Electrical reviews in Washington, Maryland

I am mostly leaving this review because when I saw the flood of 5 star reviews, I thought, wow - this is great. He's reliable and communicative and his pricing is reasonable so let's try this. I did not have a 5 star experience.

I called MelFoster because one of the outlets in the kitchen of my DC condo was sparking after my tenants plugged in an appliance.

The woman who took the call triaged me to Mel. He asked if it was an emergency. I said, well, you know, its sparking. That feels urgent to me. He laughed and said, sounds like an emergency.

Spoiler alert - there is an extra cost or fee (nearly double the service call fee) if its an emergency. This was NOT disclosed to me at the time of this call. Never mentioned.

He had a technician out to the condo a few hours later - I had asked to be contacted with the issue (I have tenants in the condo and I am responsible for payment and etc) but was not called before the service was performed with an estimate, was not sent an estimate and was not called when the service was completed.

My tenants, bless them, kept me updated and told me what was done. He switched out a bad GFCI outlet and regrounded another.
He was done and gone 25 minutes after arrival. They told me he said he'd call me. He never did.

Two hours later, I received an invoice for $378. The invoice wasn't itemized with what was done. It said only "bad GFCI." See attached photo.

I sent a disappointed text to Mel who called me.

He said well, emergency calls cost more. I said, you didn't tell me that when we spoke. You never, EVER mentioned that. He said well, the invoice outlines what was done. I said, no it doesn't. My tenants told me what was done.

He said, well, what do you think is a fair price to pay? We can, you know, work this out.
And that's where the story ends. I paid the invoice in full because I don't "negotiate" pricing once its completed.

What I do expect:

-Transparency about costs. About what a normal service call costs, about what an emergency service call costs and about what the service provided costs. AHEAD of the repair itself. Its called an estimate.

-An estimate. If I say to you, please call me and tell me what you're doing (and I did), then I expect a call before you begin with said estimate or at a bare minimum, after the job with what you did.

-Communication. See above. I expect honest, straightforward communication. That entails calling or emailing an estimate before proceeding with service or a recap after. It does NOT entail sending an invoice of which $250 is an "emergency service fee." Which was - see above - never discussed. Not once.

So I give three stars because they did come out, they completed the job and the problem is fixed. I'd like to give zero because I'm irate about the fees that weren't disclosed and the absent communication. Thus two stars gone.

Use them at your own risk and know that you may be offered a "negotiation" at the end of it.

Mel and Rodney came over to install our new pendant lights this morning. They were amazing! They were friendly, knowledgeable, and professional. They worked quickly and got the job done correctly (the previous owner had done an interesting DIY job with the pre-existing lights). Mel gave great suggestions for which bulbs would look best in the new pendants. They then walked around with us to discuss future projects we have in mind and provided good suggestions for those as well. We will absolutely be using MelFoster Electric again.

I work in a leased office space in an older building in NW Washington, DC, and have called on MelFoster Electric twice now. On both occasions, the response time was impressively fast, the work was completed in a single visit, and the results were exactly what we needed. Everything works perfectly!
He was professional, knowledgeable, and very approachable, taking the time to explain different options for addressing the issues and outlining the best possible outcomes. I also appreciated that he came fully prepared with the right tools to get everything done without delay.
Undoubtedly, we’ll need electrical services again in the future, and MelFoster Electric will be our first call. I also wouldn’t hesitate to reach out for any electrical work needed at my home. Highly recommend!

Mr. Foster was professional and laser focused on (1) the installation of three ground fault circuit interrupters (GFCI);
and (2) in replacing and updating an old fluorescent light fixture with LED lighting. The quality of his work far exceeded the cost.

Moreover, Mr. Foster's demonstrated knowledge, as a Master Electrician, and his clarity of communication with residents about the urgent need for installation of the GFCI(s) contributed to the overall repair process.

MelFoster Electric came out and did a first rate job troubleshooting an electrical wiring problem that other contractors had wildly overestimated. Because if their understanding of exactly our issue we saved thousands of dollars in unnecessary demolition and rewiring. Ray did a great job, knew precisely what was wrong, and completed the rewiring in 20 min. Highly recommend and will use again without hesitation.

Lawrence and his MelFoster team did a great job upgrading my electric panel to handle a tankless water heater. He was prompt with providing an estimate and getting the work completed. Answered all my questions and showed tremendous attention to detail in getting everything correct and completed appropriately. The work looks clean and everything is functioning nicely. Highly recommend

Great experience from start to finish. The electrician arrived on time, was friendly and professional, and completed the minor work efficiently with great attention to detail. Excellent customer service and quality work — I would definitely use them again and recommend them to others.

Had an issue in my home where I wasn't getting any power to the bedroom and bathroom. A different contractor was scheduled to come look at it but got stuck in the snow so I had to look for an alternative. Thankfully I stumbled on MelFoster. I gave them a call in the afternoon and within an hour on the same day I had an electrician in my home diagnosing the problem, and once the cause was determined, they went to pick up the part needed and had everything back to normal for me within a couple hours of my first phone call. Their expertise and efficiency was just what I needed and recommend their services to anybody with electrical issues. Thank you MelFoster Electric!

While having some work done in our grandmother's kitchen the house lost partial power. We called MelFoster Electric and they were able to come out the same day. Ray the electrician was able to resolve the issue in less than an hour. Ray was knowledgeable, kind, efficient and very professional. I highly recommend this company for any of your electrical needs.

Es un lugar que el personal que atiende es excelente y le ayuda a eligir lo mejor para un buen trabajo,en especial Eddy sevilla

Great electrical supply

Fast and reliable!

Knowledgeable, pleasant experience

Great service

this place never has what u need

The one stop shop for all your needs

The best Electrical supply house In DC area.

Fast friendly experience!

It is an excellent store of electronic supplements

Customer service was good

Great and fast service!!