's actions showed a clear lack of honesty, integrity and professionalism. This is appalling for any individual, but especially for someone who calls himself an ""honest electrician"".

Given my experience, I would not recommend Tom to anyone. If you are still considering hiring him after reading my review, I strongly urge you to look elsewhere.

Douglas M.

Asked for a refund after he did not respond to me for weeks and I still do not have it. He was very eager to take my deposit but it has been 4 months and he has yet to do the work or give back my deposit.

Edit:
Received refund through Paypal late February

Tiff A.

Our electricity went out in a couple of rooms in the house. I Called Tom and he was able to head over right away. Tom identified the problem, fix the issue and we had power back on for the two bedrooms. During the diagnosis he noticed some concerns with the electrical panel, ordered the parts and will come back to fix the issues. Very knowledgeable and reliable. Highly recommended!

Tiwana C.

I want to praise the service that Tom provides once you become a client.
We hired Tom to install an RV plug in our garage for the new Travel Trailer we planned to buy. We brought it home and noticed that the voltage we asked Tom to install was not the correct voltage for this particular trailer so we called him around 7pm last night to make an appointment. He had just arrived home from a busy day & came right over immediately to install the correct plug we needed. Who provides that level of service at no extra charge these days!. Not only did he take care of that issue, but also checked out the entire electrical system in our RV. We are customers for life and can't thank Tom enough for his work & excellent customer service. I highly recommend you give Tom - The Spark Shark a call for any electrical needs you have.

Mary H.

Did a great job with a couple of projects around the house. Very quick to respond, good communicator, fast worker, great workmanship and very polite!

Emily R.

Our front porch light mysteriously stopped working last week and after replacing the lightbulb (no luck), and buying a brand new light fixture and trying to install it ourselves (still no success), we contacted Tom. He responded within about 30 minutes and was able to come by the next morning! Our front porch sconce looks great and is up and running again. Tom was super responsive, efficient, kind, helpful, and easy to work with.

Dane C.

No power on Christmas Eve meant a quick search through Yelp and I landed on Spark Shark's information. Gave Tom a call and he was able to turn up within the hour.

It's a shame I can't give 6 or 7 stars because he was super friendly, helpful and most of all, solved the problem very quickly and cheaply (being 6pm on Christmas Eve, we were expecting the worst but were pleasantly surprised).