My wife called them to replace a blown GFCI breaker switch in garage, They refused and said they didn't work that way. They said we needed to seperate everyining out in 15 jacks so it wouldn't happen again. Then they said it would be 1500, and to give them a 400 deposit. When I called and cancelled they said they would refund deposit except 99.00. read more

RIPOFF!!! Do not call! I had the unfortunate experience with Powell for replacement of 7 wired smoke alarms in my house. The service man came over to take a look, for which they charged me $99. After walking through my house for one minute he left to call to get pricing and had the audacity to come in and say the cost was $2600!!! For freaking smoke alarms??? I was shocked. He said that each alarm was $400 which doesn't even make sense because I had 7 in my house. I responded and said at Home Depot you can find these for $60 each. No explanation of the charges. Anyways, I got them replaced by the best electrician in the South Bay for 1/4 the price. Use All Tek, never and I mean NEVER call Powell. read more

Powell Electric - Lighting Fixtures & Equipment Near Me - Los Angeles, California

Over 3 hours late and 0 communication throughout the entire process. I wouldn't recommend this place to anyone. Very unprofessional.

I'm really disappointed that I just paid $400 to have a breaker changed out. I have had this done in the past and paid $50. On top of that, the technician was supposed to come in the morning so my business was uninterrupted but instead no one arrived until 2:30pm when I had customers. I was told the higher price was due to their quick timing and reliability but what I experienced was unreliable and disruptive to my business. At the point that they got here, I really had no choice but to pay since I had already waited so long for this repair to be made since they didn't arrive when I scheduled them. I also had already paid a $100 non-refundable deposit just for them to even give me a price. I feel totally ripped off and next time will wait for my handyman! read more

Installed a surveillance camera. Arrived early in the morning on a rainy day. No complaints. read more

Powell Electric - Powell Electric van - Lighting Fixtures & Equipment Near Me - Los Angeles, California

Can't say anything other than pure trash. they wanted $1350 to install a junction box and connect three wires ....complete joke... paid the $100 "im a sucker" fee and told them to bounce... if you enjoy getting extremely taken advantage of, give them a call. Really good scam... read more

I wish I would have researched reviews on this company. I used them years ago, and their prices were not this high. This company is a rip off. They wanted to charge $900 to fix a ceiling fan and install a Ring Flood Cam, where wires already existed for a present flood light. Then if you don't mention the TV special, you don't get the special. You would think if they advertise on tv, they would be a honest and responsible company. But no. Do not call this company. You will regret it. read more

Not necessarily disappointed with service but posting this review as a warning about common 'scams' to get people to upgrade a service call when much less expensive options are available. I had several smoke alarms beeping that were worn out. I was told that they could upgrade 5 units to latest code for 1,200! I went to Home Depot and purchased 5 replacement units for under a $100 and installed in 15 minutes. No special tools or electrical knowledge required. DONT BE LAZY AND JUST ACCEPT AN OUTRAGEOUS ESTIMATE FOR A SIMPLE FIX - use a bit of common sense (and Google if needed). I'm no great handyman but this was a no-brainer to do on my own and save over a $1,000. Can't blame a business for trying to take advantage of someone to put more money in their pocket, that's their business model. Just be aware and question what someone tries to sell you! read more

I wish my wife had consulted Yelp before she called them when I was out of town on business. Just like all the other reviews I've seen here, their $99 "Service Call" resulted in a grossly overpriced estimate for the "work" that needed to be done. Thankfully, she asked me about it. We ultimately got the work done by an honest electrician for a quarter of Powell's quote. read more

Powell Electric is a scam. $399 just fo come out to give the estimate to install a light fixture. Then they quoted $1500 for the work. UNBELIEVABLE!!! read more

I just wanted to let you know.Anyone interested in getting an electrical work done on their house?Call Powell Electric, they do an excellent job. It came and worked on my electrical box at my home and when DWP. Came to inspect it. They said whoever did this did an excellent job. The guy wasn't even there. 2 minutes he turned around and walked out. He said but good work, so it's worth the money to get it done right? God bless. read more

After seeing their commercials on television, I decided to contact them for needed some electrical repairs. I left a message but nobody ever called me back. read more

My lights were not working, paid $99 to have a tech come and evaluate. He comes the next day and says I need a new dimmer for $399. I told him thanks but I'm not going to fall for your games! I went to my local hardware store, bought the dimmer myself $30 and within 10 mins up and running. I understand they need to charge a profit but $370 to install? Go kick rocks brah read more

