This review is long overdue. I was recently reminded of it because I need plumbing services again for another issue. Back in January, I called Dick Rosher Plumbing to find and fix a leak coming from our bathroom into the bathroom of the condo below ours. After reading their reviews and speaking to the manager on the phone they seemed as if they would be very thorough, in part because they are using the latest technology that most other plumbers were unwilling to pay for.
We set up an appointment for a Friday morning. I had a difficult time scheduling this appointment because we had to find a time that my downstairs neighbor, DR Plumbing, and myself would be available. 10-15 mins. after I was expecting the plumber to arive, I went to my cell phone to call them and noticed that an hour before the appointment, the manager had sent me a text letting me know that they wouldn't be able to make it because his guys had stayed up very late doing an emergency plumbing job the night before. Of course this really made matters more complicated because now I had to try to find another plumber and go through all of the scheduling issues all over again.
They may be excellent plumbers (Unfortunately, I cannot confirm nor deny this), but this is a very unprofessional and unreliable way to do business. I run a small business myself. Sometimes I get calls from my regular clients asking if I can squeeze them in for an emergency. However, I would never cancel or reschedule even a new client I had already booked, for a last minute booking with my best client, without first calling the new client to ask if it was okay to change our appointment. And I certainly would never cancel or reschedule by text. I would first call (this is still far and away the best form of communication, excluding face-to-face), leave a message if I got no answer, and THEN text. Furthermore, if it meant that I had to coffee up and deal with a little less sleep to keep my original appointment, I would certainly do that.
When I called later to let them know that their no-show was unacceptable and had cost them a client, the manager never offered to do anything to make it right. When I have screwed up and run very late for an appointment, or there was a confusion between the client and myself on the appointiment time, I offer a free service to try to make it right. Some promise of a discount on my next neeeded service would have prevented this review, but there was none. Excellent customer service means doing your utmost to deliver upon the client's expectations, but perhaps more importantly, it also means doing your utmost to make the client happy, if their expectations are not met.