Real Plumber Reacts to the WORST Plumbing Reviews on Yelp
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- Опубликовано: 8 мар 2020
- No matter how great your company is, every plumbing company is going to have at least one bad review, but bad plumbing reviews can teach you some valuable lessons. So today I’m going to react to the worst plumbing reviews on Yelp that my guys could find, and I’m going to give some lessons learned on these bad plumbing reviews. Leave me a comment on what you think about these plumbing reviews!
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Thanks for watching! I'm Roger Wakefield, LEED AP, The Expert Plumber and welcome to my channel. On this channel I teach homeowners how to save money on their plumbing by doing DIY plumbing projects. I also teach plumbers and plumbing company owners how to be the best plumbers in their area and run successful plumbing businesses. My goal is teach you everything you need to know about plumbing.
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This was a FUN video to shoot! Let me know if you have any funny or bad plumbing stories!
Plumber Reacts Series: ruclips.net/p/PLSpTuwsLqh7syNGHZ83kyfEQeDeWLGlk-
Man, your videos are very helpful 👍
Hi Roger I've known a leaking shower head or rose to be residual water held in the flexi hose feeding the shower head and when the heating comes on the water expands and drips through the shower head, 😉👍❤️
Handy men are a necessity in this business since plumbers wont always do the entire job required. A handy man can install vents on the roof, run pipe, change fixtures, fix AC issues, and pretty much anything else you need for $65 an hour. Plumbing is not complicated, so why pay $250 an hour when you can pay $65 an hour. I would only hire a plumber for the big or multi-day jobs.
How could someone charge $1650 for a $400 water heater and installation??? That is insane.
At most it should be less than $1,000, really about $700 for the entire job. Anyone charging over a $1000 for a normal water heater is a scammer.
I am glad you talked about your prices. I only work on my own houses but it feels good knowing the amount of money I have saved. I installed two toilets on the last rental I renovated. I replaced the flange, the supply nipple to the toilet, the shutoff valve the supply line and the toilet. The galvanized nipple was rusted badly I replaced it with a brass nipple. I am guessing but it sounds like you would have charged around $800 per toilet. Not including the toilets I paid around $100 in parts per install and 5 hours of labor each. So my time was worth around $140 per hour. Nice!
We had our drains back up late on christmas eve back around 2008 or thereabouts. Called all around and no one would come out until after Christmas. Finally someone said he'd do it and he came right out. He did good quick work (he didn't even wake us kids up), and he gave my dad the "new customer discount." My dad fully expected to pay a lot of money that night. Good people, a husband and wife team. They've been our plumbers ever since.
I always get a laugh out of people who act like they’re being overcharged when in fact they are just being made to pay for a service with large overhead. I swear most people seem to think they should give the guy 10$ for his time and the cost of the parts.. not how it works..
My favorite....that didnt take very long. Why so much?!?....uh ...cuz you are paying me for knowledge and skill. Not by the hour laborer.
@@keyman1969b cuz even if it only took 20 minutes I’m into it for two hours of messing around.. drive time there and back. Picking up materials, fuel in the truck. all that stuff takes time and money that they don’t see
@@Beandiptheredneck trust me i know. Nobody thinks about the time you spend at a desk at home or gathering parts et.
@@keyman1969b Ohh that reminds me of an nice old guy who once came into the shop i worked at roughly 15 Years ago.
Metal Works in this case.
He wanted a nice Fence. But instead of Poles driven into the ground he wanted those brick ones with bricks lining the ground.
Told him that we have good connections to an Brick Layer that we would subcrontract that part for and have that in the calculations. But i would still need to come out to him to look for a proper estimate.
So we go on to the Fence he wants.
Quite fancy with lots of ornaments. Metal Roses, Metal leafs all the stuff. While we are going through the catalog there i remind him over and over that its getting expensive. Pointing out the prices of each ornament he choose.
At the end i tell him that the first estimate just for the Metal works would be 6 thousand Euros.
What does he answer? "I was thinkign more around 250 Euros" .....
When i pointed out that this doesnt even cover the price for the ornaments for one Part of the Fence he was shocked. As if i didnt point out the cost of that throughout the whole thing.
He ofc starts asking if i can do anything on the rpice. I tell him we wont get together with his low price range. But he insists i come out to him to do the proper estimate.
So i do that. I see the first problems already. He lives at the foot of an hill, but wants the fence to follow one line. So that means bricklaying in the Stair Pattern. Which means more Bricks needed since we have to raise the whole fence to follow one line.
I tell him that and that the brick laying alone will cost several thousand.
I also tell him that his dimensions he gave me in the shop are wrong. The Fence is longer that he told me. Adding another Filed.
He got really pissed when i told him that even without the ornaments and brick stuff, jus an Pole in the Ground and 4 parts basic fence we look at 4 thousand euros. Metal is expensive, zinc coating is expensive, and there was work for 2 days for 2 guys.
