Louise E.

4/27/2023

Tom was so prompt, knowledgeable, and kind. He arrived and was very quick to diagnose the problems with our oven and outdoor lighting. Once he had found the problems he had it all fixed quickly for us. We appreciate him so much and highly recommend him when you run into electrical problems. Thank you Tom!!

S C.

05/11/2023 12:00:00 SA

I'm pretty sure the place I live still has the original wiring from 1955. Tom was very knowledgeable, experienced, and helpful, even about this old system. He was friendly and fair. I especially appreciate that he always picked up the phone when I called.

Elena R.

11/21/2022

Very fast, efficient and economical service. I especially liked how Tom provided three options to fix my track lighting system.

Craig H.

03/04/2023 12:00:00 SA

Tom answered my call on Saturday AM about a blow circuit breaker and he first tried to diagnose it via FaceTime. Then, he can over a couple hours later and resolved the issue. Very nice man and would definitely work with him again

Brian L.

10/18/2022

I called Tom for a non-emergency repair of a kitchen GFI and his son Andrew came out the next morning. Andrew quickly determined the problem and fixed it within the hour. As always, it was the friendly professionalism and expertise in everything electrical that brings me back to O'Connor & Son's. Thanks, Tom & Andrew!

Shane C.

1/30/2023

They have helped me with multiple electrical needs including a recent emergency. Very reliable and always great work!

David L.

03/01/2023 12:00:00 SA

Tom O'Connor is our go-to electrician. He has helped us out twice in emergencies, once when a tree fell on the garage and took out the electricity and again when our gas line leaked and we contemplated switching to electric. (He advised us not to do that.) I just called him about setting up a 220 volt charger for our new electric car. Without needing to come out he explained the options, gave me a reasonable estimate for doing the work and asked for a photo to clarify what's involved. We look forward to working with him again!

Sergio C.

5/27/2022

Tom was able to accommodate me at short notice after hours.

10/10 for customer service and going beyond.

I had to cancel his services due to unforeseen circumstances but i'd definitely call upon his services when required next time.

He was great and understood my situation.

Mel H.

3/27/2022

Very knowledgeable guy & fast response.
We had problem with our circuit breaker resulting in loosing power in some parts of the house. He found the problem quickly & was able to fix it within the hour.
Very glad to find someone local (midtown) who we can contact & call easily.

Zach D.

7/25/2022

I highly recommend O'Connor electric. Tom was very knowledgeable and personable. He assessed my electrical problem and had it fixed in no time. I highly recommend and will go back to him next time!

Bryce K.

2/16/2023

Tom was incredibly helpful and knew how to diagnose my problem (circuit breaker outdoors panel) immediately. He was super friendly and very knowledgeable!

Gary I.

10/06/2022 12:00:00 SA

We had an emergency electrical problem. Tom was there in minutes. The problem turned out to be complex to solve. Tom figured it all out and fixed it quickly. Tom is great and reasonably priced. I highly recommend him for all your electrical needs.

John M.

11/28/2022

Super quick turnaround on a Sunday afternoon, solving what turned out to be a simple issue promptly and pleasantly. Lots of dollars, but in line with the service level and this market. I'd call them again for sure.

K M.

7/23/2022

Available, reliable, and professional. Highly recommended. I'll definitely hire Tom
again.

Matthew S.

05/12/2022 12:00:00 SA

We had an issue with a faulty breaker over the weekend. Tom was available and his son came out early the next morning. He was right on time, easily fixed the problem and was great to work with. You can tell they really care about doing the job right. Worth every penny. Highly recommended

M M.

04/09/2022 12:00:00 SA

I called Tom with a perplexing metering issue. Tom sorted it out over the phone and put me in touch with the perfect person to physically address the problem. 10/10 will call Tom next time I need electrical work done.

Sonya C.

2/13/2022

Tom is a wonderful person and a wonderful electrician. He came out to our house to check on an issue during a holiday. We've been working with him for years and could not recommend him more highly.

Nick T.

03/09/2022 12:00:00 SA

We were having an electric issue at the building, was explained to him on the phone that I would be paying $300 for a walkthrough (1 hr INCLUDING DRIVE TIME)- luckily Tom was 15 minutes away, and showed up promptly; found nothing wrong. 45 minutes later Tom said he needed to be paid and left with a $300 check. Half of my weeks paycheck. Not his fault, other electricians on yelp told me the same deal, X dollas for a walkthrough and not guarantee on a fix or a solution. But man that left me salty.

R T.

7/28/2021

Recently our gas-powered water heater sprang a fatal leak. With 2020's climate change-fueled drought and wildfires fresh in mind, we decided to switch from natural gas to carbon-neutral electricity, with a heat pump water heater (HPWH).

Tom O'Connor responded promptly, came over to assess our garage power situation, and gave us a clear, accurate, reasonable proposal. Noticing that we already had more power than needed for our existing electric car charger outlet, he suggested a straightforward solution that would enable us to continue charging our car and to power the new HPWH without having to run another wire from the back-of-house electrical panel to the front garage. Tom and his son Andrew came over within hours and in an afternoon had us all set with safety breakers installed and power lines running to where the new HPWH would be. Tom coordinated well with our plumber (Art Hansen), returning to wire up the HPWH once Art had it installed.

The HPWH works great and exceeds the uniform energy factor required for our city's rebate (though the city has not responded to our rebate application after two weeks). We expect the electric HPWH to reduce our monthly utility bill, as it's much more energy-efficient than a gas-burning water heater. As a nice side effect, it cools our garage during summer. Our Tesla Model 3 still charges fine and the HPWH runs as needed to heat water, all with no breakers tripping. We highly recommend Tom's and Andrew's fast, quality work. We are happy to support this family-run local business.

F. Z.

11/07/2022 12:00:00 SA

We called Tom on Friday for some electrical problems we'd lived with for a while. He was able to come and solve them on Monday morning. Not only was Tom friendly, he is very knowledgeable, was fast and fair in cost. We'll definitely be calling O'Connor & Son's Electric again!

Jen L.

1/18/2022

Tom has been working on 3 places I lived in Palo Alto. Most recently, he installed a Tesla charger in my garage. Tom was very responsive (via text, email, phone). He was able to come out the next day. He gave me advice on what else has gone wrong with the wiring, and fixed as much as he could on the panel he was working on (with no extra charge!). When I install my hot tub next, I will certainly reach out to them again.

Cameron B.

10/27/2022

I had a breaker that seemed to trip, but I could not re-engage. Tom was nice enough to attempt to help me over the phone. He walked me through resetting and at least eliminating the breaker as the main fault of my current issue.

David L.

10/24/2022

Extremely knowledgeable and honest, Tom went out of his way to help out. Highly recommend for any electrical issues in the Palo Alto area. 5 stars.

David F.

10/07/2022 12:00:00 SA

Tom is a masterfully experienced electrician who freely offers great service on my residential electrical projects. As we undertake the electrification of our homes and the decommissioning of natural gas, we need people like Tom to ensure things are done safely and meet the necessary performance requirements.

josh e.

8/21/2022

We had an issue with our circuit breaker with one circuit overloading and it felt complicated. Tom replied very promptly, told us when he could be there, and quickly had a full diagnosis. He proposed both short term fix and the right fix. He isn't the cheapest, but electricity is one of the things I never want to cheap out on. He was thorough, responsive, fast, and careful. I am very happy that Tom resolved what could have been a scary problem with very high quality work.

Christopher G.

2/15/2022

Tom and Andrew did a beautiful job bringing 240V from our breaker box, over the top of the Eichler roof, down to the wall behind where our new electric induction oven will be. Great communication. Great advice. Set us up to be prepared for the next electric upgrades to the kitchen....thinking ahead to save us down the road.

D s.

08/01/2022 12:00:00 SA

O'Connor came out to fix a lack of electricity in our MBR. He asked what caused it and we did not know, we had done nothing but turn it on the light and nothing came on in the entire area. He kept saying what did you do? you know and you are lying to me! over and over. He kept saying he was worth more money and kept asking us to pay him extra in cash. He came to do 4 electrical jobs that he said he could do in the two hour $300 window. He fixed the MBR problem temporarily (it is a problem again) and replaced a switch in the kitchen incorrectly so we caught him to return it as it was (two switches for one set of lights and one did not work at all after). He left after a short time saying he would send someone to do the rest of the work which he never did. He was there about one hour charging the full 2 hour fee. He used my ladder and we have not seen it since.

Maren S.

10/07/2022 12:00:00 SA

Do NOT waste your time getting an estimate from this company. If you are looking for a bid from this contractor, stay far away. The owner is extremely rude on the phone when you introduce yourself. Says he charges $1000 per estimate. Do not waste your time.

Phil S.

08/10/2022 12:00:00 SA

Truly the best in his field. Tom was very quick at diagnosing the electric issues and fixing them same day. Would highly recommend

Gary J.

12/06/2019 12:00:00 SA

Jonny-on-the-Spot Irishman Tom O'Connor swooped in to rescue a DiY project. Yes; I'm stupid and have no business trying to do anything electric myself. When I turned the power back-on there was a load pop and circuit breaker saved me.

I should say Tom O'Connor himself saved me. Searching Yelp Tom's company popped up. I placed the call, left a message and was called back in a matter of minutes. Explained the situation to Tom and he was in our house in under a half hour. Fixed it, gave me the lecture (which I deserved), enjoyed some of my wife's homemade toffee and left with the wink of an eye.

Thank you fellow Irishman Tom O'Connor

Jules S.

7/17/2022

Tom is an honest and excellent electrician. He helped me fix issues regarding several outlets in my home. I highly recommend him!

Becky S.

8/13/2021

This guy is rude,inconsiderate and completely unprofessional. I just don't understand people's personal experience with this guy. I can't even imagine allow this guy unto my home.

Lubna Q.

6/30/2022

If I could give Tom and his team 100 stars, I would. Save yourself the hassle with anyone else and just call Tom. We are working on an addition to our house, the contractors were convinced we needed to add a subpanel (adding a significant amount of $), we called Tom for a second opinion, and he quickly called BS. Saved us a TON of unnecessary work. This guy knows what he's doing and will get it done in the most effective, safest, most efficient way possible. Seriously, just stop scrolling through reviews and call Tom. You're welcome!

S C.

7/23/2021

Called and left a message about an urgent electrical problem at the house. Over a week later, and still no call back. Disappointing and frustrating. Won't waste my time here again.

Amir G.

11/09/2020 12:00:00 SA

I spoke with Tom on the phone and he diagnosed the problem and explained how to fix it simply by asking me a few questions. He was patient and professional, and did not charge a penny!
It is so rare to encounter this level of decency, professionalism and fairness from service providers. If I ever need an electrician in the future I will, without hesitation, call him again.

Martin H.

10/22/2021

I unfortunately needed an electrician a few times in the last few years. Tom comes right away, including on a Sunday when we had an emergency. Every time he quickly and professionally diagnosed and fixed the problem.

Angus M.

11/04/2020 12:00:00 SA

Found Tom through Yelp and liked the reviews. Contacted him and explained that we wanted to install a new power outlet in a bathroom. He suggested that we switch to FaceTime and that I show him the location and then he directed me to look at other nearby outlets they could use to source power. He then gave me an indicative quote on the cost of the project. I thought the pricing was reasonable, so we scheduled a time for one of his team, Julian, to come to the house and do the work. Julian was on time, discussed the details with me and explored some alternatives, then quickly did the work. I was particularly pleased that he was able to install the new outlet in the perfect location without damaging my faux-painted walls. I had a couple of other minor projects that he did while he was there. It was a great experience.

Strongly suggest you talk to Tom before selecting someone to do your electrical projects.

lisa r.

11/10/2021 12:00:00 SA

Oh, my gosh what a wonderful company.
Family owned fast response and fixed the problem with ease.
I highly recommend them!

K D.

1/31/2022

I was so glad that my mother recommended Tom to me when I experienced an outage at my home. Tom was quick to respond and set up an appointment the next day. He came first thing, communicated well, and was transparent with his pricing. Problem fixed. Day saved. I have a larger project that I'll do in a few months, and I'll be calling O'Connor & Sons in for that without hesitation.

Skip B.

10/26/2021

We had a failed main breaker in our panel . Tom came out right away and was able to get it to work. Other electricians wither didn't call back or returned the call much later. We were leaving on a trip so he really saved us.

Steve G.

2/25/2022

Tom was great to work with. He went out of his way to come to our house from another job, and was in and out within 15 minutes. He did excellent work, and gave us a really great rate for the work. He was nice and easy to talk to, and I'll be going to him for all my future electrician needs.

Mary L.

10/06/2021 12:00:00 SA

I was having issues with an electrical circuit and I called - they were very nice and tried to help investigate and walk me through next steps over the phone before coming out for a house call, which I really appreciated. I will definitely call them for my next electrical need!

Catherine C.

04/02/2020 12:00:00 SA

I want to thank Tom and Julian. I was having an issue with one of my light switches. I was afraid it Might start an electrical fire. So I called Tom yesterday (during this pandemic) and he sent Julian out today. Super friendly and Julian figured out the issue and got me all fixed up.

I can't thank them enough.

On top of everything, they didn't ask for payment, but for a donation to Ecumenical Hunger Program. How awesome it that!!!!

Highly recommended their services

Sue B.

9/30/2021

Wow, they charged an arm and a leg for an incompletely done electric job at my home. They came and fixed a breaker switch that had burnt out with a stop-gap one since they didn't have the right/compatible switch. That cost me $410. Then when I asked if they would come back and fix the breaker switch with the correct one, they said they would charge me another $300 just to come out! No way. I would rather work with a different company in the future if this problem resurfaces.

Karen B.

02/10/2022 12:00:00 SA

So glad I found Tom. With my former electrician retired, I needed to find someone quickly to some work, and provide advice for a future electric car charger. Son was able to come the same day and perform the initial work, and Tom was able to advise me quickly about some services from PGE and the car charger I will install later this year. Came same day, communicated well and transparent with pricing. Work done with pride. What more could you ask? 5 stars

Kohei M.

6/16/2021

I had called to ask about an issue that I was having at home. I forgot to ask the name of the person who had helped me but he was very kind to provide me how to solve the issue quickly. Very knowledgeable and very kind. I'd recommend them to anyone who's having some electrical issues.

Alvin A.

4/13/2021

We've had Tom look into a few problems for us, and in both cases, we found Julien and him to be very responsive, and willing to go the extra mile to make sure they do the right thing for our situation.

Most recently, Tom and Julien helped us figure out the best way to pull in more power for a new AC unit. They helped us estimate various options (ranging from upgrading out panel, to shuffling around a few things on our existing panel), and came back to check on things after the AC unit was installed, just to make sure things were working properly. It is clear that they take pride in their work, which is of great quality. We'd be happy to call them again if we need electrical work done.

Lisa D.

8/23/2020

Within one minute of contacting Tom, he said he could be right over. This is on a Sunday!
He troubleshot until he found the culprit of a bad wiring job from another electrician that was here to do all new wiring just four years ago.
It could have sparked a fire as the wire was burnt through at the plug. He spent some time educating me and my children, showing us the wire was not twisted enough with the other wires and how easily one of these could get loose and cause possible havoc.
We are delighted he found the problem as it was definitely a challenge having not tripped the breaker.
Many thanks Tom for such great quick response and fantastic service!

Michael C.

02/01/2021 12:00:00 SA

Our home has an older style fuse box setup with a out of production breaker that Tom was able to source. Service was timely and 100 percent professional. Would not hesitate to use them again.

Joshua L.

12/21/2021

Tom and his son Andrew were competent, communicative and cost-conscious in helping us out. They replaced CFL canned lights in a vaulted ceiling with LED units, which they supplied, hung a new chandelier and changed out the bulbs in two particularly hard-to-reach chandeliers. I found them both personable and responsive and I will not hesitate to use them again if/when I need an electrician. I recommend them without reservation.

Ron L.

04/01/2021 12:00:00 SA

Tom responded and fixed our electrical panel quickly. I will be using him in all future electrical issues.

Mary E.

12/27/2020

Tom was amazing and very helpful! I called to inquire about an electrical issue in my kitchen. Rather than charging me any overage fees for being far away from me and it being after hours, he walked me through the issue on the phone and even called me after to double check that everything was okay :) the issue ended up not being an electrical issue, but it was still very nice and comforting of him to be there for me. I just found him randomly on Yelp and this was the exceptional service he provided to me as a stranger :) thank you Tom!!!!

Hengte L.

06/08/2021 12:00:00 SA

I did a quote with Tom through FaceTime and he was very professional. Previously we had an electrician coming in and he investigated roughly 15 minutes before giving us suggestions. However Tom was able to quickly figure out our issue and provided solutions through phone within one minute.

Overall great experience. I'm still quoting from other companies but would definitely recommend Tom to anyone.

Vickie V.

3/15/2021

Super impressed by this electrician. I called to explain my problem and he asked a few questions and provided some suggestions to try and relieve the problem. And guess what? He didn't have to come out! He provided these suggestions over the phone free of charge in order to save me money. He could've come out and made the suggestions and charged me, but didn't.

My electrical issues have resolved with his suggestions. Love that he was ACTUALLY doing what is best for the customer.

(To be clear he offered to come out and take a look if Instill wanted him to or if the suggestions didn't work.). I will be calling him again if I have any more electrical issues.

Vafi S.

9/29/2020

He came to assess the problem with the outlet in my garage very quickly and resolved it during first consultation. When I called back for a few follow-up questions, he took the time to explain all the steps to me and walked me through troubleshooting. Thank you very much :)

Sue G.

02/01/2021 12:00:00 SA

We called Tom for an emergency visit last Sunday and he showed up on site within 20 minutes. He was very helpful and gave us direction on what needed to get fixed/updated. We were glad he was able to help us on such a short notice, especially on a Sunday.

Rosa Y.

10/04/2017 12:00:00 SA

A friend needed an estimate for underground conversion work in our residential community and Tom was super responsive over phone and email. After taking a look at her property and the electricity meters, it turned out that she didn't actually need electrical work done for the city's underground conversion project. Tom was very honest with them about this and didn't charge any fees - even after coming by to do the estimate.

Will definitely be contacting him if we need future electrical work done!

Jennifer H.

8/27/2020

I called Tom and in hours he was over and got my electrical plug swapped out that supported my refrigerator/freezer. In a flash, he had me up and running again and gave me a quick tutorial on the kitchen breakers as well. I found my go-to electrician today. Tom O'Connor is the BEST!

David M.

6/29/2020

I'm a fan... Tom's a good teacher... he showed up on a weekend to address a dryer that kept blowing a fuse... discovered sparking/burning inside the main box by an incorrectly installed set of incompatible fuses. Only charged weekday rates given we tried to get him Friday and he couldn't fit us in. He's really likable, and I trust that he's giving you a straight scoop, worked quickly, etc.

The last time we called him was five years ago... while he was here on other work last time he found a live wire dangling in the basement! Glad he was here...

Like most professional tradespeople it's not the easiest to book him... lots of calling cell phones, texting, telling to call back in a few hours if I don't hear back, etc. It's not like booking a reservation for a restaurant on a mobile app... it's a bit more like an ad hoc negotiation, but I think that's unfortunately just the way things are in trades here.

J B.

5/21/2021

$100-$200 for a quote. very competent, quick to respond.

Called for for two power drops for an AC install at our house. Received a quick call back. Tom is very professional and competent, and I don't mind paying more for great work and service, as long as the cost is not materially different. We're using another contractor for this job because it is significant ($1000's) and the difference was material.

That said, O'Connor was very quick to respond, very professional, and really know what they are doing. I would consider them for future projects - it's hard to find contractors in SV who know what they are doing and provide good service.

Donna H.

4/24/2019

Tom and Julien did a complete re-wire of my house a couple years ago after an unfortunate experience where the power went out randomly in the house. The work was done to the highest standards, even the city inspector commented. In addition, they were considerate of me living in the house during a 10 week job. Fast forward, I am now selling my house and had an outside outlet that didn't work. Tom was out in a matter of an hour. So not only did they do a phenomenal job a couple years ago, they truly care and stand behind what they do. On top of this, Tom took the time to call the house inspector who labelled something as an electrical issue and it wasn't. He took the time to explain it to the inspector and I don't know many people that would put forth much effort for any other contractor.

I have heard from too many people that they went with the lowest (or lower) bid, only to be disappointed. Do it right the first time, call Tom O'Connor first.

Katie L.

07/12/2021 12:00:00 SA

I called Tom because one circuit breaker suddenly has no power, Tom was kind enough to tell me to check the circuit and the GFCI outlet. He helped me fix the issue over text with no charge. Thank you Tom for saving my day, will definitely consider you for my other electrical needs!

Jared S.

9/16/2021

O'Connor & Sons has helped us on two occasions, including just recently when we had a sparking outlet. My call was answered right away and we had the work scheduled for the next day. Andrew figured out the issue quickly, identified some incorrect previous installation and explained everything to me before fixing the problem. He was professional, polite and friendly. These guys are great, I recommend them highly!

Kirk W.

12/30/2020

Woke up to a dark kitchen and thawing fridge. I reset the breaker and sparks flew. Time for a pro. Within 30 minutes Tom was at my door. Another 20 minutes and he had diagnosed the problem and repaired it (a worn breaker and loose connection in the main panel).

Prompt, knowledgeable, efficient, and funny. Highly recommended.

Rene C.

12/09/2016 12:00:00 SA

Tom just saved Christmas!

Our outdoor electrical outlets were not operating (one outlet for over 13 years the other out recently), so we were unable to hang our traditional Christmas lights. My wife browsed Yelp and read all the glowing reviews for O'Connor and Sons and was sold.

Tom arrived right on time and not only did he solve both outlet problems but showed us how to fix the issue in the event it happened again.

Super friendly service and very reasonable pricing. I would without hesitation recommend their services.

Thank you Tom for saving our favorite holiday!

Paolo R.

12/13/2020

I called these guys on a Sunday afternoon with an emergency power loss. They promptly responded with ability to help immediately and was responsive with a cost quote. I told them I would get back to them if I couldn't figure out the issue myself (the house lost power). I ended up figuring out the problem but I appreciated the follow up from them a couple hours later to ensure everything was ok. Will be using them for future electrical needs for sure. Thanks!!

Samuel A.

02/03/2021 12:00:00 SA

We needed electrical contractor for the School's stadium. Within one minute of contacting Tom, he said he could be right over.
Recommend him.

Michael F.

8/28/2020

Would give 10 stars if I could. I called and Tom was there 20 minutes later, figured out the problem with my breaker and fixed it immediately. Incredible depth of knowledge and delightful to work with. People like this are nearly impossible to find -- cannot recommend highly enough.

Markus F.

6/14/2021

I had non-working landscaping lights. Tom and his son Andrew came out within a short time and were equally fast at diagnosing and fixing the problem. I also appreciate Tom's straightforward communication before and while he was at our house.

Doff M.

3/18/2021

Very responsive, arrived within 20 minutes of calling, then figured out the problem and fixed it quickly. Tom explained his thinking and provided necessary documentation. Very professional and excellent quality. He was friendly and funny too.

John J.

10/22/2018

My wife and I had a minor issue with a fluorescent lighting fixture in the kitchen. Tom came and fixed it promptly and effectively, and gave us excellent counsel on how to understand and manage the fixture and its tubes.
Our only (slight) reservation was his $300 minimum charge, but we understand that he has to maintain his operation with its essential overhead (truck, workshop, administration) and schedule his time, and we respect his candor in describing his working criteria. His one-hour minimum is entirely logical.
We would not hesitate to call him again, but the reader should be aware that we are writing about a specific and relatively minor problem. If the issue were more complex, we would ask him for a detailed quote and references, which I am sure would be quite usual for him.

Nick T.

06/02/2021 12:00:00 SA

Tom responded my request swiftly on a Saturday afternoon, and fixed my problem in a few mins. He is very professional and easy to work with. I would recommend to anyone who is looking for an electrician.

Jörg H.

