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O CONNOR AND SON'S ELECTRIC

About us

ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR CA LIC # C10 513626 www.paloaltoelectric.com European trained family owned & operated

Business highlights

Emergency services offered
38 years of experience

Services we offer

All kinds of Electrical work we are Real Electricians European trained Experts in Troubleshooting and new work

Amenities

Emergency Services

Yes

Accepted Payment Methods

  • CreditCard
Reviews
4.842 Reviews
Number of StarsImage of DistributionNumber of Ratings
5
93%
4
0%
3
2%
2
2%
1
2%
Showing 1-25 of 42 reviews
Eric N.
Jul 2023
5.0
Yes, I recommend this pro
$450
Fantastic electrician. Informed me of the issue, walked me through resolution, and recommended additional proactive steps to avoid problems in the future. Yes, the hourly rate is high, but you get what you pay for. And what you're paying for is experience.

Heidi T.
May 2017
5.0
Yes, I recommend this pro
Tom O'Connor knew instantly what the problem was, replaced some ancient wiring with his customary artisanship and finesse, replaced the entire light fixture—which was also faulty—and the problem was solved.

Elizabeth R.
Jan 2017
5.0
Yes, I recommend this pro
$300
Very good. He was here within a couple of hours. It only took him about an hour to do the work. Very respectful.

Melanie D.
Dec 2016
5.0
Yes, I recommend this pro
$300
Last minute, end of the day call, was really hoping to have it taken care of same day, did not think that would be possible. Tom returned my call within an hour and offered to come over within 45 mins....for the price of $300 per hour. A little steep, but he promised he'd deliver. He did! He handled the problem in literally 2 minutes (a GFI switch needed to be reset). Tom was wonderful to work with...but I do think he could have come down on the $300 price tag to press a GFI reset button. I'll definitely call him again!

Judy I.
Nov 2016
1.0
$200
Tom charged $200 for a look-see and an estimate on 11/7/2016. He said he charges $300/hour for driving time and time spent estimating a job. He quoted $1700-$2000 for the job. Said the job was more complicated than it looked. He was too busy at that time and would call in approx. 2 weeks unless he got a cancellation. As of today 11/30/2016 he has not contacted us. Quite a profit to drive and estimate and charge, but not do any work. We waited 3 weeks and got another electrician who charged $550 for the job.
Response from O CONNOR AND SON'S ELECTRIC
"I have no idea who this is I presume I returned you call when if you called me Otherwise perhaps I forgot to contact you My apologies if I forgot to call you If you feel I was 100% wrong I will refund your money My goal is NOT to cheat you Please call me so I can make this right Respectfully Tom"

Sharon K.
Feb 2016
2.0
unknown
Response from O CONNOR AND SON'S ELECTRIC
"If I did not complete your job I will refund your money I have no memory of this Respectfully Tom Please call me 650-813-9159"

David R.
Jan 2016
5.0
Yes, I recommend this pro
unknown

Margaret N.
Apr 2015
5.0
Yes, I recommend this pro
$400
Service was great!  I got a reply from the owner, Tom, the same day I contacted the business.  We booked the visit in under a week.  Julien arrived right on time and was very professional and knowledgable.  Worked efficiently and was happy to both solve problems and troubleshoot.  Even offered to replace any burned out lights high in the ceiling while he had the ladder out!  There was no question that everything would be done both to code and for the purposes of safety and convenience for me.  There's no doubt that I'll be calling them for any future electrical needs.  Not the cheapest but definitely the most capable as well as responsive.

Daryl C.
Mar 2015
5.0
Yes, I recommend this pro
$300
On a busy morning I discovered we did not have power to parts of the house, including the kitchen. I take care of my mom in the afternoon, and w/o a microwave and fridge DOOM hovered on the horizon. I called O'Connor and Son's, and Tom called me back w/in a few minutes. He dispatched "his guy" who was there w/in an hour. This fellow patiently backtracked through two types of wiring (age of the house) to figure out the problem - including tramping about in the attic - and solve it. Frankly I expected the bill to be much higher as it was an emergency call and took awhile. "His guy" was professional, patient, and thorough. I will be calling them again soon for another issue. GREAT service! I cannot think of enough positive descriptors to say about them! Oh, and by the way, turns out the faulty wiring had been sparking awhile behind the problem switch plate as evidenced by the charred drywall. A happy calamity!


