Had my boiler serviced by Kelley from Jake the Plumber today...very happy with his work, and with the overall experience with Jake the Plumber!
Kelley was very friendly and knowledgeable, and didn't seem to mind me being around, watching and learning...educating me a bit, answering questions. Also very friendly with our kids. Got our boiler back up and running after some efficient troubleshooting.
After having called around to a lot of the other plumbing and heating companies, I was very turned off by the few bigger ones charging a hefty service call / travel fee (ranging from $68 to $149)...just to come out to see what's wrong / give you a price!...and then hearing in reviews they quote very hefty, flat-rate, non-transparent fees. I liked, first off, that Jake the Plumber charges hourly -- then you know how the pricing works before getting into it...and, for me, I don't mind being around to make sure they work efficiently, not working up the clock.
To that end, I REALLY liked that they gave me the option to text or email photos of my boiler / the issues needing addressed, and Kelley was able to call me the evening before service to ask me more detailed questions and get an idea of what was up, giving me a ballpark range of how many labor hours the job should cost. They do have a $68 travel fee (halved when you commit to service)...but with that call from Kelley, I at least had an idea of what I was getting into -- enough to feel comfortable committing with the travel fee beforehand.
He was running a little bit behind schedule after having to track down a unique part for my boiler but called before he was actually late to let me know, so I was never wondering (all fine with me).
The only thing I would suggest / appreciate in the future using Jake the Plumber, is that they have a detailed list of parts on their invoices -- was left to Kelley's memory when I asked him how much all the parts were. But, all sounded about right, so I took his word for it.
Very happy...boiler's running better than ever! Thanks again, Kelley!
Will definitely use one of their free quote Friday's for a new sump pump quote in the near future!