Friday, March 9, 2012

He didn't know anything about his house Plumbing, at all.......

He called for a "free estimate" I said well better than that I will tell you how much I will charge you to do each and everything you need. I asked, what do you need, he said his "bathroom dripped", "how much would you charge me to fix it" I replied, what do you mean? your bathroom drips? he said "well out of that thing where the water comes out it wont stop. I said The tub spout, the shower head the lavatory the toilet what? he said yea.... I said which one? he replied the shower. I said the shower head ? he said no the thing that the water comes out of, so I said the tub spout? he said yea like I was real dumb. I said is it a single handle or two or three handle tub and shower or just a tub and does it have a third handle in middle or is it a diverter spout....he did not know, he asked if I gave free estimates, I said yea I am trying to do that...finally I got out of him it was a single handle tub and shower and it had a diverter spout that dripped. whew, he had no idea how many handles/knobs in his Tub/shower ....So I told him $250 for parts and labor because I determined he had a $80 cartridge and wanted new handle and trim with spout. Then he asked for a price on a Lavatory faucet after me prying that out I asked is it a single handle 4" one piece faucet or one with separate hot and cold handles and 3 separate parts, Hot & Cold with a spout in the middle. This was too much for him but we worked out the nomenclature and he had a wide spread lav faucet that needed repair, I gave him a price excluding a service charge since the $250 quote already had that in it. So, I said $100 for the Widespread repair. he said "you mean you want $350 dollars just to fix two drips?" I said yes I do, parts labor ,tax service call included with my million dollar insurance and 35 yrs. experience. He after having to drag his totally unknowing mind thru what it was he needed he said "oh that is too much" I said too much! you haven't even a clue what it is we are talking about doing how long of time and cost of parts (OEM Domestic). but you know that is too much? I said you don't know anything about Plumbing do you? he said "not a thing" I said then how do you know I am not giving you the parts for cost and working for minimum wage? "cause your a Plumber", "You over charge". I said I am sorry you are in the same bad economy as I am, I know how it is. so he responded, " so you will do it for half of that?" I said no, I cant do it at all for you. You are not being realistic, call another Plumber to get a price or wait till you find out how much it will actually cost at the end of the task.

This is a very common conversation to a Plumber from a consumer, my point is? I earn my money, most people prejudge too often and assume others are in a better world, we are not, we are all in this together.

Greg,

thanks for listening, I feel better now, oh Lawyers are the the real crooks! right?

7 comments:

  1. I really love reading you post. It is a big help, especially for the person's like me who's planning to acquire the service of some professional plumbing contractor.

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  2. It is important for your home or office to possess a adequate drainage system and all this can be done by domestic plumbing as this industry is a basic and significant part of every developed economy. It is usually recognized from water and sewage systems, in that a domestic plumbing system serves one building, while water and sewage systems serve a small grouping of properties or perhaps a town.

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  3. That was definitely worth the read Greg! We encounter similar problems with uniformed customers that have a bias towards our work and rates. It frustrating to actually want to help someone and they respond in such an aggressively negative manner. There are so many of us out there trying to do a great job. Keep up the good work!

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  4. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  5. I think you dealt with the hardest customer ever. It seems like he wasn't informative at all, couldn't help you pinpoint the exact problem, and essentially couldn't give you enough info to price your services. I think a good way to limit these problems is having fixed prices for your services and highlighting them on your website.

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  6. Be conscientious of the types of pipes you have. The type of plumbing in your home determines how long you can hope for them to last. Reviewing the home inspection report you received when you purchased the house will help reveal your type of plumbing. Click Here for a FREE Plumbers in Toronto

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  7. Greg, you're a good man for not charging him for your time and sanity on that phone call. You had a lot of patience tolerating all that and continuing to try and help him.

    Thanks for your insights here on your blog. This is very insightful and informative. Another site I use to get insights on plumbing stuff is http://midwayplumb.com/category/plumbing-tips/ . I don't know if you network with other plumbers but these guys are really good.

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