Joan K.
Feb 2015
5.0
Yes, I recommend this pro
$200
unknown

Harish B.
Dec 2014
5.0
Yes, I recommend this pro
$100
Tom was very responsive, though he was very busy the day before the "big storm" in Palo Alto. He understood this was an emergency and came by to fix my generator.

Rachel P.
Jun 2014
5.0
Yes, I recommend this pro
$280
Our dryer kept tripping the circuit. We had just had A/C installed so I didn't know if it was related or not so I really wanted a real electrician to take a look.
Tom was fantastic. I called that morning and although he was going out of town the next morning, he was able to squeeze me in in that afternoon. I sent him some pictures of the circuit breaker so that he could have a better idea of what was going on and pick up some extra parts on the way over and eliminate an extra visit (and therefore extra cost so I really appreciate that!). He was prompt. He took a look at our ancient circuit breaker. Noted that it was warmer than it should be. Made some recommendations about other electrical in the area and replaced the busted breaker.
Afterwards, he followed up to make sure things were working properly and emailed me an invoice. Tom was also just a super nice guy and clearly knowledgeable about all things involving wiring a house. I will definitely call him again next time I need any electrical work!

Roslyn B.
Jun 2014
5.0
Yes, I recommend this pro
unknown

Annette G.
Jun 2014
5.0
Yes, I recommend this pro
unknown
Response from O CONNOR AND SON'S ELECTRIC
"Thank you for your kind words and we appreciate your business"

George Y.
Jun 2014
5.0
Yes, I recommend this pro
$175
julien is a very professional electrician, who takes the time to explain what he is doing; as we are senior citizens, this could have been very confusing, but julien has an easy going, relaxed manner that invites questions and discussion.
he checked several lite switches which had been heating up, to a point we felt was dangerous. he also checked an over head lite that flickered, as well as an outlet (for an attic fan) that had sparked. we also had a living room outlet that had actually burned out a timer, and we wondered if it was a defective timer, or the actual wall outlet.
julien was able to remove a lite bulb which had become stuck in the overhead recessed socket above the sink, and then replace the bulb. finally, julien had noticed the previous owner had done a bit of wiring himself, and he felt he should check several of the wires to be sure they were not and quot;liveand quot;. we sure appreciated that!
later this summer, we plan to replace our old recessed kitchen lites with new frames and bulbs, and we plan to call oconner and son to do the job.

John H.
Jun 2014
5.0
Yes, I recommend this pro
$200
They could do it soon and you will never know until they do it, and they did fine. We were not very informed about the price. It wasn't amazing, but it was fine. They did the work we wanted. They got here quickly, and that was good.

John P.
May 2014
3.0
$700
unknown
Response from O CONNOR AND SON'S ELECTRIC
"It appears [member name removed] does not like or appreciate real craftsmen after he spent several Hours of his own time trying to figure out issue and eventually gave up we diagnosed And fixed the original issue pretty quickly but spent longer fixing the errors he made and His wife was not impressed with his attempt and I'm guessing his moaning and groaning About us helps him feel better ( paper never refuses ink) old Irish saying Way to go [member name removed] !!!!!!!!!! Hope you feel better by now "next time listen to your wife" Tom O Connor"

David R.
Apr 2014
5.0
Yes, I recommend this pro
$250
Returned my call promptly. Showed up on time. Diagnosed problem. Fixed it. Very professional. Very knowledgeable. Would use him again.

Jim S.
Feb 2014
5.0
Yes, I recommend this pro
$50
The technician examined the circuit, found the problem and fixed it. It has not recurred so we believe at this point that the fix was permanent.

