Wilson Electric

WARNING: THE EMPLOYEES OF WILSON ELECTRIC ARE EITHER THIEVES OR GROSSLY NEGLIGENT
Either these guys stole thousands of dollars worth of my personal belongings from my garage, or they negligently left my garage door unlocked without my knowledge or permission for over ten days (in Richmond, California) while they were doing work and a thief came in from the outside and spent considerable time carefully picking through my stuff.
The work was not done on time (and is still ongoing as I write this) and I have been having electrical issues which started when they were working and they deny it was their doing and instead say it’s ‘the wind’ causing the problem and apparently are refusing to address or fix it. My hope is whatever they did wrong will be discovered and fixed as they complete the job.
Additionally, they ignored repeated requests that they call or text ahead of time to let me know when they would be coming by, even if it was only to give me 10 minutes warning while they were en route so I could be prepared.
This has been a horrible experience through and through. It sounds like these guys are stretched way too thin and it really shows. Even without the theft of my belongings, I would have not been able to give them more than two stars.

I can say without hesitation that I have never received (or even heard of) such rude, condescending treatment from any service provider as I received today from Matt Wilson of Wilson electric. I called to ask him when he would be back to finish the initial programming (by which I mean the initial start-​up questions, like what is the kW load of the floor, not personal temperature preferences, which of course would be the resident’s job) of a heated floor thermostat that he and his employee Jimmy had hooked up and STARTED programming earlier this week. His tone became extremely defensive and rude and he told me that programming the thermostat was «my job,» and that he had never said he would come back, and that his work was finished. (I had received the message that he would be coming back from another contractor who was at our home that day.) He then proceeded to tell me that I «had no idea what I was talking about» and needed to stop asking him such «ridiculous questions». Later, in a series of text messages that followed our phone conversation, he actually said «maybe you need to involve your husband»!!! I can’t believe that such chauvinistic people can stay in business for any significant period of time. Seriously one of the strangest conversations I’ve ever had.
Entering the initial settings into the thermostat (such as kW load) may not have technically been their job, but they never told me it wasn’t so how would I know that? And also, why would Jimmy have started programming it if he thought it wasn’t his job? Anyway, I called the manufacturer of the thermostats and was able to program them myself in about five minutes. The only piece of information I needed to provide the representative was the square footage of the wire each thermostat was controlling (a question that Jimmy or Matt easily could have asked me themselves!).
The even weirder part about this whole experience was that for the first few days, Matt and Jimmy seemed friendly and happy to do the work we hired them to do (installing a ceiling fan, changing the locations of outlets, adding circuits to our panel). They were a little messy, but they got the work done. I have no idea what caused Matt to turn so hostile so suddenly. I would advise anyone who considers this company to beware of their ability to be courteous one day, then extremely rude and condescending the next. I was totally shocked, but I am writing this review so that no one else has to go through a similar experience. With Matt and Jimmy, you just never know what you’re going to get!!!

Matt did a great job with a light installation and showed attention to detail. I would definitely use Wilson Electric again and suggest them.

I echo what a couple others have written. I had an appointment, and 45 minutes later, no Matt. When I called he was another 30 minutes away from arriving at our house. In the course of our conversation, three times he asked if we were in a hurry! No, I love just hanging out, wondering where this guy is! No problem, I called Kealey Electric (510−335−5529) and Daniel come out promptly and he got over $ 2,000 worth of work!

Matt WIlson is awesome. Fair price; worked quickly; educated me about electric; gave me options. Nice guy. Great van.

These guys are AWESOME! All the power blew in my house. Matt, the owner, tried to talk me through resetting my main breaker, but after twenty minutes he decided it was best to send someone out. He tried to save me a service call.
Josh showed up got the main breaker to reset then he checked my inside panel. He took it apart, vacuumed it out (there was a lot of dust and insulation in it) then he tested all of the individual breakers. He found one that kept tripping and was causing the main breaker to trip. My panel was not labeled well at all. He figured out that the stove top (I have a separate oven) was causing the problem. Josh figured out that the short which was causing everything to trip was in the stove top, not the wires between the box for the stove top and the panel. He disconnect the stove top so it could not start a fire.
He recommended that I start thinking about replacing my inside panel, especially because it is so old, and a bit of a «rats nest» of wires. The outside panel could stand to be replace too.
These guys are awesome and very trustworthy! I highly recommend them.

I called and spoke with Matt about an outage at a duplex that I own on 2^nd St in Richmond to see when I could meet him there. He sounded very knowledgeable and when I said that a circuit breaker was tripping, he asked me to take a picture and text it to him, to make sure he could bring the right one with him when he came, which I thought was smart. I then asked when he could come over. A couple hours later, he sent a text asking if the tenants were home. I said I’d have to check and then send back saying they were there. A couple hours later, I got a text saying that the tenant was very rude to him and that he would not do any work there.
I phoned the tenant who, granted, can be kind of testy, and said that she hadn’t been feeling well, and he had wanted her to come outside to help him. She said she told him that she didn’t know anything about electricity and wasn’t going outside. Then she got her roommate to go outside, but by the time he got there, Matt was gone.
I had told him I could meet him there at 2:30 or after. The text I got saying he wasn’t going to to do the job came after 3:00. I then sent a text asking him to call me, which he replied that he would do when he finished a small job. I sent back a text reiterating that I could come over if he was willing to come back and do the job, but he didn’t call back. So now I need to find another electrician to do the job.

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The electrician’s showed up on time and went and looked at all the areas I had questions about. They were honest and didn’t try to sell us things we didn’t need or want. They were prompt, polite and helpful. I would highly recommend them.

