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The Purpose of Our Satisfaction Guarantee

Residential Plumbing

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Sometimes companies can be fearful of talking about a topic like satisfaction guarantees for a couple of reasons. One is because if someone is not satisfied, we have to take ownership of our mistake, and that doesn’t always feel very good. Another reason is because we can be fearful of people taking advantage of a company’s guarantee.

Our satisfaction guarantee is there to remove the risk of people doing business with us. If we offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee, there’s zero risk in choosing us. We’re a team of humans, so we’re imperfect and we do mess up sometimes. As we’ve always learned, the main thing isn’t the adversity itself—it’s how you respond to it that really matters. We’ll do what we need to in order to resolve any concerns.

In my experience, I’ve found that people don’t want to take advantage of you. It turns out that clients are truly concerned that we’ve done something wrong and we need to take ownership of it. For example, we deal with excavation and sometimes rainstorms will cause mud to run somewhere it’s not supposed to be. We try to answer those concerns and get them resolved promptly, but it can be very difficult when working with Mother Nature. Because the client’s satisfaction is very important to us, we try do do whatever we can to resolve the situation.

Not too long ago, we had a job where we were busting up the concrete in a home. We have a process to keep the dust level down, but unfortunately, we dropped the ball in that area and there was a dust issue in the home. We fielded the customer’s concern, addressed the issue, and got the area cleaned up. We did what we needed to do in order to leave the customer satisfied.

I’m working on a situation right now because we subcontracted a pipe lining company from eastern Virginia to line a sewer 12 years ago. We applied the appropriate warranty to the lining, which was 50 years. Unfortunately, the subcontractor isn’t standing behind the work they did. So we are standing behind it. The bottom line is, when I look at the quote that was given to the customer, it clearly and simply states the work done and the warranty we provided. It’s costing us a great deal of money now, but I was personally in that client’s home and I said we would do the right thing to resolve her concern.

The customer agreed to work with us because they had confidence that the problem would be resolved and wouldn’t come up again in the future. Even 12 years later we’re still making sure our commitment is being honored. Sometimes an issue isn’t really resolved and we have to do extra work at our own expense. We must make the choice to do the right thing, even though it might not always be very fun.

If you have any questions, contact us today or give us a call at 540-483-9382.

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One of the most frustrating things for a homeowner is setting up an appointment for a service person to come to their home and they don’t show up, show up late, or don’t follow directions. We focus on being on time, and we give a two hour window in which we will arrive. We also try to notify people when we’re on our way. I really think meeting our client’s needs comes down to dispatching correctly. It’s important that the people fielding the customers’ requests are well-trained in asking the right questions so we best understand the issue you’re dealing with, how serious it is, and exactly what we need to do. Asking the right questions is vital to making sure someone’s needs are properly met.

Next, we need to make sure we send the right person to your home. We’re very much aware of how the technician we send could make or break the customer’s experience. (Nobody likes it when a technician seems incompetent or when it’s the first time they’ve ever seen the issue.) We assess the task that needs to be done and assign it a skill level. We also assign a skill level to every technician (because everyone is slightly different). Then we try to match up the right technician with the right task to make sure we’re sending a competent person to every home.

A lot of times people think that a company will dispatch its technicians to cover a certain radius. A technician in South Roanoke would just run all the calls in that area for the day, right? Well, not exactly. We do not focus primarily on the location of the call as much as we do the skill level necessary to do the job correctly and meet the customer’s needs. So we may have technicians passing each other by on the way to calls. This is all about making sure the customer has a satisfactory experience.

We make these choices when coordinating our technicians because our time is valuable and our homeowner’s time is valuable. We want to make sure that we’re doing our absolute best. Sometimes we do have to make multiple visits, and sometimes we don’t get everything quite right over the phone. But I’d like to think that the vast majority of the time we’re able to do it well and make sure that the customer’s problem is solved.

If you have any issues with your plumbing or HVAC systems, you can always reach out to the team at Wisler Plumbing. Just contact us today or give us a call at 540-483-9382.

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Here are some toilet features that you might not know about already, but which are useful enough that you’ll wonder how you ever did without them. (I hope that some of this information will serve to enhance your repertoire of potty jokes.)

Most people don’t think about the water surface area in the toilet bowl itself, but I always bring it up during a conversation about replacing a toilet. If you go to your grandma’s house and use her restroom, generally speaking, it’s going to have an older toilet. You’ll notice that there’s a ton of water in the bowl. When you flush it, it’ll seem like the water swirls around forever until it finally clears down. Those two characteristics (lots of water and long flush time) are very useful in bowl cleanliness.

If you look at a new toilet (especially if it’s on the cheaper side), the bowl will often get dirty and stay dirty fairly easily. It’s not surprising, because a greater surface of water would protect the actual porcelain from getting dirty. New toilets also have government regulations requiring only 1.6 gallons of water per flush. Thats why they are engineered not to swirl as much as the older toilets do, and the water just goes straight out of them. The sudden, direct movement leads to a dirtier bowl.

