I aim to be as fair and balanced as possible when it comes to the reviews I leave, especially when it comes to small businesses. I'm the first to leave 5 star feedback when I work with a company that goes above and beyond.
For that reason, I trust that others do the same when they post reviews. I have to say that I was encouraged by the great reviews JNR Plumbing had, so I reached out to schedule a consultation. I did not end up going with them for my kitchen remodel.
Here were my main takeaways from the experience and my reasons for giving JNR a two-star rating:
- They charge a $150 fee just for providing a quote, which can be used towards the service if you choose to go with them (this is of course a gamble, but just be aware of this before engaging with them)
- It seems like a larger operation, so they were very responsive and somewhat professional
- The person they sent out wore PPE and took necessary precautions
- They arrived within a couple minutes short of the of the arrival window cutoff time
- For reference, they quoted me over $12,000 for the following scope of work: relocating a washer and dryer to the basement directly underneath the kitchen (with laundry sink), hooking up a bar sink where the washer and dryer were, moving the reverse osmosis filter from the main kitchen sink to the bar sink to feed to refrigerator, moving the main sink over a few inches, installing a dishwasher, and obtaining a permit. $11,600 for labor and material; about $1K for permit. I received a more reasonable quote from a competing service. Not complaining about the price - I'm sure people are willing to pay that. It just didn't fall within my budget
- I emailed to express my concerns about the price and that I would be going with another service. They were mostly respectful, but mentioned that they "cannot control a person's price range for work." The more appropriate response in my opinion would have been to work with me to see what my budget is and see if there were any minor work arounds or ways to come up with a mutually beneficial solution. The response signaled to me that this company might not really need my business
- Reading defensive responses to others who left lower than 3 star ratings was off-putting
Overall takeaway - if a company charges $150 just for a consultation, ask yourself why, since many others can offer one for free. I'll never know whether JNR was great at what they do or not, since I'm not working with them. However, I'm personally choosing to work with an empathetic business that values its customers and seeks to understand their needs. read more