We found Matt on Unilocal.Despite one bad review (mean spirited person perhaps?) I contacted Matt and was very happy with his work. The first job was an upgrade on electrical outlets. The second was recessed lighting in our living room. Matt was great on follow-​through, communication, estimates and of course the work itself. He was professional and thorough. His crew was polite, efficient, had a sense of humor (isn’t that always nice?) and were good at the clean up. We highly recommend Matt at Wilson Electric.

Matt and his assistants have done two jobs for me in N. Berkeley and in Oakland. Their work is top notch with very reasonable rates. I have fairly good skills in home electrics and Matt finished the connections for a new sub panel for me plus gave me some very valuable tips to help do my job to meet inspectors expectations and pass my first inspection. His crew did a 2^nd job in Oakland that went above and beyond to correct some previous bad handyman work and bring a house up to safe standards. They did it quickly, efficiently and at a very reasonable cost. I’d have them back and recommend them to anyone.

Very helpful. I called Matt and he helped me through fixing a problem all over the phone, no charge. Great service, would use him immediately for any project.

So Wilson Electric tackled all my home electrical projects quickly, with great professionalism and for a great price.
We had some tricky wiring situations for several fans, a light fixture and a few exterior outlets. Our mid century modern house and exposed beam ceilings didn’t make our projects easy– but Matt and his guys had no problem getting everything up and running for us.
I highly recommend hiring Matt for any job–

Matt Wilson is capable of doing good work, most of the time. (Beware his crew only works a 6-​hour day and not all week, so my job stretched to seven long weeks!)
But he is the most rude, condescending workman I have ever had the misfortune to hire. His crew rewired my whole house. Two of the outlets were discovered not to work after the job was complete. I could not believe what he said to me when I called to report the problem. After the second outlet was discovered, I paid another person to fix the problem because Matt yelled at me when phoned him. His attitude sucks!

Awesome company! My circuit breaker tripped and wouldn’t reset. I thought I was going to have to have someone come out because I’m not too comfortable working with electrical panels. I called Matt and instead of telling me he needs to inspect it and charge X amount, he asked me a few questions and walked me through some trouble shooting. It turns out I had a bad surge protector plugged in and it prevented the breaker from resetting. Matt seems really knowledgeable and extremely helpful. Great to know there are honest businesses around my area.

Wilson Electric rocks! I had four (4) can fixtures in my bathrooms, and one of the ballasts burned out, so that fixture didn’t work. The problem I had was that the ballast was above the can in the attic, and my attic isn’t accessible because it’s got 18″ of loose fill insulation. I called Wilson Electric for a bid to fix the non-​functioning fixture, and asked what it would cost to get rid of all the ballasts, and convert all four fixtures to LED bulbs. Matt Wilson quoted me $ 400, so I scheduled the work. He came on the scheduled day, and he suggested an ingenious way to solve my problem, and I accepted his suggested solution. It only took Matt 2 ½ hours to do the job of converting all four fixtures to LED bulbs, and he charged me only $ 290. Not only that, he gave me free advice for how to approach the task of getting fluorescent strip lights installed in my garage. Wilson Electric is the REAL DEAL! He is able to communicate with a non-​electrical person, he patiently explains what he proposes to do, and then he does the work in a fast and efficient manner. And his labor rate is very reasonable for an electrician (ie, lower than the «big» outfits charge). And wonder of wonders, Matt Wilson is an electrician who actually cleans up after himself! I kid you not! He carries a dustpan and brush with him, and after he works on a light fixture, he sweeps up and disposes of debris in the trash can. Unbelievable! What a class act!!! Guess who I’m going to hire for my next electrical job? (That’s an easy one…)

It is very hard to find a qualified electrician for a small job, no one who is «big time» wants to deal with multiple small issues. Until you call Matt Wilson! He is willing to call you back, show up on time, and listen to your electrical problems. We couldn’t be happier, all issues are fixed and at a reasonable price. Call him for any small jobs you have, or big!

Matt and Jimmy are excellent expediting, eliminating my electrical problems from my home forever! Matt and Jimmy are my Electrical Heroes! Thank you so very much for coming on such short notice fixing all my BIG electrical issues in less than TWO hours! So awesome!

The power to the kitchen was low, and the microwave wasn’t working. Two different electricians gave me bids for running new wires, and adding circuits. Called Mat, turned out it was the wire from the street, to the panel which was causing the problem! Saved me over 1000 dollars.
Just used him to add a new breaker box on a rental. His prices are very reasonable, he returns calls, and he does excellent work!

Matt Wilson, of Wilson Electric, is prompt, courteous, knowledgeable, and affordable. I don’t know what more I could ask for.
I have a 220V hot tub that developed a loud buzzing from a breaker box by the tub. Being that I use hydrotherapy for an old back injury, I really rely on a hot soak. I tried to troubleshoot myself but know nothing about 220VGFCI’s or 220V relay /​contactors. I phoned Matt and explained my situation. He said he could help and scheduled a same-​day appointment. After less than 10 minutes he said he would locate this unique relay and return the next day to do the repair. Next day, on time, he swapped out the old relay and my tub is back in action. I was worried that a hot tub might not be in his scope of repair knowledge but he obviously knows his stuff.
I highly recommend Wilson Electric.

I had to take the time out to thank Matt for his kind service and eagerness to help you understand what the problem is without making you feel like a complete idiot. Which I am when comes to electric work.
This guy is a pro. A REAL PRO. A nice young man as well with fair prices and keen understanding of how to build rapport.
I would recommend Matt to anyone for the smallest task (like a breaker)
or large tasks like re-​wiring. anything and everything he said he can do it.
In fact I have a new breaker and box needed to be installed, gonna call Matt.