Asking electrical customers for reviews: when the job is really done

When an electrical job is really done

Not every electrical job ends when you leave the house. A repair, such as a breaker, an outlet or a fixture, closes in one visit. Permitted work, such as an EV charger or a panel upgrade, closes when an inspector signs off. An outage call ends when the power is back.

One city's permit sheet shows why the wait matters. Santa Clarita, California (revised 8 January 2025) says home EV chargers “require a permit issued by Building & Safety as well as inspections,” that new or upgraded electrical panels “must obtain an electrical permit,” and that when work is concealed within the wall “an additional rough inspection will be required” ^[1]. Rules vary by city.

1. Repair or outage: the evening of the job

   Add the customer once the work is done and the invoice is closed. After 8pm, the email waits for 8am.

2. Permitted work: when the final inspection passes

   Or the next morning. An email that lands before the inspection reaches a customer whose job is still open. A local BBB's page about its review tool says owners can ask “as jobs are finalized” ^[2].

3. Reminder: 72 hours later

   If the customer has not clicked or unsubscribed by then, one reminder goes out. A click or an unsubscribe ends the sequence.

A job that fails its first inspection and passes the second is asked when it closes, like any other. The wait is for the job to be finished, not for it to go well.

If your office keeps a Google Sheet of closed jobs, you can paste its share address into GossipGarden, which reads it every 15 minutes. The sheet has to be shared as “Anyone with the link” (viewer), so anyone who has the link can read the names and emails in it. Add a row when the inspector signs off and the customer is asked. A job-number column lets the same customer be asked again for a new job.

Review sites for electricians

Google comes first. Google lists Electricians as a Local Services Ads category ^[3]. The rest are in the table.

Thumbtack is another site we do not ask on.

A sample email for electrical work

Short, plain and the same for a dead outlet and a panel upgrade. It goes out under your own business name once you add the customer.

It names no technician and says nothing about how the job went. If your state wants your license number on advertising, type it under your name in the template as plain text; it is not a merge field. The footer, with your postal address and an unsubscribe link, is added for you.

Google, the FTC and your license number

Google's help center says you can ask customers to visit a Google link or scan a QR code ^[8]. Everything below, license rules included, was read on 16 October 2026.

Google's Maps content policy ^[9]:

• No specific content. The policy lists “Merchants requesting that staff solicit reviews that include specific content, including content that identifies a staff member.” Do not ask customers to name the electrician who came or to mention the permit.
• No selection. Google lists “selectively solicit positive reviews from customers” as prohibited.
• No incentives of any kind in return for a review.

The FTC's Endorsement Guides (16 CFR 255.2(d), and Example 11 in 255.2(e), as read in the eCFR on 16 October 2026) say that in procuring, suppressing or editing consumer reviews (among other things), advertisers “should not take actions that have the effect of distorting or otherwise misrepresenting what consumers think of their products.” In Example 11, inviting only the purchasers who gave very positive feedback “may be an unfair or deceptive practice” if it makes the posted reviews substantially more positive; inviting all recent purchasers “would not have been unfair or deceptive” ^[10].

Your license number is a separate matter, and the rules are about advertising. California's contractor board says licensed contractors must include their license number in “all forms of advertising,” and its guide lists “any website or post that solicits business on the Internet” among them ^[11]. Florida's statute for electrical and alarm system contractors says the number “shall be stated in each offer of services, business proposal, or advertisement, regardless of medium” ^[12].

California's board also says the law prevents you “from noting in your advertising or any presentation to the public that you are bonded” ^[11]. If you work in California, leave “bonded” out of the email to be safe.

Questions electricians ask

Does my license number have to be in the review request?

Nothing we read in California's or Florida's rules says so. Both cover advertising, and neither mentions review requests. A number under your name costs nothing; confirm with your board.

When is a panel upgrade or EV charger job done for the review?

When the inspection passes. Inspections are part of the job: Santa Clarita's sheet says chargers need a permit “as well as inspections” ^[1]. That is our advice about timing, not a legal rule.

Customers like to name the electrician who came. Can I ask them to?

No. Google's policy gives “content that identifies a staff member” as an example of specific content merchants should not request ^[9]. What a customer writes on their own is theirs. Asking for it is not allowed.

A job failed its first inspection. Do I still ask?

Yes. Add the customer the day the job closes, as you would any other. A failed inspection is not a reason to skip someone: Google lists “selectively solicit positive reviews from customers” as prohibited ^[9].

Sources

Each number in the text points to the source it came from, as read on the date shown. Rules and prices change; check the source before you rely on one.

1. City of Santa Clarita Building & Safety: Expedited Permit Process for Residential EVCS (revised 8 January 2025) (read October 16, 2026)
2. BBB of St. Louis: Customer Review Generator (read October 16, 2026)
3. Google Local Services Ads Help: business categories supported in the US (read October 16, 2026)
4. Meta: Community Feedback policy (read October 16, 2026)
5. Yelp for Business: how to get Yelp reviews without asking (7 March 2025) (read October 16, 2026)
6. Angi help center: how to have success with reviews (read October 16, 2026)
7. Nextdoor for Business: how businesses can get more recommendations on Nextdoor (read October 16, 2026)
8. Google Business Profile Help: ask customers for reviews (read October 16, 2026)
9. Google Maps User Generated Content Policy: prohibited and restricted content (read October 16, 2026)
10. eCFR: 16 CFR Part 255, FTC Endorsement Guides (current text; last amended 26 July 2023) (read October 16, 2026)
11. California Contractors State License Board: Advertising Guidelines for Contractors (read October 16, 2026)
12. Florida Statutes 489.521, electrical and alarm system contracting (2026 Florida Statutes) (read October 16, 2026)

Every customer gets the same ask. GossipGarden never filters, screens or routes anyone by rating or sentiment. Why that matters.

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