Sometimes the difference between a good service call and a frustrating one is simple: whether anyone picks up the phone. For Marie K., a Triangle homeowner, that was the whole of it. She had a sink drain that needed repair, a week of trying to schedule it, and four companies that never called back. Her account of what happened when she tried a fifth is a small story about the part of hiring a plumber that comes before any work begins.
The problem, and the week of voicemails
Marie had put off the drain repair for some time, as most people do with a sink that still mostly works. When she was ready to have it fixed, she called four plumbing companies over the course of a week. Each sent her to voicemail. None returned her call as promised. By the end of the week she was close to giving up on the repair altogether.
Why she called Happy Home Services
What changed her mind was a postcard. Happy Home Services had recently finished work nearby and had sent a card to the neighborhood, and Marie, seeing it, looked up the company’s reviews and decided to try one more call.
The first thing that made this an A+ standout company to me is the fact that when I called, a person answered the phone.
Marie K., Triangle homeowner
The visit and the estimate
Happy Home sent technician Ricky to her home that day to look at the drain and provide a written estimate. Marie described him as professional and said he explained everything in a way she could easily understand. Thirty minutes after he left, she received a text to schedule the repair, and the appointment was set for two days later.
The repair
Ricky returned as scheduled and completed the drain repair in a few hours, keeping his workspace clean as he went. Marie’s review closed with her thanks and her plans to return.
Thank you for having such great service technicians and customer service agents. We are very happy customers and will be returning for future jobs to be completed.
Marie K., Triangle homeowner
Why the phone call is the whole story
Nothing about Marie’s repair was unusual. A slow sink drain is one of the most ordinary calls a plumber takes, and Ricky’s work on it was what it should have been. What made her write a review was everything around the work: a person on the phone, a technician that day, a text within the half hour, a date kept, and a clean workspace. Four other companies had a week to offer the same and did not answer. The lesson in her account is that a homeowner learns most of what they need to know about a plumbing company before the plumber ever picks up a tool, from whether the company answers and whether it does what it said it would.
What answering the phone has to do with the repair
It is tempting to treat responsiveness as a courtesy separate from the work, and Marie’s account suggests it is not. A company that answers the phone, sends a technician when it said it would, follows up within the half hour, and keeps the appointment two days later is running the same discipline it brings to the repair itself, which is doing what it said it would do in the order it said. The technician who explains a drain repair so a homeowner can follow it is applying the same habit. That is why Happy Home Services answers 24/7 by phone and website chat, and why the scheduling text Marie received is part of every visit rather than a special effort.
What this means if you have been putting off a repair
Marie’s drain had waited for months before the voicemails, and that is common too. A sink that drains slowly is easy to live with, and our post on why delayed plumbing repairs cost more covers what a slow drain tends to become when it is left. Our trap and pipe cleaning page covers the repair itself, and our kitchen plumbing page the fixtures around it.
If you would rather not get the runaround
Happy Home Services has been Durham’s trusted heating and air experts since 1955, and the plumbing team answers the same phone. If a repair has been waiting because scheduling it felt like more trouble than the problem, reach us 24/7 by phone or website chat, and a person will answer. The technician who arrives will explain what the repair involves with honest, upfront pricing with a 100% money-back guarantee, and members of the Happy Home Service VIP Club receive priority, same-day service.