You don’t usually think about how silent a toilet is when it flushes, which is another noticeable characteristic of older toilets. Older toilets tend to be fairly quiet, while newer ones can get very loud. It’s not uncommon for bathrooms attached to the master bedroom to get regular nighttime use. Having a quieter toilet would definitely be beneficial in that case.

These next two features are fairly commonly known, but if you’ve never experienced them yourself, you don’t know what you’re missing. You won’t ever want to go back to a regular toilet once you get used to them. The first pertains to the shape of the bowl: toilets either come with a round shape or an oval/elongated shape. The elongated shape is much, much easier and more comfortable to use.

Next pertains to the height of the actual bowl that you sit on: it’s either standard height or slightly elevated. If you’ve ever used a handicap accessible public toilet, you might have noticed that it’s higher than the toilets in other stalls. It’s not a big enough difference for you to spot at a glance (about two inches), but it’s definitely noticeable in terms of how close to the floor you are while seated. I like to call them comfort height toilets because the higher position is just more comfortable to use.

To most people, a toilet is just a toilet. But in our world, there are definitely characteristics we look at when selecting the products we offer to our clients. It may surprise someone when we discuss these things, but these are definitely features with noticeable benefits. If it’s almost time to replace your toilet and you have any questions, just contact us today or give us a call at 540-483-9382.

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I don’t think anybody likes negative surprises. Unfortunately, businesses often surprise people by sneaking in fine print with extra fees. So many of us are wary of fine print that it’s not surprising to hear someone say they’ll wait around and see how much higher the invoice will be after all the extra fees are added in. We try to do business differently than that. The price we tell you it’s going to be is the price that you’re going to pay. We trademarked the term Straightforward Pricing because it signifies our strategy of being upfront with clients.

Sometimes companies justify misleading their clients by saying it’s just an expected way of doing business. They view a service charge as something everyone should already know about, and they won’t even mention explicitly. Well, maybe a homeowner doesn’t know they’re going to be charged a service fee because they’ve never had service personnel in their home.

Most of the time it’s already not a good day when you have to call the plumber. There’s a lot of anxiety involved when dealing with an unexpected situation in your home, like a flood, water leak, or even a complete lack of water. Do I have the money to pay for this? Can it get fixed? How long is it going to take? Are they going to do the right job? Am I going to be taken advantage of? So many questions cross a homeowner’s mind during a time like this. Being straightforward with something as important as pricing helps to lower anxiety. When you have a lower anxiety level about your current situation, I think you can make better decisions.

I also think that you can make the right choice when all the options are presented to you, especially when you know you can trust the bottom line. (We believe in giving options to empower the customer to make a decision.) That ties along with another part of what we do with our pricing structure: Straightforward Pricing is a form of task pricing, so we don’t charge by the hour. Instead, we charge by the task or job. Another way to set prices is by using time & material pricing. One of the downfalls of time & material pricing is that homeowners can be penalized if the technician isn’t very good. If the tech wasn’t prepared with the right parts, the homeowner would end up paying extra because the job took longer than necessary. That’s why I think task pricing is much more of a fair approach.

Without Straightforward Pricing or some other form of task pricing, there is no consistency. I think it’s very important for homeowners to feel like they’re not getting charged differently just because of their status, what their home looks like, or because of whichever technician they got on a particular day. I believe in consistency, and all the things we do with Straightforward Pricing helps to build the trust level of the people we serve.

In the trades that we’re in, we strongly believe in the fact that we shouldn’t give a ballpark price over the phone only to go to your home and find out it’s going to be double what we thought. Instead, just reach out to us by calling 540-483-9382 or requesting an appointment online. We can have one of our technicians or reps come to your home, evaluate the situation, and explain exactly what needs to be done. Then we’ll give you options with a Straightforward Price so you can select the best fit for you.

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There are definitely more benefits to a tankless water heater than any potential disadvantages, so I’ll get the two cons out of the way. First and foremost, if your residence doesn’t have either natural gas or LP gas, and electricity is all that’s available, you can take tankless water heaters off of the table (unless you’ve already decided to add gas to your home). This can definitely be a frustration point when choosing a new water heater. Tankless water heaters that use natural gas or LP gas are the only effective option. Unless it’s a secondary getaway cabin that doesn’t get much use, we do not recommend electric tankless water heaters.

The other con is the sheer upfront cost of a tankless water heater. Of course, you’ll get a lot of benefits by investing in a tankless water heater, but it’s going to be one of the most expensive options. You’d have to factor in what you’re actually getting for what you’re spending upfront in order to justify the cost. With those two potential cons out of the way, let’s get into all the benefits you’ll experience by deciding to get a tankless system.