Powell Electric - Attempted rape without Vaseline. - Lighting Fixtures & Equipment Near Me - Los Angeles, California

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I had a problem with a miswired 3-way switch. I was told that they needed to change one wire and that they could do it right away for $2800.00 I called another electrician, who did the same job for $450.00 and he was done in two hours. That's still a great hourly pay. I will never call Powell Electric again. read more

I just needed a dining room ceiling lighting fixture installed, they quoted $1250 which was a lot more than I was expecting. Then it cost me $99. They make it sound great because the fee goes toward the total cost, by there's no way in paying that much for what seemed like a straight forward removal and install. I don't recommend for small jobs, because they can just increase the invoice price so much that you wouldn't want to accept, hence your fee never goes toward any meaningful work other than the expensive quote. read more

When I called to schedule an appointment the representative was very cold. I had a bad electrical line that went dead and got quoted over $11,000. Got the same job done for $2,000. These guys are a scam go somewhere else. read more

Absolute worst. Waited around all day for these people. Called them back a half hour after I had a missed call and they said they'd send the next technician. Called back an hour later and said they couldn't come after all. Super unprofessional. read more

Update: Sam at Powell Electric called and bribed me with a refund of my $99 service fee if I removed my one star review on Google. I removed it and reposted it on Yelp with a link to this post. (This explains the Google rating compared to Yelp) I was charged $99 for Luis to come out and confirm the electrical issue we already knew we had and paid another electrician to isolate (the gfi outlet in our bar area). The prior electrician opened every outlet box in the chain to confirm no issues in the outlets. Luis quoted us $3,500 without any investigation. The quote was to open every outlet box again, not just the bar area gfi outlet (the one we knew was the problem - the start of the chain outage). My husband asked, "what if the problem is in the first outlet?" (the gfi) as we believe it is, and Luis told us it would still cost us $3,500. We rejected the work, paid the $99 and then called my electrician brother-in-law. He confirmed no wire short between the fuse box and the gfi outlet in the bar area. The issue is the gfi outlet in the bar (no short in any of the wires). The wires in the gfi outlet were touching and the ground was not attached. If Luis had opened the gfi outlet like we asked him to, he could have fixed the issue in 5 minutes. Definitely NOT a $3,500 job! Almost got scammed by this company. My brother-in-law confirmed it. Always get a second opinion! read more

Was quoted $10,000 for a job we jot done for $3000. To get a quote we were charged $99. A waste of time and money

Called on a Tuesday spoke to a very nice gentleman that was kind enough to give me a next day appointment. My time window was between 12-3pm was told they'd contact me to let me know 30min before that they was en route. Welp they called me at 3pm to tell me they would be there @3:30..... 3:45 and no one showed up nor called. When you have been given a specific time window you're sitting there waiting. You could at least give a courtesy call and notify client that you're still running late. I had someone home waiting and that's just not nice. Anyhow hope all was well with technician. read more

Can not give a lower score or I would have done so. Waited four days in the dark in half the house, for the excuses, didn't finish the last job. Can't come back until three more days. What????!!!?? Lame company with no integrity. I asked for first trip the next day, wasn't available so they scheduled end of day. Then they didn't show up. Now They want me to wait all day until 5;00, just to see IF they finish. Again. Seems like they just can't finish. Hiring someone else, in a Flash!!!!! read more

Wow, They came to my DTLA studio, to give a quote to run about 30' of armored cable, mount an outlet and add an additional outlet for a 220v dust collector. Last time I had a similar cable run for the same AC unit is cost me $750.00. So I was expecting a similar price. As a former electrical engineer in the UK but not up to speed with regulations and spec in the US an CA. I would estimate 1/2 day work. They quoted me $5900!!! The two guys who came seemed very embarrassed about the quote, they knew something wasn't right. And They wanted to charge me $200 for coming to give the quote. DO NOT USE! read more

Charged $499 to give a quote for a business-related issue. No biggie as it's against the total cost of the project... Except that the cost they quoted was $44,000!!! For reference, other quotes were around $8-9k. These guys are a total scam and seem to be in the business only make money on charging for quotes. AVOID THEM! read more

They quote you $399 on the phone but the show up and say it's $1390 just to install a breaker and an outlet. If you decline you still owe the $399. They charge you $400 to give you a quote. Shady. read more

