BOWMAN'S PLUMBING & REMODELING

Brian with Bowman's Plumbing saved me, I came in from Texas to visit my Mother and was only in for a short visit and discovered that her water heater was leaking and water was flowing out the pressure release valve. I got a referral to contact Bowman's and Brian called me back that evening and was able to schedule me in within 2 days a day before I had to fly out. They are very professional, efficient and their pricing was very fair. I will continue to use Bowman's for all my plumbing needs.

They came to do the camera test and were very professional and knowledgable and were able to diagnose the problem. However, they had to schedule the work to repair the line and we have been waiting months for that. They are very overbooked and promised to return, but we have not heard anything.

unknown

At the time when Brian saved me from Roto Rooter in July of 2013, he said that it would September before he could take on my voluntary renovations/repairs outlined above. That September, I contacted Brian to come and give a quote on what it would cost to complete the work. After repeated phone calls and unanswered messages, I was eventually told that they were too busy and couldn't accept my job for another two months. Mr. Bowman finally came to my house to evaluate the work two months the week of Thanksgiving. We quickly went over the work that I was looking to have done as Brian was in a hurry to get to a job that morning. I noted that despite there being 5-6 different projects, Brian didn't write anything down, which I took to mean that he was serious about getting me a quote ASAP. He explained that although I was likely to see a quote within a week or two, he would be unable to perform the work until the new year as he takes the month of December off. I was understanding and had no problem with what appeared to be his being up front and honest. I say "appeared to be" because I did not hear from Brian again until March 2014 after many more unanswered phone calls and messages. Admittedly, I did not try calling him again until March because of the particularly cold winter that we experience; I figured that excavation would be impossible thanks to the sub-zero cold snaps. When I did speak with Mr. Bowman in early March, he thanked me for my patience and understanding with the repeated delays and was able to give me a verbal quote of $4,300 based off some sort of notes that he had written down after visiting my home 4 months earlier. At that time he asked me when I would like to schedule the project, to which I said ASAP. Brian said that he would start a file for my project, and that they would definitely be out to my place within the next two weeks to complete the job; I would be given 48 hour notice before coming to start the work. This was the last time that I spoke with Mr. Bowman, who did not contact me within the 2 week window that he identified. After 3-4 weeks and another series of unanswered/unreturned phone calls, I left my final message in early April 2014. In that message I gave Brian an ultimatum and asked for, at the very least, the courtesy of confirming that they were either unable or uninterested in completing the work after stringing me along for 7 months. Later that same day, Mrs. Bowman returned my phone call to tell me that she spoke with her husband and that I would be looking at least another 3 months before they could even begin to look at scheduling the job due to industrial jobs in West Virginia that were taking up all of his time, and would be for the foreseeable future. I thanked her for her honesty and expressed my disappointment that I had not been received the same honesty for the previous 7 months. I also understood that Brian was very busy, which I took for a sign of the quality of his workmanship and confirmation of the high recommendation from another plumber who was not equipped to handle my project. However, there are quite a few things that I take issue with. First and foremost, I feel that I was lied to for 7 months. At no time after the initial emergency call, did Brian follow through on or come close to meeting what he had promised me. Whenever I would actually get him on the phone, I usually heard about how after dealing with less than understanding customers all day, the last thing he wanted to do at the end of the day is return phone calls, so that was why he didn't get back to me right away. For that reason, I feel that Mr. Bowman took advantage of my understanding and willingness to take whatever reason he had for not returning phone calls/pushing back my project at face value. I will say that my experience with Brian for the initial emergency call was exemplary. He was prompt, courteous, took the time to explain the situation, and actually saved me $9000 in unnecessary repairs from Roto Rooter's claim. For that reason, I would recommend Brian for any emergency situations as he is very accommodating in the event of an emergency, and does not try to do anything that you absolutely do not need. However, my experience with him after that emergency call was the extreme polar opposite. If the work you are looking to have done is not an emergency situation, my experience suggests that Mr. Bowman probably is not the man for the job unless you are prepared to wait indefinitely.

Mr. Bowman responded to my mother?s call, the same day and arrived the next day. He felt confident he could diagnose and solve the problem, and indeed he did! It turned out that about 1 year ago my mother had French drains put into the house. Apparently in the process of this, the main drain from the bathroom had been filled with cement, damming it up. This job and its unsavory clean up took 1/2 of the day. My mother was most thankful for the thoroughness and hard work of Mr. Bowman and son.

Since it's an older house, I thought it made sense to replace the entire line when it was suggested, but these other companies weren't local or familiar with houses in Latrobe. Brian is local, extremely knowledgable, and practical. If it weren't for him, I'd surely have fallen for the unnecessary repairs and the expensive bill. I can say for sure that I'll be calling Brian if/when I do go to replace the line. I'd recommend him in without a doubt.

What really impressed me about Bowman was that right before his first visit, he called ahead to let me know that traffic was going to delay him. We've used him a lot in the last year. He's fixed standard leaks, part of our sprinkler system and basic repairs all over the house. He's even helped me with my do it yourself repairs. Though he's a little pricey, I would highly recommend him to anyone in the area. He is very courteous, goes above and beyond to help out and provides quality work.