Tom G.
Feb 2014
5.0
Yes, I recommend this pro
$200
A wall socket in our kitchen just stopped working one day. I checked out the socket itself and couldn't find any problem. Other sockets on the circuit were fine so I was mystified. I checked Angie's List (of course) and quickly settled on O'Connor Electric. I called and talked to Tom and they were able to get Justin out that morning. Tom is very easy to deal with and has a great (if occasionally wicked) sense of humor. As noted, Justin came out and fixed the problem: the one that went bad was the last one in a chain; the next one up the line had a loose neutral wire. I wasn't home but he explained things to my wife and was done and gone within an hour.
This is where it got, as Morpheus would say, a little weird. Instead of giving us a bill or even a quote, Justin asked that we email Tom and he would send us back a bill. Hmmm...OK. So I sent Tom a note: and quot; As I understand it, I'm supposed to send you this email and you'll let me know the amount, then I send you a check. Does that sound about right?and quot; A few minutes later I got back a two-word response, saying (and I quote), and quot;$1000 yesand quot;. This is the wicked sense of humor part I mentioned. When I talked to him later he said he'd sent another note right on the heels of the first saying he was kidding, but I actually never got that. He later called to apologize for the confusion and made sure I understood that the actual bill was $200, for which he promptly sent an invoice by email. So it was all good.
I do find the $200 charge on the high side for what was literally an hour's work, especially after reading several other reviews here where the bill for similar, perhaps even more extensive, services was $150. Perhaps his rate went up with the new year -- I can understand that and I'm happy to pay for good work.
I do want to make it clear that Tom and his crew are very good at what they do and (overall) a delight to work with. I recommend them without hesitation, though it might be wise to ask for a quote, or at least an hourly rate, ahead of time. Tom himself seems the sort of guy you'd love to sit down with over a glass of Jameson (unless he's a Redbreast man, in which case there's no hope).
JUST KIDDING, TOM! :)

ROBERT F.
Jan 2014
5.0
Yes, I recommend this pro
$100
Tom arrived on time, phoned ahead to tell us his arrival time, and checked the problem thoroughly. He was congenial and gave us advice.

Sondra H.
Nov 2013
5.0
Yes, I recommend this pro
$450
It was fine. They were prompt and professional while at my home and I would recommend them to others.

Liza C.
Nov 2013
5.0
Yes, I recommend this pro
$150
Tom was punctual, extremely professional and provided excellent explanations of what was going on with the electrical system in my house. He was very personable and answered all of my questions. He knows electrical stuff inside and out - and I know very little - so I really appreciated his clear explanations!! I very highly recommend his services for any electrical issues!!

Pam L.
Aug 2013
5.0
Yes, I recommend this pro
$400
Tom was prompt, professional, and extremely quick to identify the root cause of our problem, which was due to some and quot;unconventionaland quot; wiring in our circuit panel. He had the problem identified in about 10 minutes, and fully repaired and tested in 40minutes, including replacing a blown switch, and helping us to replace a couple of can lights above our bath-tub that had blown out during the and quot;showand quot; the night before. Tom is the real deal when it comes to an electrician that you can trust to take care of your home. He's not the cheapest, but I was more than happy to pay him for his time, and I'm confident that he fixed the problem such that it will not reoccur. My time is valuable, and having Tom arrive on time, promptly diagnose, repair, test and be finished within an hour of arriving (the last few minutes of his time were spent helping us with the lights, and then reassembling the electrical panel) meant that I wasn't held hostage on a Saturday waiting for someone to arrive. I would highly recommend Tom for his skill and his professionalism. By the way, he has a wicked sense of humor too. I won't hesitate to recommend him to friends, or to use him again in the future. Well worth every penny. Thank you again Tom for your assistance on a Saturday!
Response from O CONNOR AND SON'S ELECTRIC
"Thank you for the review it's nice that I also get to meet nice people such as you and your husband and its an added bonus when people appreciate what I do for them I love this kind of problem solving and when I'm done its a win win for us all Cheers Tom O Connor"

Carl B.
Apr 2013
5.0
Yes, I recommend this pro
$180
Called Tom with a question about an oven that kept blowing the breaker. He came out on a service call and had the replacement part with him. Done.
Great service and a fair price.
Response from O CONNOR AND SON'S ELECTRIC
"Thank you i appreciate the kind words tom"
Showing 1-25 of 42

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FAQ

O CONNOR AND SON'S ELECTRIC is currently rated 4.8 overall out of 5.

O CONNOR AND SON'S ELECTRIC accepts the following forms of payment: CreditCard

No, O CONNOR AND SON'S ELECTRIC does not offer free project estimates.

No, O CONNOR AND SON'S ELECTRIC does not offer eco-friendly accreditations.

No, O CONNOR AND SON'S ELECTRIC does not offer a senior discount.

Yes, O CONNOR AND SON'S ELECTRIC offers emergency services.

No, O CONNOR AND SON'S ELECTRIC does not offer warranties.