3/18/2021

Tom just called me back after I texted him and gave me some great advice that fixed my problem. I have worked with Tom multiple times over the years and his work has been flawless and it has been a pleasure working with him.

Ashley W.

10/26/2018

I've looked for a lot of years for a good electrician to do my panel upgrade, and I think Tom and Julien are the most qualified in the Palo Alto area. I had him out in 2013 and should have done the work then, but didn't because of budget. I ended up starting a kitchen rewire with another company about a month ago that was cheaper, but ended up calling Tom on Sunday to help finish the job. He came out on a Sunday to give me a bid, and had his guy Julien out at 8am Monday! Thank you! I should have just gone with Tom in the first place.

Tom is definitely a premium service and you'll get a higher bid, but with electrical, I want to know it's done right. With Tom, you can know it's done right, and done when he says it will be done. The first company took 4 days and didn't even finish, and in the end, Tom had to take over the project anyway. Save the headaches and just go with Tom in the first place.

Steve F.

10/11/2020 12:00:00 SA

Prompt, efficient, and complete service. I manage an 18 unit complex in Palo Alto and we use Tom 0'Connor for our electrical needs. He recently walked me through a fix without charging me. Honest and dependable.

Alvin C.

07/10/2020 12:00:00 SA

Tom was quick and professional, was able to go from call to problem fixed in an hour (including travel time), thank you for the quick response!

Jessica L.

10/05/2020 12:00:00 SA

This is a long overdue review! Tom, Julian and team are excellent to work with. Over the last five years, I've contacted them about a variety of electric issues and every time they've successfully repaired each problem. They are always responsive and are usually able to come to the house to see/fix the issue the same day -- even on weekends! Thank you!

Eli A.

4/28/2021

I had contacted Tom around 8pm to make an appt to fix a light fixture. he gladly guided my husband thru FaceTime and helped him fix the problem. I was so happy with the customer service, I would definitely recommend this company!

chris l.

11/24/2019

A tree branch fell and took out the power to our home on Saturday night. Our house needed to be brought up to code before pg&e would reconnect service. He charged me $400 to give me an estimate on the weekend and $500 to connect a generator. He told me the generator would cost ballpark $300 but the rental company ended up charging me an additional delivery fee of $400. I mentioned to him that I was filing an insurance claim. I ended up spending $2.5k per his recommendation. In hindsight, I could have taken up my neighbors offer to run an extension cord from his house to keep my fridge going. I will give it to him that he's super responsive. He helped me out on a weekend when most electricians didn't answer their phones. At times I was overwhelmed with the txt messages from him but I was in a situation without power. I also edited this review because he texted me a bunch right after posting. I can't reconcile my experience with the many other reviews here on Yelp.

He estimated my job to be $10k without permit fees and time. I ended up going with another guy who charged me $6k all in, including permits for the job.

Nigel J.

10/18/2018

I had an emergency power failure on a Sunday afternoon. Tom said he would be over in 20 minutes and he was. He quickly diagnosed the problems and advised on next steps, which was to bring in a generator. He found one for me and arranged for it to be delivered at 10 am Monday. This happened on schedule and Tom wired the whole thing up.
Everything went smoothly and to plan.

Jay B.

2/21/2021

On a Saturday, after exchanging texts and photos of the situation, Tom arrived in 20 minutes, replaced our burned-out fire-hazard socket, and was gone 10 minutes later, during which he explained to me the general problem, ways to mitigate, how it affects other units in the condo, etc.. All this after spending all day Friday trying to get a hold of electricians who were either already fully-booked or not responding.

D K.

5/24/2020

A big THANK YOU to Tom of O'Connor & Son's Electric for coming out to our home on Memorial Day weekend to replace an outlet in our kitchen. He was prompt, friendly and worked quickly. We'd be happy to hire him again.

Stephanie W.

11/25/2020

This review is long over due. I have been using O'Connor & Son's Electric for two years on all of the rentals I manage. Tom is always responsive to my phone calls and can usually get out to any issue the same day or next day. He's completed small jobs to much larger jobs and every time the tenants are happy with his level of service. I highly recommend contacting O'Connor & Son's Electric for your electrical needs!

Linda D.

02/09/2021 12:00:00 SA

Tom was great, my husband called him up in the morning to come over and check our electrical box since something funny was going on with one of the breakers. He came about an hour after. He was extremely thorough, checked all areas where we were having issues. He is very knowledgeable and professional. An added bonus for me was he is Irish as am I, so it was great to chat about that also :) I would highly recommend Tom for any job, he may be a bit pricey compared to other companies, but in my opinion, you get what you pay for, and this is true in the case of Tom, he is a top notch electrician! Cheers Tom!

Angela G.

4/22/2021

We had a weird electrical issue that took down an entire wall of outputs in our kitchen. Tom and his son were very responsive and came over the same day we called. They troubleshooted with expertise and was able to find the issue and fix it within a couple of hours. Super happy with their service!

Denise T.

11/22/2019

I sent a yelp message late on a Thursday evening for an appt. Mr. Oconnor reached out to me Friday in the am via text. He then followed up with a phone call and was able to diagnose and troubleshoot over the phone. Saving me $$$. Highly recommend.
Thank you

Donald W.

6/20/2021

I called Tom early in the morning with an electrical problem. He returned my call right away and was able to come by within 20 minutes. He was super friendly and fixed the problem in under an hour (including the time it took to go get parts).

Eric V.

3/26/2021

I tried several other Electricians listed on Yelp, but couldn't them to return my call... When I called O'Connor and Sons, they picked up, asked me some basic questions, and came out to fix my electrical problem straight away. I should have called them first!

Tim F.

05/05/2018 12:00:00 SA

Tom is awesome. When I took a photo of my setup, he shared a simpler and cheaper solution over the phone and saved me a lot of money.

Very honest guy - the type that I want when I'm dealing with something that will eventually be hidden and invisible when properly installed.

Calisa C.

10/16/2019

I highly recommend O'Connor & Sons. We had a broken switch over the weekend. We tried to repair it ourselves but were not able to. We called Tom. He came over and quickly fixed it. I really appreciate the great service.

Terra T.

12/24/2020

Quick, friendly professional service. We had an electrical issue in our home. Mr. O'Connor is very knowledgeable, especially with the older electrical system in our home. He was able to fix our issue very quickly. We would definitely recommend this business and their services. Thank you!

Paul R.

09/08/2020 12:00:00 SA

I have had two occasions to need an electrician this year. For one Julian came out (promptly), located the wiring problem and fixed it within 45 minutes. Last weekend our house lost power. I called Tom at 8am on Labor Day Sunday (big heat wave) and he was here within 20 minutes. Tom diagnosed the problem in 5 minutes and helped to get PG&E to come out to fix their broken wire at the power pole. It was a pleasure dealing with both Julian and Tom.

John M.

9/14/2020

Had an issue with a shorted electrical outlet that overheated and melted. Tom called me back in 15 minutes and managed to fit the repair in the same morning. Upfront and professional. A pleasure to do business with.

Luanne S.

12/10/2019 12:00:00 SA

My dryer died. So I bought a new dryer. It would not turn on. This is how you know there is a problem with the electrical outlet. *screams of dismay*

I called Tom O'Connor based on his organic search reaults on yelp and the quality of the reviews. He responded to the call, and said he could come over that afternoon. His house visit charge is $300.

He was worth every penny.

Before he came over he had me send a photo of the outlet. He brought a replacement with him. You could not tell from the outside, but the outlet had shorted and burned up the wires inside. Yikes.

He also charges a $100 emergency visit fee. He waived it when I balked. As he was leaving, I gave him that fee anyway, because he was knowledgeable, expedient, patient, and fixed it to my great satisfaction.

Lesson: invite this electrician to your house before you buy an expensive new appliance.

Karim B.

12/06/2020 12:00:00 SA

We had an emergency on a Sunday with no power in a big part of the house. Called o'Connor and spoke to Tom for help. I was impressed by his response time, speed to take action, professionalism and transparent approach. He explained clearly (I am not an electrician myself) what steps he was going to take to troubleshoot, he quickly diagnosed the problem and proposed the best solution to resolve. Our issue was solved quickly with no hassle, I can only recommend him 100% and am recommending him to my friends and relatives as of now

Telly C.

08/12/2017 12:00:00 SA

Note: Please check out all the other Yelp reviews on O'Connor & Son's Electric (not just mine). Despite what appears to be high ratings, you'll notice there are quite a few bad 1-star reviews for Tom's services.

My experience:

A delivery truck hit a power line and knocked out power to our new commercial facility in Palo Alto. I called Tom since he was local and presumably knew Palo Alto regulations, permits, etc on electrical repairs. First thing Tom says on the phone is he's busy and it'll be $300 just for him to come out for an estimate. If you read other reviews, you'll notice his pattern of sizing up your situation on the phone, then charging $300 just for an estimate if he thinks he can get it. Since it was a semi-emergency (commercial business with no power is not good!), I agreed and Tom showed up within 10 minutes. I thought he was busy but apparently he was just sitting at home on a Thursday afternoon and was able to swing by quickly. How do I know he was sitting at home? When he showed up, he said he lived 5 minutes away and that's how he was able to come quickly.

Once onsite, he took a look and proclaimed to know what repairs were needed to restore power. I think he realized the emergency nature and proceeded to quote $12k for the repair, which I knew was grossly inflated (I'm a property manager and deal with contractors/vendors on a daily basis). At this point, a city inspector stopped by and confirmed the necessary repairs. When I asked Tom if the $12k was everything including parts & labor, he said, oh no, it's $14k + parts because there's a lot to fix. I was surprised his quote jumped by a couple thousand within less than 10 minutes, despite no new changes or requirements from the city inspector.

At this point, Tom went into his pressure sales tactic and said well, do YOU want this done or not, because I'm a very busy guy. He continued I know what to do and I can get power restored by tomorrow BUT I need to know RIGHT NOW if you want to hire me so I can get the parts and lined up my crew.

Since it was already mid-afternoon on Thursday, I had to choose between paying Tom a grossly inflated rate to restore power by the next day (Friday), or call another electrician and start over with the process (meet for estimate, coordinate with city inspector, procure parts, schedule repairs). Waiting for another electrician meant a possibly delay until Monday to restore power, and no power over the weekend could be costly for our business. I had no choice but to bite the bullet and hire Tom. Once I committed to hiring Tom, his laziness came out, as he asked if I could pick up the parts for him on my way home and bring it the next morning. I said no.

The next day, Tom showed up with a crew of 2 and proceeded to tell me It's gonna cost you $15k + parts if you want this fixed. Do you want me to start?. It was obvious that Tom was taking advantage of the situation, knowing that it was Friday and there would be further delays if I declined his 3rd attempt to inflated his fee. Regrettably, I said fine since it was Friday and I could not afford a weekend without power.

Tom and his crew of 2 started at 7am and finished the job by noon. Doing the math, that works out to approx $1,000 per hour rate for Tom and his crew (3 crew x 5 hours = 15 hours for $15k pay).

After the repairs were done, Tom's laziness appeared again. The city inspector wanted the electrical panels labeled before signing off on the permit, and Tom told me he was going to Vegas the next day, so the quickest way to get permit signed off was for me to get stencils myself to label the panels. Oh, and he also needed immediately payment so he could pull the permit before leaving for Vegas.

The irony is Tom asked me to write him a Yelp review, so here I am writing my review. My conclusion, Tom may appear to be a highly rated, helpful local electrician, but the truth is he's always looking to take advantage after he assesses the situation. If he knows he can extract more $$$$ from you with no additional work, he will. If he knows you have little choice but to pay more (for the same work), he WILL raise his rate multiple times with no shame. And he has no shame asking you to help him complete his job when your schedule is dependent on it.

Speaking of shame, shame on Tom. I'll be sure to inform my fellow property managers and people in our industry about his shady practice. Tom's definitely lost my business for life and I'll never call him again to work at any of our properties. I understand sometimes paying a premium for emergency services or faster turnaround is necessary. However, Tom crossed the line and beyond reason. He decided to be greedy, and in the process he probably lost more in future business than the extra $$$$ he extracted from this one repair. If you have any questions or want more details on Tom, feel free to contact me via Yelp.

Holger D.

8/27/2017

We had O'Connor come out to look at an electrical box where one breaker was tripping. Instead of fixing the breaker they fixed it by connecting the wire with a wire nut to a different breaker for which they charged us $300 and said in order to fix it properly the whole box needs to be replaced for $2,000. Because this did not sound reasonable we asked for a second opinion from another company who explained what the problem was (it was the type of breaker that does not make good contact) and how to fix it (by replacing with the right breakers) we spent ~$100 and got all breakers with bad contacts replaced and have a long-term solution for much less.
Please be careful here....

Mimi F.

8/17/2020

This is my second stellar review, but my first for an actual visit. Bottom line is Tom potentially saved our lives today. No exaggeration. We were having some strange lighting issues after the thunderstorm yesterday, and were unable to find an electrician who could accommodate us on a Sunday. Tom was able to squeeze us in immediately on Monday, and although the problem for which we called him seemed to have resolved itself by the time he arrived, he truly listened to my ongoing concern about what I felt might point to an underlying problem. After doing some investigation, he uncovered an incredibly hazardous situation involving the way our solar power was illegally hooked into our electrical system. He says he's never seen anything like it in his entire career, and will be troubleshooting further with additional specialists, but he was able to identify a wire in our main panel that was burned almost through-and-through, and could have set off a catastrophic fire at any moment. He might not be the cheapest electrician around, but his availability, honesty, and conscientiousness are well worth it.

Jimmy T.

1/22/2020

Socket wasn't working and was giving off a putrid smell. Called Tom and he was able to come within hours! Replaced the socket, explained what happened, etc. everything's done in 10 minutes. He'll save your day if you suddenly need something fixed :)

Ari S.

4/21/2021

I totally recommend O'Connor & Sons Electric. They were prompt, knowledgeable and highly skilled. Great problem solving, and price was really fair for the work performed. The work was done right the first time. I wish I called them sooner!

Carol F.

4/19/2021

I've used O'Connor & Sons in the past and just recently last week. Tom O'Connor is always accommodating and comes out the day I call to take a look at the problem. This electrical problem was quite complicated. After Tom's assessment, he scheduled the work to be done the next day. The electrician came out and did a beautiful job replacing wires and also fixing a problem he found with a faulty wiring system put in by someone else. I will definitely use O'Connor and Sons again and would encourage others to do so as well.

John H.

04/12/2021 12:00:00 SA

Highly recommend this company if you want the job done right! Julian arrived for the work on time to the minute and completed the job in a professional manner.

Russ A.

12/31/2020

Our bedroom smoke detector kept chirping and I couldn't reset it even with new batteries. It was Dec. 31 and Tom was the only one who would come out. He talked me through trying to fix it myself to save me money, but when I couldn't, he came out and replaced all the smoke detectors in the house. He was fast, efficient, reasonably priced, and had a charming Irish accent.

Nabil A.

10/25/2020

Probably the most honest and expert Electricians in the Bay Area. A rarity in the world today where expertise combines with humanity. Had some issues with circuit breakers and power loss. Was able to diagnose and fix all the issues for an excellent price. Highly recommended.

susan h.

01/09/2019 12:00:00 SA

Tom is the best in the biz. My upstairs bathroom plugs were suddenly without power and a handyman I hired diagnosed it and said I needed to have work done on the electrical panel, which he didn't feel comfortable doing. Thus I called Tom, who showed up right away, spent three minutes in the house and fixed it merely by doing a reset of the downstairs bathroom plug GFI.
Note to homeowners: Tom doesn't trust handymen because they're often wrong. Check. And he said there are plenty of firms out there that would have done costly work on my panel, knowing full well that wasn't the problem. Probably also true. A word to the wise.

Joakim A.

3/17/2020

I called out O'Connor to pull electricity to a garden shed, with a couple of outlets and light switches. Tom himself came out and planned with me and scheduled work for two days later (quick for what is most of a day's worth of work). Tom was also present several times while his guy Julian did the install. He really cared to make everything perfect.

The quality of the work was really excellent. They tried to reuse my existing conduits, which was tricky. They used armored cable, metal pipe, or plastic conduit as required and the whole installation just looks super professional.

I will definitely call them back out for future projects.

Sandra G.

12/13/2020

The lights in our house suddenly started flickering and we decided it was better to be safe and have an electrician come out to take a look. Within an hour Tom came out to our house (on a Saturday night!) and within a few minutes established that the issue was external and helped us get PG&E out here to fix it that same night. Very happy to have come across a professional that helped us get the problem solved quickly and easily!

Bruce M.

7/17/2020

Responded almost immediately when we had a wiring problem (socket overheating), were careful about masks, fixed the problem efficiently and quickly.

NewUser N.

2/25/2017

I called Tom for a weather proof outlet installation outside my garage. I hit his voicemail and left a message. He called me back and missed me as well. This happened a few times before we were finally able to chat. His promptness to call back was the only positive thing.

I explained what I wanted get done, and Tom quoted $300 for coming over and giving work estimate. He said he wouldn't know whether the work is 1 hour or 4 hours unless he looks at it. I explains that I have an electric outlet inside the garage and want the same outlet extended through the wall. He insisted that a 300$ visit for estimation is a must.

He further went on to say that he is busy for next two weeks and will not be able to start the work anytime soon. But he can come over for providing estimate right at that moment. This had a smell of some kind of scam and set me off. What kind of person is busy for two weeks and ready to drive over at the drop of a hat. I am not sure where 5-star reviews are coming from for this business, but personally I did not get a good vibe :(

Gunjan M.

2/19/2017

I had to get a nest outdoor cam installed outside my home. I called and got a quick call back from Tom.

But he quoted me $300 for coming over to provide estimate on the work involved. I have got various services from many technicians/plumbers most of them provide estimates for free and those who charge are quick to roll up estimates into the work charges.

This was my first experience where even for a defined work owner quoted me $300 for estimates (which is not cheap either). And did not agree to roll the payment into work cost.

I got the impression that this business is to service ultra rich only.

Lance D.

11/02/2020 12:00:00 SA

We were in a pinch, and Tom of O'Connor & Son's showed up within the hour of first speaking to him! He gave us the information and knowledge that we needed.

Madison H.

2/25/2019

Called and had Tom come out to relabel a breaker system. He showed up late, was very overdramatic in his communication, and was unprofessional in his behavior. Just a heads up- he will charge you $300 just for coming out...even if he doesn't do anything! I don't recommend this electrician due to lack of communication skills. I can't judge him from his work because he stated that he would not touch anything since it was worse than he expected.

Paula C.

1/28/2021

Tom was very prompt in getting back to me and meeting me. I really appreciate his professional and very honest opinions regarding our Lighting projects. I would highly recommend him.

Penny E.

1/27/2020

Tom O'Connor has done work in my house before and I've really liked him, but today he blew me away. I'm buying powered blinds for my living room, and was considering having them hard-wired rather than battery-run. He told me from the start that hard-wiring was likely to be prohibitively expensive. Nonetheless, he studied the situation in my house, and then went and checked out the blinds at the store, and then called the company that makes the blinds to get all the specifications. In the end, he recommended that I go with batteries. All this for free. Amazing.

Cat F.

5/24/2017

I recently had an issue with my kitchen outlet not working after the power of my house went out and was restarted. I sent messages via Yelp to multiple electricians around the bay, and Tomy was the first one to respond! Please bear in mind, I sent these messages around 10 PM at night. He was extremely quick in response, in less than an hour, and kindly asked I contact him the next morning via phone for help.

I gladly called him via phone the next morning, and he was extremely helpful! He offered a few suggestions on how I may attempt to fix the issue myself, which saved me a lot of money! If I ever have any further issues, I will definitely be calling him! Thanks so much :)

Scott M.

6/19/2020

The Pandemic Electricians! It simply doesn't get better than this. Tom was here within the hour for an electrical issue involving our furnace/blower. He was a lifesaver. It has been hot out lately - and we needed the electrical fix ASAP as we head into the weekend. Tom wore a mask and respected social distancing during his entire visit all while fixing our problem. But not only did he find the exact fix - he was thorough and educated me about much of what he found and did. This is the critical difference with Tom and Julian. They help you understand the issues and assist you to avoid having the same issue twice. They point out safety issues as they progress to the solution. Oh, and Tom was so nice to our kids while he was here. That was icing on the cake. We have called on them many times and will continue doing so into the future.

Bill O.

9/16/2020

Fast and excellent service. Provided clear explanation of problems and solutions. Recommend

Anne T.

3/29/2019

I had a fantastic experience today with Tom. The power to our house went out mysteriously (to me anyways) and, truth be told, I was in a bit of a panic with a 6 month old baby at home. He called me back within minutes, sent me his rates via a text so there were no surprises or confusion about what this was going to cost me, and then called me right back to confirm I still needed and wanted his services.

He came straight away to help us here in Redwood City from a previous job down in Cupertino, was timely, quick, and efficient. Luckily, our problem was an easy one to solve, but I really really appreciated the extra time he took to explain it to me, to show me what I could do if it happened again, and to reassure me that if it did happen again, he'd be right back out to help me solve it. He also took a look around at some other electrical work we had done previously just to see if there was any unrelated things amiss that he could help with. as someone who really doesn't know head from tales about electrical work, I was so grateful for that as well.

What's more, I found Tom to be so kind and courteous and personable -- I could have chatted with him all afternoon. I'd highly recommend Tom to anyone who's in need of some electrical help!

Jan G.

11/27/2018

Charges $300 for a visit to make an estimate. If the service is ordered the $300 will be deducted from your bill. Decided not to bother.

Rating as 3 stars as I have no basis to rate, but the system does not allow me to submit a note without a rating

Brian J.

12/09/2020 12:00:00 SA

Tom is extremely good at his craft, effective, responsive, and a good man. I was very thankful to find a reliable electrician since they seem so hard to find these days. Thanks, Tom, for sorting out our issue so quickly and providing helpful advice about what to watch out for in the future!

Eileen P.

12/09/2019 12:00:00 SA

During Saturday's storm, we began to smell electric smoke. We called O'Connor & Sons, and Tom returned our phone call quickly. Tom came out and changed out a GFC outlet that was melting from the inside. We were relieved it wasn't something more serious! We will be using Tom O'Connor for our future electrical needs!

Mimi D.

12/02/2020 12:00:00 SA

Electrical issues cause stress, but relief comes pretty quickly when you've got these guys helping out. I've never been unhappy with the work.

Robert G.

06/07/2018 12:00:00 SA

My wife and I wanted ceiling lights installed in 4 rooms.
Tom, the owner came to our home to give an estimate for the work we were requesting, he was polite and knowledgeable.
He made recommendations we had not thought about, which lowers the cost of the project, as a result we are very happy with the end results.
The person who did the installations was polite, considerate and did an excellent job.
We would use O'Connor and Son's for any future electrical work without hesitation.

Stephan E.

6/29/2020

We've used O'Connor Electric a few times and they are incredibly responsive, great to work with and very fair. I highly recommend them and will use them again.

Edwin E.

6/28/2020

The ceiling light fixture had a broken light box. Tom was able to come at last minute during the weekend and fixed the problem quickly. He wore a mask during the entire service. Highly recommend him, and thanks for your help, Tom!

Melissa M.

05/11/2019 12:00:00 SA

I plugged in the lamp and sparks flew out; flipping the breakers didn't work and the electricity was out. On a Saturday! Tom came out right away and not only fixed it quickly and cheerfully but kept us entertained with his friendly jokes and easy-to-understand explanations. I'm so glad we called him! Next time we need electrical work, he's on my speed dial.

Weena E.

01/04/2019 12:00:00 SA

One of our outlets in the garage started to spark every time we turned on the lights. Called Tom and luckily he was right by our home. He came within 15 minutes and fixed the issue. He is fast, knowledgeable and pleasant to work with. I will definitely recommend him to others and will call him in the future.

Meghan H.

8/15/2020

The power went out in half of our house at 9pm on a sweltering August Friday. It was all back on and fixed by 10am the next day thanks to Tom. And a lovely friendly person to boot. Could not recommend him more highly. We will definitely reach out to him again with any other electrical issues that might come up.

