subject: Top Things To Consider Before Hiring a Professional Plumber [print this page] Top Things To Consider Before Hiring a Professional Plumber
Copyright (c) 2010 Gerry StringerWhen it comes to hiring a plumber, most homeowners find themselves under a tight time restriction: with an emergency plumbing situation on their handsor their floor. More than 80% of the calls Denver plumber Bob Ansel gets are emergencies.So if you don't have a plumber's phone number stuck to your refrigerator and you quit using the Yellow Pages years ago except for a doorstop, what's a homeowner or building owner to do when a toilet backs up or a sewer line collapses in the back yard? Most people check online with the Better Business Bureau. Businesses like the Denver plumbing company Ansel owns has earned an A+ rating from the BBB over the years. He said, "We get a number of callers who reference the BBB logo we proudly display on our website, because it gives them confidence in us". Founded in 1912, no one could have predicted the influence the internet would have on BBB operations nearly 100 years later. Today, the BBB website functions as a sort of 24/7 referral agency ranking members' performance. The grading system used ranges from A to F with pluses and minusesA+ is the highest grade and F is the lowesta calculation of the BBB's confidence in the business that it operates in an ethical manner, resolving customer issues or complaints and maintaining required licenses and legal practices. The bureau, a.k.a. the BBB, gathers and reports business standards and reliability information to create a self-policing organization for communities throughout Canada and the United States. Sometimes if there is a dispute between a disgruntled customer and merchant, the BBB will attempt to mediate;with a high ratio of success. With the advent of the internet, the influence of the BBB has extended to even copy-cat versions of endorsing (or critical) websites (i.e. Angie's List for one) that ensures quality of home service providers, retailers, doctors, lawyers, e-retailers and chiefs of industry to equal standards. Plumbing is just one of the many categories of subcontractors the BBB reports. The thing is, the BBB has no legal means of enforcing any dispute between a vendor and a customer. But its influence over the last 99 years has reached Goliath proportions. Length of time in the industry and appropriate licensing are considered along with any government actions against the business, specifically related to marketplace activities. How a business resolves disputes lodged by citizens is another consideration in the BBB rating. Details of any disputes (called a Reliability Report) are readily available for potential customers to review online at each of the Better Business Bureau offices across the country. Other signs to consider before you hire a plumber:
-Plumbers wear clean and tidy uniforms.
-Plumbers arrive in a well-stocked van marked with the company's name on it.
-Plumbers arrive on time. Of course, the full extent of how professional a company is is measured in the services delivered. That's where the BBB reports come in handy as a quick reference check when making that emergency call to a local plumber.
