Expert Electrician

I called the Electricians on Christmas Eve & they promised to respond within 1 hour. They arrived on time and helped me out on Christmas Eve. Mike is electric licensed contractor who’s truly an expert in the field. Highly recommended

Don’t know where to begin! Live in a townhouse complex. When a neighbor sold their home in March 2015, they found electric problems that required calling a private electrician versus using the association appointed one [who did not respond]. This electrician changed the breaker in the 1 unit & said there is an issue that would cause future problems [& can become a fire hazard] for us other 3 residents of the same building. As soon as I heard that I knew there would be problems.
Apparently the association did sent out our assigned electrician who could see no problem nor a need to open up & look further behind the meter boxes that supplies power to our building. But all along, I knew [call it women’s intuition] there would be problems.
Mid summer… we were struck with partial power outage! We live in individual 3 story homes sharing walls. Some had power on 2^nd level, but not on other 3… others had the opposite. The association electrician again came out, but said do not see what other electrician saw. And by the time he came out my neighbor [who is an electrician] had removed & replaced a fuse causing the power to be restored. When I told our electrician, he said that was just a coincident because what he touched is not related. I said, I know it was not a coincident. So without him being able to witness the problem, said he couldn’t fix it & doesn’t see anything worth taking things apart. He also said he needed Southern California Edison to check their side first, I tried to get him to coordinate with Edison to be here when they come & shut off all the power, got more excuses. It was around this time I asked could the assoc. use another electrician who might be more knowledgeable, because I could just see this future problem unfold.
Longer story short… Edison comes out & preliminary diagnosis is their equipment is alright, need our own electrician to look deeper and/​or they come out while the power goes out, so call them immediately when it does… a few weeks go by… power goes out… but comes back quickly. Nov. 4 at midnight power goes out, called SCE who could came out 10 hours later. We explained the situation again, they said we need our electrician to take it all apart,& because this is a long drawn out problem, they were willing to come back that day to shut down the power so our electrician could fix it. Our electrician comes out again, doesn’t quite know what to do, was concerned about shutting down everything without possibly being able to get the part [company who installed/​supplied parts out of business]. It became a big deal… trying to find the part, if could not have to work with city & engineers to install new panels that now fit the older building, etc. Meanwhile we go from having partial power to no power minute to minute day & night for over a week waiting for an answer. I literally had to run the refrigerator to the bathroom socket which was the only 1 of 2 power sources working on this level. This surge suppressor was also where I had to plug into the phone & internet. But when we had no power, nothing worked. We [neighbors effected] found ourselves going down [do to the knowledge 1 neighbor had] & jiggling the 1 meter which seemed to cause all the problems to restore partial power whenever it went out. And there was no telling hen this would happen. I lived at Walmart buying large flashlights, lanterns, 50 foot extension cords, candles, portable heaters [central heat won’t work], wood for fireplace, parked car outside garage because never knew when power here would cease working.
Our electrician painted a picture of almost impossibility, now we’re planning ways to preserve our food when they actually have to shut off the power to determine the problem. I bought blue ice to keep refrigerated food cool when goes beyond the projected 4 hour minimum. My neighbor rented a generator so his girlfriend would have some peace of mind as we waited for an answer,
1 night I went to jiggle the meter, partial power came on, went to store, came back & had no power. This time when I jiggled meter it sparked louder a longer like fried chicken & pop corn, said I;m not doing that anymore & get blown up. The assoc. calls saying new electrician is coming. They showed up so quietly didn’t know they were here until the partial power we worked so hard & prayed would stay on shut off.
I couldn’t understand why they were working on our building without shutting off power for remaining 32 homes, something our other electrician said was necessary. They had opened the main power box to this building, taped off the live wires [something many electricians won’t do]. They found the problem very quickly [missing part for over 20 yrs finally causing problem]. Association could not find part. Electrician said if can’t find it they’ll build it. 1 of the 3 who came went & bought the part, fixed it & made sure stable before leaving. They were concerned/​confident/​knowledgeable/​friendly, job done in 2−3hrs!

I am new to the area and a local resident manager. We have used Matthew Electrician/​Expert Electrician and have been very satisfied with their work. They quote a fair price, do excellent work, great communications. Very pleasant and professional looking. Check them out and you will see their good work!

I made the mistake of looking these guys up in the phone book versus here on Unilocal.That will be the last time i look for anything out of a phone book without consulting Unilocal first. I had a short in one of my outlets that took out the entire wall of outlets. I called a few electricians but Mike (Malak) was the one that said they could come out within a few hours. Mike showed up within the hour surveyed the circuit breaker, he said it was fine so I showed him which outlet I wasn’t getting any power in. He told me that I have two choices I could pay him hourly at $ 75 an hour or pay for the entire job of looking for the short and fixing the short (which could be anywhere in the house he adds and could possibly take hours) for a flat rate of $ 375. He said he wouldn’t start the project until I decided to pay hourly or a flat rate.
I had no idea where the short was or what the problem was so I wasn’t sure how many hours it would take or how big the problem was so I thought that $ 375 was the best way to go. He got to work right away and tested out the sockets and tested the circuit breakers once again and after about 10 minutes he said that there was a short in one of the wall socket, he tested a few more circuits and said that the porch light was also shorting and could fix that as well. So he got to work and about 40 minutes later he said that he was finished and everything should be working perfectly now. I tested things and they all seemed to be working, so I asked him if it was an issue of overloading a circuit he said no. So I asked again what happens if the power shorts again or if the problem arises again, he said the work is good for a year. So as I was getting my checkbook, a friend of mine made a comment «you only spent 40 minutes, she shouldn’t have to pay $ 375 it should just be for the hour because it was a simple short». He responded well it was a project quote and that’s what we agreed on. After hearing this I quickly wrote the check and thanked him as kindly as I could and walked him out.
I felt a little swindled because he could’ve made a long term customer instead of a quick buck by saying sure $ 75 is ok instead of taking the $ 375. I will not be calling Expert again.

Please be aware that these guys also do business as Mathews electric. I looked up my receipt and was able to figure out that they are listed as Expert Electrician corp in Unilocal.A demo crew working on my yard blew a couple of fuses. I needed an immediate fix to allow the yard work to continue. Mike came over within an hour (as promised on the phone). This is where the good news ends. He quoted $ 325 and he eventually charged $ 275. He replaced three breakers and spent about thirty minutes. I had two choices — pay $ 60 for the visit if I did not get the work done. Then go looking for another electrician. Our yard crew had to wait or work using an unsafe electrical connections from the mains. I did not have any options. I believe I was grossly overcharged and hence I am giving them one star. I won’t be calling Mathew electric again.

Recently, I contacted a few electricians for a relatively small job at my home in Yorba Linda. I contacted this company, talked to Mike who stated he would come by that day between 5 and 6 pm. He never showed up and did not bother to call to reschedule. I would stay away from this outfit as they do not seem to have much concern for potential customers. My 2 cents.