Varnell Electrical Contracting

In a word ...  Oh my THANK YOU LORD for Varnell Electric!  Yes, I know, but there are not enough words to express my sincere gratitude to Varnell Electric .  Chad for answering the phone LATE in the evening and Kenneth for his understanding, patience, thorough explanation and EXPERTISE!

My story:  Adding 1 (with Steam Shower Generator 12V) +  1/2 Bath.  GC's Master Electrician, no showed.  Went AWOL.  That same evening I was shoving in additional  sound insulation and WAS SHOCKED by a buried LIVE WIRE.  Holy poop.    I completely lost all confidence in GC's Electrician.  Drywall was scheduled to come in the AM!  R U KIDDING ME?!?!?  I was just ZAPPED.   GC had no answers.

Called Varnell at 7:30 pm ... fortunately/unfortunately Chad (the OWNER) answered the phone after pulling a 14 hour day .... WOW.   Chad, although exhausted, listened to my panic attack, and said he would have someone out first thing in the am.  Really?  Who does this?  Nice talk.  And ...  Is someone really going to show?  Then there's Kenneth in the am ... WOW.  (I know I made someone unhappy but THANK YOU!!!!)

I have used Varnell in the past (highly recommended by Glass Well Pump Guys)  OK, Varnell is $$$ - BUT WORTH EVERY PENNY.  On paper (they generated on-the-spot email quote - super professional, with ruggedized tablets) they are 30% higher.  But the job is done RIGHT.  NO RE-Dos.  You can sleep.  What is $1000 compared to $700 the other guy will charge?  AND, Varnell (Kenneth - specifically) will take longer, be MORE thorough, and tell you exactly why the code is how it should be.  Point out (nicely and humbly) how the other guy didn't do it that way, and CORRECT IT so you can sleep.  Don't skimp on electrical and pulling a 220V or any 20V or 15V.  My job looked like spaghetti and COMPELETLY WRONG!!!!

I am beyond grateful and will NEVER go anywhere else.  THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!!

We have used Kenneth for several electrical projects over the years and every time we would give him an A++. We installed a back up generator system after the great freeze & we got to test drive it during this years snowstorm. Everything worked perfectly. For all of your electrical needs this is the place to go! It's so great to have a local treasure.

We were very happy with Kenneth and Justin. The work they did for us ( outside outlets and ceiling fans ) were installed professionally and with such quality.  Kenneth gave us great ideas and suggestions.  My husband and I are very happy with the service they gave us.  Professional and reasonable!!

My wife and I have hired Varnell Electrical for two projects at our house in Austin.  From start to finish the team at Varnell was extremely professional, knowledgeable, and friendly.  Highly recommended.  Chad and his team did a great job.

Chad and his team are professional, they leave your property spotless and do excellent quality work.

Great guy.  Work ethic and customer service are top notch.  Highly recommend Chad for all your projects.

I am sure that Chad knows what he is doing as an electrician.... but in our experience he is very willing to take advantage of unsuspecting customers by charging outrageous prices for his work. He is a good talker and used fear as a tool to land the job.

We needed to close out an old permit on our pool from the previous owner. It was kind of a mess with the city and he used that to his advantage by quoting us $1000 to run some ground wire and change out a breaker to GFCI. Needless to say we felt pressure to get it done with him, we reluctantly gave him a check and he would come back the next day to do the job. After he left we just felt icky for hours, troubled by his demeanor and the fact that his prices seemed really high. We felt like we had been conned and put a stop payment on the check we gave him.

After further research and hiring another master electrician our fears were confirmed... we paid $250 and got the permit cleared up.

Chad kept calling us demanding a service call fee of $125 for doing NOTHING but wasting our time and trying to take advantage of us. We finally paid him to make him go away.

BEWARE!

I had Varnel electronic come out to my property to dig 100 yard trend to wire up a couple of out building was amazed how fast he was able get it done a little more rock than we were expecting but he did not change the price and the quality was excellent.
Chad is the most knowledgeable electricians I have ever dealt with..

I used Chad Varnell at the recommendation of my well company.  He did trenching for the well piping as well as the electrical hookups to the well pumps.  He also made some recommendations to improve the electrical service at our pole, which he feels is unsafe (and he is probably right about that).  Like other reviews here, I believe that he does quality work, which is likely why my well guy recommended him.

However, he was really rude.  I spent 20 minutes on the phone with my well guy, letting him know exactly where to dig the trenches and run the pipe so as to avoid damaging the septic.  Although the well guy was onsite and knew where I wanted him to go, Chad decided to approach my brother, who is mentally ill.  You have to decide right now, and if you tell me wrong and I cut something, that is your problem and will be repaired at your expense.

We asked him to drive around the back of the property and up the west side to leave, so as not to tear up the front yard with his heavy equipment.  He replied, no, I am going out the front.  We repeated and said, no, you will go the same way everyone else goes, along the back and up the west side to get to the gate.  He said, no, I am going up the front.  We told him a third time that this was not a friendly request, but our expectation of him as the property owners and him being a contractor.

When he left, he drove right across the front yard, as he said he would, and like we had asked him not to do three times.  Not only that, but his tread marks wander around the front yard as if he was trying to drive over as much of it as he possibly could.  

Then, when he got back to a computer, he submitted a bid for additional work on our property.  Why would we ever hire back someone who is so disrespectful of our property and who ignores our wishes as the customer.  

His prices are very high, as reflected by other reviewers here as well.  The well company told me that he charges more than others, but for the quality of work he provides, it is worth paying more.  I have already received another bid from a Georgetown electrician that is about half the cost of his bid, and that company gets great reviews on yelp.

