Reviews of local pros in Olympia, Washington

Was getting an estimate for home backup power generators. They were courteous, professional, and thorough. Also did an electrical safety inspection and explained the results

This is our third experience with Shocking Difference. All requests were quick to respond with technicians being professional, skilled, pleasant, and trustworthy. This most recent visit involved a ballast replacement in an older flourescent light fixture. Jake and Chuck were extremely efficient in getting the job done well in a very short time frame in response to my own limited availability for the day. Can't remember my kitchen ever being so well lit! Shocking Difference has proven to be reliable and fair priced and will be our "go to" service company for all future electrical needs.

Josh and Max came to my house because my meter box was toast. They diagnosed the problem pretty fast, and were very kind and honest about the issues and pricing. Very down to earth guys. Problem is all fixed now! Will definitely use this company with any more electrical issues.

Just had 2 guys come out to look at a single receptacle, quoted $512 JUST to look at it. Do not use these clowns, black hills, reliable or capital electric are all better choices.

Edit: just got a phone call from someone telling me I was wrong that they were going to charge me $512 just to diagnose the problem, playing semantics... do NOT use these people, they overcharge...use any of the ones I mentioned above. Do not let the response from the owner below me confuse you, they DO charge more than just the outlet. I asked only for the outlet to be fixed and they started out at $512. Then tried charging another $120 for a new outlet. Stay away from this company at all costs if you value your money.

Manny and Nash came out at 10 AM, were prepared, clean, quick, and friendly. Totally professional! And they fixed the problem and explained how they fixed it. Couldn't ask for better service. Thank you!

As usual, excellent service. Nate explained what was needed to solve various problems and issues. I was then able to make good decisions that would work best for me. Good communication was provided throughout the job. All the staff were very pleasant and easy to interact with.
I've used Shocking Difference before for smaller jobs and this big job was done with the same precision, skill, and pleasant staff. Plus the cost seems reasonable....which is always welcome.
Thank you!

Manny and his partner came out to look at our stove, and a couple of light fixtures in the house. He saved us a ton of money (over $570) by giving his opinion and not recommending troubleshooting and diagnostics based on his professional experience. We also got a very reasonable quote for ceiling light and fan fixture installations and we plan to use Shocking Difference in the future for that job. 10/10 service, and both men were friendly, honest, and upfront about what was needed and what wasn't needed

Jared and Josh were amazing. Knowledgeable, pleasant and professional, they did a thorough electrical inspection and installed an EV charger. Highly recommended!

They arrived fast installed a new meter on house. Max worked overtime to get it done.
Excellent job. Reasonable cost! Had my power on that evening!

Jacob and his coworker came out and installed a new line for my hot tub. It took a short amount of time, looks beautiful, and it was very reasonably priced.
10/10 will be calling them next time!

Shocking Difference was a positively shocking difference! Chuck, Josh, and Darryl were wonderful to work with and obviously knowledgeable and good at what they do. They were very informative, professional, kind, and polite. Brenda, Brent, and Winona in the office were fabulous as well. We would absolutely recommend Shocking Difference to anyone and will use them for any future electrical needs. Thank you, Shocking Difference!

I ordered the Ring Doorbell Camera for my front door, and the Ring Security Camera with Light for above my garage, from Amazon. I’m clueless when it comes to installing electronic devices. So, I searched Google and Yelp for local electricians.

I read about Shocking Difference’s history: they’ve been serving South Puget Sound communities since 2006. Their electricians are licensed and they attend continuing education classes. They warrant their work three years on labor. They also do an overall inspection of electrical circuitry throughout your home.

I called and inquired for an appointment on a Monday. Brent answered my call and asked if I’d be available the next day. I said yes. My appointment was set at 11 AM - 1 PM Tuesday. Tuesday morning, I received a text message from SD, asking if I’d be available at 8 AM. Journeyman electrician, Jacob Johnson arrived shortly. Jacob was friendly and eager to complete the task! I informed Jacob what I wanted to be done. Jacob went into the attic to see the electrical wiring. He then worked on an estimate. Given the amount of work required to complete the tasks, I was given what I felt was a fair estimate. Jacob called for another electrician to assist him. Apprentice electrician Jordan (I don’t know his last name) arrived, and they started to install the doorbell camera at the front door, and the security camera above the garage. The job took just under four hours. Both Jacob and Jordan helped me with the Ring Application on my iPhone. They took their time and I never felt rushed.