End of Story, he claimed my Company is scamming him and he will go to an competitor. 2 Months later he was back and asked about financing Options. He got his fence, no ornaments. And because he was quite civil and apologised i even told him where to get the Yellow Bricks he wanted. Werent in production anymore but some deconstruction site nearby had those. Just clean them and re-use them.
Exactly some people kill me. Think we should do this stuff for free! Well call a cheap handy man then. That's why you call professionals in the field. You'll get what you pay for. Want cheap work. Youll get cheap crap work done then you will have to pay a professional to come fix the screw job someone else did. When you try to cut corners and play stupid games you win stupid prizes and then you are out more money than you would have been if you would have just gone with the person or company you may have thought was to high.
You don't want a plumber to do sheetrock repairs any more than you want sheetrockers doing plumbing repairs.
Customer: One star, they quoted way too much!
Contractor reply: The job looked like a royal pain in the posterior, we're glad you took the hint to choose someone else.
I hate it When they give you the job when you do over price it, because you know it going to be a painful job!
I’ve been asked to many times. “How cheap can you install my floor?” I have one simple reply. Skilled work isn’t cheap. Cheap work isn’t skilled.
I once had a customer call & say I heard you were cheap! I replied you heard wrong if you want something cheap... buy a budgie then put the phone down, great feeling!
@MUNCH IEZ no, that’s someone who knows what their work is worth. I’m no hack, and won’t work for hack pay. Are you looking to have a job done right. Or just half assed done. By taking a job for 1/3 of what I should be paid. I’ll lose a job that pays what I should be paid.
@MUNCH IEZ You miss the point we are making, you are not losing money, you are not working for that type of person. my way of looking at it is that you do a job cheap for that person, they tell their friends about you, they all ring asking you to do a cheap job, you are now the guy who does a cheap job & will be viewed as such. I would rather be the guy who does a job well & right for a reasonable price, they tell their friends & you are viewed as this. which is where I would rather be. stay safe.
Talking about “surprising price changes”. I understand quotes. Along with quoting I would make sure they understand it’s not set in stone, just Incase some things change.
Now the best thing to do, If you find out the price is going to change. Stop what you are doing, and notify them before continuing.
I had an employer tell me to ask the homeowner to borrow their ladder. I quit on the spot.
When I go do jobs, my dad always asks me why do you take that many tools with you when you are just going to replace a faucet. But many times people have other problems or things they want done, so always take tools with you that you can use on everything
Yup. Once asked a locksmith round only to discover as I got in that another door was jammed. He helped me out with the second door too. Nice and professional and prepared. I hope to never have to hire him agian unless it's to redo the locks on my house or something. But I kept his card, he did a good job
@@Stettafire it's nice to know that you're probably never gonna be needed, but still be impactful enough to be the first in mind in the future.
5:19 You bleeped it out when you first read it, then you let “Josè” slip out 😂
He’s censoring the company
@@lukes2219 you obviously didn’t get what A Cast said 🤣🤣
I’m leaving a 1 Star Review for the Public School System, these reviewers have terrible grammar. Hooked on Phonics did them dirty.
Its not your fault. Everyone south of the Mason-dixon line has down syndrome.
I'm in the process of fighting a drywaller who did half the job, left a mess, and has been ghosting me for 3 weeks now. Be honest with a customer. If something happened, just say so and don't tell me you'll get back and don't. I'm reasonable, I understand things are hard right now but for the love of good customer service be straight and honest.
My favorite plumbing story. The plumbing inspector was giving my project a lot of trouble. I politely asked how he got to be an inspector.
"Before I got a real life, I was a journeyman plumber."
It really shows what they think of the rest of us.
More like what everyone else thinks of "inspectors"
Key word journeyman…before he got a real
Life he was only a journeyman which is why he wants to give the master plumbers a hard time cause he couldn’t become one lol in NJ u don’t need a master plumbers license to become a state inspector and that’s because nobody wants to become one so the standard is lowered so
Much
lmbo that intro!
It's pretty awesome! My editor is amazing!
I couldn't stop laughing at the intro. I rewind it 25 times still and will always be funny.
"Just don't use it" and "just don't do that then" are easily my most hated things to hear especially if it's _designed_ to do it.
Unrelated to plumbing, but... yeah, A LOT of places (try to) do that pricing quote after thing. Years ago I had to have major dental work done and the guy went over everything I needed to have done and had me in the chair ready to start. When I explained I thought I was just coming in for an overview (his words when we scheduled it) and couldn't do it that day he said "Oh, ok." and THEN handed me the list with all the procedures and prices as I was leaving... almost had me in for $8k worth of work before I could have a say.
