Universal Electric Supply Co

After time spent in big box hardware stores, the service and inventory of a local shop can't be beat. The service is helpful and hands-on, and they have a great selection.

Shockingly unhelpful. Brought in a circular bulb that needed replacing and the man said he'd check to see if they had it. He says they're sold out and the size I need is nonstandard. He hands the bulb back and starts to walk away. Um, will you get more? He doesn't know. Is there a brand I should look for? He doesn't know. Then he starts throwing out these electrical terms that I need to be sure to look out for and I've got no idea what he's talking about. When I ask he doesn't want to explain and ultimately says I should just replace the whole light fixture and gestures toward the back of the store with stacks of boxes. Um where? I spent about a min looking. Everything was generic and impossible to know what you're really looking at so I left.

They had most things you'll need electrically there. That's when it's not at White cap construction supply or Home Depot.
Thanks!

One stop shop and very helpful.. excellent help all the times, my favorite supply house by far, although some off brand stuff at times

You know. They got everything. And are out of stock on it from time to time. But what's great is, bring you old bulb, show it to any employee, and they will know exactly what it is and where to find it in the shop. Also they can recycle your old CFLs here for free (there's a box in the warehouse). Yay!

Wow great selection of electric parts . I have this commercial light bulb  . I have a hard time finding this bulb at Home depo and Lowe's . This fluorescent light bulb had this base that usually  you need to pay attention to it. Brought my broken light bulb and he clerk new exactly what I needed. Supper service

One of the best places to go for any electrical needs ,the staff is very friendly and super helpful I go here almost every other day for work supplies I would highly recommend anyone looking for any electrical material from lights to wires to check this place out first

Excellent customer service, good prices,  and huge selection! Definitely recommend this place for all your electrical needs.

if you need basic a$$ stuff fine

they are basically lazy
will not research anything for you
and only want to sell what is in stock

ALSO NO REFUNDS only store credit so heads up on that

Went in with fixture - had part number - dude said part number did not mean anything (to his dumb a$$ sure) and the part no longer exist

went to CITY LIGHTS - he researched part number - they had it IN STOCK purchased moved on

3 wasted trips to Universal - they will sell you whatever they have - guessing maybe it will or won't work - then you get a dumb store credit

when they know they probably sold you they wrong thing

shameful

Fast. Affordable. Good stock. Customer oriented business. Parking. Convenient location. Many pros around this place all day long.

They don't do returns. About all they are good at is wasting your employee's time. person that answered the phone knew nothing. They said send your guy over and tell him to ask for Terrence. Terrence was busy with 4 customers he is helping now 8:30 AM. I said I will send guy but have Terrence call me so my guy knows what to buy. Terrence never calls. Finally an hour later a woman calls instead of Terrence. Because of the poor service I was going to go ahead and just order from Amazon Prime but my guy misunderstood and went there anyway. He asked for Terrence but Terrence was too busy to help him. The guy who helped him showed him a package of two and said they are $1.79 so I said go ahead and get them. Then he calls me and says they were $1.79 each. When they rang him up he was charged $1.79 each.

I can buy From Amazon Prime for $0.43 each with free shipping and no tax for 20 of these and no tax and have it delivered to me. So Universal wants me to pay 4.33 times as much as I can get on internet. For that they should provide better service.

Why have someone answer your phone that can't help? They need to fire that person and hire more Terrences.

They have a lot of good stuff easy to get parking and different varieties if you need a different colors of the wires the prices are comparable two other suppliers which is good located in the good area easy to access.
The only negative thing is if you buy stuff that you're not sure you're going to need the only return would be as a store credit and it cannot be go back to your credit card.
Overall to have a lot of tools in stock that the electrician need like a Greenlee or Klein tool or any major electrical brand.
Overall during the business hours when they are very busy in my opinion they do not have enough stuff so you have to wait at least 30 minutes to get your order placed

UES is our go-to electrical vendor. Winnie is the best - very competent, very knowledgeable, and takes great care of her clients.

Very competitive prices, especially if you have a larger order. Great stock on hand. They sell rough electrical equipment such as wires, boxes, etc. They also sell specialty and custom light cans and fixtures from all the designer-spec'd brands. Well organized. Very competent staff.

If you're impatient and looking for yes-man customer service and naive smiley faces, this is not the place for you. Great electrical wholesale shop with straight forward people.

We went down there recently about 15 minutes to closing time, and the person we met was very helpful in discussing our needs, and in explaining the different kinds of recessed lighting that we are looking into. They have a good sized showroom and a zillion kinds of recessed lighting trims on display.

