Owens Electric & Solar

Charles W.

Beware toxic. We had Mr. Owens install four [4] solar systems over past ten years. We were good customers. Now Mr. Owens is attempting to gouge us for unauthorized service work at $175 per hour. He left work unfinished and he will not return to finish job until we pay him $900. We have offered to pay the normal non-union rate of $75 per hour but he refuses. He has threatened to lien our house. Do not let him blackmail you!

Corin A.

The good: Owens was fast and effective. I called in the afternoon and the faulty circuit breaker was replaced before I was home. 5 stars.

The bad: less than a week later, Owens angry-called me wanting to know why ""I hadn't paid like I said I would."" -4 stars.

The angry follow-up based on the unrealistic expectation of speed of payment is a really sour point. I did happen to post the payment for their services the very next day after their work, and if the check didn't reach their PO box it would, in fact, be the first lost letter I've sent from my house.

Mark B.

I've known and worked with Jeff Owens for over 10 years, related to installation and maintenance of 10Kw of solar panels on my Los Altos home. Jeff is the consummate professional, understands electrical systems in general and solar power generation in particular backwards and forwards, and is extremely responsive when service calls are required. I recommend Jeff and his company Owens Electric and Solar highly and without reservation for the installation or remodel of electrical and solar systems, large or small. I feel very lucky to have met Jeff and have worked with him on my Solar power system.

S V.

Buyer Beware!

I called up Jeff a few weeks ago to ask him about a solar installation job. Apparently some folks I know have used him in the past. I have called up a lot of companies with relation to a solar installation.

Here was Jeff's take- 2 minute call. He didn't ask me about my needs, nor did he ask me about the nature of my project. It was very simple for him. He quoted a $/kw that was almost twice what the next ""highest"" bid that I received was. He didn't inquire as to how simple or complex the project was. His numbers are off the charts. Folks who don't do their homework will get ripped off.
When I was trying to figure out what he total cost was (trying to calculate aloud), he cut me off and repeated his$/Kw price and said ""you do the math"" . I said your numbers seem high and he went ""thank you for your time"".

Essentially this comes across to me as someone who really doesn't care about the customer experience, care about his customers needs, nor is interested in doing a job unless he can make boatloads of margin on it. In my opinion, you are just a cash flow to him. I wish you the best of luck if you chose Owen's electric for your solar needs!

Randolph C.

Jeff Owens is the owner and electrician for this family-owned business and we need to support these types of businesses. He came out immediately to do the job of fixing my confusing light switch replacement. He was friendly, fast and fair. I highly recommend for any residential job you need.

Christine D.

We have an old house with an old fuse panel and sub-panel. When changing a fuse my husband broke one of the fuse sockets. He glued it back together (yes really) and all was well for a bit. Until probably the coldest night of the year when turning up the furnace and putting on some heat on a Friday night, everything blew, no lights, no heat, nothing! The next morning (Saturday..not the best day for contacting an electrician) I contacted a few electricians including Jeff Owens.

He was fabulous. Not only did he come out straight away, in answer to my pathetic pleas of how awful it was to be without electricity, but he actually fixed the old box!!! How cool is that. We were figuring we would need a complete redo requiring us to be without electricity for several days. And his price was SO reasonable, under $200. We do intend now to have a new panel installed (Jeff didn't even suggest that we do it) and Jeff is the only guy we would trust to do it; he has our business from now on out. He is polite, personable, honest and immediately generates trust.

My husband is a contractor and in the course of his business we have used the services of many contractors, Jeff is definitely one of the best!

Jen W.

I have used Owen's twice now. Once over the phone for help (they even texted me the answer to the problem with my sunny boy box) and the first time to fix a broken flange. It is very hard to find someone to look/fix my old solar system (2005). They are extremely pleasant and professional and I would highly recommend.

H P.

Jeff is the owner and he is very knowledgeable and helpful. I called him because our other electrician, A&E Electrical, had refused to come down to do what they deemed a minor job. We have now switched to Jeff and his company because of his professionalism.

Craig H.

In the end, my experience with Owens Electric & Solar was rather disappointing. (My disclaimer: Having dealt with numerous contractors over the years, I have found only a few respect your time, are honest, are willing to go the extra mile to ensure you are happy and are willing to negotiate the costs).
Jeff was initially responsive to a request to trouble shoot our solar system and helped deal with the tech support to figure out the problem. Since this ended up being a small job, I was basically told that these types of projects ""aren't really worth my time"". From there on out, our interactions we mainly by phone and I tried to negotiate for what seemed like a reasonable price to finish up the work. I may not appreciate what goes into running a small business but getting frustrated, hanging up on your customers and then refusing to take their calls just doesn't work. To top it all off, I found that he had ripped another company's stickers off the electrical box, threw that on the ground, put his sticker on the box and proceeded to throw the backing to his sticker on the ground as well. Zero professionalism. There are more professional electricians out there.

E S.

I had some small odd electrical problems and Jeff was more than happy to come out and fix them. It's great to have a tradesman that will also do small jobs and not just look for the big ones. Now I'm thinking of having him move a light switch and add an electrical socket on a wall that has been bugging me for years!