It's been almost 4 years since my incredibly BAD experience with this company, where I left a "1 Star" review detailing the incident.
Less than a month ago, I received a call from Darren De Long, the owner of About Plumbing. Immediately, I was tense and uncomfortable as he introduced himself but I listened. He expressed that he had just read my review and wanted to personally apologize for my experience. Darren explained that he had been partners with Brandon (the person who had harassed me and attempted to bully me into committing insurance fraud). Apparently, Brandon and his wife also worked at About Plumbing, Brandon's wife answered the phone and scheduled his work, fielding the calls and hiding from Darren, the corruption both Brandon and his wife were committing. When Darren discovered this, Darren bought out Brandon's part of the company and Brandon went off to start his own company (after I did my own research, I discovered that he is now the owner and operator of "Brandon's Family Plumbing" in Sedro-Woolley, Washington).
Darren said that he was very sad to read about my experience with his company and wanted to apologize, saying that he had discussed it with his wife and they both wanted to write me a check for the over $200 paid to them for the repair work done to my home back in 2019.
I was shocked!
In all the years of working with businesses, I had never had a company reach out to me after a bad experience, wanting to make it right.
Usually businesses hide and cower from their actions, sweeping them under the rug, wanting to forget about them, and move forward.
I expressed to Darren that the insurance company paid for the work and that it meant more to me that he had the COURAGE and COMPASSION to reach out and confront me after that and to apologize and THAT was enough for me.
It wasn't enough for Darren though.
He asked me if I had any plumbing work that needed to be done. I explained that I would really like to have a couple of hose bibs installed outside of my home, but that I really couldn't afford it. Even so, I said that if he'd like to, I'd appreciate a bid on the work so I would have an idea of what I would need to save up for to complete that job.
Within 5 minutes I received a call from his contact and we scheduled an appointment. A day or two later, two people came out from About Plumbing and estimated the job was going to be expensive. I have rats where I live and the crawl space under my home is very short, there is no water on the other side of my home, so making it all "rat proof" and insuring it would stand up to the cold winters was going to significantly increase the cost. Later, Darren called me and said he wanted to come out to meet with me, to apologize in person, and to discuss the bid.
I met with Darren and he was very thoughtful and kind. He apologized and explained the complications of the job and what would be needed to do it and the bid was going to be over $1,300. I wasn't surprised at this price, realizing beforehand that it was going to cost much more than just running a line of pex to a fixture. I told him it was more than I could afford but appreciated him and his employees for their time and the bid. Darren explained that it WASN'T GOING TO COST ME ANYTHING. Darren said that he and his wife wanted to pay for the ENTIRE THING.
I was shocked... again!!
Yesterday Phil and Henry, two of Darren's employees came out and set right to work on the job, insulating pex and installing it in another rigid pipe to shield it from rats and the cold. They also added an additional valve isolating the two fixtures from the main line. The job took several hours to complete but the work was done beautifully and they left no mess. The employees were all kind, helpful and communicative about the process and what was going on.
Darren didn't ask me for ANYTHING. He didn't even ask me to leave this review. He just really truthfully wanted to make it right.
When it comes to professional work, I feel strongly that no one is going to do the work you want done better than you because no one cares as much about the quality of work than you do. There are some things in life that without professional knowledge, skill, and experience, a person should turn to professionals to have the work done correctly and safely.. this is the "rub" against doing it yourself. We must RISK someone else doing to work because there are code and safety issues. When we hire someone, we RISK someone else not achieving the "quality" of work we desire at a "reasonable" price. In that way, we can be held hostage by a company for these professional services and if things don't go well, our only options are going to court and leaving a review. Seldom do either of those options result in a positive outcome.
Darren De Long not only called and apologized, he worked hard and with significant time and expense above and beyond to make something a past-employee did wrong, RIGHT.
Honor and integrity. 5 stars. read more