A letter from a satisfied customer

Let me tell you the real story about the difference between service and superior service.

My personal experience

My hot water heater stopped working. This, of course, was at the most inopportune time. Monday morning, I turned the water on for a shower and was gifted with no hot water. What a way to start the week, a cold shower.

I called a local plumber in the Tallahassee area and asked if he could help me out. In my mind, I thought it would be an expensive new hot water heater. This plumbers employee came out to my house, did his plumbing thing to find out why the water was cold. Turns out, it was a heating rod that had burned out and needed to be replaced. This plumber turns to me and says, he will have to go to the plumbing supply house to get a replacement and will be back the next day. Ok, I can go with that since it is not a new heater.

The next day he shows up with a heating rod for my water heater, and he can’t get it installed as it is the wrong size. I began to have my doubts as to the quality of this outfits plumbing abilities. Here we go for day 3 to complete the repairs, and with each house call, I am being charged.

Not happy with what was going on, I called Lance Maxwell Plumbing and asked if they could come and help me out. A couple of hours later, I had one of their plumbers in my garage at my hot water heater.  I told him about the fried heating rod, and he said to me that he would have the unit checked out in 10 minutes. After checking the unit, he goes to his truck, gets a heating rod, installs it and checks out the heater to ensure it is working correctly.  Done!

I did a bit of complaining to this poor technician about my other plumbing experience and how I felt that this different plumber company’s service level was pretty bad by not having the parts on hand to make the required repairs.  With that, he asked me to go to his truck for just a minute. He opened the doors and pointed out that Lance Maxwell Plumbing requires all their plumbers to carry replacement parts for various situations. He pointed out that he brought a supply of faucets for both kitchen and bathroom that could be installed right away. Then he really showed me the item that impressed me most. There, in the truck was a new ½ HP garbage disposal unit, ready for installation whenever needed. No running to a plumbing supply house or big box store to get needed replacement parts. They get it done right with the first visit. And I only paid for one house call!

Now that is service, NO, that is Superior Service. Great job Lance Maxwell Plumbing!

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I keep hearing about plumbing “Backflow Prevention” and getting it checked out. I don’t have a backflow system at my house. What is all this talk about?

Well, let’s allay the fears of many homeowners.  Most homes do not need nor have any kind of Backflow apparatus that requires testing. There are a few situations where a homeowner may need a Backflow Preventer. If you need more information on home or business requirements contact Lance Maxwell Plumbers, the specialists in North Florida.

Here is a thumbnail description of a very complex subject that requires certification of technicians who are involved in inspections and repair of equipment. Not all plumbers are able to be involved in this specialty.

We are all familiar with a public water system providing consumer’s potable (i.e., drinking) water. This is the clean drinking water that is pumped to our homes for human consumption.  Any water that is not suitable for human consumption is identified as non-potable since it contains some form of contaminants or other substances.

Some instances have both potable and non-potable water on premises. This creates a situation referred to as Cross–connection.  Piping between a potable water system and any system containing non-potable water or other substances, can possibly allow cross contamination.

Backflow is the undesirable reversible flow of non-potable water or other substances through a cross connection into the piping of a public water system or consumers potable water system. The backflow of non-potable water into a public water system can pollute and contaminate the potable (drinking) water making it unsafe.

To prevent backflow, in those circumstances where a potential cross-connection may exist, a mechanism called a Backflow Preventer must be installed in the appropriate pipeline.  The backflow preventer will be activated when and if any pressure change in water pressure occurs thereby cutting off the possible cross flow and contamination of potable water. A possible pressure change could result due to a water main break, high use of fire hydrants or any high use of water.

Okay, who must have this Backflow Preventer installed?

The Backflow preventer should be installed at or to each of the following premises:

• Locations with auxiliary or reclaimed water systems.
• Industrial, medical, laboratory, marine or any facility where contaminants might be handled.
• Tall buildings
• Locations utilizing irrigation systems

Lance Maxwell Plumbing serves Tallahassee and the surrounding area, has a state certified technician on staff that is able to test, certify and repair backflow preventers.

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