Cynthia R.

06/12/2019 12:00:00 SA

I had two electrical issues that I needed addressed. Tom has done work for me in the past, and very graciously worked me in one the same day I called, and quickly took care of both issues. Thank you!

John B.

02/07/2019 12:00:00 SA

I've called on O'Connor several times to either diagnose problems or to upgrade existing service. In every case the work was done quickly and professionally. In one case the problem was with the utility line coming into the house, Tom knew what was wrong, and helped with the utility personnel to get it fixed. He followed up the next day to make sure the problem was fixed.

While O'Connor's was installing a new sub-panel to our house, we asked about adding outdoor lights along the driveway. Julian, the electrician doing the work, suggested a solution that was much simpler, less expensive and better than what we had been requesting, and we are very happy with the end result.

I will call O'Connor and Sons for all my electric needs in the future.

Jessica S.

02/08/2019 12:00:00 SA

Great service!! Tom was in the area so he was at my place within 30 minutes. He was very nice and professional and knew exactly what he was doing! I have zone heaters in my condo and he had my living room back to warm and toasty in no time.

V B.

03/12/2018 12:00:00 SA

We ran into a electrical lighting issue at a large property that we own/operate. Parking lot pole fixtures installed & wired during the early 1970's with issue being anywhere from the main service panel to any ONE of the particular bulbs, ballast or wire pull underground. Tom & Julian were able to troubleshoot the issue and locate the exact wire causing the breaker-trip to all 12 fixtures in a matter of hours.

I'll definitely be using O'Connor & Son's Electric for future projects as we are bound to need their expertise in the future.

Tom B.

7/17/2020

Julian called in advance and arrived right on time. I had a small job involving numerous failing light switches. Julian was a delight to work with, a consummate professional and extremely knowledgeable and efficient. It was a pleasure to have him in my home. Julian arrived with his mask tightly fitted and it remained there the entire time causing no issues communicating. I would use O'Connor every time I need an electrician.

Joe S.

09/09/2016 12:00:00 SA

Should be 6 stars!

Awesome service. Excellent troubleshooter. We had had another electrician come and charge $150 to tell us we need various new electrical fittings to solve our problems, and didn't fix anything. Tom meticulously checked several scenarios and found the root cause to every issue very quickly. And none of Tom's solutions required any extra fittings. In addition, he is clearly a man of integrity, not trying to draw out the work to increase his pay check. And to round it all off, he throws in some friendly banter.

Norene S.

9/22/2019

Tom came to my house to review some electrical items I needed to be done. I found him to be very informative and knowledgeable and also honest in sharing when I didn't need to spend money on a new circuit box. When I'm ready, I will be booking him and Julian to do the work at my home as I like to work with honest, high-quality vendors. Thanks!

Em S.

12/06/2019 12:00:00 SA

I'm sure his work is fine but 1 hour minimum @ $300.00. This is nuts since I am a property manager and have NEVER paid this amount before! Just say your too busy!

Matthew S.

9/20/2020

They did a fine job, quickly responding to my initial call, stopping by promptly to discuss the job, and being flexible in response to my requests and my budget. The electrical work was done efficiently and well, including some tricky diagnostics. Over all I'm very happy with this company..

Richard L.

06/08/2020 12:00:00 SA

THANK YOU! A fan and a light in the bathroom stopped working. Tom got back to me immediately and quickly identified and fixed the problem. He's definitely on the top of my list for any future electrical problems.

Karen H.

4/24/2018

I called him today because we only had power in certain areas. It was super weird. We checked the fuse box. When I was on the phone he said he could come out for FOUR HUNDRED DOLLARS for an emergency visit. My husband said to say no so I did. As I was hanging up, he said that offer only stands for ten more minutes. WOW. I went down the list and called the next guy. The person I called at the next place said that to check that there wasn't a power outage in our area and we were getting partial power. Turns out that was it. That guy was honest and just saved us $400 dollars!!

Guy R.

3/31/2020

Half of our home's power went out over a weekend. I called several electricians. Only two answered and only Tom said he'd be there in the hour. His years of experience were evident as he triaged what was wrong and help us resolve the issue which was not where we expected. I appreciate Tom being responsive and resourceful!

Chris C.

8/16/2016

Tom was a great help with our little electrical problem. After I had a moment to wire our ceiling fan incorrectly and short out the house. I went to yelp to find some help on a Sunday afternoon and Tom was the first to return my call.
The customer service was great, after explaining my issue, he was at our house in about an hour or less. He surveyed the situation and realized he was dealing with an idiot and was quick to help me solve the problem and educate on how to avoid it in the future and also avoid some unnecessary cost down the road if I followed his advice.

Whole process was over in an hour and we were grateful to find someone that not only was there to help but not over sell us for our lack of knowledge. If you like a person with a great personality and expert advice then Tom would be my recommendation. We will be giving him a call again when and if I screw up the next home project.

Martha E.

11/24/2019

Tom was helpful, personable, and (most importantly) arrived on time the next day. He solved my electrical problem and explained the situation.

charlie g.

9/13/2018

We had an emergency with a large chandelier that had fallen From our ceiling and in our dining room. Tom responded immediately. It was a complicated fix but it was handled beautifully.

Heart H.

07/11/2020 12:00:00 SA

Called Tom after my son accidentally stuck top of his iPhone charger into socket, resulting in spark that knocked out 6 wall sockets in 2 bedrooms. Based on reviews I called Tom. He was polite and called me right back because he was driving. Instead of running the typical Silicon Valley contractor hustle (give me your address, I need to come out and diagnose, there is a charge, and then if you live in a nice house I am going to gauge you and tell you the problem is bigger than it is) Tom suggested I re-check the circuit breakers. I checked again and while none were tripped the green test button for those rooms had been tripped. I pushed them back down and voila problem solved. Tom could easily have tried to take advantage but did not. Straight legit good guy who knows what he is doing and here to help. So nice to come across a craftsman like this -- especially as a homeowner in Silicon Valley who is tired of cheesy aaa contractors trying to hustle. Tom is guy you should call w electrical issues!

Barbara S.

07/07/2020 12:00:00 SA

Terrific service all around. Julian came to our house the same day we called. We had three projects and he fixed all three including a multi-light control switch that another electrician had tried to fix before. He put together an outdoor heater and explained how it worked and how to handle the power draw from the heater. They also saved us from buying a new lamp that we thought we needed. Tom explained everything to us clearly before Julian came over. I'm thrilled to have this resource available to us.

Alex A.

6/27/2018

My employer had an emergency where we had multiple workstations (cubicles) lose power during business hours, we had no idea why the issue happened.

O'Connor came through, and provided quick service for us as we had to place an emergency call. I was able to depend on their team without even meeting them in person. Will definitely re-use in the future!

Tammi H.

12/12/2019 12:00:00 SA

One part of our house went out last night, thought a fuse was blown, switched the breaker back and forth but nothing happened. Called Tom at 8pm and to my surprise he actually picked up! He was able to schedule me in the next morning. We had assumed the breaker needed replacement but he came and diagnosed the problem quickly and efficiently. Turned out a switch on the breaker had some loose wires. Tom walked me through every action that he was taking so I knew exactly what I was paying for. Also a really nice and friendly guy! $300 for the visit. I probably could have shopped around but who knows what it would be once they get here. Tom assured me there would be no hidden costs and indeed it was just that!

D.J. K.

06/04/2020 12:00:00 SA

Very responsive and was able to get help with a malfunctioning box/breaker on Memorial Day weekend which was very much appreciated. Took a bunch of time to explain what was wrong, how things were working/not working and why. A little pricey but very responsive. Would definitely use them again in the future.

Thaniya A.

06/04/2020 12:00:00 SA

Tom and his team provided timely estimates, responded quickly to queries and were able to schedule the fuse box replacement at a time that worked for us. The work was done very neatly and on schedule, everything went as planned. Thanks to Tom and Julian for the work, would definitely recommend.

Craig C.

03/03/2020 12:00:00 SA

Tom O'Connor responded very quickly to a request to fix some defective electrical outlets in my home; I reached out to him late morning today and he had the problem resolved before happy hour. He was very thorough and knowledgeable, and made sure the work was done properly. I would recommend him to anyone needing electrical work.

Donald S.

12/14/2017

Thanks for coming by on such short notice and helping with my breaker panel problem!

I was having my breaker panel replaced and upgraded in preparation for installing solar panels. The electrician I had been working with completed the job and initially reworked it when it failed inspections by the Palo Alto building inspector, leaving me without power for multiple days. The original contractor refused to come back for additional rework when the inspector kept failing it, leaving me without power and no one to fix the problems with the panel. The electrician I had been working with had been recommended by an online source citing 5 star ratings and a performance guarantee.

I started calling local Palo Alto Electricians and all were very booked up and unavailable until I called Tom. He answered immediately when I called and said he could come out for a consultation for $300 to let me know exactly what my situation was and what to do whether or not I chose to work with him and his electrician Julian. He arrived, assessed the situation, and said he could reschedule other jobs and call in overtime/doubletime to get mine done since it was an emergency, but was reluctant to take on the job because it was left unfinished by someone else and a lot was wrong with it. He also said it would be expensive due to the last minute rush. He and Julian were able to quickly start and complete the work, pass inspection, and coordinate to have my power back on by the end of the same day I first called them.

Tom may seem a little forceful or aggressive to some as I can see from some other reviews here on Yelp. He did tease me quite a bit about my 5 star electrician that started the job and screwed it up so badly, but he really came through for me when I was in a desperate situation and no one else would.

Thank you Tom and Julian for such a great job on coming to our rescue!

Additionally, if you are in Palo Alto, only deal with a local Palo Alto electrician if you are having any work done that requires inspections. Palo Alto is fairly strict with its code enforcement and electricians from other areas may not be familiar with the local standards to properly complete your electrical job without considerable delays and rework.

Mark N. W.

11/20/2018

There is something so relatable, and trustworthy about Tom. I run a restaurant and needed service in a crunch, and Tom came through admirably; saved us, perhaps thousands of dollars, because we wouldn't have been able to open unless Tom came through. I am just over the moon about his service, and again, talking to him is truly like talking to a buddy. You never look forward to needing electrical work, but I know when I do, it will be handled by someone who is professional, knowledgeable and trustworthy. Can't say enough about Tom, absolutely terrific!

Sunia S.

10/23/2017

Difficult to talk to on the phone! Guy who answered sounded like he was in a bad mood

Michael C.

2/16/2020

Tom O'Connor is all you would want in an electrician. Responsive (especially on weekends), knowledgeable in his diagnostics, efficient in his repair, and an overall pleasant and friendly guy.

John R.

8/15/2015

$800 to install 2 ceiling fans seemed too high. Called around...it was. Not sure whats with the review of greatness, seems like a scam. Make sure to get multiple quotes people. Maybe they use 14k gold screws or something?

Response to comment since we are being childish...yes it was a call on Saturday...do your prices have anything to do with the day? Strike 2. The ballpark price was twice as much a anyone else. Another contractor laughed at that amount. You should have let it go, not try to call out my review, guy. You also sent me an email asking for me to remove my review, that's just lame. It is my opinion of your pricing based on a business interaction with you, that's all, grow up.

Larry Z.

9/28/2018

Tom arrived my home on time. He found the problem and fixed it quickly. He also explained to me the root cause. In short, he is super professional!

Charles F.

12/17/2017

Update...
A few days after Tom got the lights working again, they began to flash.
Then 2 days later, they went out. Called Tom. He send out a journeyman
Julian who came out at 1800 hours. As voluble as Tom was Julian was
laconic. Like Tom, he started step by step to trace the fault. After 1/2 hour
he found a dead short in the feeder fixture to the rail that the pendants
hang and take power from. So Tom found a partial short, and when that
was fixed, the electrons jammed themselves into the dead short, which
according to Julian was a sloppy install - from 8 years ago. Lights are
doing fine since Julian found the dead short. O'Connor and Sons are not cheap, and they will tell you what they think (no corporatist doublespeak),
and they are extremely busy. So you may have to do a job of work to arrange things. But it will be worth it.

Alisa H.

10/25/2017

Tom was able to come out on short notice after talking to my husband on the phone about our tricky NEST-related electrical problem. We could tell he really knew his stuff and he worked very quickly (and he's also a riot, very funny)!
He charges $300 minimum to come out, but it was totally worth it with his clearly high level of expertise and speed in diagnosing electrical problems. He is able to quickly find a fix for complex electrical messes caused by someone else, and will tell it like it is. Very much recommend him if you need an electrician who really knows what he's doing and can cut to the chase quickly.

Jimmy D.

11/02/2017 12:00:00 SA

I've worked with Tom O'Conner on a couple jobs now and I have to say, he and his partner did an excellent job. I had a new office shed built where I needed electricity going to it. I had the wiring set up just needed the connect completed. I called and left a voicemail. He replied back and had one of his electricians come out. Very professional, and surveyed what needed to be done and got to work. Completed in about 2 hours. No messing around, Very pleased with the job and will reach out again if needed. They are on the pricier side, but if you want it done right the first time, I would recommend them.

Deborah C.

3/15/2019

Tom is a talented and reliable electrician. We had multiple fluorescent fixtures that required different fixes and Tom handled them all efficiently and professionally.
I appreciate his friendly demeanor and the fact that he shows up when he says he will.
We had started with another company who didn't show up-twice! They then decided not to do the work they had already accepted. That will never happen when you call O'Connor and Sons Electric!

Chris C.

10/19/2019

Tom and Julien should be your go-to electricians. When the power went out at our manufacturing plant on a Friday afternoon, we called Tom and he got on FaceTime with us and helped get us back online. He and Julien came out the next week and straightened us out, saving thousands of dollars of potential lost productivity. Tom also rewired every outlet in a single family rental, did a beautiful job and had the tenants singing his praises. These are the electricians you're looking for.

Krishna G.

1/18/2020

Tom O'Connor is professional, very responsive, expert and extremely experienced. He was thorough and efficient in his work. He listened to our concerns attentively and addressed them at a reasonable cost for such a qualified electrician. We were fortunate to find him in an emergency situation.

David K.

10/09/2017 12:00:00 SA

I went to Bayshore Supply in San Carlos asking about a good electrician in Palo Alto for some work to bring things up to code. Without a thought they recommended O'Connor and Son's. I called Tom, in less than a half hour he was at my house looking at the required work. Within one business day he had someone on the job. End of one business day the work was complete and it was beautiful.

I'm not an electrician by trade but I've built a home (and airplane) and I know good work. Talk about accommodating a tight schedule, wow. Now, not exactly the cheapest but I have this to say about that; Nobody has the budget to do it right but seems to always have the budget to do it twice. Save yourself the agony and have piece of mind you are getting good work.

And most important to me was his ability to get right on it. Others would have me waiting weeks to get it done. I'd recommend Tom in a heartbeat.

Mark S.

6/26/2015

I told Tom I had some garage wires that had been hidden behind the walls before some nitwits changed the garage motor, cut the existing wires, and stapled new ones to the walls and ceiling, which looked like crap. Now I needed someone to re-hide the wires behind the walls. Tom told me that he couldn't understand what I wanted over the phone, and he insisted on coming over to see for himself RIGHT AWAY - like in the next couple of minutes. Since he was already on University Ave., Tom explained, only a couple blocks from my house, he'd only charge me $100 instead of his usual $200 estimate fee. WARNING !! SCAM ALERT !! Let's see... $100 for two minutes of driving, and hopefully no more than 5 minutes for the boob to comprehend that he needs to hide my garage door wires. That's a higher rate that my doctor, dentist, and lawyer put together !!

My first clue was Tom's big phony accent. This buffoon sounds exactly like the old fool on Jurassic Park I. Little fleas in my carnival show. Blah blah blah blah blah.... I calmly told Tom I couldn't meet with him right this instant. I hung up, sprayed my phone with Lysol, and gave it a good wipe-down.

BEWARE !! All these 5 star reviews with exactly the same content and writing style are about as genuine as Tom's ridiculous, Jurassic Park accent. TOTALLY PHONEY !! He was probably born in Detroit or some other unremarkable American city. DON'T BE DUPED !! This guy makes his living racing from house to house collecting as many $200 estimate fees in a day as he can.

Tom O'Connor and his company are terrific! STFU Tom. You're not fooling anyone, except the poor, lonely, old people you dupe out of their meager savings.

Shali M.

10/23/2017

I called around palo alto for many electricians - basically in panic having lost most of my lights to a fuse. Most of them quoted me $150.00 per hour to come out to my house - next week or after!!!

I had left a message for O'Connor... he called me back within 30 mins and diagnosed the issue through Facetime (go technology!) and fixed it over the phone - free of charge - in 1-2 minutes! Whooo hoo!

It was a simple thing, but I would have never figured this out by myself... and none of the other electricians I spoke with offered to diagnose the problem over the phone - tells you something!

O'Connor was courteous, friendly and clearly very knowledgeable over the phone. I would highly recommend him and gladly use his paid services without any hesitation!

A M.

3/25/2020

Tom and his team is the best in the area. Don't bother looking for anyone else. They are usually very very busy because of how good they are, so please be patient. Keep communicating with them, and they will solve your problem. I love it when they care about their customers. They always put on shoe cover before stepping inside your house. They are extremely reasonable for the bay area. I am so glad that I have found them! Thank you, Tom!

Andy K.

5/15/2019

Call Tom for an issue with power not getting to our A/C sub panel.
He showed up in 20 minutes and troubleshot and resolved the issue in a few minutes. Not to mention, I had already had an A/C contractor and another electrician to check it out with no resolution. Now, I know a confident and good electrician.

Cyndi K.

3/19/2020

Tom was incredibly responsive. It was the day the policy 'Shelter in Place' was announced in response to the spread of Covid-19. I called him and he answered his phone right away. He said he could come out within the hour after he tried to walk me through by phone whether he could resolve my issue by phone, thereby trying to save me money. He has years of experience, is very responsive, professional and really friendly. What more could you want from your local electrician?

Paul R.

6/29/2018

The mains breaker on my house failed!

In the ensuing pandemonium Tom helped confirm the new breaker I needed and installed it ASAP.

Not fun when you have zero power!

Jeffrey Y.

6/28/2016

Tom came over on fairly short notice, took a look at my electrical situation (two power-hungry computers on the same, old breaker), told me what I was looking at, verified that the breaker wouldn't die, and didn't try to up-sell me on expensive services I didn't need. Whole process took less than an hour.

Would hire again in a heartbeat.

Jean M.

12/17/2017

Tom sent his capable electrician who responded incredibly fast and repaired a bathroom light fixture that someone else told me needed to be replaced. I would call them again in a heartbeat.

Karla B.

2/20/2018

Tom replied to my message super fast and very honestly and efficiently solved our problem!! THANK YOU! I would not hesitate to recommend this business for any electric need!

Jenny B.

12/19/2018

I can't recommend this man enough. Replied back to me in 15 minutes, was at my house within the hour. Able to diagnose the issue and fix it quickly, despite the shotty unlicensed work done previously that failed (thanks to my MIL wanting to save money...). Super helpful to have someone bluntly point out where/why the prior work we had done was dangerous/illegal/problematic so i can have it all ripped out and redone properly!!!! As I wanted in the first place thank you so much!!!!

Rutu P.

4/21/2015

The person I spoke to was a little arrogant. You might be good but there are plenty of electricians who are equally good and will not give you an attitude.

Adding on: Wow....that is very racist of you Mr. O'Connor....you are definitely something...what do you mean by anonymous? should I give you my home address? you keep mentioning my culture for what? Are you stupid enough to generalize this to the whole of India? should I then say that this is an American way to do things? because i know this isnt...I spoke to you for 2 minutes...I didnt like the way you talked....why dont you just accept the fact that you cant please everybody and move on in life....

David F.

03/06/2020 12:00:00 SA

My mother uses Tom so he was the person I called when I needed an electrician. I just had him come out to resolve an electrical outage that was affecting our bathroom lighting which neither I nor my handyman friend could figure out. He was friendly, helpful, and instructive. I'm having him come back out to replace some light fixtures.

Alex V.

10/16/2015

I have nothing but great things to say about O'Connor & Sons. Tom, the owner, is personable and eager to help. I had an outlet that was not working, and after asking me a few questions about the situation set up a time for someone to come over. Julian came to the house and dealt with the situation quickly and effectively.

I have used them before, but it has been some years since our last electrical problem. It was striking to me how the quality and service provided had not changed. I will definitely call them again when I need an electrician. Worth every dollar.

Fogg L.

4/26/2017

While the owner was super nice and accommodated my urgent need to repair my box wall heater in my 1969 condo. I discovered months and months later that the heater had not been fully disconnected or turned off and could have set my couch on fire. I've always considered myself a lucky person but this scared the s out of me. I'll be sicking with Home Advisers from now own.

Jim S.

5/21/2016

Need great work done quickly without any BS... don't wait, call now!

I had a tricky electrical issue popup late at night in my business and needed someone quick who could restore service. One call, quick review and discussion on price and he was on site in 7 minutes! Fixed problem promptly.

If you are looking for a great conversationalist that will make you feel better about the money you need to spend to keep things running... you should call one of the other guys that will take hours to get there and probably will need to call someone else once they get there. If you want it fixed the first time with confidence that it is done right, call O'Connor & Sons.

Gloria M.

11/19/2018

5 stars Mr O'Connor helped me, over the phone . An ANGEL he is. My circuit breaker now working, bathrooms sockets now work. Thank you Jesus Amen

Suzette S.

6/17/2015

This was my second time calling O'Connor & Son's. Had several outlets go dead in different rooms of the house. Called and Tom came out within an hour and fixed the problem.

Professional, knowledgable and fast. Great experience for the second time.

Valeria C.

7/18/2017

Such a life saver! All the outlets in our kitchen had been out for weeks. We'd reset the circuit breakers multiple times with no improvement. Our landlord was MIA, so we called Tom after seeing how highly recommended he was on NextDoor and Yelp. He called back same day, took one look at our circuit breaker, and was able to remedy the problem in less than 5 minutes. He also gave us some helpful information about the kind of electrical panel we had and, since we're renting and unable to replace it ourselves, clued us in to the issues we should expect in the future (Zinsco panels are bad!). He's definitely worth every penny!

Nadav K.

4/14/2017

Outlets in my room were not working, and I spent good 3 hrs. troubleshooting them until I gave up and looked for an electrician.Tom replied to my Yelp quote request within 30 mins, and was at my house within another 20 mins. Tom wanted $300 per hr. and said that most jobs like these are solved within 15-20 mins. I was skeptical about the latter, but long and behold...Tom did find the issue within 10 mins. of troubleshooting. Gotta love when you have someone professional at your house. As a bonus...Tom has quite a charming personality :)
I'd recommend Tom in the future.

Rob C.

4/29/2018

I've used Tom and his team for the past 4 years as we've remodeled our house stage by stage. The craftsmanship is of the highest standards and I've been consistently satisfied at the quality of the work. These guys don't cut corners just to get the job, they do stuff properly and professionally - if you're after the cheapest, don't call them. If you're after a first rate quality job that exceeds standards then these are the guys you want.

Niniane W.

05/02/2015 12:00:00 SA

An outlet stopped working in my upstairs bathroom. I called 4 electricians. O'Connor was the only one to call me back on the same day (Saturday).

He told me what to try, over the phone. His instructions allowed me to fix the outlet by myself. He even called me later the same day to ask if his instructions worked.

He is really nice, and I would use him again in the future.

Lynn J.

07/12/2017 12:00:00 SA

Worth it! Great Service! Half our electricity to the house was out--I called Tom at 7:00am; within one hour he had already fixed the problem. He is friendly but wasted no time, took 15 tops, replaced a burned out sub-breaker which he had in his truck. I absolutely don't mind paying the minimum one hour charge when someone knows what he is doing!

Mark T.

