Here are some frequently asked plumbing questions that you should ask every plumber before you allow them to schedule work at your home or office. The questions are standard and the answers are what you will hear from our friendly office staff.
What is your hourly rate?
We do not charge by the hour, we charge by the job, and we will give you a full estimate before any work is started. The benefit is catered to the consumer. If the job takes longer than expected, you don’t pay a penny more.
Do you charge for travel time?
Not within 20 miles of Bakersfield. Our primary service area is inside Kern County.
Do you charge for overtime?
Yes. However, that depends on the job, the day and time. Some jobs just end up running late in which case we will not be charging overtime. Sometimes due to people’s schedules, it may be necessary to schedule a service call on a Saturday. Please understand if we get called out after hours or on the weekend, depending on the job, we may need to charge for overtime.
If you give me a quote, will you ever exceed that price?
Sometimes we will run into unusual situations after we start the job that may require additional work. We will always stop, inform you of the situation and complete another quote for any price changes. We will always present them to you for approval.
What is your normal response time?
As quick as we can. In some cases we can be onsite within the hour! (we cannot be held responsible for traffic, weather or other unforeseen events). We do not have plumbers on standby (commission plumbers) but we will attend to the priority calls on a daily basis as best we can. For service calls that are scheduled during normal business hours, we try and provide all of our clients with a 4 hour “window of time” for us to arrive. This allows you the customer time to make any necessary arrangements and allows our plumbers time to complete any unexpected work on their previous service calls. Our office staff is in constant communication with our Plumbers. All plumbers have office-to-vehicle texting, as well as cell phones. We encourage our customers to give us a call during or before your scheduled time frame to get a closer estimated time of arrival.
Do you have insurance?
Yes. The Honest Plumber is a fully licensed and insured plumbing company.
What if I need something done in an emergency and you don’t have the parts on your truck?
We have priority access to our supply houses in emergency situations. If we don’t have it, and it is not available at local home improvement warehouse, we can contact a local supply house and gain access to the require material. This assumes it is not a specialty order item, and there is a nominal charge for this exclusive service.
What payment methods does your company accept?
The Honest Plumber accepts both personal checks and cash.