A dentist has done that to me before. Same dentist also botched a filling I needed doing and hef company charged me to fix the issue. Was not happy. They've gone out of business now because it was not an isolated incident
As a handyman I've seen all kinds of jacked up repairs done by "professionals". I'm not here to bash, the point is integrity knows no distinction between trades. As handymen we recognize our limits and know when to say "that is beyond my zone" particularly when there can be disastrous consequences for a bad repair. That said none of this is rocket science. We can research best practices and employ them on services we may not have a lot of experience with. We are certified and insured and value our 5 star ratings as much as any other company. This is just me reacting to your dismissive tone when referring to "handymen".Thanks for sharing your knowledge and insights, they help to make us better too.
When he says handyman he's talking about the ones who don't know the difference between a Philip head and a flat head screwdriver
He usually says handymen referring to someone doing something they have no idea about. A true and honest handyman is a different story
Once called a handyman with an ad that said "I will do anything". He wasn't lying. Think he did some uppers, downers, and something in-between to meld them together.
If you're a handyman who can recognize his limits and knows when to call a tradesman then I salute you. In my experience as an electrician every electrical device or system a handyman near me has touched has either been a shit show, or downright dangerous. Some things are perfectly acceptable for a handyman do as long as he can admit when he's out of his depth and knows when to call for help.
Yeah, that kinda bugs me too. But I assume he's talking about the crappy 'handymen'. Over the decades, I've worked with a lot of trades and tried to absorb everyone's best practices. When I've installed or repaired, I always go code or better. I want the next guy that sees my work to think "that's good work!".
Damn my mom got off cheap, I replace her old toilet and installed a new one and she only gave me $20.. Haha of course I wasn't going to charge her anything as we help each other out.
still, these industries got nothing on the king of scam: the Information Technology helping industry. their whole business model is billing elderly people 400 euros per pop on things that are extremely easy computer-related things to do and of which they can find answers with simple googling on the first result. like how to move files from one device to another.
it even goes into the highest calibres: there are computer firms designing huge information systems for governments, like national hospital´s patient data record-keeping systems, that costs billions to make, billions to maintain, forever, and ultimately abandoned because it does not work properly.
Ok. That reply at 15:58 was priceless! I get that is NOT a professional way to reply, but that is a HILARIOUS reply to a guy who clearly doesn't value his wife.
Back when dinosaur's roamed the planet, I used to get a "favorable"
Reference from the customer in writing stating that the job was completed professionally,on time, within budget,and they were happy
To give me a reference. I have now
Stopped doing this, maybe I should go back to doing it!
As an Electrician we had some customers that we fired. I did both service and new construction for decades and eventually could spot them. One man wanted us to work on his personal wiring and bill it to the Condo Association. He got violent when we flatly refused to commit fraud. For the most part it was quite interesting and even enriching.
I like that. "I didn't set out to be the cheapest, I set out to be the best". !
If the handyman had changed only one toilet out and charged $139 for it, no problems with installation or customer, they’re doing good where I live. Might not take much time for them or maybe it’s them giving a deal to the customer. Not all handymen are bad. When there is a negative review though, something must’ve went wrong. I’m not a plumber so I wouldn’t try to sell a toilet replacement job. I just think that maybe some people are out there that are unlicensed doing good work for people. I’ve seen licensed contractors do absolute garbage work. If you feel there’s any reason at all to not trust somebody in your house working on your project, call somebody else.
Not all handyman are scammers
Or incompetent. I started as a painter 25 years ago and ended up the head maintenance guy for over 130 homes, because I was willing to learn and I was also unwilling to compromise work quality. That being said, you also have to know your own limitations and legal limitations.
I live in a small town in Alberta Canada. There are no plumbers that will even show up, let alone return your calls, for a house-level repair. They all want the big jobs only, such as the bank bathrooms, swimming pool issues, etc. If one does tell you he will come on this date, if he gets a bigger better job offer in the mean time, they will instantly ditch the appointment they have with you, pulling a no show and leaving you stuck up a creek with no paddle. You should hear the pre-rehearsed philibuster-style speech they give you if you get ahold of them and confront them as to why they didn't show up. People I know of in town have had toilets that have not worked for years as no plumber will show up.
You'd think there'd be at least one plumber who's willing to take all those small jobs the others don't want. They'd have their calendar always filled.
sounds good for me as a tradesman. I love labor shortages.
Appreciate the feedback on pricing. I understand you are Dallas metro versus rural small town or whatever. But, great feedback on pricing.
Love the videos man! I’ve been watching all your videos for the past few weeks and am currently searching for an apprenticeship. Thanks for doing what you love!
My boss always said you'll remember quality of work way after you forget the price
That intro was so good, I liked and subscribed before actually watching the video.
That review about the $245 and gold tools, I was thinking along the same lines that you stated. These companies have overhead and payroll, and a good plumber isn't going to work for minimum wage.
I wish that your videos were around when I was starting my business. I would have learned more from 18 minutes with you than I did from 20 years of winging it and I'm not even a plumber :P
Friend of mine had a gas hot water heater installed in their basement, plumber charged $2000 for JUST the install, total was $7500, no rewire or replacement plumbing required or done, a plumber friend of ours told us that's at best an $800 job including replacing the hoses and flue
your friend is dumb and that plumber is smart.
