I needed a plumber to fix a leak. Within the day, the leak was fixed and although there was a hiccup or two, the end result was satisfactory, very satisfactory
What happened was that I went looking in the basement for something and discovered a pool of water that was the creation of a drip from a T-joint in the copper piping directly overhead. To me and my untrained eye, it looked like a solder joint had gone bad. I turned off the water and went to Homestars to find a solution,
My first pick was unavailable until the following Monday. My second pick scheduled to do the job the next day in the 9-11 am time slot, one that I normally spent asleep. I asked for a time between 10 and 11 and through several phone calls it appeared we had a deal. At 10:43 that next morning, I got a call informing me the worker scheduled to come see me had called in sick. There were no alternatives to him and nobody would be available until Monday. I am not naming that company because I truly believe they worked hard to meet my needs and random chance spoiled all that planning.
So back to Homestars with no time whatsoever to do more research. I had a business appointment away from the home that would take me between noon and 2:30 pm. Once again, I looked for ratings and my locale. I had no time to read reviews. The 'winner' was New Canadian Drain & Plumbing. The scheduler there offered me half-hour time slots and we agreed to 3 pm. After a little chit-chat, she moved that to 3:30 pm. Which was a wise choice, since I didn't make it back from my meeting until 3:15 pm.
And this is where a star got lost. I sat there until 4 pm before making a call. The scheduler, sounding a lot less chipper than she did five hours previously, said she'd investigate. I expected an immediate phone call back with an update. It didn't come. At 4:15, I had the phone in hand, ready to cancel the appointment and call my original first choice back and beg for a Monday appointment. I realized the folly, financial and otherwise, of trying to get weekend work. That's when Anthony drove up in his company van.
From there, the process went very smoothly. The problem turned out not to be a solder joint, but an internal rubber seal that had finally given way after decades of working to stop leaks. The ballpark guesstimation by the scheduler for what I THOUGHT had been the problem was a fair bit of change. One that sounded on the high side when I queried folks around the table at the business meeting. But the actual events turned out to be a quite reasonable charge for the work. Anthony did NOT have the replacement part for the problem but hared off to a local supply store (twenty minutes or so, there and back) and got a replacement that seems to work. In the end, 45 minutes after he arrived, I was high and dry, the problem solved to my satisfaction.
Anthony understood that the LACK of communication was an issue. Letting people wait in the absence of an expected service appointment is common. That doesn't make it acceptable. It's inexcusable and he understood that. Otherwise, he was extremely professional, was able to adapt to the problem of finding an ancient part that needed replacement and was quick about it while working.
I would recommend Anthony of New Canadian Drain & Plumbing to family and friends without equivocation. The scheduling and the keeping to it was overly-ambitious and the lack of communications was a company issue and thus the lack of a star goes to it, rather than to Anthony.
