Plumbing repair (kitchen faucet & piping)
I selected DrainWorks from the Homestars website because it showed at the top of the search list, had a high average reviewers' score, and a large # of reviews; and also because I was in a hurry -- the plumbing for my kitchen sink was failing rapidly.
You should note that DrainWorks pays customers to write reviews, including me. The review does not have to be positive, although receiving payment might cause some reviews to be more positive. It appears that paying for reviews significantly increases the # of reviews posted for DrainWorks on Homestars, and perhaps that in turn helps put the DrainWorks listing higher on the Homestars review page.
Now the review ...
The Good:
- Drainworks plumber Craig L was on site within 3 hours of my call to Drainworks.
- Craig was courteous, and presented himself like a customer service person rather than "just a plumber". (I have previously had a plumber at my home seem rather annoyed to be there, even though that was his job and how he earned his pay.)
- Craig quickly identified what turned out to be multiple problems, and all were resolved within an hour.
- Craig was decisive, offering a discount on the replacement equipment out of empathy for my personal circumstance: I am about to renovate the kitchen and so this repair was a "waste of money" other than for the unfortunate reality that this plumbing failure was about to deteriorate into a flood emergency.
- Craig was inquisitive. He asked a rather provocative question: How many months did I think this leak had been occurring. Months? He told me there was no way this leak arose in the past couple of days. We then went one floor down, and unfortunately, discovered some water damage which now has to be investigated.
The Bad:
- The price is out of whack. Just the service/labour fee (i.e. excluding materials) cost $319 for one hour. To put this into context, a Vice President in the highly specialized knowledge field of marketing consulting charges less than $300 per hour. This pricing distortion undoes a lot the good I noted above, and makes it hard for me to recommend DrainWorks to a friend.
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A VERY DISAPPOINTING RESPONSE FROM DRAINWORKS -- DO NOT CALL THEM
I wrote a mostly positive review above about DrainWorks. Unfortunately, DrainWorks chose to react Negatively when I pointed out that they have High Prices. (See their response further below.)
The way they reply suggests they themselves believe their own prices are high and that they don't want us all to realize this. This is evident because they, in their response, attempt to distract you, the Review Reader, from the reality that their Prices are High by resorting to rather amateurish and faulty debating tactics such as irrelevant details, name calling, as well as partial truths -- not telling the whole truth is actually not telling the truth at all.
I am obliged to reply to their nonsense.
I have changed my original rating from SIX out of ten (4 out of 5 for how satisfied + 2 out of 5 for how likely to recommend to you) to TWO (2+0).
This is not a reflection on the specific plumber assigned to the job, who did a good job and does not deserve to be associated with DrainWorks.
First off in reply to their response, I said why I chose to proceed with the service in spite of their stiff price. I was about to have a flood in my kitchen. My kitchen plumbing system was failing very rapidly. This was "choice" in name only.
Second, why did I take 20 days to submit a review? This is irrelevant. It is a common corporate reply tactic on review sites to attempt to discredit the reviewer and distract you, the Review Reader. I can do a review whenever I want. Anyway, the answer is that I have more important things to do than write reviews for $25 five minutes after the plumber leaves. I found time in my schedule to do it, and that was when it was done.
Third, DrainWorks gave me a choice to write the review for $25 cash, or a $25 donation to the Sick Kids Hospital charity. Which form of compensation I choose is irrelevant, and does not in any way taint the quality and thoughtful reply I provided. DrainWorks attempts to discredit my reply because I opted for the $25 cash. You might take the cash too if you had to pay the High Price DrainWorks charged.
Fourth, I do say in my original review above to whom I am comparing DrainWorks prices. It is flabbergasting to me that DrainWorks charges a lot more than a Vice President at a marketing consulting firm. That's why I say their prices are "out of whack" -- I just cannot perceive that as comparable value to DrainWorks plumbing because plumbing service, while specialized, is relatively commoditized whereas consulting services remain highly specialized.