Amazingly, they were in no rush to kick us out even 20 minutes past closing time.  And no, we weren't even buying anything yet.  High rollers we are not, but we will be back..  

Parking?  Plenty of off-street parking in their HUGE facility.  No need to park on the street.

If you have questions or need help with making a decision then go elsewhere.  If you want to be talked down to by unhelpful staff then this is the place to go.

Worse place ever, be really careful when you decide to go their cause first of all they are a lot more expensive than anybody else, employees are really rude. And they don't do any return, your lucky if you get an exchange or store credit.

Universal is the best electrical supply house in San Francisco, without exception.
They are totally no nonsense professionals and they have come up with amazing stock and inventory when I really needed it.
they have never let me down.
Terrance, Winnie, everybody at the front counter
I cannot recommend them highly enough.

Universal electric supply, my favorite store.

I used Universal to order my decorative lights in my home that I was remodeling.  I also ordered the recessed lights from them as well. Winnie was extremely helpful in getting me quotes for the different lights I wanted to inquire about.  I actually called at least 5 other places for quotes on the same lights and Universal was BY FAR the cheapest bid.  
After I placed the light order Winnie kept me updated when they would arrive, etc. My husband actually went to the shop to pick up the recessed lights and Winnie was very helpful pulling on those lights for me (as he has not knowledge at all about lights, ha).  They don't allow you to return custom ordered lights as one of our lights didn't fit when we got it in... but that was totally our fault for not measuring the space before we ordered it, not theirs. Just FYI :). Use them, they will save you money!

The selection of recessed lighting on display here is HUGE.  There must be 75+ models on display.  This is important - you don't want to choose lights based on pictures in a catalogue.  I don't know about any of the other sales people, but WINNIE was awesome - friendly, efficient, and extremely knowledgable.  She took the time and effort to ask the right questions, suggest a few models that met my needs, explain the differences and help me select the right model for our home.  Thank you!

Very helpful. I went in to replace a part for a under-cabinet light fixture and they found an updated replacement and gave me instructions for how to install it (since it had fewer wires than the original). Works great!

We went there looking for recessed lights. They had some LED retrofits, but they were strewn around the warehouse in seemingly random locations, with none of them on display in the showroom. They also did not seem to have any standalone trim pieces. The guy in the warehouse was practically rolling his eyes in annoyance that I would even dare to ask him a question about where to find something. He tried to pawn me off to the lighting department, but there was only one associate working there, and she couldn't be troubled to give me the time of day either.

Nothing but shitty customer service from a shitty business. Next time I'll shop someplace else.

Robin Greene is the worst lighting sales rep ever.  She's nice and helpful when you talk with her face to face, but getting her to follow up is next to impossible.  She never emails or calls  back when you try to follow up on your order.  Good luck trying to get her on the phone or get her to even respond.  She disappears into a black hole once the order is placed or once you try to get a price quote.  I called and emailed several times asking if the order I placed came in.  She never responded.  I finally showed up onsite and it was sitting there for a week and I needed it a week earlier.  They said they would call when the order came in but that never happened.  She just doesn't care and is a huge waste of space in the massive showroom. You'll know what I mean when you see her.

I also don't like their prices.  They originally didn't give me contractor prices even when I placed a large order and asked for contractor prices.  They finally gave me contractor pricing and even then, it's higher than other electric supply stores.  I ended up going to service lighting bay area in Daly City.  It's a one man shop but the service and prices are much better than universal electric supply.  I'm never going back to UES ever again.

I was recommended by my electrician to check out this place after I visited Lamps Plus. I was able to get comparable product (track lighting system) for much cheaper. It's obvious that they cater to a predominantly contractor/electrician clientele but if you know what you're looking for and did your research, their in-house lighting experts are easy to work with.

Let's make it clear, this place overall gets 3-4 stars (and I will elaborate why) but the reason why my wife and I loved our experience there was due to the exceptional service provided by the showroom salesperson Winnie.  Good service for me is really the icing on the cake and you just simply do not see it anymore in today's world.  When you do experience it you really want to call it out.

We were doing a remodeling project and our contractor recommended that we visit this place since we wanted nicer, more unique (higher end) lights than what you would find in say Home Depot or Lowe's.  Hey, we ain't putting fuzzy dice in a ferrari ok?

