“I’ve never hired a plumber before,” Stephen said. The Brooklyn homeowner needed to have gas lines installed for an appliance installation. “Obviously, it’s important for me to find someone who can do the job right. But I’m reading all of these reviews, and it’s not clear to me who I should choose. Some of these reviews are so obviously fake it’s hard to trust the process.”
Are Online Reviews Trustworthy?
Reading reviews of NYC plumbers can be an eye-opening experience. As plumbers in NYC ourselves, we’re sure that at least some – and perhaps a majority – of online reviews are actually legitimate representations of the property owner’s experience. And then there are others that are maybe not so honest. There’s a good sized cottage industry focused on creating reviews for business owners of all types, including plumbers. How do you know who to trust?
Checking a Plumber’s Record for Excellence
There are additional steps you can use to check if the NYC plumber you’re going to use is a good person to trust working on your home. The very first thing you want to know is that they’re a licensed master plumber. This is especially important in NYC because building codes require many types of repair, including gas line installation, to be performed by a licensed master plumber. Any legitimate plumber will be happy to provide you with their license number, and this can be checked with the city.
You also want to actually talk with the plumber before you commit to having them do the work on your home. It’s a good idea to ask how long they’ve been in business – as a rule of thumb, the longer the better. The NYC marketplace does not reward incompetence with longevity. Another route you can use to check a plumber’s reliability and performance is the Better Business Bureau, which registers complaints against service professionals and notes how they’ve been resolved. Bear in mind that any business can have a complaint – it’s the determination to resolve it successfully that separates the good plumbers from the bad ones.
