Based on a recommendation from a friend, I called Plumber on the Way out to my house twice. Once was for an issue with the hot water in my downstairs bathtub and also the sink in the same bathroom was draining very slowly. The plumber correctly identified the issue with the bathtub, but the fix was going to be a large time and cost commitment that couldn't be done that day. As for the sink, the plumber snaked it, but it was still draining slowly. He said that it wouldn't drain any faster because the sink was too low and the drain was close to level with the point where the pipe enters the wall. So basically he said we would have had to detach and reattach the entire sink to get it to drain properly.
The second time they came out was because there were signs of a leak in the basement that looked like it was coming from the kitchen. This plumber struggled to find the issue and ultimately concluded that water was leaking out the back side of the sink because it hadn't been caulked well enough. While my wife and I debated how to move forward, we were very careful not to spill any water where he said the leak was, but the problem continued to get worse and started causing the floor in the kitchen to warp.
Doubtful that Plumber on the Way had identified the correct problem, I called another plumber (Advanced Plumbing). This plumber was able to quickly identify that the joint to the dishwasher was leaking and fixed the problem in under an hour. While he was there, I also asked him to look at the bathroom sink. He snaked that one out (he had to go into it from the kitchen) and it drained perfectly.
So maybe it was bad luck, but I had two experiences where Plumber on the Way was not able to correctly identify and solve the problems they were called out for. Meanwhile, another plumber identified and fixed both issues within an hour or two.
To top it all off, when I called to suggest that I shouldn't have to pay the invoice for the second visit, the person I spoke to acted like I was being unreasonable for suggesting I not have to pay it, was very rude to me, told me not to pay it while insinuating she would send it to a collections agency, and hung up on me. I had to call her back and we ultimately settled on me paying half the invoice. I understand that plumbing is sometimes a trial and error approach to diagnose and resolve the issue and that you're generally expected to pay for their time and effort whether the problem is solved or not, but the base expectation is that the plumber actually be competent. Based on how quickly the other plumber was able to identify and resolve both issues that Plumber on the Way was not able to resolve, it didn't seem like I was getting competent plumbers from POTW.
I happily paid the Advanced Plumbing invoice I got because the plumbers they sent to my house were competent, experienced, and got results. Their rate is higher than POTW, but it's well worth it and I'll be using them from now on. read more
