B & D Plumbing

George C.

No doubt, some customers would give B&D a 5-star excellent recommendation because they are master plumbers, and they have been in business for many years.

But all that I can talk about is my firsthand experience, and it was traumatic.

The risk of miscommunication is high because the plumber, who makes an in-person assessment of proposed work, is not the same B&D employee who you will discuss the proposal with, afterwards.

Therefore, everything that could go wrong did go wrong, in my request for a proposal to replace a residential hot-water heater.

B&D never acknowledged my initial inquiry, using their contact form at their website; and so, I had to call them. That means their online contact form, at their website, wasted my time.

Their plumber, who promised to email a proposal within one day, never did; and so, I had to call them again, after a lapse of several days, to inquire about whether I had been forgotten.

When their proposal was finally emailed to me, for installing a replacement water heater; its wording neglected to identify the brand and model of what heater would be installed and did not say whether they would install a drain pan and so forth, all of which is necessary.

And so, I rejected their proposal because ""50-gallon water heaters"" are not all the same; and they offered no assurance that I would be given the best.

To the contrary, their plumber (Chris) admitted, ""we just buy whatever hot-water heater happens to be in stock; and install that one.""

For me, that is no good because I like to do consumer research and want only the best.

Worst of all, I had to take a phone call, from their employee, named Mark, who came across as having an explosive personality. Mark was confrontational; he berated me; he raised his voice; he interrupted me; and he lied to me, over the phone, in a nearly 7-minute conversation.

In particular, Mark defended B&D by blaming me for not answering my phone and not returning their phone calls, as his defense for the unacceptable delay in delivering a proposal. But my telephone service provider displays a log of incoming and outgoing calls that establishes that B&D had never called me, to follow-up with the promised proposal. So, either Mark is mistaken or he lied. Take your pick. Either way, B&D wasted my time.

Contrast this inefficiency to Home Depot and Lowes that both advertise hot-water heater installation can be completed, on the same day of purchase.

B&D is a small family-run business, having the strength (and weakness) that runs in every small family-run business. The weakness is the everything is taken so personally because, apparently, their plumbers are family. That makes them too quick to pick a fight over things that don't matter, just as Mark had done with me. Mark was out of control. Mark had lost his temper.

I speculate that B&D juggles proposals, giving priority to prospective customers who show greater profit potential. That is as good of explanation as any for why promises made were promises broken, and my time was wasted because of it.

Having the credential of ""master plumber"", therefore, is no guarantee that a customer will be satisfied. A place of business must also exhibit telephone etiquette and not waste a customer's time by making promises that they don't intend to keep.

If you want a plumber who will give your project the attention that it deserves, then find a plumber who is hungry for work. Don't go with a plumber whose schedule is so overly booked that they are too busy to give you the time of day.