@@buk6708 no that plumber is a crook and my friend's widow hired the croom from her church
9:30. Maybe he should have gone to Church first to pray things would go right.
I’m a helper. The other day my tech and I went to a remodel call, and he couldn’t fit under the house to do the job.The customer was livid, and almost left us a bad review. We know this because a much smaller co worker ended up coming by the next day to get it done and heard how the customer felt. I understand why he was upset, and I do feel bad, but at the same time it is what it is.
At Least your company was nice enough to send someone else to help the customer. Bet other companies would have charged him to jack up the house.
Oh man im sorry to hear that story thats brutal! If I called a plummer and that happened I wouldn't get mad but I might laugh. Idk what's worse. 😅
I would tell that customer screw off and hopefully he will tell all his friends, so I dont have to work for them either.
@@buk6708 That's what most people's impulse would be! And that customer deserves to be told off! But in business you've got to refrain from that sort of thing because it's unprofessional.
I’ve had customers complain like the lady complaining about her dads disposal. I’ve offered to fix or replace, it cost “x” amount of dollars. They said no. So I said, “ there is nothing more I can do for you then. Simply have someone replace it or don’t use it.” Then I got the complaint from someone who wasn’t there and I had never talked to. It happens.
I've made plenty of rookie mistakes and learned dearly from them and am still embarrassed over 30 years later. It's important to have the right tools, use them correctly, and be clean about the work. Don't embarrass yourself or your company
Enjoyed the video, please do more reactions to plumbing reviews in the future.
I have to wonder what some of these toilet installs actually entail.
Are we talking total install? tapping into the water lines, adding a new bathroom, or moving the toilet to a different place in the bathroom?
Or are we talking putting the new toilet where the old one used to be?
Because i'll be blunt, putting in a toilet is one of the easiest bits of plumbing i, as a homeowner, have ever done. Wax seal, or if you feel like being a big spender, a reusable seal, drop it down, bolt it in, attach the tank to the bowl, and hook up the water...
Compared to the time i tried to install a washer and dryer in the basement, easy.
Hell, ive done my own water heaters before.
Speaking of, go Whirlpool, that warrant they have on their water heaters is AMAZING. 5 years after buying my first, it rusted out. They still covered it, even though it was almost 5 months beyond the original warranty period, and instead of spending 350 on a new heater, i spent about 75.
Stick to the wax rings. Those reusable ones are garbage
@@wilfordgrimley4339 Depends on the reusable seal and your long term plans.
I have a reusable one because of a few factors, one of them being that we frequently change our toilets due to a cracked out town council that is making everyone buy these cheap 'low flow' toilets that are always breaking/cracking.
@@dreamwolf7302 do they come by and inspect your toilets? Why comply with their BS?
@@virtualtools_3021 in my town, its not required, but in some states, its required for a licensed plumber to inspect any plumbing installed by a homeowner without a current plumbers license
Great video. Reviews are more and more important as we get to a digital society
05:19 Jose uncensored.
Great video Roger. Bad reviews from customers can be tough to read, but sometimes we do fail in some way, and we appreciate the opportunity to reach out and make it right (even if the review is kinda nasty). It's better than never even knowing we blew it! Sometimes we did do everything right but failed to set the customer's expectation correctly. That's a problem too.
Love your videos!
nice video. always hire a licensed professional if you dont have a referral from someone u trust. you dont pick a handyman at random off kijiji unless you are a huge risk taker. remember a low price usually costs u more!
For the toilet valve replacement case, well 240 bucks is a steal.
Getting here, turning off the water, disassembling the toilet of an unfamiliar model (Well I had to Google it to see how to get to it myself a long time ago), then getting the valve loose, new part in, hooking it up, checking the adjustment...
Yeah it would have been a steal and in my case to replace that Fluidmaster 400 I would probably have to use a plumber for insurance reasons.
Knock on wood, so far I have only had to replace the gasket once, and clean it twice of small debris.
I know nothing about plumbing. I am not a homeowner.
This is still, for some reason, entertaining.
I love it when someone checks me on my price by calling Home Depot to ask what the PART cost. Completely not giving a D on the time spent repairing/labor, travel, and the cost of new connectors/lines, a new ball valve because their gate failed, and so on.
6:01 Wanna bet the "don't use it" comment came after the guy refused to pay the cost to fix or install a new one? If he wants to play the "senior citizen" victim card I'm guessing that was the issue.
