Stanford Electric Works

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.

Marcy J.

terrible customer service.
very poor quality work.

Nancy L.

Don't expect proactive customer service! I brought in a lighting fixture that stopped working and asked if they could troubleshoot it asap as they were my dining room lights. It took over 1 month before I received a phone call back from them saying they had tested the parts and verified they are not functional (no surprise!) and they would talk to the service rep of the manufacturer of the light and let me know. Over the next 4 months, I never heard back. When I called to inquire, I was told, they were ""working on it"". Finally gave up and retrieved my lights.

B N.

The electrician who came to my house seemed inexperienced and unsure of how to figure out my electrical problems. After explaining several reasons I could be having these problems he chose to start with one of the more complicated possibilities. In the end it was a simple solution -- much time was spent pursuing the more difficult options rather than trying the most obvious, easy option first. This happened on two different visits. A third issue which I needed handled, a simple electrical hookup also took an inexplicably long time. The bills were twice what I had anticipated. I will look for another electrician group next time.

Benji J.

lots of lights, lots of fixtures, they know what they are talking about. If they don't have it, they can order it. Prices are pretty competitive with online shops. Good stuff!

PATRICIA C.

We recently had some electrical work done, and I wanted to reiterate our 5-Star endorsement of Stanford Electric Works, Palo Alto. They've done a number of things for us over the years, and continue to be our first call for electrical issues, with their reasonable bids, clear communication, and great people to work with.

We needed an additional 30 amp/220v circuit -- we have no crawl space, no attic, tricky angles, so the job required skilled creativity and an appreciation that we wanted the entire run to look good and not be an obvious eyesore. The electrician came through on all counts, and we're delighted with the results, plus having worked with them before, we can rely on the code compliance/safety.

Hogan W.

I take daily walks around the residential neighborhoods away from University Ave and have come across many interesting stores. One particular store of interest is Stanford Electric Works. They carry lots of hard to find home and business lighting, fixtures, lamps, and electrical accessories.

Their showroom is small, cramped, but fully stocked with upscale brands and an array of choices. I can never find anything at Home Depot and I thought Orchard Supply Hardware carried most specialty lighting hardware and accessories until I took a look at Stanford Electric's supply. And boy was I wrong! Where have I been all these years? After speaking to their experienced staff, I practically found everything I was looking for in specialty fluorescent lights no matter what size they were. Both the company I work for and in my home bathroom have nonconforming sized fluorescents where I could easily find replacements for. I just bring in a sample of what I'm looking for, and the staff finds the exact matching replacement piece. Pricing is not expensive and it's similarly priced to your local Ace Hardware.

No matter how small or large your electrical project is, Stanford Electric Work's experienced staff will help assist you with all your lighting and electrical needs. They even perform home and business servicing with their qualified electricians. Plus it helps to be in business since 1914. I definitely recommend this specialty store to everyone!

Karen C.

Once I found Stanford Electric, I have not used anyone else for electrical projects. From rewiring an Italian chandelier, to hanging and wiring a big glass lamp in my stairwell, to fixing a broken outlet, these guys do it all. They arrive on time. They do the work perfectly. Their prices seem to be reasonable and are outlined up front. They are also easy to communicate with and never act like they are too busy to listen to you as the customer. I highly recommend them!