Brent was very pleasant when he took my call for the appointment. Both Jacob and Jordan are very skilled electricians and I am very pleased with their work product. I highly recommend Shocking Difference electrical contractor!

Ernie Gines
Lacey, Washington state

My husband is elderly and is having problems with his mind. He called Shocking Difference Electric to install a dimmer switch ( he provided the dimmer) and install two breakers and run a line to 3 electric boxes. The work looks like an amateur did it. They were at our house for less than 3 hours, not a lot of materials were used. The total bill was $2850. . They took advantage of my elderly husband. Do not use this company. They are not honest or ethical.

We bought an induction stove. We had noted 2 spaces in the electrical panel for the range, but when we pulled out the old stove, there was a 120 outlet. Shocking Difference looked at the panel, looked at the outlet, went down to the crawlspace to look at the wiring, then quoted us $2800 to run a new 240. This seemed quite high, and I didn't care for the sales tactics of the electrician ( he made sure to point out he was a disabled vet before showing me the numbers. I have a diasabled vet father who would never dream of using his service injuries to hawk overpriced services. It's offensive.), So we got another company on for an estimate. He took one look at the panel and the outlet, where you could see they had caulked the outlet into a square hole, pulled the outlet and found that we did indeed have a 240 that the previous owner had split. His bid to rewire and put in anew outlet? Under $300. He confirmed that any decent electrician would have seen what we saw and that it was a choice to go for the bigger payday. Very disappointed in Shocking Difference, to say the least. An utter lack of ethics, or is it expertise? Not sure which one is worse in this scenario.

Wow. These folks are great. They arrived in their time window, listened and looked. After going over the trip few and the immediate costs, which we gave the thumbs up, they evaluated our electrical problem and performed an 11 point inspection. Once completed they politely and professionally went over our electrical in detail (broken up into inside, outside, areas etc) and how our house rated. We were happy it wasn’t all F’s. The D’s were not a shock. They very politely went over the costs for different levels or repairs so we could choose what fit our needs and budget. We went with repairs and replacement that we needed and had originally called for. We also elected to have our breaker box updated and brought up to code. All choices were up to us. Once started they kept us in the loop and what all repairs (new wiring, replacement plugs and a new breaker and main switch- old 1979 box did not have this). Once the permits are cleared they will return and place the new box. We were extremely pleased with the service, professionalism and friendliness of our service electricians. Loved how we were kept in the loop every step of the way and how careful they were with our home, cleaning up behind themselves and being cognizant of how their work looked after completion. Extremely knowledgeable in their jobs which they obviously loved. 10/10 will hire them again for future wiring needed when we update our Master bath. See photo of electrician keeping me updated.

I recently had 2 guys come out to my house I share with my partner and found them to be extremely unprofessional. They wanted to charge $512 to replace a single outlet but they disguise it by saying its just the diagnostic fee to find out whats wrong with it. Later I was sitting with my roommate when he got an extremely unprofessional call asking him why he lied about it being $512, when he didn't, that was the price they gave us. Calling to harass people and play semantics about pricing and servicrs because they left a 1 star review on your overpriced service is another level of arrogance.

Yasser came out to give a bid on a whole house generator. The entire process was crystal clear and transparent. One of the management team also reached out and answered all my questions. It was a great experience so far.

Terrible company. Use anyone else but them, way cheaper without any of the hassle. I called more than 2 people to come out and look at a problem I had and then got chastised for calling more than one person, thats what everyone does. You never go off the first bid, and this company doesn't give bids over the phone like most places do. I used another company and told them about my experience with shocking difference, to find out this employee used to work for them, and that they do overcharge people and dont give appropriate benefits to the employees.
Hope this place goes under.

The front end experience, requesting service, was efficient and easy. The electricians came when promised. They assessed the work needed, provided the estimate and were ready to get the job done. They were polite when I said I wanted to wait for another estimate and came out quickly when I decided to go with them.

Great service from Shocking Difference. I was surprised on how quickly they were able to schedule the repair.

Our backup generator failed with an "Over Crank" error. Yasser was able to diagnose the issue as a bad fuel solenoid and a weak battery. He replaced both, then ran a test of the transfer switch and the generator panel in the house. It's nice to have it back online. Thanks again to Shocking Difference!

We have used Shocking Difference for a few projects and they have always been very communicative, friendly and very easy to work with. Would highly recommend to any business owner in the area. Winona was very helpful with billing and appointment setting, and the crew they have sent each time are very professional. Great work!