My favorite is when the customer asks why my hourly rate is 281$ an hour and then I’ll ask them
If they own a business and they’ll always reply no. That’s because my customers that do own a business understand that 281$ an hour is not that much and it’s not what goes in my pocket at the end of the day it’s much less. I’ve learned that sometimes it’s just best to hang up the phone and eat the advertising cost in search of a better customer
I just want to say. Thank you for having us fellow plumbers back. 👍
I’ve installed toilets for $99 🤦🏼♂️ Plumbers here in SoCal advertise $38-40 drain cleaning
They charge that low because they're going to upsell,that's the plumbing game in most comission companies
Karl Beckmann those companies are racing straight to the bottom.... out of business- they just don’t know it yet. Those prices are not sustainable. But unfortunately there is someone always another new business willing to do it for cheap.
That price is the foot in the door price. If a company sounds like plain and simple cheapest pruce you will call them. It is just marketing, they hope to find roots in your drain and sell you a repair or replacement. Or atleast a hydro jet. Very possible they will find a customer who needs the upsell, and common sales tells you customers frequently buy from the first person to offer them the product. They want to be the first to offer you a repair is why they are the cheapest drain Cleaning price. If you hear their company on the radio, I probably cost them $50 in marketing just for you to call them. And they aren't advertising on the radio by breaking even...
I wouldn't get out of bed to clear a drain for $40, i do side work on the weekends and I charge 125 - 150 for clogged sinks/toilets and 250 - 350 for sewer main cleaning
@@Kaygeedagee incorrect. Its a sales tactic. My old company ran 80 dollar drain specials. 9 times out of 10 it was in the kitchen. It was grease. Snakes dont do anything for grease. It then turns into a 990 dollar mini jetter job or a 2100 dollar full jetter job. They'll get their money. They also did flood prevention inspections for free for the club members. The goal was to find something wrong and sell something.
Lmao I don’t really have anything to do with plumbing but you are very informative and entertaining. Love the videos, thanks for taking the time!
I'm not really interested in plumbing. No idea why your channel was recommended. But here i am, watching an entertaining, informative business owner... as I learn about plumbing.
More review's please, makes an interesting video
I am intrigued Roger...do you do your own censoring noises? ahaha
Also new sub here. Loving it :)
I do tree services ( cutting, planting, maintenance etc) We once got a bad review because the people were mad we didnt plant mature maple trees in their yard even though they came and picked out the saplings the day before.
Just curious Rodger.What do you say to these "uneducated" plumbers when you roll up on them?I think it would be interesting to see and hear what you say when the camera and sound is off.
with pricing i don't get why people start at the max price then drop it down to whatever it ended up costing afterwards. that's what we do all the time in AC repair
Hi Rodger discovered your channel. I’m an electrician in England.
Loved this video in particular I’ve been operating as my own company for 5 years and got my first negative review in December. I liked how in this video you stayed neutral. I work hard on ensuring people are happy after I’ve provided my service.
Like how you give advice. And stayed neutral to the tradesmen as we all know there’s that one customer that is a completely unacceptable human being with no concept how the world works.
Keep up the great work.
Cheers Mr. Hobbs!
it's the same in the IT Service industry most customers don't know or realise how hard it is to diagnose a problem and they pay for the knowledge and training we have to go through
Ye. You hear "it's just a button click" for an all-day job a fair bit.
Lol the farting censor sounds made me dead! XD
I have a 4.9 star review. Only had 1 customers who said I need you to patch up the cast iron pipe paper thin.😂🤣. N flaky. 😠😠😠😠😠😠😠He gave me 1 star......
Most of those sound like bad customers talking around what they did.
"The guy wouldn't shut up about his kids, as he tripped over our screaming kids and their toys, but we didn't take the hint"
Whenever my pants fall a little bit and people say something i joke and say “ you know people usually pay me for that view… like when im working on their faucet” lol
I am an electrician and I am struggling dealing with idiots that want my services for next to nothing.
Some of these reviews could turned into a 4-5 Star for customer service if they would explain what they did and why they billed this and so on and most important react professional to complains. (Not easy sometimes, I know)
Saying work is there "as is" is unprofessional, at least they could have asked the customer or at best drive to him and clear this mistake.
One rule for my company: Invoices (as long as they are no contracted service invoices which content is known and negoitated beforehand) have to be explained to the customer with every single position mentioned and in doubt shown on site whre this was mounted. If the customer knows, what he pays and why, he will pay much more willingly and mistakes can be corrected immediately.
thanks to you I've learned to understand this kind of pricing. anyone can install a pipe but not everyone can do it properly.
If you have customers paying over $1k for a water heater install "upstairs" and think it's a good deal send me all the work you don't want
last company i worked with that did tanks and our price started at 1000 for one with easy access in the garage.
15:36 thank you, don't call your wife stupid, ever. I'm gonna give the business owner a pass on this reply, seems pretty calculated to me.
Rodger thanks for keeping it real... You are a great representative of our trade. thank you....
For the attic fan repair that tech did them a favor. He knew it was out of his comfort zone and didn't want to get himself into a scenario where he could damage anything.
Roger is spot on. I enjoy his videos. Excellent content always. I'm glad, there's people out there with his standards.
4th video watched in a row. Subscribed for the Handlebar Mustache.