04/05/2015 12:00:00 SA

Tom O'Connor and his company are terrific! On Friday morning just before the start of the holiday weekend, my lights started acting strange and then most of the bathroom lighting went out. I was concerned with it being the start of the holiday weekend.

I received Tom's name from a friend and he sent out his partner Julien immediately (within less than 30 minutes). Julien was methodical and careful -- step by step he moved thru the house checking the circuits and isolated the problem to one circuit. Then he further isolated the source of the problem to bad wiring in one of the bathrooms -- and sure enough the wiring was all burned out. It could easily have been a fire hazard.

Julien fully rewired the bad switch and connectors and everything returned to normal! He finished everything and cleaned up great. The work was highly professional, efficient, and careful.

I am an aerospace engineer, but I wouldn't mess with the wiring in my house (I know when I am out of my league). I really appreciate how promptly Tom sent me help and how very professionally the diagnosis and work was completed. I really recommend Tom's company most highly and will call them immediately if I need any electrical assistance again.

Mark T.

Cheryl E.

04/02/2017 12:00:00 SA

My experience was fantastic; Tom was responsive and is clearly the best in the business. He quickly assessed the issue, fixed the problem, and is unbelievably professional. He was communicative and arrived exactly on time.

For those reviews complaining about the service charge: it's important to understand that electrical issues can be complex. I wouldn't trust someone who quoted a price without really understanding the issue and seeing it in person.

It's important to hire an electrician who really understands issues at their root cause and Tom had extensive experience. He is worth every dollar spent and we will definitely hire him for all of our electrical needs in the future. Thank you so much Tom!

Jake J.

04/09/2016 12:00:00 SA

Fair, Fast, Professional.

Tom helped us out when we lost electricity in our apartment.
He made himself available within an hour and coordinated with our landlord.
Tom answered questions and concerns over the phone, and he was flexible about coming out to assess the problem.

Tom identified the problem in a matter of minutes and saw that it was fixed the same day.
I would definitely recommend using him.

Ian H.

3/23/2017

Did a great job on our small job. Took the care to do it right, and patiently listened and then explained the issues, while recommending suitable alternatives. While they did charge the $300 for the initial visit, and it did take 1-2 weeks to get to the project; as other reviews commented -- I have this to say:
1) I felt that if it was an emergency, they would have figured out a way to squeeze me in
2) If you want a quick and dirty job, go elsewhere, these are quality craftsmen that take their trade seriously, and professionally. The job they completed, had been attempted by another group, with a poor solution and unprofessional results.
3) You get what you pay for. The [quality] tradesmen market is tight now - to complain, shows a complete lack of understanding of the market, nor a respect for having quality tradesmen locally based.

Chrissie C.

3/15/2017

I called O'Connor & Sons Electric on a Saturday morning in October 2016 for an estimate on the replacement of my electrical panel. Tom was able to come for the estimate that very day to look at the panel & the work that needed to be done. I had some other concerns regarding bad wiring/exposed outlets from the previous homeowner, and he was able to determine which wires were no longer live and removed them. After months of scheduling & then re-scheduling the work to be done on the panel due to the storms & bureaucratic issues, the job was finally completed this month & he did a wonderful job! We passed inspection without issue & I am truly grateful to Tom for his communication with me throughout the process, the quality of his work, and most of all his patience. His work doesn't come cheap, but you're definitely getting what you pay for. Thank you, Tom!

Lu C.

05/03/2019 12:00:00 SA

A complex switch at home stopped working once day and we needed the help from an electrician. I didn't realize how difficult it is to find someone who is willing to come over for a small job like this. After several calls, I found Thomas, who came over within half an hour, and fixed the problem at the spot. He is excellent with his work, very friendly and helpful (he explained to me what was not working and how he could fix it). I know who I am going to call next time when we have electric problems. Highly recommend this business!

Tod H.

02/10/2017 12:00:00 SA

I'm giving two stars because they do answer the phone promptly. :). I'm a supporter of family small business, but in my experience the customer comes first. I sent quote request through yelp, 6 one line bullet points, of the proposed work. I wanted to schedule walk through to get an estimate. I received an email through yelp to call their office so I did.

Upon calling I was told that he gets a lot of long emails and doesn't read them. (mine was 6 bullet points and a short introduction.) Before I could even speak I was then given the rules that he could only speak a short time and that if he came to my home to provide a quote there would be charge. All of which is fine; however the delivery of the message was not at all focused on the customer.

I can appreciate all of the great reviews on here and trust once work commences this could be a great company. Good luck to those calling with inquiries.

Hussain R.

11/06/2015 12:00:00 SA

Just had all the power go out in an apartment I had recently moved in to. It's 7:30 pm on a Friday, I call O'Connor and Son's, Tom answers, imparts some sagely wisdom over the phone and agrees to come over after his current job. It was fire drill time.

I tried his advice and the light came back on in flash. This is the kind of service we all hope for and next time I have electrical issues you can bet I'll be calling O'Connor's again.

Jon Z.

2/23/2015

Three rooms suddenly went dark for no obvious reason. It seemed like a circuit breaker but I reset everything and it didnt help. In the morning, I called Tom. Julian was here within a half hour. He went about finding the problem logically and explained everything as he proceeded. It was a burned wire that had been arcing in a junction box for some time. Tapping on the junction box caused the lights to flash on and off.

He opened the ceiling, replaced the wiring and box. He did a neat, fastidious job. The wires are clearly labeled now. There was no sheet rock dust.

The call was not inexpensive, but it was prompt and beautifully done. Highly recommended.

Josh S.

2/28/2018

very pleased with the work they did for my home, I was in desperate need for someone to come and fix the terrible issues that were going on in my house. O'connor & Son's electric came in very quickly and handled everything for me.

Mark A.

02/10/2018 12:00:00 SA

Tom was friendly on the phone and easy to book an emergency appointment. He came round and resolved the problem very quickly. I was extremely impressed with his knowledge and his communication. Thanks for saving the day!

Denise. L.

05/05/2017 12:00:00 SA

Thank you Tom! I called in the morning in a panic and Tom was there by the afternoon. He resolved the problem pretty quickly too. He made a special effort to fit me into his busy schedule and I appreciate that.

Aaron C.

01/10/2017 12:00:00 SA

O'Connor & Son's is the ONLY company that we trust to work at our house. I have worked with Tom and Julian and both of them are knowledgable and as straight forward as you can be. Tom gives honest answers every time and he doesn't nickel & dime you for simple things. I don't want this to seam like a fluff review, but seriously, couldn't be happier with O'Connor's services.

Joyce R.

10/10/2018 12:00:00 SA

Tom worked directly with the tenant. He provided timely and efficient service. After fixing the problem, he promptly followed up with a phone call to review his work with me. I'm happy to have found a reliable company for future electrical issues.

Heidi M.

12/18/2014

We knew something was wrong when the ceiling light over our dining table started flickering madly and making a very disturbing sizzling sound. Of course, this type of thing ALWAYS happens on a Saturday, when most electricians are taking the day off.

Thankfully, we looked on Yelp, found Tom, and gave him a call. After explaining the problem to him, he said he'd be over in 15 minutes and he was! Tom quickly assessed the problem, explained it to us (bad wiring which was definitely a potential fire hazard), then quickly repaired it.

Emergecies can happen any day and time of the week. I'm so thankful Tom was available to come on a Saturday to help us. Aside from him really knowing his stuff, he's a super funny, nice man. (and who doesn't love an Irish accent and Irish humor?)

Definitely my go-to electrician from this day forward.

Bill M.

12/02/2019 12:00:00 SA

Super quick response as well as texting arrival time and rates before work began, which was appreciated. High marks for experience and trouble shooting abilities, as well as for being Irish and knowing what a farrier is.

Andy F.

2/27/2017

I called Tom on a Sunday night to talk about getting a power outlet installed in my garage.

He arrived early Monday morning to have a look, after which he told me he could do it right then and there. He did a great job of explaining what was going on and what my options were.

The whole thing was done in 2 hours and everything works great.

Milbrey M.

11/23/2019

Tom came to fix a blown switch-- which he did quickly. A knowledgeable electrician and delightful person. O'Connor & Sons will be my go-to electrician from here on out! Thank you Tom.

Ravi R.

9/19/2016

I had O'Connor & Son's Electric out to my house when a few outlets went out. Tom showed up on the same day and took a look at the outlets. There were some wiring issues, which he said could be fixed, but he could not complete the job that afternoon. I was able to live with the issues for a short time, so I was willing to wait.

He gave me his card and asked me to email to schedule the follow-up, which I did in early July. I made multiple calls and emails over the course of July. Each time, Tom said he'd call me back later and I'd have to wait 2 weeks. Every 2 weeks, he'd push it out another 2 weeks. I left several voicemails and about 5-7 emails trying to lock in a date for the repair.

Finally Tom emailed back and said the last few days of August or early September. The same day, I emailed back and said those dates were work. I sent a few follow-ups to lock in a specific date, but Tom never responded.

I wish I could comment on the quality of the work, but Tom kept stringing me along without committing to a date. After 2 months of this nonsense, I've given up.

I get that O'Connor and Son's has a lot of jobs, but other Bay Area electricians have quickly responded to emails and voicemails, clearly committed to availability or referred me to other electricians if they couldn't take on a job.

We're all busy in the Bay Area. Look at other highly-rated electricians on Yelp for better communication and commitments to dates.

Matthew R.

12/06/2014 12:00:00 SA

Had a big snag at work and needed an electrician that didn't tell me he had a 3 week waiting list. Tom was great! He couldn't fix both of the problems (not his fault, we misdiagnosed it) I was having but was able to tell us exactly where the problem was.

I'd recommend him, funny/quirky guy and that never hurts in my opinion.

Alan C.

10/28/2019

Tom and Julian just finished addressing an electrical problem and I couldn't be more pleased. Tom responded quickly and within minutes diagnosed the problem. Then Julian methodically isolated the fault, and repaired the issue. They are both professional, courteous and respectful and know their craft well. Don't hesitate to rely on O'connor and Sons to solve your electrical problems.

Mandy Z.

7/26/2019

Tom and Julien are the best! They responded to my msg promptly and stoped by the same day. Tom thought it was a simple broken outlet problem but it turned out the wire was broken somewhere behind the wall. Julien came the same day afternoon spending almost two hours to find out the broken part. Instead of cutting the sheetrock which is the easier way, he cut a small whole inside of one of my cabinet. Tom came the next day very early morning to fix the problem for me, perfectly. He will have vacation the next day but he still finished my project before he leaving and saved our life. They are not the cheapest, but they did excellent job. I recommend them to all my neighbors.

Sumathi R.

12/23/2019

Tom is a talented and reliable electrician.he thought it was a simple broken outlet problem but it turned out the wire was broken somewhere behind the wall. came the same day afternoon spending almost two hours to find out the broken part. Instead of cutting the sheetrock which is the easier way, he cut a small whole inside of one of my cabinet. Tom came the next day very early morning to fix the problem for me, perfectly. He will have vacation the next day but he still finished my project before he leaving and saved our life. They are not the cheapest, but they did excellent job. I recommend them to all my friends.

Cathy M.

03/08/2018 12:00:00 SA

I found O'Connor and Sons through Yelp while looking for an electrician in the Sunnyvale area. I could not have been more pleased with the service! Tom was pleasant, prompt, and efficient, diagnosing and fixing the problem within hours of my call. Would absolutely use them again and highly recommend them to anyone else.

Will C.

11/04/2016 12:00:00 SA

Amazing. Came over late on a Friday evening when we called. Professional, responsive, fast, and great work.

Mike E.

12/13/2016

Tom is as entertaining as he is efficient.

The first impression is that OC&S is gonna be expensive. They charge for travel time for starters. But, when you need someone quick, you go with whoever is available. Its only after the job has been finished that you realize they are actually cheaper than other electricians. Tom is quick and efficient at troubleshooting and fixing problems.

Although Tom buzzed through the work I needed done ASAP, I'm already building a new punch-list of items I want done.

I highly recommend OC&S if you need electrical work troubleshooted and fixed quickly.

Matthew D.

2/19/2018

Tom responded to my inquiry very quickly and was helpful in advising on what was needed for next steps. He was very thorough and installed both my kitchen light fixtures promptly. He was very friendly and I would definitely recommend and use again on future projects. Thanks!

Tina Y.

9/17/2014

Tom's a solid guy who knows what he's doing. We had an emergency electrical issue (burnt outlet due to prior shoddy wiring job done prior to our purchase of the house), and Tom came out and fixed the outlet. He takes the time to tell you the problem and his fix, walking you through the process. He's got a quirky sense of humor, so be prepared!
No, he's not the cheapest, but quality is always worth it's weight in gold.

Donna R.

3/30/2019

I had a issue with a new stove cord not fitting our current wall outlet. I called Tom and he had me text him some photos of the problem. He quickly figured out what the problem was. At 5pm on a Friday he answered my call and helped us figure out what the issue was. That alone is worth 5 stars!

Hung C.

06/07/2016 12:00:00 SA

Wish can rate it higher if he would not insisted the $300 plus $25 tip without fixing any problem or provide the repair quote.

Called him out at 8 pm, his online open hours say 7:30 am to 8:30 pm. Still charged me a premium for a supposed after hours emergency call. I described the problem over the phone, and he said he was confident he could fix it and he could come now and it would be $300.
He arrived and spent ~15 minutes looking everything over. To give him credit, he was very experienced and he did quickly diagnose the problem which was a blown fuse box that needed to be replaced into a circuit breaker. It was a problem that he couldn't fix right then, so although he diagnosed the problem he was unable to repair it and still insisted on charging me $300 and had the gall to say don't forget tip.

Next time, save your money for a different electrician that won't charge more than a lawyer simply for consultation.

Mike C.

1/21/2018

Tom has done a number of jobs at our 1950s era house. He's always a pleasure to have over, even if the circumstances are usually not the most pleasant from a homeowner's point of view.
One of my favorite things about Tom as an electrician is that he always looks for the most practical and economical solution.
I recently had some concerns about our circuit-breaker panel. Within minutes of calling and leaving a message, Tom contacted me by FaceTime.
He had me show him what I was worried about over the live video stream. He was able to conclude that the equipment was fine and that there was no need for worry or repair.
The charge? $0.

Agnes G.

6/29/2015

I've updated my review for O'Connor Electric three times, and three times they've been hidden. Here's hoping the fourth time will be the charm:

Called Tom on Tuesday, June 23 to see if he would be able to replace two outdoor wall lights en route to our house. On Wed., June 24, his assistant Julian was at our house not even five minutes after I called to say the lights had arrived (we live around the corner from Tom, but still--that's pretty darn quick). Julian replaced the lights within an hour--quickly, competently, and cheerfully. It has been a consistent pleasure to know Tom and Julian and to work with them, and it's great to know that they're literally around the corner and always happy to help. Will call them again without hesitation.

D M.

12/28/2015

We had an issue with our oven not working and Tom came out to assess whether the problem was with the oven or the outlet. Turns out the outlet was just a bit higher off the floor than it should be and therefore, the oven was knocking the power plug just slightly when pushed up against the wall. He offered to fix the outlet by moving it down and quoted me a price for doing so, but was just as happy to offer me the cheaper solution of simply leaving the oven a few inches away from the wall and avoiding the expense.

Thanks Tom, highly recommended him as experienced and knowledgeable as well as responsive.

Dudley A.

2/27/2019

Tom is great. Came within an hour of me reporting the problem. He was very thorough, found and fixed the problem and made us feel safe. Rates are quite reasonable. I recommend him highly.

Dong W.

6/17/2016

I found the guy despicable.
I learned that I did not know the electric system of my house.
I just lacked a very common knowledge in plug on walls.

Yes I agreed to pay the amount on the phone.
BTW, he jacked up the price by $50 from the first call to the second call.
Then, I asked why, he murmured.

Then, for simple solution, he could just charge far less, but he insisted on getting full.

There was no humanity with this guy.

I could not emphasize enough about this guy's mercenary nature.
At the end, he tried to say some nice things about my ethnicity.
Who cares? very bad, no professionalism with this guy.

Michael V.

12/16/2018

A great electrician and a true gentleman. I go to O'Connor for all my electrical needs.

J H.

12/20/2014

We had an issue with what we thought was a cirquit breaker at my apartment. Of course these things always seem to happen on a Saturday of all days and since we had no power in half of the apartment, we were desperate. After calling other places who either didn't answer or wouldn't come out that quick, I found Tom here on Yelp and he immediately called me back and was at our place within 20 minutes.

While his prices are very high - even more so for a Saturday, he came out and fixed our issue within 15 minutes. Turns out we had a serious situation which Tom brought to our attention. He was extremely friendly, explained everything well to my husband and I and I do recommend him.

Julie S.

10/11/2016 12:00:00 SA

Tom O'Connor was first to answer our call for help at 8:00 AM on Saturday morning, and he immediately drove over to help us figure out the source of smoke emanating from the electrical wiring under our kitchen sink. He diagnosed the problem and restored the wiring to code. We especially appreciate his timeliness, his troubleshooting abilities and his great sense of humor.

Karne N.

08/05/2014 12:00:00 SA

You get what you pay for. Not the cheapest electrician, but excellent service by someone who knows what they are doing. Before trying Tom I had tried two different electricians and not been happy with either .Tom is smart and efficient. Highly recommend him.

john s.

04/04/2014 12:00:00 SA

I manage a large commercial facility & a small handyman business, and O'Connor & Sons is the only electrician I use, and the only electrician I recommend to clients.

Tom is friendly, funny, professional, quick to respond, and quick to get jobs done. He and Julian are expert electricians, and their work is second to none. I've been in this business for 30 years, and O'Connor & Sons is as good as they come.

I've called Tom for indoor jobs, outdoor jobs, large jobs, small jobs, and for residential clients who need a professional electrician. O'Connor & Sons is the only business I trust to treat my clients fairly & honestly.

Believe all the 5 star reviews...

Kazsa T.

9/22/2016

Tom is a friendly, experienced and fantastic electrician. He visited me within 15 min after the phone call which was a big surprise to me since I was in a urgent situation. Great service, fixed everything within 30 min. The best electrician I've met so far! Thank you so so much Tom!

Katherine A.

7/28/2019

We've used Tom a couple of times when we lost electricity to a part of the house and the circuit breaker was not the problem. Both times, he came to the house right away -- even on a Sunday, although there is an extra charge and his policy is that he only does emergency work on Sundays. Both times, he quickly diagnosed the problem and fixed it in well under an hour. As others have said, he is not inexpensive but he is worth what he charges. He knows what he's doing and gets the job done quickly. (And don't be put off by his no-nonsense manner. He's really a very lovely guy underneath that!) We would trust Tom with any electrical need whatsoever. And the only reason for 4 stars and not 5 is because of cost.

Winslow Y.

11/19/2016

Tom was very helpful in helping me troubleshoot what I thought was a faulty circuit breaker. As it turned out it was another issue. Responsive and friendly to boot.

Bryant L.

11/13/2016

Had a short in our front room and O'Connor and Sons debugged and fixed it quickly. They were up front and communicative through out the process. I would totally recommend them to friends!

Susan K.

03/07/2019 12:00:00 SA

Had a light fixture at my flower shop go out. Called several electricians and O'Connor was the only one to come out and help me. Thank you so much! You rock!

Ann O.

5/24/2018

Went over to my mom's 1950 Eichler in the morning to make breakfast and found the kitchen light switch kaput. Called O'Connor & Son's, and within not much more than an hour the electrician who came had replaced the kitchen light switch, the bathroom light switch (also wonky), and the missing outlet wall plate behind the piano, taking the time to explain to me which old parts could be recycled and to explain to my very-much-interested mother what he was doing. My 90-something mother did not have to wash up or eat breakfast in the dark. I highly recommend O'Connor & Son's when you need a friendly electrician who will get the job done quickly and well.

Yury M.

07/09/2019 12:00:00 SA

I had a problem with water heater that turned out to be a blown fuse in AC disconnect. Tom came out quickly and fixed the problem right away. He new what he was doing and was courteous. Thank you!

Burlington W.

10/18/2014

Tom was extremely helpful during the estimate, even going so far as to come out on a Saturday. We were thinking of installing a ceiling light on a 2nd floor ilbrary/office space, and he was very forthcoming about not only costs for the project as we had planned it but also had lots of alternative solutions to suggest at higher and lower price points.

He even took the time to make suggestions on improving our ceiling lighting fixtures, something we hadn't even considered doing up to that point. He is very knowledgable about his craft and made a special effort to provide us with enough information that is was worth both our time. I highly recommend O'Connor & Sons.

Crystal C.

6/20/2016

I called Tom on a Monday morning because an outdoor electrical outlet had stopped working. I left a message and he called me back immediately. He was here in about an hour, and the repair was (as I suspected) quick and easy. He was friendly and knowledgeable. You do pay for drive time, which can make up the majority of your bill if it's a quick fix, but he was super responsive and got the job done.

Greg F.

3/15/2018

The project Mr. O'Connor worked on for me was an electric conversion ( Wires from city were put underground). He was able to complete the project excellently, on time and on budget. He earned 5 stars there. From the start, the project was challenging due to the existing layout. Tom was able to work with the city and find a reasonable solution and helped avoid the costs from spiraling. Would give him another 5 stars for that if Yelp allowed it.

Tony L.

1/31/2017

I called Mr. O'connor for an emergency during the holidays, a tree branch fell over the box of electrical breakers in my house, completely damaging the breakers, and taking out the power, he came very quicly , replaced the box of breakers, fixed all electrical problems caused by this incident, and was very responsible, proffesional, and excellent electrician, I highly recommend his services to any one who have electrical problems!!!.

Larry M.

1/19/2019

We called Tom after another electrician installed a new main panel and couldn't figure out why the lights were now intermittently dimming and surging. Tom correctly diagnosed in two minutes what our general contractor's electrician couldn't over two days -- a loose neutral. And our contractor has agreed to pay Tom's costs. Awesome!!

Richard N.

1/16/2019

Just the best! We thought that there was a major problem with the lighting system in our family room when three low-voltage bulbs failed simultaneously but Tom quickly responded to our call, allayed our concerns, ordered a new transformer and bulbs and quickly had us re-lighted. As a bonus, Tom is a really fun guy

L L.

9/16/2016

Tom came out to my place in Palo Alto on a Sunday to look at a problem. He definitely saved us as nobody else was able to come out as quickly as he did. Not only that, he promptly fixed the issue. He's the kind of guy who can solve any problem!

Sharlyn D.

9/13/2014

Mr. O'Connor took my call first thing in the morning on a Sunday. He kindly agreed to come over and check out our electrical issue on just a few hours' notice.

He took care of everything for a reasonable price. He gave us confidence in his expertise while using an easy and friendly manner.

I'd recommend him as someone you can trust.

Erica E.

02/09/2014 12:00:00 SA

Upon returning home from a long work trip and suffering through one night of chilliness, my husband and I decided to see if we could find the problem. We started on the wall, where we had installed a thermostat a few months prior. What did we find? Well, let's just say that it is REALLLLLLLLY lucky that we didn't burn our house down.

After our little discovery, it was straight to Yelp to see if we could find someone who could help us. At 11am. On a Saturday.

I found O'Connor and Sons and gave them a call. Tom answered and I walked him through my problem. He didn't laugh and told me that if I needed him to, he could be at my house in an hour. When asked if he thought he would be able to fix the problem, he assured me that he would, whatever it took, even if he had to get into the wall to find the problem. He quoted me his rate and the deal was done.

About 45 minutes later, Tom showed up and was very pleasant and chatty. He assessed the problem, told us how lucky we were to have not burned down the place and got everything primed and ready to install the new thermostat. He even had us find the max capacity of the two baseboard heaters that we have so that when we purchased a new thermostat it would not have the same overload problem.

Though the solution only took a few minutes, he made sure to leave us with a lot of great information and gave us a value for the time he was there. He even offered to come back and install the new thermostat when it arrived (we had planned to order it online).

Overall, great service and more importantly- he is VERY knowledgable. I can honestly say that any time I have a need for electrical projects to be done in my home, I'm going to call Tom back.

