It's been a while since my last post, and it's probably evident that I seldom feel the necessity to post a review unless there is an immense emotional response received from the experience. The mundane mediocrity of averageness never warrants itself for a review from me.
With that being said, the honor of my first 5-star review goes to unlikely candidate. It's not an over-the-top upscale restaurant with exceptional cuisine, nor is it a hotel with the world's greatest amenities. It's something that I believe we take for granted in our everyday hustle and bustle - a good plumber.
This past week my water heater started leaking, and after 15 years of faithful service, it was time to replace the veteran. I promptly spent the next two days contacting different places trying to get the best deal I could. Not only was his pricing the most reasonable of the 20+ places I contacted, but when speaking to him on the phone, to my surprise he was actually willing to try to diagnose the issue over the phone and then give me (notice I did not use the word 'quote') an all inclusive price despite whatever building code upgrades would be needed. Some of the other places start off with a base quote and a vague 'I cannot tell you how much more it will cost to bring things up to code without sending someone out there', which I would be ok with except they would charge me for a site visit even if I did not decide to go with them. No, I'm not bitter, but I digress.
After deciding to go him, I called him up and scheduled a time when he could do the work. Michael showed up five minutes early to my house. I cannot remember the last time a contractor was on time, not to mention early... He showed up, we spoke, he went to work, finished things without delays, and I no longer needed to endure a cold shower. More importantly, my wife could finally have a hot shower. My hero.
I could stop here in hopes that you would take my recommendation based on his pricing and promptness, but that wouldn't be enough for a 5-star rating. After the work was finished he asked us when we wanted the city to come out to do the inspection. We gave him a day, and he set everything up for us. The day of the inspection, he called reminding us about the inspection and told us to let him know if anything went wrong. The inspector came, he inspected, and then handed us a nice little green tag announcing our victory over the city code. And we lived happily ever after.
The tale continues... He called us again a day later just to make sure everything went ok with the inspection. And we lived happiER ever after.
All joking aside, Michael is a stand-up, honest, professional plumber who gets the work done, and gets it done well. His promptness, politeness, and ability to deliver are what makes him a 5-star plumber in my book. I will be using him for all my future plumbing needs. To be honest, Michael's work and professionalism was the best that I have ever received in the service industry. So much so that I would have to say that it rivals my starry-eyed days as a youth, stomping on koopas and goombas with Mario and Luigi. Here's 5 fireworks and an extra 1-UP to Pelayo Plumbing. Cheers.