To anyone that ever hires a trade service there is a base pay usually charged hourly or by job. When you get a new set of tires put on your car a mechanic can charge 400 when the tires cost 300 it's the time, tools, and trade(3ts) they have they you dont. The person you hire has put in the time to learn you have the choice put in your time to learn or put in your money.
I went to a service call for a lady that legitimately was losing her mind. I pulled 2 sponges and a bag of rice out the garbage disposal and got it to work again.
I know some handyman who make big money every year. There's alot of hacks , but theres alot of hack prod too that scam people. That all depends on the state, the area you live, the best review is when customers recommend you by word of mouth .
5:55 "They got of cheap."
Right. Spending $ 289 for literally no service is a great deal.
You’ll notice he used qualifiers like “well depending on what they did” and “if you replace 2 toilets”
I'm not sure what kind of handymen you have near you or what your problem is with them but they are more than capable of doing the work. Toilet repair isn't that difficult and to be quite honest plumbing is probably the easiest of all the trades that come to mind. With that being said I understand where you are coming from with the having a licensed plumber do the work. However there are definitely plenty of plumbing jobs that a handyman are more than qualified for.
Some are great. In Texas a license is required to work on plumbing. I don't have anything against handymen. But, if they do plumbing and something goes wrong the insurance isn't paying for anything.
@@RogerWakefield Ah so it's an insurance thing. I'm not a handyman but I do know some great guys that are handyman but they have insurance for their company. I'm not sure if insurance works differently up here as opposed to down there. I'm glad to hear it's not a problem with them doing the work as opposed to just looking out for the homeowner. I'm new to the channel and I appreciate your response and the content you produce. I am a DIYer and love working on my own house. I love learning about all kinds of things so I can be less dependent upon other people. Thanks again and keep up the good work!
Jory Mills, I honestly have seen "Handymen"layout and build an entire house from the ground up
I'm a plumber by trade, but still
Consider myself a "Handyman"!
@Matthew Lambert Not even close to the same thing bud. Some plumbing jobs aren't that complicated. If I were to have a boiler installed or run pipes for a whole house or something bigger like that yes I would like a licensed plumber. To change a toilet or put in a faucet no a knowledgeable handyman would be fine. Personally on my house I do small plumbing jobs and wouldn't go doing plumbing work for other people because I know my limits. Every situation is different so a blanket statement about handymen doesn't really work. Roger already clarified for me what he meant and that he doesn't have anything personally against handymen but rather he is just looking out for the customers.
@Matthew Lambert In CT you can't just go out and be a handyman you have to have a general contractor's license I'm pretty sure. You just reiterated what I was saying though every situation is different. It is especially different from state to state. If you are running out of p
work as a plumber I'm not sure handymen are your problem then. There will always be a need for skilled labor and the demand has and will be moderate to high.
Repair my attic fan LMAO
I had a leak in my previous apartment. Took a week for them to find it, but in the proces found a few other small leaks. In the end it turned out that the cold water pipe had broken. They needed to rent a specialized tool to find, scan for the leak. It ran through my ceiling. They had to repair it from my upstairs neighbor house. thankfully it was rented and the owner of the apartment building took care of all costs and repairs.
The guys did a wonderful job and after all the excess moisture was removed from the apartment, all damages where fixed and even went the extra mile and helped with an home improvement project. ofcourse the repair of the damages and painting where done by carpenters and painters, after the plumbers where done.
One at 13 minutes, as a plumber into stuff I haven't seen all the time. It's important all techs have eachothers number and the owner is very knowledgeable . I've learned on the job dozens of times.
Not really pumping "Handymen", But I have seen guys who are very
Proficient in more than one trade!
People ought to learn about how to replace a flapper in the toilet or even the valve...it is not hard to do.
I always look for referrals from friends or call my buddy that I use to work for. I helped him finally get his contractor's license. Its a small town and word travels fast. Be smart people. Get a second or third quote and do your homework.
Plot twist he's reading reviews for his company lol
I work at plumbing supply warehouse here in Ohio. I fill orders and triple check for accuracy. Then I load tools/parts into the plumbers vans. This has lead to plumbers asking for me by name now my workload has tripled. Will they ever allow other employees handle their orders or will I get my wheels ran off till I retire?
I don't give reviews. When Peppy & Kokky did maintenance on our water heater we called their boss and they got sacked.
They didn't remove the cover, knocked on the sides, put the maintenance sticker on and said 'all is good' while there was no hot water for 4 months. I don't blame the company. They did their best to serve customers during covid and lockdown.
We do lots of drains. We usually run water to see if the toilet rises in the sink next to the toilet. I don’t trust customer saying the toilet is blocked. You have to check and see it’s not a Block Sewer.
I once saw an amazon review for a dewalt sds drill.
The woman said it was ridiculously heavy, and that her "physically strong husband" could also barely lift it.
This was the 18v battery one, and they were planning to break up a concrete driveway slab with it.