***After a quick call the next day, when we found a replacement at a local hardware store, Tom's business partner came over and installed the thermostat and we have been toasty and warm ever since!!!

Jessamy T.

12/15/2016

We used Tom and Son to install a charging station at the house. Julian came, did a splendid job and was very professional and friendly. The final cost exceeded the estimate by quite a bit but the installation is well done and we're happy with it.

Ryan G.

04/06/2016 12:00:00 SA

Solid consult on a variety of electric issues with a relatively new house. Tom was able to root cause the problems, and most of all I appreciated the knowledge he shared to help me manage issues going forward.

David T.

11/08/2016 12:00:00 SA

These guys really know what they're doing. Their hourly rates aren't low, but they work fast, are honest, and do things properly, which means the total amount you pay is fair. They're particularly good at diagnosing and fixing problems.

The owner, Tom, usually handles the quick problems, and Julian does any longer follow-up work. If you're looking for low hourly rates go elsewhere. But if you want it done right, these are your guys.

Frerk-Malte F.

11/05/2016 12:00:00 SA

Tom inspected an issue with our hot tub electricity supply. He was available short notice, and impressed me as super knowledgeable and thorough. Tom is a great guy and will do super high quality work. 5*

Arthur D.

10/24/2017

Called to obtain estimate for small commercial job, literally berated for asking for estimate, then quoted outrageous hourly price and unwilling to assist with selection of lighting fixtures or whether wiring in facility would be compatible. Interesting that our experience similar to that of Sunia S. and on the same day.

Neil K.

11/01/2016 12:00:00 SA

I had an electrical short on one of our circuits in the house. Tom fit me in at the end of his day to come out and take a look at the problem.

He was personable and knowledgeable. He showed me what he was doing, and described why it was a hard problem to fix. He did what he could to get part of that circuit back into service, and scheduled a followup for later when he had more time.

Later I was able to further isolate the problem circuit based on the technique Tom described to get most of the rest of the house back on-line.

Caroline H.

4/27/2019

Great experience with Tom! Called him on a Saturday for an emergency power outage and he came within an hour and fixed things asap. Super helpful and nice!

Kristina H.

1/24/2018

I called this morning about an exterior power outlet that had stopped working, and within an hour Tom & Andrew replaced it with a new, weather-resistant one. Friendly service, will use again for any future electrical problems.

Ron k.

10/17/2016

O'Connor & Sons is the place to call if you want an honest and reliable electrician. We have had Tom come by within an hour of calling on multiple occasions and he has been fantastic. I highly recommend and will continue to work with Tom and his team. Great service and great value.

Michael M.

10/09/2018 12:00:00 SA

Julian has installed numerous fixtures in our home (various types, heights, and assembly requirements), and he has always been punctual, pleasant, knowledgeable, careful and efficient. The results are impressive, and I have peace of mind that his work is safe. Not the cheapest electrician you'll find, but the best I've worked with.

Leilani S.

06/07/2016 12:00:00 SA

I manage a business on the peninsula and in an industry that seems to always need things repaired immediately, O'Connor & Son's Electric is always my go to for any electrical question, repair, etc. that we may need. Tom almost always responds immediately and finds time for me the day I call. If not, certainly the next day. He is quick and thorough. All around, awesome and dependable.

Erik O.

02/03/2016 12:00:00 SA

Did a great job quickly trouble shooting a problem with our electrical cost-effectively. Thanks so much.

Kathy R.

9/23/2018

I'm glad I found Tom. He is honest and dependable. He knows his stuff. I asked Tom for a second opinion as I was told something that didn't make sense. Tom thoroughly explained what was needed and why. A true professional.

Del J.

3/24/2017

Spectacular Service!! Timely, fair pricing and knowledgeable of commercial systems. They are now our go to electricians for all of our needs and projects!

Del Johnson
Bay Area Christian Church

Tracey O.

5/24/2018

Tom and his team really went above and beyond to handle an issue I had with my business. After a week of the air conditioning not working (and my employees at their wits end), it was determined it was because the electrical breaker needed to be replaced. Within an hour of speaking with Tom, he had a technician at my store determining what needed to be done. They were then able to track down the obscure part they needed and had everything completed and up and running within 4 hours. I couldn't be more appreciative!!

Michele G.

3/22/2019

Tom did a great job diagnosing and then fixing the weird / intermittent electrical problem that we had. We appreciate him squeezing us in -- the same day - he is clearly an expert & in high demand. Extremely knowledgable & competent - I highly recommend O'Connor for any electrical work you need taken care of.

Andrei I.

9/19/2016

Tom responded promptly on the week-end and saved the day. Very knowledgeable and professional. Irish humor a bonus!

David B.

11/17/2017

Yet again O'Connor & Son's came through for us! We had a short in our house wiring and Tom was able to quickly identify the problem and trace down the root cause and fix it - all on a Friday night!!!

Sinead M.

09/07/2016 12:00:00 SA

We got some electrical work in our garage Julian came to do the work and I can't rate him highly enough he is a great electrician and has great ideas. I would highly recommend O'Connor Electrics

I have gotten some work done on an entertainment Centre Julian and Tom were great and have great ideas

mini p.

12/08/2015 12:00:00 SA

Tom at O'Connor is the best! Our electricity went out on Thanksgiving Day while we were cooking Thanksgiving dinner! We called Tom and he answered right away. He did FaceTime with us to look at the electrical panels and identified the problem immediately. Our power was back on in 1 minute. Thank you so much to Tom for answering our call on Thanksgiving Day and saving our Thanksgiving Dinner! Much appreciation from our whole family!

Steven C.

11/11/2015 12:00:00 SA

Excellent experience with Mr. O'Connor. He thoughtfully figured out our non-standard wiring (which I didn't understand since it was done before we bought the house) and fixed my problem. Would recommend.

Longer version -- We had a sewage pump that wasn't getting power. I had tried the circuit breakers and everything appeared to be on. No idea what to do next. Called O'Connor and Son's on Thursday afternoon. Got a call back same day. Mr. O'Connor came by the next morning. He checked the outlet and opened up the panel. In spite of my claims that it was the only panel, he read the labeling on the wiring and kept asking questions about other electrical which led me to remember there was (what I thought was a completely unrelated) panel in the garage for an emergency generator.

In spite of no labeling of this by the original electrician, Mr. O'Connor realized that sewer pump was connected to the generator panel as a backup. We flipped a switch on that panel that had been knocked & everything came back online. While he was here, he cleaned up some sloppy wiring and was on his way.

A W.

01/07/2016 12:00:00 SA

Did a nice job diagnosing prior electrical work that wasn't done correctly. He was professional and explained the core issues and resolved them in a cost effective way.

If you need an experience professional to do a job correctly, you've got your person. You pay a fair rate.

Sheila A.

04/11/2016 12:00:00 SA

Magic hands! Tom responded in minutes & came over the same morning. He just touched the GFI breaker button on the outlet, which I had done 10 times, & the power came back on! Elated it wasn't a more major problem but bummed I still had to pay $200 for that minute's work. Realize he deserves to be paid for his travel time but I think his fee is high - had a quote from someone else who is reputable for half the price for a service call. That being said, aside from the cost, he seems to be an honest and personable guy to work with.

Daiji T.

10/24/2017

Thanks for coming by in such short notice and helping us with our breaker panel problem! I contacted O'Connor via the Request quote button just this afternoon after unsuccessfully attempting to reach a few others by phone. The others that Yelp suggested I send requests to simultaneously were all too busy. But O'Connor messaged back within an hour, and after I sent a photo of our panel, he was able to swing by tonight after I got home from work and install a new one. Maybe some can get put off by a slightly gruff voice, but I saw him as a honest good hard worker with years of experience behind his opinions, and I'd much rather have that than a smooth talker who cuts corners. He also took a look at a couple of outlets that I was concerned about (which he said were operating just fine) and we discussed some other work I was interested in getting done in the future. Thanks again!

Rick S.

02/03/2017 12:00:00 SA

Tom and his crew, led by the amazing Julian, did a complete remodel of our kitchen, bathrooms and computer room back in 2005. On time, on budget, very easy to work with. When I needed additional work this year, Julian returned. He is a master electrician and incredibly easy to work with, both understanding my problem and then offering his solution. Again, on time and within budget. These men are a blessing for our community.

Chuck I.

7/28/2016

Tom was great. We had a major problem with our entire electrical panel. He came out same day to review the issue. Was quick to evaluate and had a fair quote. He was actually referred by another company that after two weeks of asking for a quote said they could not handle the project. Tom communicated with me daily till we could get the project done and he was very effecient and his team was great.
I would highly recommend O'Conner and Son's

SF C.

11/09/2013 12:00:00 SA

Tom is an excellent electrician. Long story short, fuse blew and needed professional assistance. Thankfully, he was able to squeeze me in between 2 appts. He is down-to-earth, personable, honest, professional and has a great sense of humor.

Very highly recommended!

Captain M.

5/22/2015

I spoke with the owner on the phone about doing some electric work that was having an intermittent problem. I described what happened from time to time, and he said he thinks he knows what the problem was right off the bat, and to go out there was a $100 charge for the quote that goes towards the job. Looking at the reviews, ok that's fine.

I met with him and walked around the property showing him where the problems were occurring, describing when and what was on/off when the problems occurred, where the breaker/fuse panels were, etc. This was about 45 min worth. He had trouble keeping up with what was being described and I had to repeat myself many times. He also seemed to have no clue what he was talking about. He kept saying maybe its this, but maybe it's that with 4 or 5 different possible problems, which he wouldn't be able to find out until work was started. Long story short, he made it sound like an open ended problem that could range from an easy fix of $3,500 to $40,000. And this is on a charged quote. I also have done years of maintenance so I am familiar (but no expert) at electric work, I just don't feel comfortable with bigger issues like this, but it sounded like he was trying to bullshit his way around to someone who knew zero about electricity.

We finish the appointment for the quote, and get 3 different bids on different projects that were going to happen from the problems he saw, and now the quote is $200???? Also, he then says it's only a verbal quote and the only way to get a quote on paper is to accept the job(s). UH? It its decided that he is not fit for this job. I email him with the billing info for the $200 and the next day I get complaints from him to pay the quote, 3 different times, even after giving him the info once through email and once through text.

Meanwhile, I had another electric company come out (free quote) who diagnosed the problem and found the (ONE) problem and gave me a quote on the spot. They were incredibly nice and charged a LOT less for it.

Clueless to why this company has as many stars as it does. Do not recommend.

Margie L.

6/16/2008

We hired O'Connor and Sons to rewire an outdated office. Tom was great -- he came over that day to check out the place. He has a lot of experience with other startups taking over offices and made many great suggestions in terms of placement and power needs.

When we had figured out what we wanted, he said how about next week. Wow, that was exactly what I wanted to hear. They did the whole job in a day and half, and everything
looks great and is wired extremely well.

I would hire them again the next time we move to another office.

Thomas D.

3/14/2016

Very solid electrical work and repair, fixed the issue, would definitely use again.

Kelli M.

10/30/2012

I called O'Connor and Sons on a Saturday for an emergency issue. I had contractors building a deck at my house when one of them got shocked by what appeared to be live chicken wire sticking out of the stucco. I was freaking out, and after calling PG&E, I called Tom who immediately responded. He came out, figured out the issue and resolved it. It turned out to be much less dire than we (PG&E and myself) had thought- a single nail had just barely nicked a wire, no live chicken wire running through the stucco.

Tom was quick to respond, took care of the problem quickly, and was very reassuring. I also felt that he was very honest in that he explained if I really, really wanted, he could do more extensive work by opening up the wall, but that in his honest opinion it would be a waste of my money. I appreciated that he explained things to me in depth, and in a manner in which I could understand (electrical engineering is not my forte, to put it mildly). To top things off, he gave me a discount on his usual hourly rate because the problem was less dire than originally thought (to be clear, this was an unnecessary, though highly appreciated gesture).

Also, he's really nice and has a great sense of humor, which is always a major bonus. I mean, nobody likes dealing with a surly contractor in an already stressful situation, you know?

V V.

12/26/2016

Tom O'Connor helped address a lot of little things around the house that other electricians were unable or unwilling to really help with.

Tom did the original walkthrough of all the issues and gave a rough estimate that ended up being accurate. Julian came soon after and spent an entire day doing a bunch of work, including:

- Installing undercabinet lights (which required drilling through tile to route a larger electrical wire than was originally available) - this was the bulk of the work and it was done very well.
- Installing a few lights and wire-in fire alarms.
- Diagnosing and fixing a non-functioning floor outlet (that once functioned previously).
- Moving a light switch from its existing location to a higher location (to match code).
- Figuring out how to wire a 240V wire from our subpanel to the kitchen (Julian figured out and suggested multiple options and what they would likely require). In the end, I asked whether this work could be done independently of the current project, and he said yes -- he didn't try to sell me on doing work now that I didn't have to do.

Both Tom and Julian were extremely professional and honest. I would trust them to do work for us in the future. They warn in advance what they charge before doing any work, and I'm overall very happy and willing to pay for quality problem-solving and efficient and correct electrical work.

Scott H.

6/25/2018

Tom was great. Came right out on a Sunday, identified our problem and fixed it. Would recommend him highly.

Deb W.

2/25/2016

Tom helped me diagnose a dimming light issue. Turns out my house wasn't grounded and hadn't been for 50 years. He is really responsive and helpful. The work is beautiful and I can now sleep at night with the assurance that my house will not burn down.

Elaine A.

9/24/2013

Late Sunday night we smelled smoke in our garage and saw that our overhead fluorescent lights had smoke coming out of them. We turned off the power, disengaged the whole lighting system, and realized we just pulled apart a bunch of electrical wires and have no idea if what we did was safe. This wasn't something we were taught growing up and searching around on Youtube gave us the sense we were doing things right. But Youtube also told me I could trap a live raccoon ....but really is that a good idea?

With worries that a fire could start while we were out of the house we were inspired to call O'Connor & Sons first thing Monday morning.

Tom couldn't come on Monday but came early Tuesday morning. He looked at the exposed wires, checked the other wiring in our house, and confirmed that everything was ok.

Basically what happened was our fluorescent lights were dark black on the ends but they were still lighting up the garage. Apparently this is bad and the magnetic ballast that the lights were connected to just kept firing off power too much, then it started to smolder. So now we know, when the fluorescent lights are dark on the end, replace them.

This is what the ballast looked like all melted
flickr.com/photos/elemen…

We needed to get replacement supplies for our lighting setup and Tom recommended where to get it and offered to get it for us since our setup might be hard to find.

Overall happy that Tom was able to come out so quickly. Price was fair. Would TOTALLY call him again.

Xing X.

5/25/2016

No wonder why Mr. O'Connor has highest 5 star rating among all electricians in Palo Alto. He saved my day!

I short-circuited the house. The auto-trip fuse could not be reset. It was afterhour. There was no-one to call, and it was getting dark. I gave him a call. He showed up in 15 mins and fixed the problem right way. He is such a kind man and very professional. He said it was all about custom service. I can not agree more.

As a very satisfied customer, I will recommend his service wholeheartedly.

Stop search, Call Mr. O'Connor. He is your guy!

John B.

10/13/2009

I called Tom because I was having some intermittent shorting issues with a circuit in my wall. To be clear, I'm an electrical engineer and do most of my home maintenance myself, but I couldn't figure this issue out. Tom sent someone out, and he not only located and fixed the problem quickly, but also stepped me through the process he used to find the problem. Friendly, knowledgeable, and reasonably priced help-- doesn't get much better.

As if that wasn't enough, he also helped me get a rough idea of the cost of electrical work on a major renovation. Highly recommended.

Jay N.

7/28/2012

Just had an excellent experience this morning calling up Tom to fix a very mundane issue: changing a battery in a very high-up, very hard-to-reach smoke detector that would not stop beeping! Very impressed with how quickly he arranged to come out and get it done, at how eager he was to just help me out, and how reasonable he was with his pricing.

The incessant, incredibly annoying beeping started Saturday morning, and my hopes of finding someone with a tall ladder willing to come out for a 5-minute project on a Saturday were pretty low. Quick Yelp search showed great reviews for Tom; I left him a voicemail and got a call back within minutes. He was very polite and eager to help, and said he would call back soon with more information on timing. He did as promised and offered to come out to see what ladder would be required/if this would be feasible. Within literally 10 minutes of that phone call, he was in my place checking out the setup; about 10 minutes after that, he had returned with a van complete with an array of ladders. He took care to protect my wall and carpeting while getting up on the ladder and had the battery changed in no time. Beeping resolved and sanity preserved!

We then spent more time chatting after the work was done than the time spent to change the battery! I had started my day super annoyed at my smoke alarm and at the prospect of trying to find a guy willing to come out and help; I will finish my day knowing that I've found an honest, intelligent, and dependable electrician I can call on any time in the future if, God forbid, I have a more complex electrical issue. It's easy to call up a bunch of places and compare quotes, but those are just numbers. In just this short interaction with Tom, I can clearly see that he is one of those trades people who is committed to doing his craft as well as it can be done and to helping his customers. I couldn't imaging having any other kind of contractor working on something as important as the electrical setup of a home.

Vittorio F.

07/03/2015 12:00:00 SA

Tom was amazingly fast to answer my call. I had a power outage that was affecting freezer and internet. He came within 10 minutes, immediately identified the problem within the aged electric panel, found the faulty breaker (which was not obvious, as I had tried resetting all of them with no success) and fixed it. A very short call, but very effective. Highly recommended.

Melanie D.

11/12/2016 12:00:00 SA

Tom is great! I got a call back within 1 hour and Tom was at the house within two hours of my call. He quickly diagnosed the problem and had it fixed within a few minutes. Even installed some ceiling light bulbs that I could not reach. The only reason I noted 4 stars instead of 5 is the price, a little steep at $300 per hour. Will certainly call O'Connor & Son's again!

Joe C.

1/13/2016

Replaced a couple of ballast and long fluorescent lightbulbs for a church facility my church is renting from. Did a wonderful job and was professional as could be.

Aniket K.

04/03/2017 12:00:00 SA

Called for a quote. Kept talking gibberish about 'can fix if it isn't illegal or immoral'. Couldn't talk sensibly about what the process would be. How much would the charge be for an initial visit and assessment.

John B.

3/17/2015

Rude on the phone, wanted to charge extra to travel 15 mi to my place from their office, give me a break.

Didn't even answer when I called, so I was going to move on and they called back (caller ID) upset I didn't leave a message. Bad first impression so I didn't even get a quote.

Edit: Lowering my rating because of messages from the owner...
The owner makes a lot of comments trying to deny he knows people (see not recommended reviews), and he's trying to do the same to me when we clearly did talk... which really makes me wonder if this is somehow a tactic to remove bad reviews. And further he thinks he should be paid to bid a job. That's like expecting to be paid to interview for a job.

Larry R.

11/01/2018 12:00:00 SA

Tom's great! Honest, straight-forward, knowledgeable, and trust-worthy. Not cheap, but gets it done right the first time.

Kym L.

8/25/2011

These guys are AWESOME!!!!

My brother has known Tom O'Connor for years and highly recommended him.

First of all, let me start off by saying we've had almost everything you can imagine done to our house (roof, pipes, insulation, windows, plumbing, painting), so, we've had our fair share of contractors. O'Conner & Son's were hands-down the best experience we've had to date.

Tom was honest, thorough and professional. He made us laugh and gave us really good advice and didn't seem to be bothered when the project ended up being much smaller than we first advertised. Julien was so great to work with and he was nice enough to work around our baby's sleeping schedule....how great is that?

We'll definitely be using these guys again.

Mary R.

10/26/2018

Tom was amazing! He solved our problem in minutes. He was professional and had all the replacement parts with him. I would recommend him for any electrical work at your house.Thank you, Tom!

Eileen A.

4/20/2016

Tom came quickly on a Sunday when my power went out while we were attempting to change our dryer outlet, diagnosing and fixing the problem efficiently and with good humor. I would call on him again in a crisis.

Josh G.

10/16/2016

Tom was willing to come out on short notice on a rainy Sunday for a simple issue with a light fixture in our kitchen. Good, fast, communicative, and friendly service. I wouldn't hesitate to give him a call if you need an experienced electrician.

Shon S.

04/10/2016 12:00:00 SA

Tried to replace some light switches by myself and ran into problems with one that shorted. Called Tom on the phone, he confidently told me he would be able to fix the problem within 5 minutes. He arrived on time, identified the problem. Switches are now working with LED bulbs. There are lots of electricians that will show up and waste your time. Tom is a professional, no messing around. He is analytical and works fast. He will tell you exactly what's going on.

James J.

10/10/2016 12:00:00 SA

We were having some weird issues with our lights and the dishwasher on Friday, and I figured we should call an electrician. Tom answered the call and was over in less than 20 minutes! He and his assistant were able to diagnose that the problem was with the PG&E drop, and so we called the power company and had them come out to fix the line. He hit the nail on the head, as it looked like squirrels have been using the line as a chew toy for years. Everything works great now and he only charged us his minimum fee. Will absolutely be calling Tom in the future for our electrical needs.

Alex H.

12/08/2015 12:00:00 SA

Arrived on time, and did high quality efficient work. Would recommend to friend and work with again.

Yi-Lung L.

9/23/2016

Tom and his son came over my house in a timely fashion, replaced the old power outlet box and power outlet with new and quality ones, and installed a weather proof outlet cover. They did a nice job. I am very satisfied with their work.

Sonya R.

11/14/2015

I can unequivocally say that O'Connor & Sons is the best example of you get what you pay for. I recently hired them to do a lot of electrical work in my back yard. Both Tom and Julien stoically listened to all my crazy ideas and then Julien turned around and implemented them. Every. Single. One of them. His work ethic is impeccable and he goes above and beyond to make sure the end result is not only functional and to code, but is also esthetically pleasing. When I asked him to put two light fixtures next to each other, he went as far as taking off the screws on the adjoining sides to make sure the surfaces are flush with each other and there is no gap. Definitely worth the money.

Kate G.

09/05/2018 12:00:00 SA

Great company. They responded less than 10 mins from the call and came out to my house within a couple hours. Honest, straightforward, competitive pricing.

Ali I.

09/02/2015 12:00:00 SA

Tom O'Connor is a stand up guy, he tells it how it is and does a great job. He is prompt, on time, and was able to get my job done quickly. 95% of the time he answers the phone, if not you get a call back within a few hours. He had me take pictures and text him the sockets that I thought needed replacing and a lot more work, he advised me that replacing them is actually NOT the right course of action and that he would be able to do something else to fix my situation.... which in the end, he did, and saved me a bunch of money. This is the second time I have used Tom and his team, if you want someone to do the job right, and give you good advice, call Tom.

Jerry L.

05/03/2015 12:00:00 SA

I got into trouble trying to do my own work, and needed to call in a pro.

Tom was patient with me, extremely knowledgeable, and quickly addressed my issue. He also explained how I could avoid similar situations in the future.

He was well worth the cost.

Highly recommended!

Ralph W.

8/23/2018

I called O'Connor Electric with several issues I needed addressed. They promptly sent a friendly and extremely comment electrician who fixed the four problems I had. Service doesn't get any better than this.

Eric K.

7/30/2013

Great service and very efficient. Tom just replaced an electric outlet in our garage so that we could get the new dryer working.

He also told us that nothing was wrong with the old one and that the circuit had just been tripped, hence it was not working. Sadly, we already had the new one brought out and the old one remove by Best Buy.

Knowledge is king and now we'll know for the future. Thanks Tom, we'll make sure to check the circuit breaker next time.

Pam S.

1/22/2018

What a pair!! I consulted Yelp to find an electrician in the Palo Alto area. They were rated highly so I called! No wonder they are rated highly! Tom himself answered and happened to be in the area. He came in about 10 minutes and fixed my problem in about that long! They're fast, knowledgeable, honest, up front and fun! What a pleasure!

Stephen H.