Anyways, my wife and I were skeptical coming in as the place looked like a typical warehouse store in the south of market area.  The place was fairly busy which was a good sign and it did appear that a lot of asian contractors were in there.  We managed to find our way to the showroom out front.  Talk about your proverbial light at the end of the tunnel.  The salesperson there named Winnie was absolutely wonderful and she immediately put my wife and I at ease!!! My wife is rather picky and while we really did take an exorbitant amount of Winnie's time she nevertheless was extremely helpful in showing us all of the lights that would meet our needs.    Winnie was not pushy as you might expect sales people to be, especially presumably ones working on commission.  Winnie certainly knew what she was doing since she closed the deal with us on a fairly expensive light fixture.  

We will certainly come back here for future remodeling projects that require lighting and look for Winnie.  Thanks a bunch, Winnie!!!!

In conclusion:

Establishment - 3 to 4 stars

1) return policy is store credit only - no cash.  Just be clear as to what you need by doing your research online but buy it here since you can see and touch what you are buying and the pricing (at least from our experience) was very good.
2) not open on Sundays, like Home Depot and Lowe's. (hey we work too during the week to pay for these things)
3)  does have onsite free parking

Winnie - 5 big stars

1)  very attentive and helpful
2)  not pushy
3)  frankly, pretty darn easy on the eyes too (maybe that is why so many asian contractors were in there). nosey wife found out she was taken though.
4)  apparently fluent in a number of chinese dialects (again, probably why so many asians were in there)

Recently I was referred to Universal by Discount Builders Supply.  I needed a specific electrical component for a specific application and I was told they had everything.

They may have everything but with the poor customer service I had I could not even tell if they had what I needed in stock.  My questions went unanswered and contacting them for information was a waste of my time.

I worked around my problem after they left me hanging.  Perhaps their showroom is great, their parts department is certainly amongst the worst...

We recently started some remodeling and are changing the track lighting to the thin recessed lighting. At first we didn't order enough and really needed to get more as soon as possible   Winnie is AWESOME.  She took care of it and by the next weekend, our electrician haf the lights in hand and installed them. She is super helpful and always returns emails and calls. We will always go to her for any lighting needs that we have in the future.

don't hate in 08. Seriously.
Maybe I'm still amazed by the 50c a piece can light trim I got - where most shops had told me that I'd spend 20 to 50 bucks a piece. Or maybe it's the huge selection of everything... or maybe it's that I'm Italian and my country is not really known for customer service. I dunno what it is, but I loved this place. it's huge, the prices are awesome, the guys that work there know their shit - albeit being a bit short in dealing with you. This is, for sure, my favorite electrical supply store in the city...

This is not a place for Do It Yourselfers. You will be hit or miss. Depends on how busy they are. They will help you. But if you cant talk the construction language. You will feel like you're been hated.
Okay. UES has lots of tools and electrical materials at a pretty good price. Workers there have pretty good knowledge of current codes and regulations. Try asking a homedepot or lowes worker. Lol.
Gave them 5 stars because they always came through for me. Lol. Lucky me.

This place is pretty good.  There service isn't bad.  They mainly serve to constructors and large companies.  I recommend going in the afternoon when there are less construction workers, you will get better service then.  If you go there, ask for Owen or Oscar.  They are exceptional in customer service.  They have one of the largest light selections in San Francisco.  And they don't sell those cheapy lights made in China where other companies try to pawn off to you for the same price.  These lights are quality.  I've bought lights from them over the years and they never seem to fail me. They have plenty of parking and extremely large warehouse.  

I would definitely continue to shop there.

Since I was shopping for some unique drop lights for my restaurant soon to open, searching around the city without much luck, my contractor refer me to Universal RSC.  WOW, this warehouse has HUGE selection of lighting and electrical supplies !

The lighting expert Winnie was very helpful for someone that has limited knowledge,  I can be very picky sometimes, a good set of fixture is very important for my restaurant image.  She was being very patience showing us around the showrooms and finally we ended up with the same set I saw at another store, but for $200 less for a set of 4!  Happy Customer! Thank you!

Other staffs are also very helpful and usually with good knowledge for what you need. They do close at 5 on weekdays I wish they push back for one hour.

Universal is right off the freeway, very convenient for everyone, plenty of parking too, a big plus for the city well known for expensive meters and limited parking you know.

I ended up returning a few times for more lighting and electrical supplies.
I will definitely recommend this place to everyone.

Recently at my house I've needed to replace a weird small halogen bulb and a fluorescent tube lamp. Plus I needed to get many dual lamp socket  adapters for a project. This place has a wide selection of obscure bulbs and adapters, plus they will accept burnt-out fluorescent tubes and CFLs for safe disposal or recycling.

