Leaside Plumbing. Honest and Reliable. Kale did exactly what I thought to be the long term solution to my problem! It’s rare nowadays to find a contractor you can call upon a second time. I’m glad my search for a plumber is over. I won’t hesitate to call on Leaside Plumbing for any issues.
There are too many fake reviews nowadays. So take your time and read on (yeah, it’s too long. But you’ll see that it’s a completely honest review). I’ll tell you good things about Leaside Plumbing -- they know plumbing! And bad things -- they’re not the best salesmen, but they are great plumbers!
It’s been a long journey… My kitchen sink had a major clog a couple of years back. A plumber came, fixed the problem, charged an arm and a leg, and left. They fixed it but I didn’t have a good feeling. I know plumbers are expensive. But there are plumbers that are well worth the price (Leaside Plumbing) and there are those that just want to make the most amount of money with the least amount of work (the plumber from 2 years back).
It wasn’t easy finding Leaside Plumbing. I searched online for weeks, not wanting to rush (fortunately, it wasn’t an emergency). In Canada, I’m limited to Google Reviews, Yelp, and HomeStars (I tried Red Flag Deals and Reddit, too). There are tons of companies with glowing reviews. And most of them you can find in HomeStars – the least reliable and the least trustworthy source for reviews. But since HomeStars has the most reviews, you’re not left with many choices so you need to read between the lines.
It was in fact a negative review in HomeStars (4/10, Powder Room Tap Replacement, June 2016) that made me choose Leaside. And I’m so glad I did. By the time Kale left, I had the comfort of knowing that my problem was solved for the longer term, rather than the quick fix that was done 2 years back. Leaside was not cheap at all. But I paid less for Leaside to provide a long term solution and more to someone else 2 years ago to do a quick fix.
THE GOOD AND THE BAD
I used the online form on Leaside’s website to make an inquiry. After 1 or 2 days, I got a call from Tom. Although very professional, he wasn’t too sales oriented at all. He said they only work regular hours on weekdays. No evening or weekends (they could come, but it would cost time and a half). I got all the info I needed from Tom but I wasn’t pleased. Not the most customer-service oriented person nor a great salesman. So I continued my search.
I found another company that had live chat, would answer all my questions, have someone available evenings and weekends. They had clearly defined prices. Looked like I finally found what I was looking for! Great sales pitch, good customer service! Let’s call this company "The Other Plumbing Company".
Lucky for me, I started to think about it. Leaside… won’t work weekends or evenings*, not the most friendly. The Other Plumbing Company… can come weekends or evenings, sales and customer-service oriented. And that’s when it struck me! I don’t want to work weekends and evenings either! And If I’m really good at what I do and I can help it, I’d do the same thing. So I concluded that Leaside must be really good at what they do (yes they are!). *Mind you, they will come evenings and weekends for emergencies but it will cost a lot more. Since my case wasn’t an emergency, Tom discouraged a visit outside normal hours, but would schedule it if I really wanted to. The first signs of honesty.
I found myself having to take a day off on a Tuesday (for another reason). So I called Leaside the day before and asked if they had someone who could come at 1:00PM Tuesday. Tom said they did, got my info, and set me up for the appointment.
Tuesday comes. It’s 1:15PM and there’s no one here. I call and get Tom again. He wasn’t apologetic or anything. He just said the plumber’s on his way and should be there in 10 minutes. It’s now 1:35PM and still no one here. I call Tom again and he says that the plumber was farther away than originally thought. I was about to call it off. I found it unacceptable. And then 2:00PM, Kale shows up. Then things changed.
He was very personable. He wasn’t really apologetic but rather completely honest about what had happened. And things just went from bad to great at this point onward.
I knew exactly what the problem was and explained it to Kale. He
took a look at it, gave it some thought and immediately knew exactly what needed to be done. He had the option to fix the clog and come back another time to do the longer term repair. This is what I would have expected of a typical contractor: any opportunity to make money, do it! Instead, Kale told me it would be cheaper for me if he just came back another time and do everything all at once. It would save me money. So he made a trip without charging me anything. That’s a rarity! Yes, the final cost wasn’t cheap ($600) but Kale could have very easily split this into 2 separate jobs and charge a lot more. Another sign of honesty.
So I had to take another day off (Thursday). Kale said he’ll be in around 9:00 AM and arrived on time. He would have come with an apprentice and that’s perfectly fine. How would you expect apprentices to build their skills? Instead, he had another plumber with him (Dylan, another excellent guy!). That being said, I don’t think it would have made any difference if Kale came with an apprentice. All you really need is to know that there’s an experienced plumber on site. Like I said, things just got better and better from here.
They were very careful to minimize the mess. They had drop cloths, vacuums, would take their time to get the right tools and the right parts. And here’s another big plus for Leaside. Halfway through the job, they were missing a part. Not a major part at all and I’m certain other contractors would simply compromise and make do with what they have. But not Kale. They stopped the job half way through, drove out to purchase the missing part, and came back to finish the job. About 30 minutes wasted. Precious time lost for skilled trade workers. Another sign of honesty, plus knowing that they take pride in their work. At that point, I knew that Leaside Plumbing would be my go to for any future issues.
They’ve done very well with their online presence. And I thought they were a very big company. They’re actually a relatively small, well-established group of plumbers who know exactly what they’re doing. My kind of company. As companies get too big, they lose focus on their core skill and get lost in sales pitches and customer-service pushes. With Leaside, you don’t have amazing salesmen. Nor do you have the most customer-service focused. Just to be clear, they were very professional the entire time. They just didn’t have that extra sales pitch or customer-service push. However, they are capable and honest plumbers. And I can’t ask for anything more.
Like I said, I almost fell for The Other Plumbing Company’s great sales pitch and excellent customer service. Would have I gotten a good plumber? I don’t know. But I’m so glad I went with Leaside Plumbing!
Thank you Kale and Dylan. Thank you Tom and Jonathan for keeping your company honest. Keep it that way! I very rarely refer a contractor to someone else. But if someone needs a good plumber, I can tell them with confidence to call Leaside Plumbing.