07/07/2015 12:00:00 SA

Just as we are heading out for almost two months our dryer went dead. Just what we didn't need, especially since guests will be in our house during that time. Our dryer is new so we had a feeling the problem was electrical. We didn't have the time to go through our dryer retailer to find out our instincts were right. Tom was kind enough to put us at the top of his list this morning, came right over and fixed the problem in a pinch. And when I discussed other electrical concerns I had about the house he said I should keep my money; there was no need to make any changes.
In sum, Tom is a straight shooter, an expert electrician, and someone who filled us with confidence. He fixed our problem immediately. As a homeowner for these past 30 years I have learned that when it comes to service people - electricians, plumbers, painters - you do get what you pay for. Tom is worth every penny!!

Judy S.

07/05/2017 12:00:00 SA

Tom was willing to come from PA to Fremont for a emergency service request. We appreciate his willingness to help out the customer in need!

Emily C.

2/16/2017

Tom is great! Was able to come within a few hours of my call, and fixed the problem quickly. I would definitely recommend him and will call again with any future problems.

David B.

6/25/2016

Tom and Julian did excellent work hooking up our hot tub. They helped us understand what work we needed done saving us a lot of money over other quotes. For example, another company wanted to replace our entire electrical panel, doubling the cost, while O'Connor simply added a tandem breaker. The quality of the work was top notch. Care and attention to detail was taken even in places that would never be visible in the future.

Andrew E.

12/07/2015 12:00:00 SA

Had a burnt out electrical outlet -- Tom responded to my call, sent someone out and he was able to resolve the issue immediately. He was also able to help with another small issue I was having as part of the service call. Highly recommend using this company.

Karsten T.

9/29/2014

Despite the large number of positive reviews, which prompted us to bring in O'Connor & Sons, we actually ended up not hiring this firm but an alternative because of the way they handled the on-site visit / estimate.

In short, I would describe them as scaremongers.

During the onsite visit to review our project they took a closer look at our recently renovated electric setup and used big vocabulary (illegal, the guy wasn't an electrician, This is like driving down Middlefield at 100 mph, sign-off from the city obviously doesn't mean much), and left us just with that. Not sure if that was part of a strategy to hire them for a bigger project, but if they were really concerned about the safety of that installation they would have offered to come back same or next day to fix at least the seriously illegal issues and gave us an estimate. None of that happened.

Being concerned by their visit, we brought in another electrician company and presented the list of illegalities according to O'Connor: It turned out that every single one of them when you actually took an unbiased & closer look (i.e. opened some boxes) was either a non-issue because our contractor found a clever solution or interpreted the code correctly (remodel vs new construction) and applied good judgement.

That last part is what seemed to be missing with O'Connor. They are probably very good giving you high-quality but over-engineered and therefore very costly solutions.

And the scaremonger part just from a customer interaction point of view did not sit well at all with us.

Gerry F.

5/17/2016

we are a small condo complex in Palo Alto, our street light were off. We called O'Connor & Son's Electric; set up a time and Tom showed up in one evening, did a diagnostics and came another day on his own, magically fixed the problem and our community has most of the lights back; Tom explained in detail to us what the problems were and potentially problems for future, offering good permanent fixing options; we are even more pleasantly surprised that Tom promised that he will come back to try the left-over 5 not-on street lamps in our community!

great service and very technical, highly recommended

Andrew W.

5/15/2018

Tom was very responsive in scheduling a visit, and Julian did the work and it was clear he knew exactly what he was doing. He helped us rewire an old 220v / 30 amp plug into a more common 110v outlet so that we could plug in our new dryer. Would recommend!

Farhad M.

05/07/2016 12:00:00 SA

Great service -- he came by very quickly, helped with my problem in 5 minutes, and in the remaining time fixed some other problems I had for no extra charge. He was also friendly and funny! Awesome service

John R.

11/01/2016 12:00:00 SA

Tom was a huge help in getting our electrical issues sorted out. I am a 12 year electronics technician and I had considered completing some of the work myself, until Tom came out and wow'd me with his honesty and attention to detail. Not only did he correct some of the work that was (previously) done incorrectly, but I was so impressed with him that I ended up using him to add a few drops I had been holding off on. Tom is a knowledgeable and charismatic electrician, I will definitely doing business with him in the future.

Nathan H.

10/26/2017

Tom was very responsive and was able to make a same day repair to the wiring in my home. During the repair it took Tom almost no time to diagnose the problem and figure out what to do to fix it. During the fix he was moving _fast_! Clearly an expert at what he does and I would use him again.

Earl N.

10/18/2016

We called O'Connor electric to give us an estimate for surges we were having in our electricity. Mr O'Connor said that his time was valuable and he charged $350.00 for a visit. He came and gave us an oral bid and we paid him his fee. Trying to get him to set a time to do the work was difficult as he was very busy. Finally he said that he would have to charge us for our calls but we should try again next week. He may have been kidding but this unprofessional attitude resulted in our getting another electrician and chalking up an expensive mistake we made in trying to do business with O'Connor.

De M.

4/20/2016

We are moving our office and needed conduit connectors safely disconnected from our cubicles. Called Tom told what we needed and he got the job done the same day. He knew what he was talking about and took care of the job right away. Efficient and professional. Recommended anytime.

Maria Z.

10/06/2015 12:00:00 SA

Tom did great job fixing one of our outlets and explaining the problem. The original wiring was low quality and when we connected our new air conditioner it caused overheating and loosing the entire circuit, and eventually could result in fire. Tom quickly replaced burnt wiring using high quality materials and now the circuit has zero issues with air conditioner running for extended periods of time.

Carter Y.

4/21/2011

Tom and Julian were awesome. We had to get a whole new service panel installed, as well as some fans and light switches, and a few other things around the house. We called up O'Connor and Sons electric and now everything is done! We are very happy with the work! Not only are they very knowledgable they are also very down to earth, respectful, fair and honest. We had a great experience dealing with them and will be calling them in the near future for additional work.

Bottom line... If you need any electrical work done you would be smart to give them a call! They won't let you down!

Jonathan M.

8/30/2012

I owe Tom O'Connor a debt of gratitude for finding and fixing our electrical problems quickly, capably and affordably.

What a contrast with the first merchant we called, who tried to convince us that the house needed major rewiring to avoid an imminent fire hazard (total estimate in excess of $15,000!).

Go with Tom. He's honest, and you'll like the quality and value of his work.

C M.

3/13/2014

Amazing. I left a message for Tom and had Julian out just a few hours later.

A power outage in Palo Alto had caused some lighting problems in my restaurant. Julian came and fixed what was wrong AND fixed something that our previous electrician had said would be very expensive to completely replace.

Both men are very personable and know watts (get it?) up when it comes to all things electrical. I highly recommend O'Connor & Son's and will be using them again as my go to guys.

A+ all the way.

Lena J.

03/07/2016 12:00:00 SA

I called O'Connor and Son's needing help with replacing a floor outlet that went out. Tom showed up fast and did the work in a matter of minutes. I'm thoroughly impressed and will be using them anytime I need something electrical fixed. Tom was funny, easy going and a HOOT to speak with! I CANNOT PRAISE THEM ENOUGH!! You won't be disappointed, try them out!

3-14-16
Just got my invoice. $250.00 for 15 minutes of labor and 12.00 dollars for supplies.
Total 262.00
Not too sure it was worth this much.. but they did get the job done.

Phillip A.

2/22/2016

We recently had our home remodeled, including a lot of new electrical. Even at the time, I was not impressed with the sub-contractor our main contractor used.
When one of the plugs in our kitchen recently stopped working; a GIF plug made by LeGrand, a high-end producer of plugs and switches; I called Tom O'Connor, based on the recommendation of a friend. Tom confirmed what I had suspected, that the original electrician was (likely) an unlicensed idiot.
Tom solved the immediate problem, and gave me a very clear picture of the overall situation. He found and re-wired the plug that was causing the immediate problem. He was not fond of the wiring work the idiot subcontractor installed, with which I obviously agreed.
Tom recommended that he should return with his guys to check the wiring on all the plugs. I found this to be a good recommendation and I plan on having him and his guys come back and perform the inspection of the rest of the plugs.
Tom is a really nice guy, and he obviously knows his stuff! I used to do lighting for theatrical shows, and while I would never claim to be an expert on home wiring, it's clear that Tom is a top-flight electrician. In addition to having him come back to do the checking he recommended, in future he's the guy I'm going to call if we have a problem. Home electrics are so important, and you need a qualified, experienced electrician. Tom O'Connor is your guy!

Barbara W.

2/17/2016

Had a partial outage today and it appeared there was a broken tial broken circuit breaker. Mr. O'Connor came out within a half hour of my calling. He quickly identified the problem as a Palo Alto Utilities problem and saw that a wire had broken on the utility pole. He contacted the city and explained everything to them and arranged for them to come out and fix the problem. Extremely pleasant experience and I appreciated his help in resolving the problem.

Donald D.

12/15/2014

Outstanding service from a very nice gentleman! Arrived on time, diagnosed and fixed the problem quickly. Highly recommended. I can't wait for my next electrical emergency!

Beth M.

01/06/2017 12:00:00 SA

Tom returned my call within an hour or so, came over about 10 minutes later, fixed my broken switch while delighting me with dad-like patter, and breezed on out. Quick and easy as they come.

Andreas S.

6/23/2014

We are $200 poorer for the benefit of the consult about a problem he could not or would not fix. Pretty useless if your problem involves an appliance, even peripherally.

Ann R.

1/16/2018

Tom answered my call and immediately sent Julien who diagnosed our problem and fixed it perfectly. We couldn't be happier with their expertise and work.

Katie L.

7/14/2017

Tom and Andrew came to our home within an hour and a half of our calling them. Tom has incredible expertise and diagnosed a very difficult, and possible very dangerous electrical situation in our home. We highly recommend O'Connor & Sons Electric if you want excellent service for your home.

Suen L.

08/02/2014 12:00:00 SA

My wife and I woke up one morning last week and saw smoke in our living room and smelled something had burned. The lights were also flickering throughout the house. We immediately turned off the power and called PG&E. PG&E came out and said there were electrical problems inside the house and asked us to call an electrician.

The first and second electricians we called could not find the problem and insisted that we call PG&E again because he thought it was a PG&E problem. After wasting 4 additional hours waiting for PG&E to come out again, they could not find any problems and told us to find a real electrician. At this point, I was annoyed and confused because PG&E and 2 electricians telling me two completely different things.

Luckily, the 3rd time was a charm since we found Tom from O'Connor & Son's Electric. Tom was at our house in 45 minutes from our call. After we explained what had already happened, Tom opened up the electric panel and after 10 minutes found the problem. We were extremely lucky he found the problem when he did because there was a small electrical fire in our power panel. Tom quickly fixed the problem and gave us our options. More importantly our home is safe again thanks to Tom.

If I ever have any electrical needs again, Tom is going to be the first person I call. Overall, he is extremely knowledgeable, friendly and I would highly recommend him.

Laura S.

06/10/2014 12:00:00 SA

They never showed up to do the job. Couldn't even have the courtesy to call . Extremely unprofessional. My guess is he wasn't going to make enough money off of us because it was a small job.

Cathy H.

11/26/2014

I am an HVAC contractor and work with a lot of electricians. Late in the afternoon today (the day before Thanksgiving) when all my other Electrician contacts weren't answering their cell phones, O'Connor and Son's responded within 30 minutes of our call to a customer who's house lost half power while we were replacing their furnace. Tom quickly found a loose wire on PG&E's side of the meter and reassured the homeowner the issue was not related to our work. We found them on Yelp and will definitely keep their contact information for future electrical needs.

Elizabeth M.

2/28/2017

We moved into a house in Menlo Park and there were many outlets that needed to be grounded. Tom sent Julien over to our house and he did a fantastic job. He was on time, and spent all day testing outlets and replacing them as needed. He went above and beyond what needed to get done, and even installed new light switches in all of the rooms! In my dealings with Tom he has been timely and responsive. I would highly recommend them to anyone who is looking for a competent, professional electrician!

Michele G.

03/06/2013 12:00:00 SA

Finding competent these days is, well, near impossible. With electrical, you don't want to take risks on a lousy electricians (as one experienced with lousy, I know). Besides, you know you have an honest electrician when he tells you that to save a call, try these simple troubleshooting tasks and if they don't work, he'll come by.

Tom came out, same day service. It's clear he knows his stuff and does it right rather than just doing it. That's something worth yelping about!

Allen B.

5/16/2015

Tom and his team are the only ones to use in Palo Alto. They're quick, cordial, and experts at what they do. Fair prices, no B.S., and all around nice guys.

Anne H.

10/31/2017

Quick, prompt, friendly service that solved my problem completely. I would recommend their services to others.

M M.

01/01/2015 12:00:00 SA

Tom was an amazing help to us on New Years Eve. He was responsive, quick, and explained everything that he was doing. I couldn't believe the level of care and attention that we got especially considering we called him in the morning of 12/31/14.

Claudia L.

10/24/2015

You know how it is: if you have a small job, the electrician you call is not even returning your call... This is different with O'Connor & Sons.
I called Tom on a Friday morning to install a wall timer that I had tried to install myself and that was not working. Before coming he asked if I had the timer and as I said yes, he told me he would be at my home in 30 mns. He also told me beforehand how much he would charge (on the high side, but I had used them before and they did a great job).
Tom came, explained to me how to carefully disassemble and reassemble the neutral wires, and he was done in 15mns. Great job, great explanation and great service.

Sue A.

12/20/2014

We had an issue with our bathroom lights not turning on via the switch. We called Tom on a Saturday. He came quickly, that same day. This part was outstanding. He reattached a loose wire and replaced a switch. It was a simple fix.

He does have a minimum one hour charge, so the cost did seem a little high for services rendered. But, we now have lights in our bathroom. We no longer have to take showers in the dark, so at the end of the day, we are happy. Plus, he agreed to come back if we had any further problems with that light.

Nazli S.

9/27/2017

We were getting our carpets cleaned yesterday, which for some reason caused a power outage in our house. I called Tom at 5:30pm, while he was with a customer and asked to message him the address. As soon as he was done, he got back to me with rates and when he can be there. He showed up as soon as he could at 7pm and fixed the components that were not working, like TV, computer, stuck garage door, fridge, etc. He was very nice and friendly and helped us out very quickly. Thanks, Tom!

S S.

9/23/2013

I called O'Connor & Son's to schedule an appointment on Friday and Tom answered the phone. I explained to him that I needed to replace broken light fixture in a bathroom. He quoted me price over the phone and promised me that he will call to schedule an appointment. As promised, he called and sent someone over early Monday morning. Very professional people, knowledgeable and excellent customer service.

If you are looking for someone to have electrical work done, I highly recommend Tom O'Connor & Sons !!

Thank you Tom for your efficient services!!!

John L.

8/29/2015

I had a complicated project that Tom reviewed and gave me a target cost that I thought was fair. Julian did the job which took just over 8 hours. During the entire process I never saw him make one false move--he had a plan in mind and executed it exactly. I also needed some cabinet work done and Tom recommended Sid Miller of Sid's Workshop. Sid's work was perfect--exactly what I needed. This entire project was really well-executed. Thank you Tom, Julian and Sid. Excellent job!

David B.

2/25/2017

Prompt reply and service for a weekend emergency. I had an electrical issue on Saturday and needed some help fast. I gave Tom a call and left a message, less than 30 minutes later he called me back and was on his way. He was able to fix the issue promptly. For prompt Saturday service, he was a real life save. I will certainly use him again when I need electrical work done.

Dan L.

06/04/2014 12:00:00 SA

Friendly service! Tom is a pleasure to deal with, and Julien did superb work, troubleshooting a bunch of problems we had and getting everything working again. Of course no one hopes to need electrical repair but if you do, it's nice to find someone reliable to take care of it!

George J.

7/20/2015

Quick, complete, friendly. Family owned and operated, very easy to work with. Fixed our problem on the first visit, not just replacing a broken part but figuring out why it broke and fixing the root cause. Happy to recommend them without reservation.
George

A B.

06/08/2016 12:00:00 SA

Tom is very professional with a good sense of humor. He promptly returned my call in the evening and came to diagnose and try to fix the problem. Then, quickly came back the next day after I had a chance to mark all nonfunctioning outlets and switches, as we had a circuit short circuit and needed to correctly identify. He answered questions and explained things clearly.

Office M.

07/12/2017 12:00:00 SA

Tom was responsive and honest in our company's electrical needs. He was unfamiliar with the sensor lighting that we used but he immediately took pictures of the device and did research and ordered the correct part to get the job done. I will be using Tom for our ongoing electrical needs!! Great for businesses. Thank you!!

Phillip F.

07/10/2017 12:00:00 SA

Excellent service. When no one else was available to help us at our dental office, O'Connor came by within 30 minutes and solved the problem within 10 min of his arrival. Thanks to him we are back up and running!

S S.

4/23/2014

Tom is professional, easy to work with and cares about making his customers happy. We had him install a high current line in our garage. He did it fast and well. The first charger I got ended up malfunctioning. He came back out and replaced it after I got a new one at no cost. Haven't had any issues with it or the installation of the high current lines.

My wife had an electrical emergency when lots of lights around the house went out. I wasn't home, so we had her call Tom, he came out right away. As it turns out, the breaker had flipped, even though that was the first thing we asked my wife to look at :-).

Again, Tom went out of his way, didn't charge us for the spurious house call..

Like I said, he cares about happy customers, treating them fairly and doing great work. He is our go to guy for anything electrical.

Ali P.

6/25/2015

This was my first time hiring an electrician and I must say it was a pleasant experience.

I called O'Connor & Son's this morning, and Tom was able to schedule an appointment before noon. He stopped by within 1/2 hr and took care of the job within 10 minutes. Tom is very professional, responsive and tries to explain everything.

Highly recommended!

Vincent L.

8/19/2016

Tom was very responsive, called back prompty, and was available within a day. Tom (and his son/apprentice) were friendly and efficient. The service call only took about 30 minutes to fix some of my mis-wiring of an outlet. The service call was $300 which is pricey, but the service is quick and quality is high.

Mike C.

6/18/2015

I used Tom to do a lot of wiring for a major backyard landscaping project. We had to add several new panels for a hut tub, backyard shed, outdoor heaters, and lights. Tom gave me a lot of good input and options every step of the way. He also pointed out some issues with the (old) wiring in my backyard which needed to be fixed for safety reasons. It was helpful to have another person to bounce ideas off of, and he was always willing to suggest other ideas to make our landscape project more successful. For example, he emphasized that I should double-check the landscapers' work when they resealed my basement's vapor shield to ensure it didn't leak water into the foundation.

I would definitely use Tom again. He's not the best about planning things several days or weeks in advance, but his crew was always ready when I finally needed them to come onsite, and it is clear that they went out of their way to install systems in the safest and most reliable way possible.

James P.

12/15/2014

Worth it in every way. Have used them on several occasions with excellent service and Tom has also been very willing to help me with remote diagnoses and avoid call-outs on other occasions. Net result is excellent value!

Liza C.

10/02/2017 12:00:00 SA

Have needed Tom's expertise twice now, and both times he has responded extremely quickly, fixed the problem quickly and done a great job! My niece tried to install a new GFCI and after she left, breakers started popping. Not wanting to risk a fire I left the breakers off and called Tom. Within 3 hours he was by and fixed the problem. Everything works great now! My house was built in 1946 and modified several times since. The wiring is a complex mix of old and new. My niece won't be touching my wiring again - lesson learned! Leaving it to the expert!

Brady E.

01/09/2014 12:00:00 SA

Tom O'Connor is someone we know we can trust and we rely on. He is prompt, courteous and has a great charm. I have called him many times and he responds quickly and gets things done correctly. I have three grandsons. One wants to be a lawyer, one wants to be a doctor and I just am hoping one will be an electrician like Tom one day and have a valuable skill and be trustworthy with people. His partner Julian is just as reliable.

Beatrice P.

5/13/2015

If I could give more than 5 stars I would. Julian arrived at the exact time promised. After he completed the job I asked about another problem I had, thinking I needed to purchase a new exhaust fan. Turns out it needed a minor adjustment.
I will certainly call them the next time I have electrical needs.

T F.

05/06/2017 12:00:00 SA

An honest professional you can trust and always does quality work. I have used them many times, and have referred him to many clients, and they always get shining reviews. You get what you pay for when it comes to many service people, you know the job will be done right!

Michael H.

01/04/2016 12:00:00 SA

I came home to no power in the house on a stormy day just before Christmas. I had the good luck to find Tom's review on Yelp and gave him a ring. I left a voicemail around 5:30 in the evening and received a return call a few minutes later. After a few minutes of troubleshooting over the phone, the power was back on and all was well again. Tom couldn't have been more pleasant, flexible or knowledgeable. I know I will have to do some electrical work on the house and I now know who I will call for the job!

Steve W.

4/29/2015

We had a mystery with a new dryer tripping the main breaker that had stumped three other electricians. Tom solved it in about 30 seconds. If you value your time, call Tom.

J D.

4/24/2017

I had a light fixture that would not turn on. Not a problem with the bulb nor the light switch. I called Tom on a Sunday morning as I needed this to work that day. He came within a few hours of the first phone call. Found and fixed the problem -- very efficient. He was very professional and explained everything. I would definitely recommend him.

Margaret N.

4/25/2015

Great service from both Tom (owner) and Julien (employee). They know their stuff and were responsive in terms of getting me information (alternative lighting ideas, even links to a source) and scheduling. Sure, it may not be the cheapest service, but I have no doubt about the quality of the work. In addition, they solved in a week something that I had been trying to get another local company to resolve for almost 4 months. My time is worth something, too, and they just saved a bunch of it for me so in short--they're worth the money and then some! They're on my short-list now of local, dependable companies and will be my go-to (as well as my family's) for electrical needs.
p.s. as other reviews have said, Tom has a dry sense of humor which I enjoyed.

Zhao L.

6/23/2016

I had an electric problem in the kitchen and quoted several companies at Yelp. Tom is the first one to reply me. He arrived my home within half an hour and checked everything fast and professionally. Although the problem cannot be fixed today since it needs longer time to have a thorough check of all the wires, Tom did not charge me. He said he will be glad to come and repair the wires in a later time. I appreciate his honesty, fair, fast and professional manner.

Steven C.

10/01/2016 12:00:00 SA

I worked with Tom over a couple months on an exterior lighting project. He consulted initially and then did the installation while I did the hardscape pieces. Was great teamwork, and along the way he gave excellent advice; the job on the installation was great. Then end result was fantastic and everything works beautifully. I would call him again, and would highly recommend his services to others!

Kyle F.

05/08/2016 12:00:00 SA

Very nice service person and very professional. he explained everything that he was doing as he went, was prompt and efficient. I would definitely call on them again.

Nancy P.

2/27/2017

Tom came to our rescue on Saturday. We had put in an electric sconce ourselves and the result led to half our very old house...1910 ....losing its electricity. He was a very persistent detective and found the source of trouble and fixed it. In doing so he updated some of the prior work that needed to be updating. His good humor was an additional pleasure for our weekend day that was plunged literally in darkness. We recommend him and will use him again in a heart beat. Nancy

John M.

4/24/2016

After we had a power emergency on a Saturday evening, Tom really saved our you-know-what! Luckily, he was available, and was at our house ten minutes after we gave him the go ahead. He not only had the expertise to diagnose the problem immediately, but had the necessary parts in his van, which was good, since others we contacted said it would have to wait till Monday. Tom is an engaging character with a bit of Irish blarney to him, and he clearly lives and breathes electrical work. We feel lucky to have found him.

Jason L.

02/11/2017 12:00:00 SA

Readily available, solved the problem and all with a great sense of humor. Just shortened my list of go to electricians on the peninsula to one. Thanks!

J S.

04/11/2016 12:00:00 SA

TLDR: 10/10 would use again. Arrived within the hour. On a Saturday. After dinner. Provided clear, direct feedback on my questions. Great sense of humor. A consummate professional able to identify trouble spots and potential fixes. Am now referring friends and colleagues to him. What more can I say?

