Holy Cow! How many FIVE STAR reviews can a business get before the entire city of Dallas is calling Pablo & Bee Prestigious Plumbing every time something goes wrong?
My experience with Bee is extensive.
The first time I called him, I had a few Honey-Do (see what I did there?) items I needed to attend to -- replacing a few toilets, a gas leak on the fireplace, some water pressure issues -- the usual suspects. Pablo did a few things that surprised me. First, he called me back within 10 minutes of leaving him a message. Second, he showed up on time. Ok, not quite on time. He actually showed up FIVE MINUTES EARLY and texted me from his van to say he was here. WOW! Unheard of. Third, he took his time and went through every item on my checklist and gave me a fee quote from a list of fees which he was happy to share with me. That's right! No spinning numbers out of thin air. No charging higher prices because a hot lava Lamborghini was parked in front of my home (okay, maybe it was my orange Nissan). Now here's the crazy part. He was here for over an hour. He actually fixed our bathtub handheld faucet and tried to find our fireplace gas leak. And then he quoted me a fair price for the toilet installs and left without taking a dime. Yes, he refused payment for his time.
Ok, you're thinking. That's the scam. Like the auto repair shops. The first time, they only charge you $5 for the blown out fuse but after that first visit, you can't get out of there without paying the requisite $400 parts and labor fees. Every time.
Which brings me to the second half of this tale (or review, depending on whether you thought Tolstoy's War and Peace was breezy). My home had developed an odd, musty, mildewy, moldy odor whose source I could not locate. I narrowed it down to my kids' bathroom where against my (and Pablo's) better judgment, I had (on my own) recently replaced a toilet. Pablo was out of town when I called but texted me back (from Mexico) within minutes to let me know exactly when he'd be back. The smell was fierce and I didn't think I could wait. So I did the unthinkable and called other plumbers. A few called back, literally quoting me thousands of dollars to 'reset' my toilet and do a 'smoke test' without even coming over. One guy wanted $100 to take a look (or whiff). I might've even fallen for them but they were all BOOKED until AFTER Pablo was returning!!
So I asked myself: Self, why would you even think of hiring another plumber when the most HONEST, most PROMPT, most COURTEOUS, most LIKABLE plumber ON FREAKIN PLANET EARTH is coming back in five days. To hell with the smell. We packed up the kids and moved them into our bedroom on the other side (west wing) of the house.
When Pablo returned, he texted me to let me know the earliest day he could make it over. I told him I could wait but asked him if he had any ideas. He called me and we ran through everything under the sun. I could tell that he wanted to fix my foul-smelling home just as much as I did! Then he gave me the best news ever. He might be able to squeeze me in today!! Sure enough, he came over 15 minutes later and told me the smell was NOT coming from the toilet. Yes, I am NOT a moron!! He couldn't locate the smell but he told me it was not sewage and not plumbing related. Then he remembered the stupid gas leak on my fireplace and fixed it. And then refused to take my money again.
At this point, I don't have any remaining plumbing issues at all but I'm 'hiring' Pablo to come over next week and snake out my cleanout lines just so I can finally pay the guy. Hopefully he'll take my money. If he won't, I'm gonna just find out where he lives and start slipping $20s under his doormat. I'm beeing totally serious.
Trivia: Radiohead has an album called 'Pablo Honey'.
PS. After Pablo left, I found a horrendous-smelling wet and moldy washcloth in the corner of the bathtub.