How It Flows: What to Expect During a Plumbing Service Call

Drip. Drip. Drip. It's annoying, right? If you’ve ever wondered where the drip is coming from, and how to stop it (NOW!), know that you are not alone. Our plumbing pros have helped customers like you navigate a wide range of issues from blocked drains to spraying water to no hot water, and more. In the midst of a plumbing issue and want to contact us but curious what to expect during a service call? Find out below.

What happens when I call or email with a plumbing issue? How long does it take for you to get to my home?

Our customer service team sets the wheels in motion right away. Normally we can have someone to your house for service within an hour of your phone call/text/email for service.

If you call after hours (our office hours are 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.), we still have you covered! That’s because we are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. More good news: we don’t charge extra for nights or weekends. So, you will get transferred to an answering service and in about 15 minutes or less, our on-call dispatcher will call you to get your service appointment scheduled. The on-call plumber will leave their home and call you with their estimated arrival time.

Note: Our Simplified Service Plan (SSP) customers always get priority service. Our Plumbing SSP ($82/year if you have a tanked water heater or $249/year if you have a tankless water heater) prolongs the life of your plumbing without taking a hit on your budget. We visit SSP customers’ homes every year and check all fixtures for proper functionality, verify leak-free operation, clean aerators, flush tanked or tankless water heaters, check water pressure and flow, and much more. Contact us here to learn more.

Who do you send and what is the first thing you do when you arrive at my home?

We only send completely and fully trained plumbing professionals. Plus, all our plumbers are drug-tested and pass a background check.

When they pull up to your home, the plumber alerts us that they have arrived. They apply hand sanitizer, grab their face mask, tool bag, and waterproof show-booties and head to your front door. Then, they start looking for the root cause of the issue you are having with your plumbing system.

How do you communicate to me what the problem is and how much it will cost to fix it? Do you charge a fee just to visit my home? Then, do I get charged separately for you to fix the issue, or is it all one fee?

We are proud to say that our service calls and repairs are always clearly priced and quoted upfront, so you can expect transparency our entire visit in your home. Once your Charlotte Mechanical plumber figures out what the problem is, they will go to our flat-rate pricing book and find the correct coded repair for your situation. They will write a work order to document what happened and they type the quote into the work order.

You would then sign the work order on the quote approval line. This sends a timestamp to our office, showing we quoted before starting any further work. We charge a diagnostic/trip fee to send a truck with a highly trained plumbing technician to your home. It is $59 for SSP customers and $89 if you do not have an SSP.

FYI: You can always buy the SSP plan at time of service; this will reduce the diagnostic fee by $30 and you will receive a 10% discount on all repairs along with priority service (before and after hours). To help you, we have the “no-pressure guarantee.” That means you have 30 days after service to decide if you want the SSP discounts along with no call-back fees if something else goes wrong.

When presented, our quote will show the price for the repair. At completion of work, the plumber will go over the bill showing the quoted repair and the diagnostic fee with the local taxes shown.

Can you always fix the issue right away (i.e., do you always have the parts with you)? What happens if not? How do you ensure you’ve actually fixed the problem?

If at all possible, we fix the issue on the spot. However, the truth is sometimes that just can’t happen. There are lots of different parts out there; if your issue requires a part that needs to be ordered from a specific manufacturer, we call that organization ASAP (the next time they are open) to find out pricing and availability for you so we can email you a quote ASAP.

Once your plumber installs the necessary part, they test the system and watch it operate for awhile to ensure everything goes smoothly.

What if I look online and find a part cheaper? Will you come back to install it? Will you price-match it?

We take pride in our work. That starts with quality parts, most all made in the U.S.A. That’s because high quality parts will last longer, meaning fewer problems down the road for you.

So, we don’t buy our parts and materials from an online vendor; we buy from local suppliers that stand behind the parts they sell us. If something goes wrong, we can take it back and make it right.

That’s not the case with online parts. If the online part doesn’t fit/match once you get it, what do you do? You can’t compare an online part from anywhere in the world with something that has a return warranty from a local supplier. And when it comes to the safety and functionality of something related to plumbing that can cause harm to you or your family, we want to feel very confident in our purchase.

There are a few exceptions. Items we do install that a customer can supply (note - there is not a part or labor warranty on customer-supplied parts): plumbing fixtures (e.g., faucets and toilets).

We understand that water in your sinks and showers and bathrooms and kitchens impacts a huge part of your daily life. That’s why we work around-the-clock to get you the service and repair help when you need it.

Need it? Contact us today.

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