Joe,
As most of the replies said, most electricians that take pride in their work(License or not) will try to do the best job that they can when doing electrical work. There are people out there that don't care about the quality of the work, they just want to get in and out of the job as soon as they can. They will grap their money and run.
One of the big differences between license and unlicensed people is the fact that the guys with the license have insurance and bonds. (Here in NJ at least)
That would at least give the homeowner some protection from sloopy installers
