Home improvement

Oh, I think it’s time for a customer experience story; I’ve not done one of those in a while, I think.

Actually—let’s have a couple.

I have two bathrooms and a powder room in my house. The toilet in the master bath started running maybe a couple of years ago. Since I haven’t used it since the first night I was here, I just shut off the water. Then, the pull rod in the froofy top-mount flush device in the powder room broke, and I jury-rigged a kludge. That was in March But around April, the flapper started intermittently running, and I thought maybe I should not try to make it through the pandemic with only one toilet working, so I called a company a friend had recommended, Marines Plumbing.

Now, I knew they’d not be cheap—I had them out to give an estimate on installing new faucets in the kitchens and two of the bathrooms (along with a shower head in one of them) in 2018; their quote was ludicrously over the top and I got someone else to do the work.

Also, pro tip: any company with their name and red-white-&-blue artwork painted all over their vans has a lot of overhead. And their customers are footing that bill.

But I wanted to get the work done, so I arranged for them to come out; they gave me a window of two hours. When they blew past the deadline, I called to find out what was up. The chick who answers phones had no idea, but she thought the plumber would be here shortly. And she stopped with that. I had to ask, “Please call him to find out.” She rang back a few minutes later to say that his previous job had run over, and he’d be at my place in [some period of time; I don’t remember].

The kid did eventually show up, and he fixed the toilets competently, for which I was charged $346.67. (I told you they were not cheap.) It was high, but I knew it would be. What pissed me off was that for $350 they should have done a hell of a better job at communicating.

They’ve churned out the follow-up emails, including one wanting me to tell them how [name] did as a plumber. Marines: consider this my answer to your survey.

When I posted this on Facebook, an acquaintance said that the company is usually much better than that, and he could have a word. I replied that he could tell them why they lost my business, but I was not interested in speaking with them. I am done.

Well, currently I’m getting estimates from electricians for adding outlets and another circuit to my kitchen. I spent a week trying to get sense out of Autumn Electric, who have previously done work for me. I liked the guys who came out that time, so I was pretty much ready to just get an estimate and give them the job. But the guy who answers their phones asked a few questions, guessed the number of hours it would take and told me it would be about $650. Well, I’m not comfortable with verbal estimates, especially when someone’s not seen the physical layout, so I asked for someone to come out.

“We don’t send anyone out for a job that’ll cost less than $1000.”

Really?

Eventually, I emailed him photos of the circuit panel, the powder room and the entry hall (which are between the box and the kitchen). And, dear Lord, what a palaver; the company email address he gave me (nothing on their site) bounced, and eventually he gave me his personal/company address. That did not bounce, but neither did I hear anything back from for the next four days.

So I rang him again, early last week. He at first claimed he’d not received the email, so I resent it as we were speaking. Then, oh, yes—he had indeed got the email and tried “several times” to call me. (Rest assured, I have Caller ID and there was no call from Autumn Electric.) Yes, he would send out “Dave” to give an estimate. The earliest Dave could get here is the week commencing 23 November.

I bit my tongue and made the appointment. Then I reached out on Facebook for recos. I got two—a one-man shop and a company recommended by Mr. Marines.

Well, the one-man shop showed up yesterday, made a through inspection, asked me what I want to do (this is an extremely important question to ask; not what do I want, but what am I trying to do) and has gone off to work up a quote.

The other one, Beacon Electric, told me they’d be happy to come out to give an estimate, for $59. So, with one phone call they not only lost my business this time (possibly negligible to them), but forever. Yes, they apply the $59 to the eventual bill; I don't like ransomware of any stripe.) 

And—as with Marines Plumbing—Beacon have also earned my low, low Net Promoter Score, in that I will always tell anyone who asks for a recommendation whom not to call. (Autumn is on the cusp, too.) They may be great technically, but even in “these challenging times” I do not have to reward people who don’t understand the concept of customer service.