Shoe covers. Being on time. There are a lot of good qualities you can look for when choosing a plumber. And all of them are good: who doesn’t want an on-time plumber who doesn’t track mud into your house? But what are the most important things to look for? Price matters to everyone, but even more important is not having to call them back repeatedly to redo the work you already paid for and took the time to have done. Let’s look at the biggies.
When choosing a plumber, you need to pay attention to three
things: reputation, reliability, and reviews.
Reputation is built through time spent with customers, and every
plumber or business has one. Take the time to find out about your plumber. Does
this company respect the customers? Are they thoughtful about time spent on a
problem? Do they offer a range of services that will take care of your problem,
whatever it is?
The bigger question, however, is reliability. Can you rely on this company to show up when it
says it will? Will they fix the problem?
Will they notify you and involve you if they come across something unexpected?
Will they stick to their quoted price and give you options for additional
services? Are they going to ensure that the problem is truly fixed so they
don’t pass it along to the next guy?
Reliability is only found when you ask questions, so ask. On the phone,
when they show up. Ask what you want to know and don’t be shy or worried about
offending them.
One way to find out about some of this is to read reviews. Remember, however, that reviews are usually
written by people who are extremely happy or extremely unhappy, so they are a
look at extremes. Look at them, but
don’t make that your only source of information.