I can buy that part for half of what you charged me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

With the recession looming over all of us, we are forced to look for ways to save money anywhere we can. With our shrinking budgets and growing grocery bills, the last thing that we need is for something to go wrong with our plumbing or air conditioner. It is in these times of conservation that we must arm ourselves with knowledge to navigate through the uncharted waters of calling a plumber safely. Since we are the unofficial experts on plumbing service, at the moment, I will attempt to let you behind the curtain and enlighten you with knowledge while steering you clear of myths in regards to maximizing your dollars spent on service. We are going to call this feature “Secrets of Service”. I know, real creative. If you can be more creative I challenge you to let us all know. For this purpose please place your “better” feature name in the box provided at the bottom of the post.

When you make the decision to call a plumbing or heating and air service technician, you are more than likely either in over your head on an ill fated home remedy or knee deep in an inconvenient malady. I have yet to meet the person that is overly joyous at the thought of having to call the plumber out to clean the sewer line. I rarely overhear people talking at the coffee house of their weekend plans that culminate with the visit of a service plumber.

As this feature grows we are going to eventually be able to offer a searchable database of frugal advice. Today we are going to test the myth that purchasing your own parts for the plumber to install will ultimately save you money because those plumbers rip you off on material.

Here is my advice. I suggest that you allow the plumber to provide the parts to install at your home. There are a few reasons. First, you are insured that the part will be correct. Second, the part will carry a contractor warranty. Third, the part will be of a quality that is sturdy enough for a professional to use.

I will make no bones about the fact that the part is probably going to be cheaper for you to go and purchase at the hardware store, but what if you choose the wrong part? Then you would not only be out the money spent on the part that you purchased, but you would have to purchase the plumbers correct part. Not to mention the icing on the cake of having to brave the return desk at the hardware store that you purchased the part at. The small amount of money spent in the grand scheme of the repair to assure that the part will be the correct part is well worth it.

The parts that a service plumber installs carry a contractor warranty. The part you bought from the hardware store might carry a manufacturer warranty, but I would be surprised if the plumber honors that warranty. If they did honor that warranty, you would probably be on the clock for the plumber to then execute the warranty, by going to the hardware store that you purchased the part at. By purchasing the part from the plumber you are assured that upon failure of the plumber’s part it will be replaced at the expense of the service plumber.

You might be thinking that the plumber would be crazy to offer such a wide spread warranty on parts installed. The reason that the plumber is able to do this is because the quality of the parts that he/she uses is very high. The seasoned professional does not bow down to the allure that cheap parts of substandard quality offer. If they do, they run the risk of taking money out of their pockets in the form of a call back, which is basically working for free. With the laws of basic economics still intact, working for free equals going into debt.

With all that said, I hope you feel better about purchasing that part off of the plumbers truck. Your trust in the service provider to install the correct part is the reason that you chose them in the first place. At the end of the day, the basic component of the relationship with your service provider is trust. If you don’t trust that your service provider has your best interest at hand, then find a new service provider. Trust me there are plenty to choose from.

So until next time, this concludes your first lesson of becoming a jedi in dealing with service providers in the most efficient manner. The force is strong with you.

[form 2 “Secrets of Service”]