Prices are close to the rock-bottom that you see from online retailers. Selection is good, they have plenty of parking, and they are open on Saturdays. Don't expect particularly friendly service and you won't be disappointed. They will answer your questions when they have time for you, and you will walk away with what you need.

This place has everything! I met with Winnie and couldn't be happier I did. She is very helpful and courteous and replied promptly to my emails. Thanks Winnie!

Miguel.

I got a recommendation from my friend Ray, bought 2 20 pack of n95 mask due to recent event of the forest fire. They were very polite and courteous. They showed me all the selection of masks. Didn't have any issues at all :)

I am a electrical contractor.  I have to say that I have had enough problems with them. when ordering lights they do not call the manufacture to see if there is a backorder, you find out at the last minute when you go to pick up the lights.  and when they make a mistake , you the customer end up with the short end of the stick. The guys at the counter are consistently rude and they treat you like a thief by rummaging through your basket when you leave. Avoid at all cost!!!

Be aware that this company favors contractors who tend to make larger purchases.  Was with my 88 year old mother who needed one light bulb which had been retrieved for her by an employee.  Contractors who walked in after her were helped first by the counter help even though she spoke up and said she was there first. They only invoiced the purchase after she said she couldn't stand any longer.

I called and had a simple question.  I admit I am not a contractor, not that I find them overly knowledgable, however I did do my research and asked for a specific electrical item.  The person on the phone had even less knowledge than I did and was of no help, actually told me to take a ceiling fixture out of the ceiling and bring it in!.  So  I went down to the store, showed them a picture of the item I wanted, even gave them the manufacturers part number and description and they still could not help me.  They kept insisting they had to see the fixture.  So, went on line, ordered the part from a third party supplier, it worked, to make a long story short.....never again.

I called to ask for a part and immediately felt like I called a poor persons home in the getto. Could barely understand what they were saying, except HUH? OH  HUH??

didnt sound like a professional business and will scratch them off my list

scary story. years ago I bought a lamp which I returned the next day because once it was in my apartment it didn't look right with the furniture. I returned the lamp and they were suppose to process my refund but they never did I ended up going there several times and being moved from one department to the next and calling multiple times chasing my refund and they would put me on hold and purposely hang up on me. this place is run by a bunch of people who are completely unethical and shady. I eventually had to call my credit card company and report that transaction as a fraud and I called the store and told them that I had reported them for fraud. NEVER SHOP HERE.

I'm only reviewing their electrical supplies.  I don't venture into the showroom or buy fixtures here, just components.  That said, I used to go to B&K but there began a trend of them not having what I needed and Universal always did.  Fair prices, helpful sales staff (don't expect smiles or...um...words from the cashier though).  Half the time I need to tell someone what I need and they'll retrieve it, but it's better than wandering through the maze.  One drawback of having everything is that it can be difficult to find the ONE that you need.

It's better than driving all the way to one of the big box stores outside of San Francisco. However with that said there's comparable service and materials at your disposal at this warehouse style Electrical supply store. If there's some part or some random item that a client requires I send them to Universal for the sake of proximity. Don't call, just go there, you'll be on hold until the end of time and you'll have much better luck in person at the counter.

Slow, not knowledgable, seldom friendly. Need I say more.

This is a serious store for serious people looking for electric supplies. The selection is enormous, and if you have done your homework *before* coming to the store, then you will understand them and they will understand you. Pricing is excellent, and at least for me, the customer experience was great.

I ventured into this place today and really felt like a fish out of water.  However, I did have a gentleman do an extremely wonderful job at helping me make decisions about new overhead lighting that my electrician is putting in my condo.  There was a minor language barrier but we easily got past that and got down to business.   I must say that I was well pleased with my overall experience.

I am an architect and I unfortunately sent my client here to buy thousands of dollars of fixtures.  When we returned products to them at the end of the project we never got a credit.  Even though we accepted that we will be charged restocking charge, we never saw any credit for any of the items.  The customer service here is non-existent.  So when things go wrong, and something always do go wrong in buying products for construction,  don't even bother asking them to fix it.  Since as I said,  they do not have customer service mentality.

I am round two of my renovations and will say that Winnie has been a great help!  She was very resourceful and stayed in touch with me on all of my orders.  She has great suggestions along with just a really nice person to work with!