Yet apparently, even 2 of them at the same time could barely even lift the drill.
So I have a story,
A plumber, owning his own business by himself. We call him to replace a toilet. He had a toilet in his car right after replacing one in another house. The man was already in the area and offered 150$ for it. Took about half an hour. It was on the second floor bathroom. By the time it was done, the plumber, "90$ cash."
The toilet was likely going to be in the dump if this call didn't happen, and he was already in the area. 90$. This was about 13 years ago.
With the $139 turn $600 case I have a feeling that customer said he only needs installation of new toilet bowl and plumber said something like: "If it is 1-to-1 than it would be $139". And it was not 1-to-1 situation.
I really think I’m gonna get a dolly, not cause I’m a tradesmen, but they’re just useful if you gotta say move a heavy chair or dresser
Usually, the biggest issue I have is just getting an appointment. I suspect a large part of it is the small town penalty. Even though they charge a premium just to come out, they won't even come unless they can schedule multiple jobs in the area on the same day (which makes sense from a business perspective, it is an hour drive each way).
I bet that those 2 negative 👎 are from those low star compananies that you mentioned 😎😎😅🤣🤣
Or just people that love to hate. There are a bunch of bad people out there...
@@RogerWakefield I agree lots of haters out there 👍👍😎
When I get a customer review it makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside, probably even if I had a 1 star because then I can show that customer how much I care about the job that I do on their electronics. so far no 1 stars and all happy customers so far, even tho I opened less than a year ago (yeah right before covid) I know that every interaction even phone calls are an opportunity for me to earn people's trust and satisfaction from a good job.
17:27... As a customer I tend to not look too deep into 1 or 5 star reviews for a few reasons. Most 1 star reviews will often be people just mad at pricing not realizing how much things really cost, not realizing that just because George or Jose give an estimate at a fraction of the cost doesn't mean that they won't cost you more in the long run because cheapest doesn't always mean cheapest, you get what you pay for. I will look through them but I will take them with a grain of salt, and for 5 star reviews it is often the same but in the opposite direction of getting a quick cheap fix not realizing it will cost them thousands in the long run because people review the day of and not a week or a month down the line. Instead I look at the 2-4 star reviews because they will be the most honest ones and not just someone mad at a price or happy at a price without paying attention to quality.
In short if it is 1 or 5, odds are it is not a well thought out review, but a 2-4 odds are a little more research went into their thoughts before writing the review and will be a little more credible.
Hmm, that's a different train of thought regarding the ratings...I look at the 1's and read them, if there are a lot of them, most often, the company is terrible...I'm a 5 star company on google, I've been in business for almost 30 years. I've worked hard to keep that rating. I want my customers to GUSH about their service. A 2-4 star, in my opinion is not good enough; it means sometimes they're decent and sometimes they suck...Which do you get that day?
@@godbluffvdgg Obviously there are some exceptions, like if something is overwhelmingly negative odds are it is bad unless it was review bombed by a competitor to make it look bad which is very rare to see. I am not saying all 1 or 5 star reviews are worthless just that they need to be taken with a grain of salt which you need to look at the validity of the reviewer for some, like if an account that was either just made the say of, or has a lot of purchases over many many years but only has one single review, it is highly unlikely that that review is legit. Now that is not to say there are not exceptions to that either, there are exceptions to almost everything, but you can get a general idea of real vs fake reviews and also a general idea of who rates everything bad vs who rates everything 5 stars. Then you also have people who rate things the opposite of the general public purely so that people will read their opinion, for example a review like "5 stars - Do not buy this game even if it goes on a deep discount sale, the developers stole $1 million dollars from Kickstarter and only delivered an asset flip, avoid at all costs"... They "rated" it 5 stars just to get people to look at contradictory sides only to get across their point of why not to buy it, because a lot of people will read a handful of reviews from both ends of the spectrum to see what people like and what people hate about it to form their own opinion. I never meant ignore all 1 and 5 star reviews, merely just take them with a grain of salt and see if they pass the "sniff test" to see if they are legit or a rushed or uneducated review.
@@godbluffvdgg The TLDR version of that is basically if something has under 3 stars average it is probably terrible, if something has over 4 stars average it is probably ok but not always because people often only see short term effects and not long term effects, a person who "fixes" plumbing at 1/5th the cost in half the time as everyone else will often get a 5 star review because the people reviewing don't realize that all these other issues that come up 3-4 months down the line are a direct effect of the "cost savings" they bought earlier and so are spending more money half a year later then the person who did it right the first time. If you see a bunch of 5 stars of "quick and cheap" odds are it is not quality but it is something people don't notice right away.
@@hockeyhacker97 It depends on the trade or service...Someone with a 4 rating but, hundreds of ratings is a good bet...Someone with 10 or more 1's will often be a terrible choice...
@@godbluffvdgg Again it always depends because there are exceptions to rules of thumb. For example your point of someone with 10, heck let's call it 50's to make it even worse being a terrible choice. Let's look at two examples where that would be false.
