It was definitely my lucky day finding Mitchell Douglas!
Our hot water service was cold. No water was leaking, so it needed a new element and/or a new thermostat. I obtained multiple quotes from all the local large and small companies, being told it would be this amount for them to come to the house, then they'd have to order and then go and get the parts, then spend an extra 45 mins to drain the tank, etc, etc (which I'd already told them had been cold for two days), and it would also cost this amount per hour in increments of 15mins (minimum of 30min increments for one of the large places!!!), plus the cost for the parts on top of that. You get the picture. Anything and everything to drive the price up.

I then rang an electrician whose ad. guaranteed he would beat any other quote. I was so disappointed when he told me he wasn't in the business any more, then he gave me the number of an electrician friend - Mitchell Douglas - whom he said would do an honest job. I rang and didn't tell Mitchell the amount of any other quotes. He said straight away that it was most probably the element or the thermostat, that he'd bring both with him, gave a time and told me it would cost $140. I asked how much for the parts on top of that. He said that price included the parts.
He arrived on time. It took he and his wonderful off-sider Emma 27mins in total to test the element and thermostat and replace the faulty element. No need to drain the tank, as it was cold. They were so fast, I think only about a bucket of water was lost from the tank.
I asked him about the cost. His answer was simply that there's no need to overcharge people to do a job.
If you want an honest, efficient electrician, Mitchell Douglas is outstanding. He's the one I'll ring for any future electrical work. I could not recommend him any more highly!

Approximate cost: $140