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Pricing

The Power of Transparency in Straight Forward Pricing

by Aaron on April 28, 2010

The Power of Transparency in Straight Forward Pricing

Everyday me or someone else at Cal Coast Plumbing answers the phones of either returning clients or new clients who are yet to use our services. One of the continual requests we get “how much is it going to cost?” It’s a good question too. Whether you are ordering food at a deli with marked prices or you are getting an estimate for a water heater replace, you want to know how much its going to cost you.
Years ago we would quote an hourly rate of what our time was worth on site to try and fix your plumbing issue. This gave a partial idea to what it might run and only covers 1 out of 3 aspects in cost of the job. The other two are HOW MUCH TIME it will take the plumber to do the work (keep in mind the amount of time in this scenario would depend on the plumbers competency) as well as materials it cost to do the job.

1. The hourly rate
2. How long it will take
3. How much materials are

So, many times when a client calls up and asks for an hourly rate I take a moment to help them understand why this is not a good measurement. In fact, speaking from experience, the lower the hourly rate we saw quoted on many jobs, the longer it would take on average for the plumber to fix the problem – costing the client MORE. (The less a plumber charges you in an hourly system typically the less education and experience he or she has). On the materials aspect of the job there is no knowing what mark up the plumber or company policy was and left a big question mark on knowing what was going to be charged to the clients. If for instance the plumber is paid on commission and there is no set price on materials, what is to stop a plumber from marking up materials 100% to 1,000%?! So we no longer quote an hourly rate as we have moved to a Straight Forward Pricing Guide.

The advantage of the Straight Forward Pricing Guide is in its transparency. It is a list of set prices for everything we do. Simple. All of our technicians are trained and understand what it is and how it works. All repairs and unclogging of drains fall into one of 10 listed categories with each item listed below it. All replacements and fixtures and water heaters ect. have between 1-3 options depending on quality and warranty that the homeowner wants. Simple. It is a pricing guide that is easy to understand and that you can hold in your hands. It is as transparent of a system that we have been able to come up with in our continual pursuit to make all our services more transparent and easy to understand for our amazing clients.

Please call with any comments or question. Out clients feedback is always valued!
-Aaron Eddy
925-462-1090

ps. a note about quoting over the phone: We currently do not quote services over the phone except of our $78 Whole Home Tune-Ups. We understand the desire to get a quote over the phone and wanted to take a moment to explain why we do not believe in this. The first reason is that the person quoting over the phone IS NOT A PLUMBER. Not at our company and not at any companies I know of. I know its frustrating but its like asking the receptionist at a doctors office to assess your symptoms – they might do it but it is for sure not in your best interest! To me personally any receptionist who is quoting job costs of a situation over the phone they have not seen or are not certified to fix are most likely just hoping to get a plumber on your doorstep. Be cautious. Also I am weary of anyone giving prices about situations they have not seen. Many times this is again just to hope to get to your doorstep

What we have done: In a desire to alleviate this frustration we often waive the service fee for a technician to come out and give a full assessment of the situations and the options for repair or replacement. This offers a complete risk free way of getting plumbing assessed by our trained technicians. There is no investment besides the time set aside for the technician to give their options.

How Much Does Plumbing Cost? Is It Based On Hourly?

by Aaron on March 2, 2010

It’s very common when trying to find a plumber to ask how much an hourly rate of a company is. People call me here in Pleasanton from all over the Tri Valley trying to find a plumber and usually by asking, “what is your hourly rate?” What you as a client are really asking is “how much will it cost me for you to make the repair/replacement ect.?”

I’ts a good practice for any homeowner to figure out before hand exactly what a job is going to entail. Unfortunately, an hourly rate will not give you the answer to this question. The hourly rate is only based on one dimension of the job which can differ from technician to technician at any given plumbing company, as well as not giving any indication of how much materials will cost. Many companies will use an hourly rate as a “lost leader” only to markup materials by ten or more!

By asking how much and hourly rate is to figure out a cost you would actually have to ask something along the lines of, “…how much is your hourly rate and how long on average would it take to do ____ job and are you sending the most competent plumber to do the job to lower the time it takes to do the job and is there a ceiling to which the job cannot go over and if so what guarantees and warrantees do you provide with your work and how much is mark-up on materials I don’t provide myself…… WHEW!!!!”

As if that is not enough when trying to find a local plumber, in an hourly rate system we have found that it actually rewards bad work. When you think about the concept behind an hourly system it means the less a person knows and the longer it takes them and the more mistakes they make, the more the homeowner will have to pay for any given job! So in an hourly system why would a plumbing company hire good technicians? And sadly many times they don’t.

This is why at Cal Coast Plumbing we use a Straight Foreword Pricing Guide that we have created over the last 20 years to work as well a possible for a customer wanting a plumber. All our plumbing technicians are knowledgeable, trained and ready to (after a brief assessment) give you a SET, UP FRONT PRICE of how much the job will cost BEFORE the job begins, so you know your total investment before hand and can be rest assured that the price wont change! In all our experience it is the best scenario we have found that works best for everyone, just check the testimonials on the front page of our website by local customers like you!

We are pleased and confident that we can provide YOU with a risk free way of pricing any plumbing job you have, knowing full well all of our plumbers are knowledgeable to give you correct recommendations and knowledge so that you can make the best informed decision possible.

And as always we are pleased to hear any question you have by calling us at

925-462-1090

-Aaron Eddy