Example one, the person has 50 1stars, 3 2 stars, 180,917 112 3 stars, 4 stars, and 90,613 5 stars, for a total of 271,695 reviews and all 50 of those 1 stars came from "day 1 accounts" that have no other reviews other then that one single product.
Example 2, a place has 50 1 stars, an average amount of 2-5 stars for lets say 400 reviews total, but 48 of those 50 1 stars all came when a certain manager was in power and all the 4+stars came after that manager was fired and the store was put under new management, do you still hold the store accountable for the previous managers swindles or are those ratings no longer valid a year after that person was fired and replaced with a better manager?
Actual conversation with a customer, “I supplied the new water heater, why should I have to pay to have it installed ?” Or another, “ the disposal has a 3 year warranty, I shouldn’t have to pay to have it replaced after a year. “ “You bought the disposal from lowes, installed it yourself, I cannot honor a manufacturer warranty on a device we didn’t supply.” I’ve never put any value in yelp reviews, people will trash you because they are cheap and don’t want to pay for the service, or they don’t understand that their continued flushing of non flushable items are re clogging their stuff.
Thats what i tell em. 199 to reset a toilet. If the flange needs to be repaired, its gonna be another 200-400 and kore if i have to jackhammer up the flange. (Cast) to replace.
“You don’t want me doing your Sheetrock repairs”. I use that line grossly often.
As far as the toilet one goes, it’s entirely possible he was installing a customer supplied toilet, and upon pulling the existing toilet found the flange needed to be replaced. I’ve definitely had this happen, and depending on the involved work 600 is completely believable. Some people like to complain just to complain.
Whenever we get bad reviews we always call to fix the problem
If I am painting a house anyway, and they Need a new toilet installed I would rather do it for twenty bucks myself than have a plumber getting in my way while i'm working
I live my my own credo, not YELP's. In fact, yelp scammed me on a sponsor "contract"...where do you leave a "YELP" about YELP ?
Fallable, but I try to live up to the following:
1. If using client's kitchen counter or other area to stage work, set down a clean, large canvas tarp to protect the surface.
2. Don't "dump" toolbox on their washer or dryer... sure, it is not the Steinway in the living room, but a little respect for the MayTag.
3. Set actual appointments to a time. The "2 hour window" assures the last 1 or 2 calls of the day will get bumped. Over scheduling is standard, except at City Lock. I schedule enough time so Locksmith can go have a cup of coffee between most jobs, or if client has more doors than scheduled for, we can handle it, and not blow the schedule. This allows for no rush work, which would equate to a call-back. Nice, slow, turtle pace. ( BTW, I am generally the field tech ). This is why I am likely the most expensive LEGITIMATE company in the local market. I show up at appointment time, and do a proper job.
4. Charge what you quote. No lowball-foot-in-the-door pricing. Some things do require onsite quote, but not like those damn flipcharts that Plumbing and Electrical companies started using a few years back to justify insane prices. A good Plumber is WORTH 150.00 an hour, generally broken into 15 min increments, or the job is flat-rate. When Flat-Rate is legit, it protects client from a newbie, or just a real slow, disorganized individual vs the super-sharp efficient guy. Now it is used as a bludgeon. I would rather quote when I can, so there is no argument or negotiation at completion of job. I use a legitimate Flat-Rate price for most of the non-custom work.
5. "I got a lower quote from XYZ" This does not effect my quote. I reply..... a. Then why didn't you hire them? b. Then I guess I am NOT your locksmith, am I ? c. "Good luck storming the castle". I like to ask a lot of questions, sometimes have client send some digital photos ( as if there is a non-digital kind ). This is how I can give a "FREE QUOTE". If they want me to come out to give a quote for a minor repair; then they will have to hire me as a consultant. I will write up a comprehensive specification for the job, so they can email it to 100 others... I am just a paid consultant at that point.
6. Fire the PITA clients. There is nothing wrong with firing clients. ( Just not in the middle of a job ) The objective is to cultivate a wonderful base of clients who appreciate workmanship and quality products.
7. Do not obsess over YELP reviews. All my negative ones are self-evident of the type of client I reference in #6. Just READ them, and the oddities are in their own words. Even when they are hostile, I try to offer resolution. Why? Not because they deserve to be aggressive or snarky toward me, but because thousands of others will read the review and my reply in the future. If one were to click on the 10% gray-tone line at the BOTTOM of my YELP reviews on main page, the stripe that says "Plus there other reviews we do not recommend reading", and the red stars are replaced with light grey ones, to appear as no-stars...…. and ALL reviews that were not removed for TOS violations are averaged, City Lock winds up about a 4.5. You can not fight YELP, they are hiding under federal protection, even though they manipulate the reviews.... they ARE creating the content and the number of red stars. I used to let it bother me. My righteous indignation must be reserved for fights worth fighting.