Had some lighting issues and needed someone really fast . I had Ari Rohm come over and he was very professional and fixed everything to a T. I want sure what was going on as 2 of my outlets weren't working but he told me not to worry and got it all working in now time . Thank you and I definitely recommend moving forward read more

Needed a 200amp panel and rewiring of a 1400 sqft house. These guys wanted $80,000!!!! Other bids were around $12-15k. Absolute trash.... And they charge you $100 to come out to waste your time. read more

I have some electrical issues I need addressed so I called Powell a few days ago. They scheduled a window with me for 2-5PM today. I took work off in the afternoon and waited. Didn't hear from them until 4:10 when a supervisor called me to say they overbooked and want to send someone tomorrow instead during my work hours. I said no and explained I took work off based on the appointment we scheduled and I'm not going to do that again after they didn't show up. They offered to do it first thing Saturday. I asked them to waive the $99 service fee (which is already deducted from total amount if work is done) since they made me miss work. They offered me $20 off the $99 fee but wouldn't waive it and said it costs them money to go out to my place. I told him it already cost me money to miss out on work hours to be home this afternoon. They didn't care. Very unprofessional behavior and they hadn't even done work yet. If customer service is this bad when they are still trying to get money out of me, I cannot imagine how poor the customer service must be AFTER they've already been paid. Do yourself a favor and look somewhere else for an electrician. read more

Zero stars is to high. Lazy incompetent technician. I paid 80.00 for nothing and received a 3000.00 quote. The piece is 18.00 at Loews. Stay away these people are thieves. read more

Powell Electric - Clearly burned - Lighting Fixtures & Equipment Near Me - Los Angeles, California

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Do not bother calling these guys, they are straight up highway robbers. They wanted to charge me $3,300 to extend a brass fitting 1 Foot. Wtf? I think they make their money from $99 consultation charges and give ridiculous bids to purposely not get the job so they guy can keep going to these consultations all day. Shit company with shit pricing!!! read more

I have used Powell in the past and was pleased, therefore I called them to make an appointment without researching. They do charge $99 to come out and give an estimate. In our case it was to upgrade a panel. A few days later, I decided to check Yelp. I saw there new rating and comments, and decided to cancel my appointment. When I called to cancel, the man on the phone asked why I was canceling. Since he asked, I figured I would be honest, and I told him I saw Powell's rating and comments on Yelp. He said to go to Google and read the reviews there. "They have 4.5 star rating on Google out of 1,600 reviews." I told him I rely on Yelp, and he said they are not a restaurant and literally hung up on me. read more

This company's business model is simple. Get their $79 and get out. I would give them zero stars if that were an option. I wanted to put 6 recess lights in my living room and they quoted me $7,340!! Are you kidding me?! I can redo a full bathroom for that amount. I got another quote the same day for $1,050. Essentially charging 150 per light and $65 for the dimmer + $85 for the control line. I matched this up with two other local companies and they were similarly priced so Powell Electric was more than $6,000 more for the same job!! Like I said, they simply just want to make money upfront knowing no one will pay their outrageous inflated cost. DO NOT USE, whatever you do or that $79 that could have went to groceries or dinner is in their greedy pockets. read more

In an earlier review, I gave "Powell Electric" a 5-Star score. My most recent experience was less than stellar. Upon reflection, I admit that I was disappointed with their pricing of my most recent job. But my negative reaction was amplified by poor communication on the part of Powell's staff. (Read on if you'd like to know more.) The rental property I referred to in the earlier post now has a tenant. After residing in the house for several months, they discovered that an outdoor electrical outlet did not work. I contacted Powell Electric to let them know that the tenant would call to set an appointment. Per conversation, there would be a $99 service fee to go to the house, evaluate the situation, and provide a quote for the necessary work. If I decided to use Powell Electric to do the work, the $99 fee would be applied towards the work to be done. Powell called to let me know that the electrician had visited the house. If I decide to have him do the repair, the price was "$300". At this point, I thought the quote wasn't so bad: $99 for the service call, plus $201 for the repair work (parts and labor). I requested that the office have the electrician call me and describe, in detail, the scope of work to be done. The electrician called. He explained that the electrical outlet needed to be replaced. Because of the outdoor location, he would propose to replace the older type electrical fixture with a GFCI outlet, and add a cover. I was fine with the proposal--but I was surprised when he quoted me "$399" -- $99 for the service call, and $300 for the repair (parts and labor). I was irritated. The job now cost 30% more than I was expecting. But I allowed him to complete the assignment--only because the tenant now had the expectation that the repair would be completed soon. Powell Electric did not provide a detailed invoice--one which identifies the charges for parts, versus labor. They only offered an invoice with a single aggregate price. To be clear, I could have bought the parts for about $70 (retail) and done the work myself. Based on my previous experience, I wonder if Powell Electric assigns a huge sunk cost to each call; if amortized into a "big job", this fixed cost isn't a big issue; but if this same cost structure is applied to a "small job", Powell becomes expensive and less competitive. In terms of communication: The consumer sees "the job" as a single event. Told that the service fee can be applied towards the work to be done, reinforces this mindset. If you look at how Powell Electric charges the consumer's credit card, and how they word their conversation, the service call and the repair work are two distinct billable events. The bottom line is that the inconsistency in the "value add" proposition has turned a "repeat customer" into one who might not call again. read more

