How to Avoid Some of the Most Common Plumbing Scams

Anytime you’re working with a contractor, you need to be on guard for potential scams. It’s an unfortunate reality that contracting industries are rife with people looking to make a quick buck at potential clients’ expense. The plumbing industry is no exception—while the best plumbers in Conway, SC will be highly reliable and professional and take pride in the quality of their work, there will always be a few who are out mostly to take advantage of people who do not have the same level of plumbing knowledge they do.

The good news is that even if you don’t have a significant amount of plumbing knowledge, most of the time those scams will be pretty easy to spot. Here’s a quick overview of some of these scams and what you can do to avoid them.

Charging full/standard price for cheap materials

Plumbers should always be upfront about the prices they’re charging and the materials they’re using. There’s no getting around the fact that higher-quality materials and parts will always cost more than the low-quality stuff. Most reputable plumbers will opt for the higher-quality parts to give their clients longer-lasting, more reliable results. Scammers, meanwhile, will charge the same price a reputable plumber would, but go with the cheap materials and parts instead and pocket the difference.

To avoid this becoming an issue, you should ask your plumber for a list of all the parts they will use, and take it to a hardware store to compare prices so you can see how much the materials are really costing you.

Marking up prices

This is a similar sort of scam to overcharging for cheap materials, but here the markups come in other ways.

One common scam is for plumbers to mark up their prices based on the neighborhood they’re working in. For example, a client located in a wealthier neighborhood might be charged higher prices, even for simple plumbing issues, just due to the demographics of the area. There are a lot of plumbers that do not have fixed hourly rates, so they might raise their rates significantly if they think you will pay for it. This is why it’s always a good idea to get estimates from multiple plumbers before you move forward with any work.

Bringing in additional help

Plumbers may need to bring in subcontractors for certain types of complicated jobs. However, scammers might bring in friends or family for “extra help” to perform duties that they should have been able to perform by themselves, and this allows them to increase their profits as they claim they need to charge the other person’s hourly rate as well.

Make sure you know what extra workers will be doing before you bring them in, and whether the presence of extra workers will affect rates.

The good news is that most plumbers are not like this, so you shouldn’t have to worry about these scams. But it’s always important to do your background research when hiring contractors to make sure you don’t get taken advantage of.

For more information, contact the best plumbers in Conway, SC at Rooter Express.

Categorised in: Plumbing Services