Brief Summary: A technician from Flush King displayed what I perceived as questionable business practices. I am encouraging individuals reading this review to exercise caution if choosing to work with technicians from Flush King
Details: Noticed on a Saturday that in one of my bathrooms the shower handle would not turn the water to the shower head off. The handle had been sticking for some time, so the fact that it ended up breaking was not that surprising. Turned off the water to my home and started to look online for solutions. Seemed like the most likely issue was that the cartridge failed and required a replacement. I don't have plumbing tools, so I figured it was best to just pay and get the cartridge replaced by a professional. Contacted multiple companies and all quoted me a similar price (350-400 dollars). Flush King was willing to come out the same day, so I decided to go with them.
The technician arrived at the agreed upon time. After about an hour of work he indicated that he tried replacing the cartridge, however the water was still not shutting off. He told me the valve needed to be replaced and that it would cost 1800 dollars. This was unexpected and seemed pricey, so I declined to have this repair done. My intention was to cap the shower head pipe and use my secondary bathroom until I could get a second option. The technician from Flush King than said he was concerned that the water would end up flooding inside my wall and that he recommended getting the work done that day, by him, for 1800 dollars. I again declined. He told me that he could show me what his concern was, so he left briefly and returned later with some type of small push valve. He connected it to my shower head pipe and, when water came out of the push valve he just installed, he suggested that this evidenced an ongoing problem that required immediate attention. He assured me he had 17 years of experience and was just trying to help me out. When I declined getting the valve replaced at a cost of 1800 dollars for the 3rd time, he said he could try another cartridge. This cartridge worked perfectly fine, and the replacement was done in about 20 minutes at the agreed upon price. The whole experience took about 3 hours. The technician did not acknowledge that he recommended a course of action that would have unnecessarily cost me an extra 1400 dollars.
I am not an expert in plumbing. Is it possible the cartridge the technician installed initially was defective? Maybe. Is 1800 dollars for a valve replacement reasonable? Maybe. Is it possible that a push valve not working correctly suggests a risk of internal flooding? Maybe. My thoughts are these: if cartridges often fail, then why wouldn't a technician with 17 years of experience try another before recommending a repair that more than quadruples the original estimate? If the odds of a cartridge failing are so extremely rare, then what is the likelihood that other unusual things would be happening at the same time? I do not know the answers to these questions. I only believe that any reasonable person would find all these factors occurring at the same time to be highly questionable.
To give appropriate credit, the job was ultimately completed effectively, at the agreed upon price, and on the same day of request. However, I cannot in good conscious give a review higher than 1 star given the questionable business practices.
Again, please exercise caution if using Flush King for services.
***Additional comment (added on 5/11/23 at 9:30am)***
I have been a Yelp user since July of 2016. I simply never felt the need, or had the desire, to post a review until my interaction with this company. The original check I provided to Flush King was not processed because of an administrative issue at my bank. Once notified by Chris of the matter (on 5/11/23 at 8am), I contacted him by telephone and provided an alternative form of payment within that same hour. I offer this information in the spirit of full transparency related to my review.
I have no desire to blast any person or company. I have genuinely tried to share my thoughts about this interaction in a professional and respectful manner. Perhaps the impression I have following this interaction a product of a simple misunderstanding. While I do not believe that is the case, it is possible. Yelp readers will need to decide for themselves what to make of my review. Although I will not be a customer of Flush King in the future, I wish their company well and hope their future customers are fully satisfied with the services they receive.