The old way of finding a plumber vs now

I used to just flip through the yellow pages and call whoever had the biggest ad. Picked a guy back in 2015 because his ad said '24 hour service' in bold letters. He showed up 3 hours late and charged me $180 just to look at my toilet. Now I check Nextdoor and ask for recommendations from 3 neighbors before calling anyone. Has anyone else had better luck with neighbor referrals than online reviews?

3 comments

3 Comments

blair_davis21d ago

Yeah I used to be one of those people who swore by Angie's List and Google reviews. Thought I was being smart by reading through all those 5 star ratings. Then I hired a highly rated electrician based on 200+ reviews and the guy nearly burned down my garage with some sloppy work. After that I started asking my neighbors and found out the guy who lives three houses down used to be a contractor and knew exactly who was legit. Now I'm the guy knocking on doors asking about plumbers. That neighbor referral saved me from getting ripped off on a water heater replacement too. Funny how the old school way actually works better sometimes.

nina_sullivan6121d ago

I remember reading that Yelp removes like a third of their reviews because they can't verify them, so half the time you're looking at fake praise. Neighbor word of mouth is just harder to fake.

iris39421d ago

You mentioned "neighbor referrals" and that really hit home for me. A few years back I had a leak under my sink and I tried using Yelp and ended up with a guy who gave me this whole story about needing to replace the pipes for $1,200. My neighbor across the street recommended her plumber who she's used for like 10 years, and he came out the same day, fixed the leak with a $15 part, and charged me $75 total. In my experience those online reviews are too easy to fake or pay for, but when your neighbor says "Bob fixed my toilet in 20 minutes" you can see the proof with your own eyes. Plus that plumber ended up doing a small job for my mom too and she still talks about how honest he was. Your mileage may vary but I pretty much only ask around my street now before I look anywhere else.