They wanted to charge $4500 to fix what another guy diagnosed for free .. not all that cool - he still charged me $100 just to come and do nothing other than tell me they wanted $4500 .. that's a great way to get rich isn't it? $100 a pop just to outprice yourself - should have been no more than a $200 job.. no thank you - never again read more

I could not get any help on the phone. They have a script they follow and cannot deviate. Once you get in contact with the supervisor, they are rude and refused to answer questions as well. They only want to schedule you to get that minimum $100 payment for just driving out, even if you know what you need done. read more

Used them before but this time they came and quoted me well over $1000 to install 5 outlets which I supplied. Of course we declined but it's $85 for a service call. I got another licensed electrician to complete the work for $275 complete. So just beware even if you used them before get a quote from Yelp before you call any Contractor to your home. read more

Wow. This is a fine example why it is good to get three quotes for a project, and to never trust a company who charges a fee for consultation without first looking at independent reviews such as Yelp. Wish I learned that lesson earlier. By the time Powell Electric arrived at my home, I had already received two separate quotes of $3,450 and $4,850 from two other local companies for a 200A panel upgrade. Neither of them charged me a fee for their quotes. Powell Electric charged me $99 for a quote of $9,980 for the same 200A panel upgrade (which is provided as a boilerplate quote-see photo), plus an additional $4,290 to install two 50A NEMA 14-50 circuits within 25 feet of the panel in the garage. Had their quote been in the same ballpark as the others, I wouldn't have felt bad about the consultation fee, but given it was essentially a 'no-quote' they gave me, this felt like theft. read more

Powell Electric - Copy of the Quote provided for $99 - Lighting Fixtures & Equipment Near Me - Los Angeles, California

One might believe this is a company that makes its money off of electrical repair and installations. However, I'm pretty sure they make a lot of money just from charging inspection fees alone. In fact, I don't know how any homeowner could afford them. I suppose I should be thanking Powell Electric. It cost me $78 (after discount) for a technician to tell me that they would charge ~$800 to *replace* a single electric outlet and an outside security light. We're not talking about running new wiring behind the wall or installing breakers. Nope. Just replacing an outlet and security light. Checking some of the other reviews, it seems like I might've been getting the special. Of course, I balked at the hideously high price and ended up doing the job myself for about $60 bucks. It was an expensive way to get motivated, to be sure. But now I know I can take care of it on my own! Sincerely, I appreciate the lesson well learned. read more

Way to expensive. Outrageous I called another electrician and paid half . Nice guys but a ripoff . read more

I called to have my electrical panel inspected and brought up to code. JOHN, Carlos and Giovani arrived and worked into the darkness and performed expertly. they were clean, well spoken to where I could comprehend the terminology and they were focused. The office at Powell kept me upto snuff on the arrival times and the date of the inspection by the city. I don't work for them (for this post on yelp) they are great and I'll recommend them again and again. Thank you. read more

I have a friend who used to work for Powell electric years ago. He told me the owner would have regular meeting with his team. He told me the owner told the team always remember, everybody is worth at least $500.00 minimal so never leave a job without collecting the minimal. Even if you were changing a lightbulb, find anything or just makeup stuff to get to at least $500.00. great!!!!! Now you understand all the other reviews. Words to describe Powell electric? Con artist, thief's, scammers. Really have no idea how they are in business because if you were unfortunate enough to use them once, I promise, it will never happen again. read more