Firstly, customer service is nil. Unless you are a contractor (or look like one), they won't even blink an eye at you. I went there knowing what i was gonna buy, and brought my HomeDepot printout. A case of these CFL BR30 bulbs at Home Depot is $53.82. We were planning on being South of Market, so I thought I'd save the drive time and hit Universal Electric instead. As I mentioned, customer service is uh..non existent. Their staff is Chinese and as for their Electrician knowledge, I'd assume they don't know anything too. I managed to corner one after standing at the Customer service counter for 5 minutes and wandering around for another 10. Anyway, I had the cornered staff member first direct me to where I could find my bulbs, then to get a price as there are no prices listed with the items. He came back with a price of $16 or something like that for a single bulb!! Lets see, $16 for a single bulb or $53.82 for 12. You do the math. I sincerely hope that that was the actual price and not my special price since I had my 4 year old daughter with me.

You'd better know what you want before going in this place because they can only take orders, don't expect any advice. They don't know meaning of the term customer service.  And BTW don't ever consider calling the Show Room, you will be sent to voice mail box or put on hold and cut off.  If you like frustration you'll love this place.

This place is great ONLY if you are an electrical contractor, because nothing can be returned except for an exchange or for store credit.  I tried to buy a light fixture for my deck, but they were out of stock.  I tried to buy a floor lamp, but they were back ordered.  After THREE full months, I still haven't received the floor lamp.  So, now I'm stuck with the store credit and no lamp.  It's a rotten way to do business.

Aside for the language barrier, I think they cater to professional contractors, because on Saturday mid-day, they apparently had bigger fish to fry.  If you know what you want they may be able to get it, but don't ask these guys for advice on (option A. vs. option B.) as each salesperson will contradict the next, I think that even the store manager has his store's agenda in mind when suggesting what to get, not will work better for the customer. It's a good thing the gulags gave me a thicker skin to simply ignore bad service.

Now that my bathroom remodeling is done, I can stand back and admire all of the lighting that Winnie helped me to select.  Thank you, Winnie, for all of your help! The lights are beautiful, and I am especially grateful that you found alternative lights for me (that are just as beautiful as my original selection) when I found out my original selection was on backorder from the manufacturer for a couple of months (big no-no for contractors who are waiting).  I also appreciate how reasonably priced everything is! I was going to order a lamp on-line thinking it would be cheaper, but my jaw dropped when I checked with Winnie, and she quoted me 1/2 the price!!!!

I don't know about the showroom, but in the supply section I had to chase down unfriendly staff for questions, there were no prices on the goods (you have to bring them to the counter, wtf!) and the $2 item I needed was priced at $11 (heat shrink tubing).  Not sure how they stay in business.  Not going back.

Communication is tough, but the staff value customers and are helpful.

this place has a wide variety of household electric supplies and materials. the service is good and the people are very friendly. great place to create working relationships if you are a contractor or work in construction or electrical.

Seriously, this place has it all and at great prices. Yeah, the store credit issue is a pain, but do your homework before you go. Another  issue is that they don't have price tags on the shelves.  C'mon guys, we want to know what it costs upfront without having to ask you.

Well I don't necessarily agree nor disagree with some of the comments made previously.  Some of them were a bit racist and drastic.  If you have no clue at what you're doing, then this place may be a whole new world to you because this is a wholesale store so they do cater to contractors and large buyers more.  Yea the salespeople do have accents but they still speak English.  And there are white salespeople there if you really want to talk to a white person.  Most of them know what they are talking about but sometimes you just have to be patient.  It all depends on what time of day you go in.  I  recommend going in at the later afternoon 2 to 4 pm because if you go in early in the morning you get the morning rush of contractors picking up their supplies before work.  If you go in too late then they're closing and last minute contractors come in to get more supplies.  Lunch time is busy too.  I am a contractor myself and I find no problem with them.  

Some contractors can be crude and rude but don't generalize.  This not your day spa so don't expect being pampered.  If you want that, go to Bloomingdales or Nordstroms.

Cooter's comments are a bit extreme to be honest because if they are really that bad, they wouldn't be the largest Asian owned electric supply store in the city.  I've been to their San Jose store too and they are more slow paced there so you'll probably get more attention but expect the same sort of bustling.  

Overall i give it a four star because I get what I want and yea the accents can be annoying and it's not Nordstrom quality customer service but they get the job done.

I think the other reviewers are pretty much right on.  I know next to nothing about lighting, wiring, etc., but I knew the type of wall heater I wanted.  I wandered around a bit on my own, and couldn't find what I was looking for.  Fortunately I went mid-day, when it seemed relatively slow, and was helped by a friendly employee.  I got the heater I wanted at an excellent price.

It's a tricky place to get into, but once in, it's well worth it.  I was able to purchase fixture lighting and tracks for a reasonable price and they sell lighting you would not find anywhere else in San Francisco.  All of their products are guaranteed up to 14 days.