How to Find a Plumber You Can Trust: Honest Advice From a Company That Fixes Other Plumbers’ Mistakes

Real Stories: When Getting It Wrong Gets Expensive

The engineer removed from the Gas Safe Register

One customer had a boiler installation carried out by an engineer who was later removed from the Gas Safe Register. She was left with a boiler that Gas Safe advised her not to use and which could not be serviced, invalidating her warranty.

She spent months trying to find a company willing to help. Several didn’t return her calls. Others didn’t want to get involved with rectifying someone else’s work.

We went out, sorted the installation properly, and got her warranty reinstated with the manufacturer. She is now a regular customer. But the stress she went through was completely avoidable.

In her words: “It wasn’t an easy job as was fixing someone else’s bodge job, leaving us with a boiler which Gas Safe advised us not to use and was not serviceable. We had contacted other boiler installers who didn’t come back to us so were so thankful to find someone who returned our calls and were able to complete a complex job and ultimately make our boiler safe again.”

The developer who switched contractors mid-build

We recently took over the plumbing for a residential and commercial developer who has been in business for fifty years. Their previous plumbing contractor had been doing poor quality work, missing appointments, falling behind schedule, and making excuses without resolution. We came in, completed the first and second fix, and have since had to return to earlier developments where problems are now surfacing.

One property had a persistent shower leak. The shower had already been replaced twice before we were involved. After investigation, both the manufacturer and ourselves confirmed the issue was not a product fault. It was an installation error. Replacing a product doesn’t fix an installation problem. Getting the installation right the first time does.

Ask How They Handle Pricing Before They Start

Before booking any work, ask:

• Is the quote or initial visit free of charge?
• Is the work a fixed price or an hourly rate?
• What happens if additional work is needed?
• Will I be told the cost before any extra work is carried out?

We give fixed prices wherever possible. For leak detection, where we genuinely don’t know what’s involved until we locate the source, we tell you our hourly rate and give a realistic time estimate. The moment we understand what’s needed, we tell you the cost before we proceed. No surprises.

Understand That Some Jobs Take Longer Than You Expect

We occasionally hear ‘it won’t take you long’ before we’ve even seen the job. Plumbing doesn’t always work that way. Leak detection is the best example. We always book a minimum of two hours for a leak job because finding the source can take considerable time before any repair begins. We once had to remove all the floorboards in a bungalow to locate a leak that several other plumbers had previously failed to find. It took four hours. The repair itself was quick. Finding the fault was the hard part.

Tap replacements are another common one. It can be a thirty-minute job. It can also be considerably longer if access is restricted or something unexpected comes up. One of our customers described how a routine tap replacement turned into a much longer day due to an unforeseen problem. His review said: “I was very grateful that I had hired an experienced professional rather than go the DIY route. Rob remained positive and cheerful throughout even though it was going to considerably lengthen his working day.”

Make Sure They Give You a Timeslot and Actually Show Up

One of the most consistent things first-time customers tell us is how surprised they are that we simply showed up when we said we would. That should not be a surprise. But it is, because it hasn’t been their experience elsewhere.

We give a two-hour arrival window and let you know if we are running behind. Our system sends a text when the engineer is on the way. We don’t ask you to clear your whole day. We regularly get calls from people who booked with someone else for speed or price, only for that person to not show up at all.

Always Get an Invoice and Be Wary of Cash-Only Requests

After any work is completed, you should receive a proper invoice showing what was done, the amount charged, and payment details. Be cautious if someone insists on cash only with nothing in writing. There is no record of the work, no guarantee to refer back to, and no paper trail if something goes wrong.

We accept cash because some customers prefer it. But we never ask for it. Every job gets an invoice with our bank details, and every customer has a record of what was carried out.

Being Immediately Available Isn’t Always a Good Sign

If you contact a plumber and they can come tomorrow, that isn’t automatically reassuring. It could mean they genuinely have a gap. It could also mean they don’t have many returning customers, which is worth thinking about.

Good plumbers are often busy. During our busiest periods, customers have waited several weeks because they would rather wait for someone they trust. The customers who come to us purely on price and availability tend to be the ones constantly searching for a new plumber, because they haven’t found one they can genuinely rely on.