Marie L.

04/07/2016 12:00:00 SA

Tom was very responsive, helpful, and most importantly, honest. He came same day to assess & troubleshoot our electrical issues for a new washer & dryer, and offered immediate solutions. One can easily tell that Tom is very experienced and knowledgeable in his trade. Would definitely use his service again!

Alexandra T.

08/03/2016 12:00:00 SA

Tom was quick, efficient, and a pleasure to do business with. If I'm ever in a pinch again, I know I can count on him.

Gretchen W.

11/02/2013 12:00:00 SA

Awesome!! I would/will contact Tom and Julian in a heartbeat. Tom was
fantastic in explaining what was needed and got the job done quickly. His
price was excellent but it was the personal service and commitment that
impressed me the most. Great sense of humor and wonderful to work with.
Definite 5+ stars all the way through!!

Martha A.

12/30/2014

Tom O'Connor is a delightful electrician to work with. He is prompt, reliable and knowledgeable. I had a problem with an outdoor circuit between Christmas and New Year's 2014, and Tom was responsive in troubleshooting and fixing the problem. I will use O'Connor & Sons for all our electricity projects going forward. I highly recommend Tom!

Ellie D.

12/29/2014

Not only is Tom a fantastic electrician with clear passion for his work, but an incredibly nice guy. I had a faulty GFCI outlet in my kitchen that had knocked out an additional outlet so I gave him a call and he was at my house about a half an hour later. We had a lovely chat while he worked and explained everything about the new outlet he was installing (a big upgrade from my old, busted one) as well as some of his other experiences as an electrician. I can honestly say I haven't enjoyed a service call that much in my life. Great guy, reasonable prices, and incredible work. I wish I could give him more stars :)

James B.

6/23/2018

five stars for response time and availability. had an emergency call late saturday afternoon and they responded right away.

David E.

02/11/2016 12:00:00 SA

These guys do great work and are able to creatively and efficiently solve unexpected problems that arise. Unlike all the other electricians who bid on my project, they were flexible on scheduling and able to get the job done quickly. They also have a really good sense of humor. If you live in or around Palo Alto, just call them first.

Paul F.

06/09/2016 12:00:00 SA

Called at 2pm about a problem with my pool electrical. They called right back. Scheduled me in right away, and solved the problem very quickly and professionally. Will definitely use them again.

Paul N.

12/05/2016 12:00:00 SA

I had a problem with an old circuit breaker in my house and gave Tom a call and left a message. I got a call back within an hour. We then set up a time for Tom to come by. Tom came by and fixed the problem. He is very professional and extremely knowledgable.

Jan G.

12/05/2016 12:00:00 SA

Tom and Julien upgraded my panel from 125 amps to 200 amps in preparation for a solar panel install. They're easy to work with and very capable. Tom is experienced in dealing with Palo Alto, which is very helpful in scheduling inspections etc. Very pleased so far!

O S.

06/04/2016 12:00:00 SA

Tom always respond to our call immediately. For some reason I always have an issue at night or over the weekend and Tom has always prevailed. He comes prepared and fixed or problem or has recommendations if he can't fix it or its out of his specialty. Friendly guy with a good sense of humor and a true willingness to help. I've used him multiple times and I highly recommend him.

Lynn M.

12/01/2014 12:00:00 SA

Tom came by the day I called to give me an estimate, was friendly, and did a great job of answering my questions.

For the work (a new electrical line for a dryer), his employee arrived on time and finished on time, and the cost was exactly as estimated. I appreciated how considerate he was, during the work, about making sure my indoor cats didn't get outside, or end up in the crawl space. And he did a great job of cleaning up afterwards. What more could you want?!!

Edward B.

5/25/2016

Called Tom on the phone, it ended up he was 10min away from my house and was able to stop by with in 20min. He came out to make sure our electrical panel would handle an electric car. It took him about 15 min looked over the panel and checked the wiring. Said we were able to handle the car. Also showed me some other thing that needed to change in the future with the panel. Tom was very nice and professional I will defiantly be calling him back if I need anything else done around the house!

Marc D.

9/19/2012

We were having an emergent issue with our electrical. Tom came out and immediately identified it and gave me an honest and clear opinion of the work. I appreciated his frankness. He replaced our main electrical panel in a very timely fashion with excellent quality. I highly recommend him and his work!

Denis N.

05/07/2016 12:00:00 SA

Tom came over on a weekend and solved two problems, a shorted out light fixture and a ceiling fan that stopped working. He quickly figured out the fixture. The fan required some troubleshooting but the puzzle was solved simply by identifying an error in a code setting. Tom has a great sense of humor and one might say is brutally honest with a smile when it comes to what's easy to fix and what's not. So I agree fair, fast, professional!

Christian P.

12/30/2013

Genuinely impressed.

I called Tom because our heating had died over the holidays. He was at our house within five minutes and the heat was back on in no time.

Teresa W.

10/24/2016

Tom was an excellent electrician with great customer service, he responded my call on a weekend afternoon immediately and came to my house less than 30 minutes. He also followed up to check whether the problem was solved next day. Beside he has a great sense of humor and makes his helpful visit very pleasant.

Murdoch M.

12/25/2015

Tom came out to my house in Xmas evening. No power in my garage. Fixed the issue right away. Tom is a nice and no BS guy. Would use him again in the future. Thanks again.

Shaggy S.

02/12/2013 12:00:00 SA

O'Connor Eletric is the epitome of what good, quality service is. Tom not only has a vast knowledege of his field, but he makes sure to be analytical enough to find the core of your electrical issue as opposed to superficially look at the problem and offfer a broader, more expensive solution. I have used them at the business I work for for many years and O'Connor Electric has always been there for us, very responsive on emergency situations and extremelly friendly.

They once came to check on a non-working appliance that did not get electrical power. It turned out to be a very simple solution, so they waived their charge for us. That's how much they value our business.

Keep up the good work guys!

Bryant L.

10/14/2016

Tom was helpful and very detailed when explaining a problem and a solution for an electrical issue at my house. It was a tougher issue to debug, so he started with the basics and was up front that it may require a follow-on appointment. He was super friendly and even followed up with me after to check in on the fix that he put into place. I'll definitely use Tom again if other electrical issues come up.

Soquel W.

10/12/2016 12:00:00 SA

Tom is amazing. HE IS AN EXPERT. There is a reason that no other Electrician/Company in the Palo Alto area has all 5-star reviews. I know nothing about electrical work and he is very patient, calm and explained to me exactly what the problem was and how to fix it. I have no anxiety now when lights or ballasts are not working because I know I am working with such a great Electrician. I will exclusively be using O'Connor & Son's for all electric needs. THANK YOU, O'Connor & Son's!

Linda B.

10/11/2016 12:00:00 SA

Tom made time to come handle a small electrical issue quite quickly despite a busy schedule. He explained what he did and left me feeling the work was done well and safely. He was friendly and also provided useful advice on how to fix the hole in the floor without having to do a major repair job.

Mi Young L.

8/30/2013

Tom is the best electrician ever. I am a real estate broker and I really needed someone who could help me install a pendant light on a very high ceiling and a chandelier on a lower ceiling. The house needed to take pictures the next day, so I called a lot of electricians, but most of them were non-responsive and did not want to work on Saturday. Tom, on the other hand, showed up in 30 minutes. Although the pendant light installation was complicated and somewhat dangerous, Tom did an excellent job. I was so happy with the result. He knows exactly what needs to be done, is very efficient, and also very friendly. I would highly recommend Tom to all my friends and coworkers!

Vandita W.

02/04/2013 12:00:00 SA

Tom was delightful. After a preliminary phone call with Tom, I didnt have a chance to call Tom to schedule an appointment. Tom was gracious enough to call ME back, and helped me move forward with my electrical issues. He did the job quickly, and was wonderful to speak with - Tom has a great sense of humor. He also advised me of potential future issues, and approximate cost. I absolutely recommend Tom for any electrical projects, large or small.

Will C.

2/15/2011

Tom and his crew are super professional, fair and considerate. Great sense of humor too!
My roofers didn't seal our bathroom fan hood properly the first time, so we were forced to disconnect and reconnect the electricity from the fan before the next rains arrive (today) to allow the roofers to get it right (hopefully). Tom fit us in with little heads up, and he kept the billing to a minimum (he took into account that this in essence was the roofer's fault that we needed to have additional electrical work). I very highly recommend Tom.

Roger M.

8/29/2016

Tom and Julian were straightforward and professional. They worked with our concerns and the options we had were explained so we could understand. Their work allowed us to make a reasonable decision. We are pleased with their work.

Eyes B.

08/09/2016 12:00:00 SA

Tom was the only guy to return my phone call for an emergency repair. Showed up, diagnosed the problem, and fixed it, all as promised. Sure, he's not the cheapest but he's fast, reliable and honest. He'll be my first call the next time we have an electrical problem.

T J.

10/26/2008

I called and scheduled an appt. for Tom to come out and fix my kitchen light fixture. The job was suppose to be quick and simple, installing a new transformer. The installation posed a challenge as it kept shorting out and there was no reason for it to do that.

Tom ended up staying for almost 2 hours until he solved what was shorting out the transformer. He was determined to figure it out and he did! He made the fix and my kitchen light fixture shines beautifully!

I would definitely hire Tom again for other projects and recommend his services 100%!

Em K.

04/09/2015 12:00:00 SA

Easy to contact. Very professional. Great work. Thanks!

Ivy L.

9/18/2013

We had a chirping fire alarm that drove us nuts for days. Found Tom from O'Connor & Sons's on Yelp. Called him right away and he turned up within 30 mins. Professional, polite, very thorough. Thank you Tom!

B G.

01/09/2016 12:00:00 SA

I called Tom with an issue regarding power to our washing machines which got tripped over the weekend. Tom was able to troubleshoot the problem over the phone and I was able to get the power back on. He was wiling to make a house call over the weekend since it was an emergency but he wanted me to first check things out before he made the trip. There was no charge for his advice over the phone! Thanks Tom.

Enrique R.

07/10/2016 12:00:00 SA

Tom came immediately after I called him. He looked at our problem and explained why it could be solved easily without the need to add an additional line at high expense. We were happy to pay him a reasonable consultation fee for his expertise while saving a lot in unneeded improvements. We were very impressed with his honesty and thoroughness.

Kim D.

04/06/2010 12:00:00 SA

On a Saturday morning while visiting my BF the 9 fire alarms went off sequentially for over an hour..I frantically googled for an electrician & called 2others before calling O'connors& was pleasantly surprised to be directed to Tom's cell phone...he answered my questions reassured me he could take care of the problem& promptly came before the promised time of within 30-40 minutes.Tom was extremely friendly,helpful& knowledgeable ..he advised me of my current problem as well as a circuit breaker that was tripping but fixed my current problem efficiently&
professionally.On Monday AM promptly on time,another electrician from
the same family owned company,Julian came and fixed any resolving
issues..I was beyond surprised at the professionalism,and conduct of this
company that gave personalized care with a small town feel & left you
feeling like you were in good hands..I would recommend Tom& Julian
without reservation& will definitely call on them again for emergencies or
any electrical problems in our home.Thank You :)!

Rick R.

6/25/2016

Tom is a delightful Irish electrician! He was quick to respond and accessed our needs accurately; Tom's estimates were spot-on. He may come across as too direct for some, but I appreciated his candid nature balanced with a wonderful sense of humor. He & Julian are excellent & professional in their work. Julian installed several switches and outlets (inside and outside), as well as three bathroom exhaust fans. Tom found a safety issue (shorting connector) and probably saved us from significant damage. Regardless of the size of your job, I strongly recommend O'Connor and Sons!

Christy F.

6/25/2016

Called Mr. O'Connor today and within 45 min received a call back--and then he was 10 min away and came right over--job is done. Refreshingly direct from the start---here's my fee for my time for the estimate and.....so he arrived and got right to work--put the light up--helped me to figure out an easier way to manage installing some outside lights and pave/tree lights from my transformer. Sounds like a large fee up front but saves me in the long run quite a bunch---and worth the peace of mind. He knows what he's talking about. I will call him again.

Scott B.

12/18/2013

After having our electricity go out after hours we selected Tom as our first choice based on yelp reviews. After telling Tom we didn't have heat and were worried because temperatures were below freezing he showed up within 20 minutes. Everything about our experience with Tom was 5 stars. He is a true professional who knows his stuff and who I can't recommend enough especially for his sense of humor. I rarely leave Yelp reviews but feel compelled to after the service we received. Call Tom NOW!!

Elise B.

6/14/2016

Are you a client who wants a prompt, expert, clear, honest, realistic appraisal of what your project requires and will cost? Tom O'Connor is your electrician! Besides, as other reviews have mentioned, he responds when he promises (possibly because he handles issues so quickly), he grasps the big picture and puts the customer's project in context and communicates his recommendations. He doesn't waste a moment in extraneous efforts to go beyond your means or unrealistic aspirations, but gets to work and completes his work quickly. A pleasure and a relief to work with a person with seamless expertise.

Elizabeth L.

5/24/2016

Tom came out only an hour or so after we called, fixed the problem with our outlet and cracked wry jokes while he worked - what more could you ask for!

Mary Ruth L.

05/05/2015 12:00:00 SA

The repairman was super nice and efficient. Fixed our small problem on the dame day we called!

Court G.

4/24/2014

A friend in the neighborhood recommended Tom. We really like him and his colleague, Julian -- they did an excellent job changing out and moving our electrical box and updating the outlets and some wiring in our new home. Tom is professional and personable and gave us good practical advice, and completed the work in a very timely manner. Julian is extremely meticulous, courteous and professional as well. Tom is also familiar with the rules of Palo Alto and the specific permits required. Highly recommend!

Michelle G.

10/17/2015

I will use Tom O'Connor again. He was so responsive and professional and fixed my problem quickly and for a very reasonable price.

Kage M.

04/11/2014 12:00:00 SA

Julian came out and did a fantastic job.

He was on time - confirmed by phone ( how great is that!! )

He knew exactly how to 'fix' the old wiring in my Palo Alto home. I would highly recommend Julian - and thus, O'Connor & Son's and would give six stars if such was an option...

Will use them exclusively going forward.

B N.

10/07/2015 12:00:00 SA

We called Tom O'Connor early on a Sunday morning, actually waking him up. We had a smoke alarm malfunction that was understandably driving us nutty. Tom said that he'd be over immediately, and true to his word he was at our house ten minutes later. He was able to quickly identify the source of the problem, and suggested both appropriate short-term and long-term solutions. We're very satisfied with the level of his knowledge and quality of service and would recommend him to anyone seeking an electrician. I must add as well that Tom is exceptionally personable and understanding. While at our house, he made a point to interact with our young son, who got a kick out of helping him. Tom was also very patient with our questions and concerns.

Pat M.

04/05/2016 12:00:00 SA

I was having a problem with my clothes dryer. The appliance repair person said it was an electrical problem. I had one electrical person who believed it was the dryer. Finally I call O'Connor & Son. Within 60 minutes the problem was resolved and I can now go back to using the dryer. Mike was clear in his explanation and like a good doctor, he asked questions before he jumped to some expensive conclusion. I also appreciated that I was given a quote before he began. Thanks Tom. I would not hesitate to recommend his services.

Y T.

04/04/2016 12:00:00 SA

Tom is wonderful!! I called him when my husband and I installed a dryer and a washer. Since our apartment is equipped with weird power outlets, we had difficulty installing the new dryer and washer. He solved our problem. Also, he is very responsive. He immediately responded to our messages. He came to our apartment 10 minutes after we called. He is worth the money!

Jenny W.

10/01/2015 12:00:00 SA

I've called Tom a number of times for large and small projects: wiring and hanging new light fixtures, replacing old ones, fixing outlets, etc. Julien has been the guy to come out, and he is always timely, responsive, professional, speedy, detail-oriented, and a pleasure to work with. They're not the cheapest electricians, but definitely the best!

Lisa R.

1/19/2010

My condo work has been done by Tom's partner, Julian. He's intelligent, efficient, and seems to have common sense and the big picture of how electrical works in the home in general (which some of the previous electricians I tried before seemed to lack, focusing narrowly only on fixing the reported problem). You can't go wrong with these guys.

Monica C.

01/08/2011 12:00:00 SA

We called O'Connor & Sons late on a Saturday afternoon because one of our circuit breakers tripped and we could not switch it back on; and as a result, we could not use our heater on a cold night. Tom called right back and tried to talk us through fixing it ourselves but the problem was too complex. Tom came over within 20 minutes, after business hours, and was able to diagnose and fix the malfunction. Tom was very friendly; he also provided excellent advice on other electrical issues in addition to the circuit breaker. It was a great relief to have a professional electrician take the necessary time to explain these matters to amateurs like us. His fee was very reasonable; we'll definitely use O'Connor & Sons again.

Martha L.

4/16/2013

Thomas was fantastic. Professional, humorous and patient. He came out as soon as we were available! Could have come by sooner but we were tied up with hours at the office and couldn't' get away. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

U M.

9/20/2015

Called Fri evening, he was at my house Sat morning. Diagnosed a broken outlet and had the right parts on hand to fix it. Helped me move an appliance in, even helped remove blocking parts of counter to fix. Very helpful, friendly, knowledgeable. Will definitely use again.

B R.

5/22/2017

As a member of the board of directors of my townhouse complex, I was horrified to find out on a Friday afternoon that the conduit containing the electrical wiring for our outside lights had been severed when an old walkway was jackhammered out in preparation to pour new concrete. I went to Yelp and saw that O'Conner and Son's Electric was the top-rated electrical company. There is a reason for that . I called and immediately got through to Tom O'Conner and he agreed to come right out. He was on-site within an hour. Amazing! He and one of his sons then took a thorough look at the situation and assured us that they could fix it. The following Monday they came first thing in the morning and repaired everything so our lights were working again. It's not easy to find this kind of great customer service along with stellar work. O'Conner and Son's will be called for all of electrical work going forward. Highly, highly recommended!

Diana P.

03/06/2015 12:00:00 SA

We were having a problem with flickering lights in our house. Called Tom, he was able to come over that morning. He was here for an hour and a half and fixed the problem. I'm happy to say, we have no more flickering lights! He is well worth the money.

Cynthia E.

2/19/2016

I had a problem with a kitchen light fixture and called O'Conner & Sons after googling Los Altos electricians. Tom answered, asked me about the problem and had me send pictures in case the fix didn't require a housecall. Ultimately though, it did need a call. Tom arrived right on time, charged exactly what he had quoted and fixed the light fixture. I have found my new electrician.

Walter C.

1/13/2016

They fixed a circuit breaker problem that another electrician could not fix. Happy that they could fix it within a short time. Very happy with the service.

Christina T.

1/13/2016

Tom O'connor of O'Connor and Sons has been our lighting specialist for several years. He has been a true gentleman coming to the rescue of our small nonprofit when we have lighting issues or need instructional help. He has come out on very short notice and in the middle of terrible inclement weather when everyone else was too busy to respond or care. O'Connor and Sons is always responsive, professional and an all-around top-notch business that I recommend highly. They go out of their way to give excellent customer service and make sure their customers are happy. If you are in need of knowledgeable, helpful, professional expertise, this is who you should call first!

Nathan B.

6/30/2015

I needed someone to come out to inspect some [potential] damage that was caused by a cable install, and I came across Tom on Yelp. I'm incredibly happy that I did too: he did an initial diagnosis to verify that something was nicked in the install (FYI, it was), wrote up the estimate, and came out first thing the next day to get it fixed. He was prompt, professional, and someone I will absolutely use again in the future.

Michael T.

6/23/2015

Tom was outstanding! He took the right steps to identify and fix multiple issues in my home from the simple to more complex. The billing was fair and transparent. Also, Tom was easy to contact and communicate with throughout the process.

Lenny L.

12/05/2015 12:00:00 SA

Tom gave me great, friendly, emergency service for an electrical issue at my home. I'm very glad I picked O'Connor

Rory C.

02/10/2010 12:00:00 SA

I found Tom's profile on Yelp and gave his office a call. He called back right away. I described my problem and we scheduled a call to my house the following morning.

Over the weekend we had lost power to some outlets and some lights in the house. I checked the breaker panel, none of the circuits had tripped. I checked the voltages on the bus and the breakers and could not figure out what the cause was.

In about 5 secs Tom was able to tell me the issue. One of the 2 hot legs coming into the panel was down but now completely disconnected. He gave me number to the PA Ulitities Operations department, told me to call them and left. No charge! I called the number and 20min later they came and rerouted the power lines from the pole which were being pulled by our neighbors tree.

If I ever have electrical work to be done in my house in the future Tom will be the only electrician I'll call.

munna b.

1/26/2011

I called Tom on a weekend for an emergency repair. He showed up in less than 5 minutes as he happened to be in our neighborhood, fixed the issue in a heart beat and was terrific. He didn't charge me - which I know is not his business model. I was expecting someone to say they charge extra on a weekend. He should train other service providers the meaning of customer service and goodwill. He is super cool and I highly recommend him.

Palo Alto, CA

Adam C.

3/14/2013

I called Tom for help in fixing a basement wiring problem, and he nearly diagnosed it over the phone. He came by later that day and figured out the problem surprisingly quickly. He was able to point out several other issues, with varying degrees of dramaticism. Rather than shocking us into a panic to get every little thing resolved ASAP, he boiled it down to a common-sense strategy for dealing with our electrical system quirks. In all, he was prompt, knowledgeable, reasonable and very entertaining. I wouldn't hesitate to call him back for our further electrician needs.

Gerry K.

11/30/2015

I called O'Connor and Sons to install a new infrared heater in our patio area. Tom came out to look at the job and discussed alternatives. We scheduled the installation and Julian was the one who performed the installation. Both Tom and Julian were cordial, friendly, and efficient. I will have no hesitation calling them when I need an electrician.

Nancy Z.

11/12/2013 12:00:00 SA

I am so glad that we found O'Connor & Sons. Through many remodels, we've worked with a lot of electricians. Our experience with O'Connor & Sons was the best. They did some repair work on my mom's home.

Besides being on-time, knowledgeable and conscientious--they were really nice to my elderly mom and disabled sister--which meant a lot to me. Their prices are fair and I would use them again for large or small projects. I will be proud to recommend them the next time someone asks for the name of a good electrician.

randee s.

11/07/2015 12:00:00 SA

What a pleasant experience I had with Tom O'Connor this week! I'm delighted to say that he's a man of his word, and I found him to be the consummate professional. He committed to doing a house call within 24 hours of my call, and had the problem fixed in a matter of minutes. I will DEFINITELY continue to call O'Connor and Sons for all my electrical needs.

Liz M.

05/06/2015 12:00:00 SA

We had O'Connor & Son's Electric install a few lights to illuminate a photo in our office. They did a phenomenal job. Profesional, clean and very fast work. Worth every penny!

Marina G.

10/27/2014

Quick service, very polite and prompt. Tom O'Connor seems like an upstanding business owner, and the electrician he sent to our home--Julian--was friendly, personable and knowledgeable.

Anita M.

12/18/2014

We had a smoke detector located about twenty feet up in our condo that was screeching for almost a week. I called every local listing that came up under a search for smoke detector with no luck. Thomas O'Connor called me back promptly on a Saturday and came by within an hour or two. He replaced the smoke detector efficiently.

Sierra Y.

8/24/2014

Tom and Julian did a great job replacing our electric panel, they were fast and efficient. I would recommend them to anyone who wants to have their electric panel replaced.

Kit M.

09/09/2015 12:00:00 SA

Tom O'Connor returned my phone call and came over right away to assess my problem. I have some gnarly and old mixed up wiring and some of my lights and outlets hadn't been working for a long time. He looked at everything and was thorough, and figured out the problems. He was clear about his fees, and gave a realistic idea of how long it would take to fix my problems. His workman came on time and did excellent work. After he left I discovered another problem, and he returned early the next day to fix it. He also gave me good advice about how to save on power by replacing bulbs with new LED ones. Afterwards, Tom called a couple of times to make sure I was satisfied with the work.