If you have tried every other electrician in the metro area, and Chad is the only one available, know that he will do good work.  He will also charge twice what others will charge and treat you poorly while he does it.  He really should take a class in customer service.

Chad may do good work but when he showed up to give us a bid for a project at my home I got an extremely high bid for the very minimal work to be done, according to a home inspector and a home builder.  I live in a nice home in an upscale community and I don't like getting ripped with a high bid for the same work that would be done in another residential; neighborhood for less money.

I decided to seek a bid from another electrician.   I ended up hiring the second electrician- Craig Dunman, also a Master Electrician (512-523-5007), and he did the job for 60% less than Chad's outrageous bid. I got a great result and great work.  Craig Dunmam also replaced a burned out GFI switch and checked a problem we had with a can light in our kitchen, at no extra cost!!

I live in a very nice home in a gated neighborhood but I work hard for my money and I do not appreciate those who raise their bids when they drive into your neighborhood- thinking they can nail you because you have money.   As a former blue collar worked (truck driver, construction worker, etc.) I don't take kindly to people who give me an unreasonably high bid for basic work just because I live in a upscale home in an upscale subdivision.

I will never hire Varnell Electric. If he had given me a realistic bid he would have had our business. Very short-sighted way of doing business. I will NEVER recommend him and will NEVER use him. Use Craig Dunman- local man with great ethics and work.

I've used Varnell Electric for any electrical issue arising in clients' pools. I've also felt confident referring Varnell to clients with electrical contracting beyond the scope of their swimming pool. I appreciate the professionalism, start to finish. Phones answered promptly, messages acknowledged, phone calls returned, I asked they fax a copy if a receipt to a client they were polite & it was done immediately! The work  delivered is sharp & tidy - & the quality of the repairs/installations were done to specification & to date never failed. Highly, highly recommend!

We have used Varnell Electric to service our small fabrication business for several years now. Recently we constructed a new building and Kenneth was a pleasure to work with. He was very knowledgeable, and courteous. We are pleased with their quality.

If you need electrical work, call Varnell Electrical. Chad came out promptly on New Year's day to fix a major issue. He made the fix and came out 2 days later for some other work we needed taken care of. He was thorough in his explanation of things and very helpful. Plus, it was a pleasure to work such a friendly guy! Keep your business local and call these guys!

Worked with Kenneth at Varnell Electric on some home improvement projects and he not only does great work but he worked with us to get the most out of his service call. Made suggestions, provided coaching, worked very well with my Wife, and actually saved us money on items we thought we needed and didn't. Gets our highest recommendation and certainly intend to work with Varnell and Kenneth again. Thank you so much for the great work.

I did some of my own electrical work, not really knowing much about code.  I wanted to have a Master Electrician double check my work so I called Varnell Electric.
I only called him because i wanted to support those businesses that sponsor our local youth program in Dripping Springs.  I saw the advertisement on the scoreboard and on some jerseys too.
Chad came out and identified a number of potential concerns, not just potential code violations but significant risks that could cause a fire.  I had no idea some of the things i have been doing for years was completely wrong, eventhough i used a book from Home Depot.
His rate may be a bit above average, but you get what you pay for.  I certainly don't mind paying for valuable experience and knowledge, especially when a company is giving back towards the community baseball program.

We were without water for days and thought maybe it was an electrical issue. Varnell Electric came out and fixed it. The well company said they had to have him come back out and fix it because it wasn't in fact fixed. Okay, things happen, maybe something got tripped. We were thrilled to have water again, and went to bed excited for a hot shower the next morning. The following morning, our water wasn't working again. We wanted to make sure it wasn't an electrical issue with the well pump to so we asked Chad to come back only to check his electrical work. My husband and I were both at work, so we weren't there to supervise Chad (totally didn't think we would need to, he's a nice guy.) He came out to our house, checked his work, but then proceeded to troubleshoot. He did not call us to ask if we would like him to proceed, he just did it. He decided to check the water filters (something we do all the time, and the job of the well company - not the electrician). He diagnosed the problem as something with the filters (again, something we did not want him to do, the well company would have charged significantly less). He charged us $250 for this trip where we really just wanted him to check his work... Not go ahead and continue to troubleshoot and charge us for that on top of what we had already paid him the first time.

My advice: make sure you know exactly what he will be doing for you, get a quote, and ask him not to go above and beyond without letting you know and giving you the option to decline that.

I called Varnell Electric to come out after hours to fix a lighting issue in my house. He came out with in two hours and fixed the wiring issue. Lights work great! Said if there were any other problems to call and he would come back out. Very reasonable and explained to me the work he did. Chad was really great to work with and i will call him for any other issues i have.

Varnell Electrical Contracting has done electrical work on several occasions at my house, and at my parents' home as well.  The owner of the company, Chad Varnell is likeable, honest and extremely reliable.  I live in a a home built in the 1950's, with sometimes sketchy wiring, and I have always trusted Chad's recommendations regarding which should be replaced and which can safely remain.  They show up when they say they are going to, leave the place cleaner than when they got there, and are good guys, to boot.  Their pricing is reasonable, and I highly recommend Varnell Electrical to anyone.

Chad is wonderful!  I would never hesitate to use him again, and I definitely will.  He is honest and reliable, just a delight.  Takes great pride in his work.

Highly recommend him!

His quote was too high and told us that our wiring was unsafe and had to be replaced.  We had another electrician come out and he did all the work for a 1/4 of his quote and said that our current wiring was not unsafe but due to digging it up at Varnell's request it got damaged and had to be replaced anyway so Varnell cost us $500 that didn't have to be done. He was also SO RUDE .