Fifth, the work did not take 1.5 hours; it was less. Standing around chatting does not count. So the labour charge of $319 is thus effectively a rate of $319 per hour, even if it is not charged at an hourly rate. And even at 1.5 hours, the $319 is $213 per hour -- still a High Price.
Sixth, I did not "choose" the most expensive replacement faucet DrainWorks had available. There's that mirage of "choice" again. This was a partial truth, and thus not really the truth at all. In fact this was the ONLY faucet DrainWorks had that would fit my sink, and it was expensive. BUT, the DrainWorks plumber did offer me a discount on this given my circumstances (about to undertake a kitchen renovation). I said that I was grateful for this in the review above, but DrainWorks hopes to distract you from that part of my review.
Seventh, I did not exclude mention of any plumbing work DrainWorks performed in some lame attempt to overstate their High Price. I did not say only "faucet", I said kitchen plumbing "system" and by that I meant the whole system of pipes and hoses from the faucet right down to the water supply in the floor below the kitchen sink.
DrainWorks must be aware that you, the Review Reader, by now realize that their Weakness -- High Prices -- has been revealed. So they make one last attempt to distract you from this reality by name-calling, referring to me as an "illogical person". I assure you, I am a whole lot more logical than the DrainWorks' response below.
DrainWorks' response has been ill-thought and ill-conceived because, not only does it suggest they actually do believe their own Prices are High, but now their response also has damaged the trust and value of its service.
I now unfortunately must recommend that you, the Review Reader, Never Call and Never use DrainWorks.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $467.00
- What could this company do to improve their services?
- Given the price being charged, there must be cost inefficiency in their business, and this must be identified and made more efficient, so that pricing can be more competitive. With good service and quality labour, a more competitive price would be a knock-out punch for other plumbing firms. Alternately, DrainWorks is going to have to work even harder to justify its pricing, and make people feel more satisfied with the price they're paying.
- Any advice to offer fellow homeowners facing a similar project?
- Don't ignore a loose faucet. The home inspection report rather innocently pointed out that the kitchen faucet was "loose". This turned out to put major stress on the faucet and the pipes bringing in the water, causing the whole fauct/pipes system to fail, and it would appear, causing water damage a floor below that the home inspector did not notice.
- Company Response
This reviewer is rather selective on what he chooses to share or withhold. DrainWorks does promote our customers to provide ANY type of feedback, but in return we can make a donation in our customers name to one of the charities we support, as DrainWorks also promotes giving back to the community. George, however, decided not to participate with DrainWorks in making a donation. Also to clear up any misconception, a high volume of reviews does not equate a high listing on HomeStars. Only good reviews can do that, and only quality service can equate to good reviews. In this situation, quality service was provided, and even admitted to with 5 specific points that describe DrainWorks as above and beyond from any plumber George had ever used before, but still George writes of one bad, and it is related to price. A price that was provided at no charge to George, with no obligation to proceed. Given up front for George’s approval before any work began. So why did George proceed if he wasn’t happy with the price? Why did George wait 20 days to share this feedback regarding his dissatisfaction? Who is George comparing DrainWorks to when he says our pricing is “out of whack”; the handymen that never provided George with the quality service he was looking for? We do not know the answers to these questions, but what we do know is that our pricing is in line with industry standards, just take a look on this site at what other plumbing companies are charging. Furthermore, our price was very reasonable for the work George requested to have performed at his home, which in addition to the faucet included new isolation valves and water supply lines that were not mentioned in the review. Also, this work took 1 ½ hours and was not on any sort of hourly rate like George indicated. After all, he did choose the most expensive faucet we carry, and if price was an issue, he logically should have chosen something a bit more modest and within his budget, or alternately he could have chosen not to proceed and to shop around, but George agreed to proceed with our upfront price, indicating his approval and satisfaction. What more could we have done? Tell him “No, you don’t really want to proceed, so we’ll just leave instead.” In this instance, there was no satisfying this illogical person. DrainWorks will continue to offer top quality plumbing services at reasonable rates and will continue to provide pricing up front for approval before proceeding…now that seems logical.