Constance G.

09/08/2017 12:00:00 SA

The surge protector for my computer started to click on, then off whenever my 'fridge started to cycle and my microwave started to act oddly. Spoke with another highly rated electrician who said it was a problem with the surge protector and the problem with the microwave was likely just that - a problem with the microwave. This didn't sound right to me and I called O'Connor who asked if I could replicate the problem. I said, yes, it happens every time the 'fridge cycles. He came by that afternoon and almost immediately assessed the problem and said he was 99.9% sure it was the city's problem, helped me call the city and spoke to them. They were here within an hour and replaced the line to my house and all is now well. I will say up front that Tom is not inexpensive, but he clearly knows his stuff and greatly facilitated getting the problem fixed and said that if he was wrong, he would not charge me for another house call. And I noticed that he hung around a bit and checked back to be sure the city had come and taken care of the problem.

anna z.

2/28/2015

Tom was great - on a Saturday morning too! I called Tom and he was courteous, knowledgeable and extremely helpful. I highly recommend him. Problem fixed and I couldn't be happier. Thanks Tom!

Sara S.

06/03/2014 12:00:00 SA

Tom helped me out in a near-emergency situation when I could not get my garage door open due to the screwed-up way that my condo and detached garage were wired. He was very responsive, came over within about an hour of my phone call, quickly diagnosed the situation and took the simple steps needed to fix it. He is solidly knowledgeable, very experienced, and to top it off, has an engaging style and a great sense of humor! I hope I don't have more electrical problems, but if I do, I know I can call Tom and he'll fix it.

Rosanne P.

08/07/2016 12:00:00 SA

Tom responded quickly on a weekend, and came out two days later. He saved me money and time, even when considering his not cheap house call. I appreciate that a lot. He showed me in 10 minutes what was wrong with our bathroom fan, and a way to get it fixed inexpensively. Saved us lots of time and money since we didn't have to get a new one, replace it and probably have to do drywall repairs which is what a different diamond certified electric repair company advised would be the case 90% of the time. It was obvious that Tom wasn't trying to come up with the most expensive option for me. He also showed me how to reset our stupid master bath fan control/timer that would never turn on. I had gone through so many phone calls and appointments with Maine Electric trying to get that installed and working, I just gave up on them. Tom showed me a reset button I hadn't even noticed before and which Maine had never showed me or used, and it started working, and explained how to know if the device was just flakey.

Laura B.

9/30/2016

We had a problem with our electricity in our pantry, which housed a chest freezer, a small refrigerator and a microwave. The light still worked, but the outlets all stopped functioning and the breaker hadn't tripped. Called O'Connor & Sons in the afternoon on a Thursday and Tom was here with his son Andrew bright and early the following morning. Tom carefully removed and inspected each panel in the pantry (which involved moving a ton of things out of the way), trying several things (which involved moving back and forth between the pantry and the breakers, located outside of the other side of the house) before discovering the source of the trouble. I appreciated the fact that he took the time to call me over to explain what was going on and describe how he was going to resolve the issues. Great customer service and two really nice guys. They may be a little on the pricey side, but I was happy with their attentiveness to detail and their availability. I would recommend their business.

K W.

6/15/2015

Tom came out to help me with a fire alarm problem. He was very helpful and solved the mystery. I will definitely use him again.

Robert W.

9/21/2010

Decided on Tom last year after reading Yelp reviews. Had to call him late at night due to a special problem and he showed up early the next morning to work on the problem. Took him quite a while and he had to crawl around under the house which was no picnic but he got the dirty job done with good humor and charged a reasonable price, Would recommend him and expect to use him again.

Rahul B.

12/13/2010

I called O'Connor and Sons after losing power to part of the house this morning. They came out a few hours later and had the problem fixed in under half an hour. Both the manager and the service technician were friendly, helpful, and professional. Their rates are very good and they bring plenty of spare parts with them. If I need electrical work done again, I'll definitely call these guys.

Rebecca H.

11/09/2011 12:00:00 SA

O'Connor & Sons came recommended to us by someone who inspects a lot of homes. This guy sees all sorts of crazy dangerous electrical mistakes and said Tom's work is always top notch. We are very thankful for that referral to O'Connor and Sons.

Moving into a 1959 Eichler with the original electrical panel and some funky switch behavior, we knew we needed some safety upgrades. Tom and his lead electrician Julian diagnosed and repaired a few potentially dangerous situations and really brought our house into the 21st century. Julian works quickly and quietly and gets the job done. Tom is open and honest and does not oversell you on more than you need (like a 200 amp panel when 100 or 125 will fit all your needs).

Their knowledge is extensive. O'Connor & Sons have decades of experience on all types of homes and buildings and situations. Old mansions, McMansions, ranches, Eichlers, office space, and more. Small repairs, new construction, remodels, etc. Tom is also well versed in other aspects of building and home repair/remodels in general. I trust his advice. He has saved us a ton of money and time by connecting us with solid, honest tradespeople.

One final thought: When balancing the safety of your family against potentially shoddy electrical work, is it wise to hire the lowest bidder who may use cheap parts and cut corners? Will that lowest bidder guy be around when things stop working? Both Tom and Julian live and are raising families in Palo Alto. They are established and community-minded people. I like knowing they will be around years from now.

I heartily recommend them for all your electrical needs.

Brynn E.

2/15/2012

Our furnace stopped working and Tom was over in just a few minutes. He fixed the problem faster than expected. I would call him again for future problems.

Dana C.

02/09/2013 12:00:00 SA

They did a great job few years back repairing and replacing our kitchen lights, still working perfectly today. We called them for a few smaller electrical problems we had last week and scheduling was fast and Tom showed up just on time.
Highly recommend!

Ian B.

2/16/2013

Had an issue with a light switch over the holidays. I called Tom in the evening and he said he thought he'd be able to help out. I thought I fixed it and still had him come by to double check my work. We we're both wrong. A switch needed to be replaced and it took some tracking down to find issue. Tom did came out 2 more times to fix it as part of the initial service call. Once to find the issue, the other to replace the temporary switch with the right one.

My only complaint is he's a viber user and I work at Tango. I couldn't get him to change the voip services he uses. Maybe next time

James N.

1/13/2014

It's Christmas morning and we're awakened not by Santa but by our alarm system. I reluctantly called O'Connor & Son's Electric (1) because it was 6 am and (2) because it was Christmas morning. I left a voicemail apologizing for the call but asked to be called back. Well, Tom did call back and asked what the issue was. We discussed the issue and I texted him a few pictures of the fuse box. He came out to my house and quickly determined it was a PG&E issue. As Tom and I were wrapping up our business, a PG&E truck came by. Tom stayed to talk to the PG&E technician and let my neighbors and me what was going on. A transformer had failed and needed to be replaced. He even told me it would take a two-man team about two hours to replace the transformer once a new one was on site. Tom was not only correct in his time estimate, he was also kind enough to check in with me to see how the progress was coming. Tom, apologies again for calling so early and on Christmas. You are a true gentleman, and I appreciate your help. I would whole heartedly recommend Tom. I had a great experience.

Nadja M.

3/19/2015

I'm an Estate Manager & Personal Assistant in Palo Alto. Tom & Julien have helped me beyond measure on many occasions in the past 4 years. They are professional, reliable, collaborative, ethical, proactive and easy to work with. They explain complex electrical issues in plain English (!) and they are a tremendous asset to me in my role. I cannot recommend them highly enough!

Zach A.

03/04/2015 12:00:00 SA

Tom was able came over on the weekend to fix a problem that had me concerned. Turned out to be a poorly wired GFCI outlet burned out the breaker in a way that allowed it to be switched on and off, something I never would have been able to find that quickly. Tom was super fast, friendly and finished the job, with travel time, with exactly one minute to spare. Shockingly good service (haha).

Sharon E.

02/11/2015 12:00:00 SA

Tom O'Conner came out to see what we needed done. He gave us the highest of the three estimates we got, but since his reviews on Yelp were so good, we decided to go with him. He sent Julian out to run a new gfi line from the circuit breaker to the crawl space (for a new sump pump). Julian did an excellent, super neat job and did it more quickly than estimated, so we got super work and it didn't cost us as much as the estimate.

Dave L.

12/30/2013

I highly recommend Tom. I called him due to the great Yelp reviews here, and he totally lived up to my expectations. I called Tom to come over to my house to take a look at 2 GFI circuits that blew out. He fixed them in an extremely efficient (time and cost) manner. I would definitely use him again, and recommend him to others.

S D.

07/02/2016 12:00:00 SA

It's been a year since Tom helped me out but my yelp account wasn't working for a while. He may have saved my family's life...so..he deserves the time it takes to review. Moving into a rental home, we found that the dryer was plugged into an outlet that was in extremely dangerous shape. (My dad is an electrician, no need to go into detail but it was seriously bad.) He came over on short notice, on his LUNCH HOUR and fixed it, and made the price very reasonable. While there he looked up and noticed that our weatherhead was literally from 1948, falling over, and the wires touching the roof, splayed and exposed. He told me that I should call PG&E to take a look at it. He looked at me like a stern dad and said, I'm not trying to make money. I am so busy I don't even want the job right now...seriously please call PG&E. So fine. I took it upon myself to call - PG&E came and the young guy said he never saw the likes of it. He got on a ladder, turned off the line, and CUT THE POWER to our house and said, Ok well that was one of the most dangerous things I've ever seen....now your landlord is forced to fix that before you move in. Have a great day. Now, to those of you who think Tom is too outspoken, I say, I'm glad he was outspoken. And maybe I'm glad I'm not so thin skinned that I can't appreciate his direct communication! Maybe his direct nature is actually better than the polite nothingness of most of the Bay Area... Thanks Tom.

Kathy M.

12/15/2014

In preparation for installing a new oven, we required help from an electrician. Called Tom and he came quickly even though it was the day before Thanksgiving. We were ready for the installation. When the oven arrived, it did not work. The manufacturer said that the wiring was wrong. Even though, both my husband and Tom knew the wiring was good, Tom came back over and rechecked everything. He made a difficult situation much better. Highly recommend him.

Kim N.

06/08/2014 12:00:00 SA

Tom helped us when our outlet to our washer and dryer stopped working. When I called him on a Sunday afternoon, he came out within an hour. Turns out our contractor who built our house didn't really know what he was doing and Tom was able to identify and fix the problem very easily. He is a true veteran of the craft and knows his stuff. He is expensive which is why I knocked down one star but other than that I would hire him again in a heartbeat. You will feel at ease and comforted knowing your house is in the hands of true professional.

Chuck J.

04/11/2013 12:00:00 SA

I had O'connor come to my house to look for grounding issues. My cable TV cable that connects from the distribution amp to the side of the house underground has burned out every few years. Comcast said that power from my house was going through the ground block for the cable and back to their cable tv distribution point which is 'well grounded'. So their theory is that the city power was bad, a floating neutral, and the power ground from the main panel to water pipe or the actual ground (some kind of grounding poles) was bad. If not the city power, that I had a shorted appliance to ground. I guess anything but that maybe something is broken with their amplifier between me and my neighbor's house. O'Connor came and looked at the wiring in the inside panel, and the outside panel and the water pipes, and found they were all properly connected, and even the water heater was bonded with copper wire straps between hot cold, and the gas pipe. There was as required neutral and ground(green) wires from the main box to the sub panel with all the breakers. He found the ground that goes from the main panel where neutral and ground are bonded (the only place this is allowed) next to the electric meter. That ground goes to rebar under the house and to the cold water pipe. There is a grounding bar in that path to which comcast cable and AT&T phone are hooked up. The city came yesterday and checked their neutral wire that goes from their transformer to the electric meter. It looked reasonable, but had up to 10 volts of difference to ground, which is ok, they tightened the bolts on the meter and made it +- 4v which is quite good. So O'Connor really understands the grounding and the electric code and all these complicated issues. He really is expert as much as the most expert people you find on google and can discuss the issues. I would recommend him to anyone who needs to verify complex electrical issues.

David E.

12/04/2013 12:00:00 SA

This is the second time I've used Tom O'Connor. The first time was to do a major job on my kitchen, done by Julian -- fantastic. The second time was today. I needed to replace a three way switch in my hallway. I tried but failed miserably; Tom came and had it working within an hour. I called Tom last night; he came at 9:00 AM today. It doesn't get much better than this -- highly recommended.

C T.

04/01/2014 12:00:00 SA

Both Tom and Julian have been a great resource for our electrical needs. They installed electrical lines for our new electric car, installed new lights in our kitchen and fixed a bathroom light that keeps going out. They were thorough in explaining why they have done a job a certain way. Very happy with their services.

Jane B.

03/10/2009 12:00:00 SA

I recently had an electric wall heater stop heating. I hadn't needed an electrician recently, so I went through my handy pile of old business cards. I ran across Tom O'Connor's card from some unremembered service rendered years ago, and noticed that I had written Great Guy! on the card. I called him up, and remembered why I kept his card. Tom is a craftsman, and an honest, charming soul to boot. He returned my call promptly, came out on a Saturday, ordered a part for my heater and had it re-installed and working by the next Saturday. No hassles, no stress, just good old fashioned service!

Alex N.

02/09/2009 12:00:00 SA

Referred to me from our Architect and GC Tom was put in a potentially uncomfortable position - We had a whole house rewire, but I wanted to do the bulk of the work. So he was being called in to look at my design, calculations and help by doing the grounding and Service entrance. He was totally comfortable with this role, made very helpful suggestions, did pre-inspection inspections and would come at critical junctures of the project. He and Julienne make for a great team, complementing each other,

Ann L.

01/08/2014 12:00:00 SA

Tom was at our house within an hour of me calling him. We had lost electricity in our living room due to an overloaded circuit. Tom assessed the situation and fixed the problem right away. He is very friendly and professional. I highly recommend Tom O'Connor!

L. J.

12/06/2010 12:00:00 SA

This company was another great yelp find. They did stellar work making sure that my home's electrical service was done to code. Not just state code mind you, but Palo Alto code which is more stringent. If you want knowledgeable electrical work that is done right the first time, this is the company to call. Tom O'Connor and the people he hires know building code inside and out and are very customer-oriented. They were also very responsive by phone and completed the job in a timely manner. I highly recommend this company.

Anne K.

1/23/2013

O'connor and Son's Electric was was quick to respond to my electrical problem. Tom came to the house to assess the problem as soon as I called, and Julian was there to do the work the following Monday. They certainly deserve the 90+ 5-star ratings (many are hidden) that people have left for them.

Diana R.

12/22/2013

We have had Tom out to the house several times and have been very happy with his knowledge and work! He is fast, efficient and makes appointments convenient for us, which is a definite plus! The last time he came out, it was a very minor problem and he didn't even charge us! We are happy to have found such a great, local electrician!

Maureen R.

6/14/2016

Mr. O'Connor came over immediately when I called and neatly fit us in between two other jobs in his very busy day. He is professional and extremely well educated in all things electric. He is friendly, great to chat with and very efficient in his work. He gets right down to work and gets the job done quickly and expertly. He completely knows what he is doing and I can rest assured tonight that my home wiring is much safer now that he's fixed things up for me. Several of my neighbors also rely on Mr. O'Connor when they need help. We all live in Eichlers which are called 8 Minute Wonders by some fire fighters because the materials and lay out of these homes makes them burn up quickly if a fire starts. For that reason we find it best to call on Mr. O'Connor -- he naturally charges more than a handyman would but my family's safety is worth it and he has always done the finest, safest work for us.

Jeanne C.

12/10/2013 12:00:00 SA

As always, there are things you wish you had done yesterday. I live in a sweet neighborhood of Southgate and this was the year that I really wanted to get Xmas lights up around the outside of my 1928 house. Being tired of stringing the extension cord through my window, I decided this is the year to do it right. I called Tom on a Friday and he answered right away, came over that afternoon & gave me an estimate. Following Monday afternoon, Julian placed an outdoor plug with easy access. GORGEOUS lights now shine for the welcoming of Christmas! Thank You, Tom for making this an easy project! I highly recommend O'Connor & Son's Electric and I would use them again. I believe in using local businesses in our area.

Jill O.

11/19/2010

I hired Tom O'Connor after talking with several handymen, and I'm so glad I did! I recently moved into a new condo, and my attempt to replace an old range hood left me with wires hanging out of my kitchen wall and no way to replace the appliance without closing the connection and putting in a new outlet. The handymen I interviewed all felt the job was complicated, would take several hours to complete, and would likely damage my kitchen wall. A friend who lives out of state and is an electrical engineer recommended I hire a good electrician instead. I found O'Connor and Sons on Yelp, and gave Tom a call one Saturday afternoon. I was planning to just leave a message, but to my surprise he answered the phone, listened patiently as I described the problem, and commiserated with me on the hazards of new home ownership. He told me he was already booked for the next few days, but would give me a call back later in the week. True to his word, I got a call from Tom the following Friday. He arrived right on time, immediately diagnosed the problem, and had his business partner Julian come out later that day to fix my wires. Julian turned out to be just as competent as Tom and had everything squared away within an hour! There was no damage to the kitchen wall, and the only cleanup resulted from a light sprinkling of dust that had fallen on the stovetop. After talking to so many prophets of doom, I was amazed at how fast and easy the repair actually was. Although O'Connor and Son's hourly rate is higher than the average handyman's, the overall cost of the repair ended up being much lower than I expected. Why? Because Tom and Julian know what they're doing! So if you need electrical work done, hire the experts. They'll get it done quickly and correctly, which will save you money in the long run.

Update: 2016

I just had another great experience with O'Connor & Son's Electric! The radiant heating system in my condo was failing and damaging my ceiling. I called Tom to see if he could help me install a new heating system and he came out the next day to have a look. Within an hour he had disconnected the existing system, determined the wattage for the new system, advised me on what type of equipment to purchase, and assured me that I would have heat before the weather turned cold. I ordered the in-wall heaters Tom recommended and let him know when they arrived. A few days later Julian came to install them. Just as before, Julian was incredibly efficient and had the work done in a few hours. The new heaters look great and there was no damage to my walls at all! Tom then followed up with another business associate to get my ceiling repaired and repainted. Once again I'm very pleased with the professionalism and top-quality work Tom and Julian perform. Although their hourly rate may seem high, their expertise is worth every penny.

Mark C.

6/16/2011

It's great when you find such an honest and experienced electrician. Thomas is great and only does the work that needs to be done.

Harry Z.

08/01/2013 12:00:00 SA

Tom installed a 240v wall outlet for my new Tesla. It's a great experience. Quick response, estimated on the same day I called, and installation done the next morning. Reasonable price. Excellent service!

Calvin C.

4/29/2014

Very high quality job without shortcuts. Not the least expensive quote that I received, but I'm glad I chose them.

Julia M.

06/01/2013 12:00:00 SA

I was referred to Tom after my electrical problem was too complicated for my amazing handy-man. Tom had someone out to check out the problem on the same day, and my problem was fixed in 2 hours. I was not expecting such quick and efficient service. I would recommend O'Connor & Sons.

Aude I.

3/24/2011

Tom came to our house today because our dryer wasn't working. He was on time and really easy to deal with. He knew exactly what was going on. Great humor too! We will definitely use him again if we need to.

Bug B.

12/11/2012 12:00:00 SA

Tom O'Connor helped me with an electric issue at my home recently. He was thorough, prompt and resourceful. He is also very knowledgeable about all matters electric. He has a sense of humor and takes pride in his work. I am very satisfied and strongly recommend him.

Josh A.

01/08/2014 12:00:00 SA

Tom is a superb electrician. Prompt and courteous service, great sense of humor, and no B.S. Tom and his colleague Julian just completed an installation of an EV charger on our house. It works great. Enough said!

Brian W.

8/26/2009

We had a problem with our lights not turning on and low voltage on a number of wall sockets. He came out the morning we called and fixed the problem. Very friendly and good service. Thanks!

Marcia L.

11/29/2010

I had a very good experience with O'Connor $ Sons Electric. They installed some track lights in my home. Tom told me exactly what to buy, then his partner came in and did the installation. Both are very good guys and know their work inside and out, The work is not cheap, but you are assured that it's done properly. I do recommend them for any electrical work you need.

K. S.

10/31/2013

WOW! I called at 9:30 and by 10:45 my wired in smoke detectors were fixed! Best part of all, the conversation I had with Tom was the highlight of my morning. Such a nice guy who knows what he's doing and will shoot you straight with the cost. I would definitely recommend him and will definitely keep his card for future needs. Thank you Tom!

Vipul V.

6/13/2011

I've used Tom and his team for a variety of work. Most recently I wanted to add flood lighting around my home for security. Tom promptly got me an estimate and scheduled time for Julian to some out and put up the lights. Julian did the work in half the estimated time and came in under budget. The work was superb. I had an idea of how the lights should be put up, but with their experience they put up the fixtures in such a way that you can hardly tell they are there. Much better than I had planned or envisioned. All around great stuff. I keep going back to these guys because the work is extremely professional, they don't cut corners, and they do the job right.

Sondra G.

8/14/2012

We called Tom last night when half the lights in our house went out and we were unable to restore power. Although we had never met him before, he came right out in this emergency, diagnosed the problem quickly (which was with the city utility line coming in to our house), and helped us contact the city utility repair guys. He was friendly, knowledgeable, and reasonably priced. We would definitely recommend him.

Anne K.

1/21/2013

I found O'Connor and Son's Electric on Yelp, and called to see if he could hook up a newly purchased hot tub for me. Tom was at my house within an hour. It was late on a Friday afternoon so he agreed to have the work done the following week. First thing Monday morning, Julian arrived and got the job done in half the time I was expecting. It was a pleasure to work with Tom and Julian, and will recommend them to my friends. When you browse O'Connor & Son's Yelp page be sure to click the link to his filtered reviews at the bottom, where you will find 80+ 5-star ratings.

Ellen P.

2/15/2013

Tom loves his job as an electrician and is confident (but not at all arrogant) in his knowledge and skill in the trade. He readily identified and repaired an electrical problem that we had in our kitchen, and also provided helpful advice on a lighting issue in our living room. I especially appreciate the fact that his advice was to use an option that would be substantially less expensive for us, thereby entailing less profit for him. Other perks are that Tom responds promptly to messages (I sent him an email early this morning describing our electrical problem; within a few hours, he had left me a voicemail and emailed me back), shows up on time, and has some good stories to tell while he's working. I'll definitely call him again the next time we need electrical work in our house.

Lisa H.

12/20/2011

We recently had an electric charger installed for our electric car through a company that Nissan recommended. They did a fine job but when the electrical inspector came out to inspect the installation, she found several things wrong in work that we had done previously when we remodeled our house. With a 10-day notice to make the repairs or have our electrical service disconnected, we called Tom to come over and fix the mess. He came over that same day, figured out what needed to be done and sent Julian over to rewire the subpanel in the garage. From a jumbled mess of wires, Julian created a work of art, everything in place and labeled. More importantly, by the next week, Tom had coordinated the city inspector and the city utilities to come out, discuss what needed to be done, turn off the utilities, re-string the wires from the utility pole to the house, turn the utilities back on and had everything inspected and signed off in a single day. Very efficient, very competent and he has a lovely Irish accent to boot :)

Scott T.

05/02/2012 12:00:00 SA

Tom might be the last honest man in the electrical contracting business. We had a problem with lights and receptacles shorting out and flickering. We called Tom as one of a number of local contractors because he was in the area doing a job just down the street. Within 10 minutes he had arrived at the door, coffee in hand and proceeded to diagnose the problem as soon as he opened the panel and observed the shoddy work performed by another electrical contractor several years ago. He immediately told us what to do, we got a permit within an hour and he had parts on his truck. From start to finish it took less than 3 hours and we were back up and the house was running again. Since I work from home with clients overseas and also take online classes it was imperative that I had access to the Internet. I highly recommend O'Connor & Son's Electric. They are friendly, professional, and responsive. If they are not immediately available, wait for them to be available! You will be glad you did. BTW, they came in 20% below the estimate.