James Wall Plumbing Heating & Coolingswitched to upfront menu pricing for all residential service and repairs in January 1998.

Has this ever happened to you? You have a plumbing problem, you get out the yellow pages, and you start calling plumbing companies to try to get some idea what the repair will cost you. After about 30 minutes on the phone you are totally confused, and you think all of the people you have been talking to are total idiots. They tell you it is so much per hour plus materials. when you ask them how long it will take and how much the parts will cost they hem and haw and won't give you a straight answer. You are thinking, surely they must have some idea.

A big problem with time and materials method of pricing is that there are some technicians that work fast and some that work slow. You should not be penalized because the "luck of the draw" won you a technician that works slow.

The truth is the person on the phone that you are talking to does not know what the repair will cost until it is determined exactly what the problem is. Trying to pinpoint a problem on the phone is like a doctor trying to write a prescription before he diagnoses the problem.

This is why it is unfair for a service firm to quote a price over the phone. Telling a home owner something will cost "approximately" $100 to repair is a hair trigger to an argument if that person ends up with a bill for $200 - $300. Reputable companies can get their reputation soiled unfairly by innocent misunderstandings. This is why repair firms are reluctant to quote prices over the phone.

At James Wall Plumbing, we use the upfront pricing method for our services. This offers the customer many advantages.

The main advantage is that you will know the total price of the repair before the Technician starts to work. Their are several other advantages. With upfront pricing you can be offered options. In many instances you can have the option to repair the item which usually comes with a 30 day warranty. Or you can have the option to rebuild the item which can have a one year warranty. Or you may choose to replace the item which may have a longer warranty.

Another advantage you have with upfront pricing is you can prioritize your repairs. You may have several plumbing items in your house or on your property that you feel need some attention. With our method of doing business, our service technician after diagnosing all your problems, can give you a written commitment on the price for each repair, and the total for all repairs. Then you can decide on how much you want to spend at this time, and prioritize your repairs.

We will charge a nominal minimum charge for our service technician to come to your home, diagnose the problem, and give you a written commitment as to what the repairs will cost you before we start the work.

Our repair prices are based on OUR many years of experience and allow for the typical parts and time factors that we have gathered in our data base.

In other words, we eliminate the guessing game on what the problem is and what it will cost you. We save you the sudden shock you will have when another company hands you a bill after the job is finished.

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