The small size of the system is one of the first benefits that comes to mind. A tankless water heater hangs on the wall, which frees up the space where a larger tank system would be. This is especially useful in an apartment or smaller residence where space is at a premium. (Some tank water heaters can be unusually large in size, too.) In the right situation, like in a closet, it can really make a big difference.

Next, the lifespan of a tankless water heater is nearly twice that of a tank water heater. Yes, it’s much more of an upfront cost, but it starts to pose a very attractive cost of ownership over its lifespan. Going from a 50 gallon electric water heater to a gas tankless water heater can actually save 70% on your electric bill. If running your tankless water heater would cost about $180 a year, an electric tank water heater would have definitely exceeded $600 a year (or more, based on age). It’s a big overall cost savings when you combine the total cost of ownership and overall efficiency.

One of the coolest benefits of a tankless water heater pertains to something we’ve all experienced at least once. Think back to the last time the hot water ran out and you had to take a cold shower. A tankless water heater provides endless hot water as long as you provide some kind of fuel and power. You can fill up a large soaking tub in one go, take a long shower, or let several family members take consecutive showers without running out of hot water. Those things might not have been practical with a tank water heater. It’s really great when you don’t have to wonder if you’re going to have to take another cold shower.

If you have any questions about tankless water heaters, or you’re trying to decide which is best for your home, contact us today or give us a call at 540-483-9382.

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There are times when you need to call a plumber and discuss what’s wrong with your plumbing.  That discussion may include terms specific to the plumbing trade and those terms can be confusing if you have never heard them before. The trades use very technical language, and plumbing in particular has a lot of weird names for things. Here are some of the most common terms that you might not already know.

 

Stop valve – You’ll find these under the cabinets or under the toilet. Right where water comes out of the wall or floor, there’s a little valve you can use to turn the water on or off before it gets to the fixture. Anytime someone mentions a ‘stop’, ‘stop valve’, ‘emergency shutoff valve’, or ‘emergency stop’, they are referring to this shutoff valve located right at the fixture.

 

P-trap – This is generally found underneath the sink (kitchen sink, bathroom sink, etc.). It’s the funny looking pipe segment right under the drain. Plumbers will say something like, “I need to take the p-trap off to get the object that got stuck in there.” It gets its name because it looks like a P if you take it apart and stand it up on its end. The p-trap’s job is to hold water in order to prevent sewer gas from coming back into your home.

 

Drain cleaning – This is a term that’s frequently taken for granted. Drain cleaning is not simply unstopping a drain. If you have a stopped-up drain, yes, putting a cable down will unstop it. However, as the name indicates, drain cleaning is where the pipe or drain is actually cleaned. This can be done with a cable or with high-pressure jetting. Remember, when a plumber references drain cleaning, they’re actually referring to something other than just unstopping the drain.

 

Ball valve – A ball valve is generally a shutoff valve. It has a lever, and is frequently found where the main water comes into your home. When someone refers to the ball valve, they may be talking about that main water shutoff—but not necessarily.

 

Gate valve – You can differentiate a gate valve from a ball valve by checking whether it uses a lever or a round handle. A ball valve uses a lever, whereas a gate valve will have a round handle.

 

Fill valve – A fill valve is a component in the back of the toilet tank. The water connects to it, and it’s what fills up the toilet tank so you can flush it.

 

Flapper – Most people probably know what a flapper is, but there are some who don’t. A flapper is a component located in the back of the toilet tank. When you push down on the toilet handle, the flapper lifts up to allow water to flush the toilet. Sometimes you’ll hear a plumber say, “The flapper is leaking,” or “The flapper went bad.” That means the rubber component in the toilet tank needs to be replaced.

 

Wall hydrant, hose bib – These devices are located on the outside of your home (generally speaking), where a hose is attached. A wall hydrant is different from a hose bib, because wall hydrants are designed to be frost-free or freezeproof. In other words, they don’t need to be winterized. Wall hydrants go into the home and the water is shut off, preventing ice that would cause the pipe to burst. Hose bibs are much simpler devices that do need to be winterized.

 

Supply line – A supply line is the water tube that goes from the stop valve at a fixture up to the actual faucet, toilet, or even washing machine. (The lines that go to washing machines are often just called washer hoses.)

 

Cleanout – This is basically an access point to your drains. Sometimes you might see a plug or cap that can be unscrewed somewhere in your basement, or maybe a crawlspace under your sink. The cleanout is used to allow cables or cameras down the drain.

 

Water meter – Normally located on the street, a water meter is what the municipality uses to measure how much water you use during a curtain period of time in order to regulate your water bill.

 

Now that you know these commonly-used plumbing terms, you’ll be able to decipher the Greek language that plumbers use. Hopefully this knowledge comes in handy next time you’re getting service or talking about what’s going on in your home. If you have any questions, contact us or give us a call at 540-483-9382.

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