Daniel B.
05/04/2019 12:00:00 SA
My tenant reported that the water coming out of the shower head and tub faucet was either too hot or not hot at all. She couldn't control the temperature anymore. She reported this to me on Sunday morning. I immediately used Yelp's Request a Quote service and sent out a request to several Atlanta area plumbers. If you've never used Yelp's Request a Quote service, I highly recommend it. It's free, convenient, and saves a bunch of time and hassle.
Raymond (Ray) White, owner of A Plus Priority Plumbing, responded to me almost immediately. Again, this was on a Sunday morning. My tenant texted me pictures of the tub/shower hardware which I texted to Ray. Ray was always quick to respond to my texts and answer my phone calls, no matter what day or time of day, which I really appreciated. When it comes to communication, he's the most responsive person I've worked with in home services. A lot of people can learn from him there.
Ray was able to come and take a look at my problem the following Tuesday with a 12-3pm time window. He gave me a 30-minute courtesy call-ahead, which I requested, and showed up on time with another person (two vans). He diagnosed the problem, trying out a cartridge piece he had on him, and charged me $35 for the visit. A lot of plumbers and bigger companies easily charge a $50-100 trip fee just for coming out, so his diagnosis fee, especially with two people, was reasonable. The second person's name was Dakota and he was polite.
Ray helped me make my decision which was to replace everything. Valve, cartridge pieces, control arm, faucet, and all. The hardware was 18 years old and had been through many renters over the years, so it was time. Ray charged me $650 for the job which included demolition (he had to destroy nine tiles to replace all the parts), replacement of the parts, some custom fittings and pipework, and cleanup. It took him about three hours to do the entire job by himself (normally, he has a helper, but the day he did my job, he was alone). He had to make a trip to Home Depot to get some particular parts once he tore my wall apart and saw what he was dealing with.
Ray doesn't do tile work, so I'm having someone else patch up the hole he made. At my request, Ray temporarily sealed the hole shut with a plastic covering and tape. As far as I can tell, he did a fantastic job and I've heard no complaints from my tenant. Ray replaced my Kohler parts with Moen parts. He says Moen is easiest/simplest brand to work with. Other brands, like Kohler and Delta, have more quirks to them.
Ray was able to check with his parts supplier and confirm he could get the parts for my job on the same day as my diagnosis. He was available to do the job on Wednesday, but due to a conflict I had at work, I had him come Thursday morning instead. So, total turnaround time from the time my tenant reported the problem to the time the problem was solved was only four days (would have been three if I could've met Ray sooner). Pretty good! He takes card and provides itemized receipts.
If I recall correctly, Ray has been in the business for about 25+ years (working for large and small businesses) and has owned A Plus Priority Plumbing for the last 10+. It's a small outfit with currently about four on staff. They work all over metro Atlanta. Ray has a great work ethic. I read a Yelp review that said he even did work on Christmas Day and saved someone's Christmas. Does he ever take time off?
Ray is a straight-shooter and no-nonsense type of guy. He may come across as short, but he's just being upfront and honest. I recommend you watch his video on Yelp. His responsiveness, the Yelp video, and Yelp reviews are what made me decide to choose A Plus Priority Plumbing over all the other vendors.
Thank you, Ray!