HOW DID I GET SO LUCKY?…read more This is a review of the excellent Elben Electric Inc, but here's the full story: in May of 2023 I ordered an automatic generator from [un-named] Electric. In June I emailed asking for an estimate; my email was ignored. In July I again emailed for an estimate, and was again ignored. In August I went into the office of [un-named] and asked for an estimate; the secretary promised to see that I got it, but there was no answer for weeks. In September, my daughter telephoned [un-named] and talked to the owner -- and found out the generator had never been ordered. No explanation, but the order was then put through. In November [un-named] called at 11:15 AM to say they were coming in a half hour to deliver the generator; no advance warning, but I didn't't care as I needed the generator -- we have frequent power outages on this island. I waited, but no one showed up. I telephoned but no one answered, so I left a message, "Has there been a problem?" At 3:30 PM the owner called, ranting at me for some reason, finally saying he'd deliver the generator but wouldn't install it. He was so out-of-control that I called the sheriff's office to register my concern. The generator was never delivered. I was so alarmed I decided to forget about getting a generator. Electricians (and plumbers and all sorts of service people here) are on overload, and I didn't know of any one in particular to call. Enter Jake of Amerigas, the company that would handle the propane part of generator installation. Jake was apparently so concerned about my predicament that he called around trying to find an electric company for me. Jake suggested I try Elben Electric. I really didn't care to get involved with this process again, but because Jake took the time to investigate for me I felt I owed him the courtesy of contacting Elben. Remember the Judy Garland movie The Wizard of Oz? When she enters the country of the wizard, the screen changes from black and white to color. Well, with the same contrast, enter Justin Miller from Elben, sympathetic to my plight, and in no time at all the generator was ordered and I had an estimate. Very soon Justin and sidekick Kyle started digging the trenches needed for moving the utility box (County regulations) and accessing the electrical lines. Also enter the polar vortex freezing the ground and making it that much more difficult to dig, followed by a snow storm that resulted in several inches of snow which compacted to a very heavy 3". Now Justin and Kyle were working in slush and mud -- seven and a half hours straight with no identifiable lunch break. The snow melt filled their neat ditches to overflowing. Every day they had to pump out the water before they could work in the ditches. In fact, I think they wore out two pumps during this time. As if that weren't enough to hail Elben as a five star operation, all this was done cheerfully, always with smiles and the willingness to shift vans to allow me to come and go when I needed to drive to town. Bottom line: Of course the generator passed a trial run. Justin and Kyle survived. Elben Electric owner Brad Elben must specialize in electricians that add kindness to proficiency. Not hard to tell why: he seems every bit as kind as Justin and Kyle. (How did I get so lucky?)

We have had great experience with Inter-Island Electric. Rick has been great to work with and is…read morevery professional.

Warning: Dana Baker, owner of Friday Harbor Electric, will come to your house all friendly and…read morereassuring, agree to do what you need done -- and then do nothing. Electricians on this island are overloaded with jobs, but none of them except Baker will accept a job if they can't fulfill it. Far worse is trying to get any information from Baker or his office staff. Baker accepted two projects from me at the end of May, one a small job that he said would take less than an hour -- it's November and he still hasn't scheduled that work -- and the other an expensive, multi-step job, installing an automatic generator. I emailed once a month in June, July and August, trying to get an estimate so that I could budget for payment. There was no response, so I went in to the company's office and talked to a secretary, who said she'd talk to Baker about an estimate. Again, no response. My daughter called in September and found out that the generator had never been ordered. Her call worked and Baker said he'd have the generator installed and working by the end of October. My daughter called the distributor and found out the generator wouldn't be delivered until Nov 2; Baker never let me know this, but at 11:15 AM Nov 2 one of his electricians called to say he'd deliver the generator in a half hour or 45 minutes. When he didn't show up by 12:30 I called the office -- no one answered -- so I left a message asking if there had been a delay. At 2 PM I called again and left a message. A short time later Baker phoned ranting at me about too many phone calls and asking if I still wanted the generator or not. I said of course I do, I've been waiting five months for this, but Baker kept ranting and concluded with the statement that he'd deliver the generator but wouldn't install it. I said if you deliver it, I'll expect you to install it. So far he hasn't delivered it nor contacted me to tell me what he intends to do about the situation. I'm wondering if this was all about the two phone calls or the fact that I pointed out to the electrician that Baker's choice of placement for the generator was not in compliance with the manufacturer's installment instructions. Yes, I know; no expert likes to be told he is wrong, but I certainly wasn't going to let it be placed where it became a potential fire hazard. By the way, I never pressured Baker in any way about installing the new stove hood. Baker either doesn't understand decent business-customer relations, or has so much work he can afford to be disdainful of the people who seek his help.

From the owner: Commercial Electrical Contractor Residential Electrical…read moreContractor Lighting Design Service Calls

Very poor follow up. Issues with both plumbing and electrical work. Won't answer calls after work…read moreis finished and problems arise. Nice guys, but wouldn't use again.

Thank you so much for your excellent customer service! We arrived at our cabin to water pressure…read moreproblems, not only did Don come out first thing in the morning on July 2nd, he also came back on July 3rd to fix a second problem when the line was broken by construction workers digging a ditch!

Very responsive. Called about a breaker issue. Fit me in for a late afternoon appointment for the…read morenext day. Contacted me that afternoon to let me know he was running late. Quickly assessed the problem and checked out my outdoor outlets. Replaced a defective outlet. Very customer oriented.

We selected Tekton Northwest to provide and install a whole home standby generator for us. The…read morequote they provided was good. The communication from Nate was excellent and the install was outstanding! We were up and running the very same day. We can highly recommend Tekton Northwest for electrical work.