If a business has only one review and it's a five-star, you might wonder whether the company (and the reviewer) are legit. Yes, this is a good company-- Allen is awful at sales and marketing.
Plumbing, he's terrific at.
I've used him twice. The first call was when the kitchen sink clogged. I tried plunging it-- and the pipes separated. I started calling vendors with high reviews at 8:30 and left messages.
At around 11:30, after nobody responded, I started checking listings I'd passed on. Parsons Plumbing (which didn't have any reviews) also didn't have a website. But it DID have a Facebook page. The latest post was We just got the logo painted on the truck!, which suggested he was new.
He had a couple of videos of work-- they seemed fine. Called the number and heard Hi, this is Allen. So I got his cell. Told him the problem-- also mentioned I had a sump pump in the basement that wasn't working.
Yeah, I can come out there today. Give me a couple of hours.
He was about 20 minutes late. But he was there same day. If you've dealt with plumbers, you know how rare that is. Also, the company is located in Willowick (Lake County) and I live on the southwest corner of Cuyahoga-- five minutes from both Lorain and Medina. Most vendors aren't willing to drive that far.
He and Ryan snaked the drain, and then had to figure out how to reconstruct it. (The plumbing, like a lot of things in the house, had been 'improved' by the previous homeowner, who was a contractor). It took some futzing with a Sawzall and some experimentation, but they figured that out.
Onto the basement. Decided they needed to replace the check (backflow) valve. They check the truck; turns out they'd used all the ones in the truck and forgotten to restock. Had to go to a store to get one. (While they were gone, I ran the dishwasher on rinse to see if they got the sink right. Yup.)
When was the last time you had the tank pumped? About three months ago. OK, this shouldn't be too bad. Visions of my 1,000-gallon septic tank emptying into the basement filled my head, but they needed only two buckets.
They charged about what other places would charge for two hours work. Very good, for a two-man, same-day visit.
Last week, I tried to take a shower and got cold water. The internet explained it was probably a bad thermocouple-- an easy fix for a homeowner. I decided to call Allen anyway. I called at 3:30. Told him I think me he could be out there the next day at 12:30 and asked me to text him some photos.
Next morning he texts me: I'm gonna be honest. If the tank is 12 years old, you might really want to consider replacing the tank, rather than throw money at it.
My first response was to say let me think about it. He replied I'll come out and fix the thermocouple if you really want, but I think you'd be better off replacing the tank.
I checked. Turned out 8-12 years is normal lifecycle. He gave me a flat price that was about $200 more than I'd paid in 2008.
He had to go buy a model that would fit my home, so it delayed the visit a day. But he was out next afternoon and got it done. Had to 'borrow' a wire hanger to clear a clog in the drain line; the tank was so filled with sediment that it took 35 minutes to drain. Also, he and Ryan had to muscle the tank out, because they forgot to load the dolly on the truck that morning. But he got it done.
Because I didn't recognize the brand name of the unit he used, and I noticed their warranty was six years (my old one had been 12), I quizzed Allen about both things. He explained the issues to my satisfaction. I checked the internet after he left-- and it turned out he was correct.
I'm going into the details (including the warts) to make it clear that it's a new company, with all that entails. Allen had been working for two large vendors for about a decade before he decided to strike out in 2018 (the year the business was founded is in its gmail address).
Yes, an established firm with 10 crews and a warehouse would do things differently. (There would have been a video on why Bradford-White water heaters are best). But those companies don't always return your calls. They often turn jobs down because they're busy. They usually don't get out same-day or next business day. And they don't like to answer questions. Not honestly, at least.
When you call Parsons Plumbing, you talk to the owner. He comes out on every job. He doesn't BS-- and he answers dumb questions (electrical and carpentry I know; plumbing I'm still hopeless on) patiently.
I've used half a dozen plumbers since I bought this house: some retired, others went under, others ripped me off or were inept. Parsons Plumbing will (I hope) be the last plumber I ever use.
