Stanford Electric Works

Aloe V.

I can't say enough good things about Ramon, the general manager at Stanford Electric Works. We recently had our kitchen remodel and the city where we live has serious and complicated lighting regulations which comprise of how much low energy light vs incandescent light allowed. I was totally frustrated with the codes. Ramon was of BIG help in coaching hubby and me on selecting light fixtures (which goes with what), which was a lenghthy, boring, frustrating, and somewhat hopeless exercice for some, including myself. Ramon's deep knowledge of the products, friendliness, and patience were what we needed. I gave his professionalism and integrity an A+++. I hope anyone who is facing my kind of issues gets Ramon at Stanford Electric so that you can get your problems solved.

Rob J.

Nice showroom. Nice people working there. Haven't purchased anything yet, but we'll see.

Edita D.

Prompt, courteous. Electrician arrived 15 minutes after I called them. He fixed the problem in about 10 minutes. I should have called them a long time ago. The ceiling light fixture had been broken for months.

Nancy N.

Our first experience with Stanford Electric Works was great!! Store representative, Ramon, really saved the day for us. Unfortunately we discovered that a bathroom light fixture in a rental home was missing (2) bulb covers. Ramon expedited calls to the manufacture and several representatives to source bulb replacements for this 10 year old fixture that we really liked. Time was running out as we had tenants moving in immediately. Ramon very thoughtfully sold us (2) bulb covers from the same light fixture he had in his own home while he waits to recover from the manufacture.
Now that IS service! Ramon, thank you! We'll be back.

Laura C.

We have been relying on Stanford Electric Works for years. I just visited their new showroom on San Antonio Circle, and was pleased to see that it provides more space for them to demonstrate their products. Both the staff in the store and the repair electricians are knowledgable and responsive. Our house was built in 1939, and they have never been phased by dealing with our quite dated electrical situation.

Sandy C.

A few weeks back we discovered that the ballasts in the light fixtures in our kitchen went bad. When Russ from Stanford Electric came, he explained that we had something special because we had florescent lights that actually dimmed. Since these ballasts were not in stock anywhere, Stanford Electric called the manufacturer and ordered them on our behalf. Though it took about three weeks, Russ came back to install them. He also told us if ever we were to update what some good options were to save energy and $! The great news is we were charged for the labor portion only. Would definitely use them again :)

anne c.

Bought a reasonably priced light fixture today from a clerk who was knowledgeable and tried to help me find an appropriate piece (rather than just an expensive piece). All in all a good experience.

Mike H.

Friendly, good selection of attractive lighting fixtures (mostly high-end stuff), surprisingly competitive prices, but a bit lacking in customer service...

Wanting to patronize a local business, and thinking it would be an advantage to deal with a local brick-and-mortar place (rather than an Internet retailer) should anything go wrong, we purchased a pretty expensive lamp sold by Stanford Electric... Lamp was not carried in stock -- not surprising, since the manufacturer (Hubbardton Forge) boasts of all ""hand-crafted"" products. So we put down our 50% deposit and placed the order at the end of September. (Plenty of time before Thanksgiving and the holidays -- so we thought...)

By mid-October I hadn't heard anything from Stanford Electric so I called; they contacted Hubbardton Forge and then called me back to say that HF was experiencing ""quality control problems"" and expected our lamp to take a couple more weeks, then another week to ship from Vermont to Palo Alto. (I began to worry about hosting Thanksgiving dinner in the dark...)

A week before Thanksgiving and still no word... Called to Stanford Electric requesting a status update -- they said they'd call the manufacturer. Stanford Electric calls me back to say that the lamp ""should be here by Thanksgiving""... (""Are you sure?"", I asked, ""because I would sure hate to ask my Thanksgiving guests to eat in the dark... Is there any way to push the manufacturer a bit?"" SE's reply: ""Should be here in time...""

On the Wednesday before Thanksgiving Day, still no word from either SE or manufacturer... I call SE in the morning and they say that they haven't heard anything, but will call the manufacture and then call me back. By 1pm Pacific Time, haven't heard back from SE, so I call Hubbardton Forge directly -- ""Any update on my lamp?"" After some runaround trying to determine the order number (I never got that info from Stanford Electric...), was finally told that my lamp had shipped a week earlier, and that FedEx tracking says it's on the truck for delivery that afternoon -- yay! (""By the way,"" I ask, ""did you get a call earlier today from Stanford Electric?"" Reply: ""Didn't talk to me -- but we log all our customer service calls, so perhaps they talked to someone else... Uh no -- nothing in our call log from Stanford Electric today.. (!!!)""

Long story short, I was able to pick up the lamp Wed afternoon and spent the night before Thanksgiving installing it. (Unfortunately, though I got the lamp hung, the wiring was more complicated than I expected -- and I was too tired and under too much pressure [it was after midnight by that point!] to figure it out... So the lamp looked nice -- but we still had to bring in other lights to light our Thanksgiving meal!)

The day after Thanksgiving (with the pressure now off!) I was able to figure out the wiring and get the lamp working. In the process of adjusting things however, I found that the mount for the lower diffuser glass had very poorly cut threads -- so the diffuser glass was not held very securely! Back to Stanford Electric...

Stanford Electric quickly understood the problem and said that they'd contact Hubbardton Forge and get replacement parts shipped out quickly. That was the Monday following Thanksgiving.

Another long story short, I just picked up the replacement parts today, the Thursday before Xmas (Sunday)...

While I'm sure that the manufacturer deserves its share of the blame for the problems and delays, I am quite disappointed in Stanford Electric. Even if all the problems stemmed from the manufacturer, I never felt like Stanford Electric was working very hard on my behalf. They seem like nice enough people -- I wasn't treated rudely or anything like that -- but ""indifferent"" is how I'd describe their customer service. I'd like to recommend them, but I simply can't after this disappointing experience...

bridget m.

i recently went into stanford electric works for a repair on an expensive modern desk lamp. when the guys looked at it, they said the on/off switch needed replacing and that they would contact the company for the part. after one attempt at calling the company, the guys at stanford electric called and told me that they couldn't get the part, and that it was notoriously difficult for them to get a hold of someone from the lighting company and that i could try getting the part myself, or come pick up my broken lamp. so after one day and a couple of attempts at calling the number to my lamp's manufacturer, i was able to track down the part that was needed for the repair. that alone showed me that stanford electric really didn't care to spend time on the repair. after i brought the on/off switch in to stanford electric, i got a call from them that it was not only the switch but the socket as well that needed replacing, so they did that and i picked up my lamp. when i arrived, i saw that the base of the lamp was scratched, and when i mentioned this to the repairman his reply was 'well, it's your word against mine. what do you want me to do about it?' my husband and i were shocked at his response. he gave me 10% off the bill (five dollars) and sent me on my way. when i brought the lamp home, it worked for about an hour then died again. when i called and told stanford electric about this they said 'well i guess bring it back in.' i didn't bother. i found someone else with a better reputation for skill and service rather than hassle with stanford electric again.

Joe C.

Great selection of low voltage systems. Great prices!
I will be going back.