Van's Plumbing & Electric Inc
19th, Lynden, WA

Van's Plumbing & Electric Inc Reviews

4.2 stars based on 24 reviews

Featured Comments:

• J

  Jim Lee

  5.0

  I scheduled an appointment with Van's to service a free-standing gas fireplace as it was not responding to the thermostat. The tech was prompt and professional and fixed the problem. Unfortunately, the next day I noticed a crack in the glass of the fireplace. While I was not sure it was there when the tech left or even that the tech caused it, I felt most likely it had something to do with the glass being removed and then re-installed by the tech. I called Van's, spoke to Randy. He heard me out, told me he wanted to talk to the tech and that Van's would be contacting me with regard to disposition. The next morning I got a call from the tech. He was apologetic, assured me he didn't see the crack before he left but that Van's was going to replace it for me. That same morning he came to the house, picked up the glass, took it to the glass shop. That afternoon he called to say the glass was ready and he could come by to re-install. He did so and the fireplace was back in operation in one day! How a business responds to a problem says a lot about the company. In my situation I felt they handled it perfectly. There was no pushback, no debate as to culpability, no discussion about money. I recommend them highly.

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  Response from the owner

  Thanks for taking the time to share your experience with us, Jim! We are happy to have served you!

• G

  Gregory Kesslau

  1.0

  I requested an electrical and plumbing estimate for a significant amount of work. I received a call 2 weeks later that they appreciated my interest in the company, but they could not fulfill this within a timely manner and asked that I call someone else. I am not sure if they consider this a good business practice, but I consider it very odd... It must be nice to be so busy that they are turning away business. Updated to respond to the owners comment: There was no referral to another contractor. That would have been great! I still need one. The woman who called me from Van's was so uncomfortable on the phone, she could not answer any basic questions and sounded like a robot repeating the same phrase. "we cannot fulfill your request in a timely manner". I asked "oh, have you stopped doing residential plumbing and heating?" Her response- "we cannot fulfill your request in a timely manner." She actually called me back 5 minutes later (while I was typing my original review), and repeated the same thing, one call for the plumbing, and another call for the electrical. I was never given an option to wait and be put on a schedule for a month or more away, I was actually not in any hurry for the work to be done.

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  Response from the owner

  We are really not sure why this is negative feedback, usually when we call and give a refferal to another contractor the potential customer is happy that we communicated with them. When our workload is very large and we are scheduled out several weeks or more we feel it necessary to let the potential customer know this, so they can decide if they would like to see if they can get the service performed faster from another contractor--something we consider customer service. We are sorry that this person considered this negative.

• J

  John Hollstein

  1.0

  The recent experience my family had with Van’s Plumbing & Electric was extremely unfortunate and weighs heavy on my mind. Let me begin by stating that my family and I are strong proponents of supporting local business and appreciate the honest work ethic that goes into creating a successful company. The first time that I became aware that the job had exceeded the quote given, by close to three times, was roughly two weeks following job completion when I received the statement in the mail. I initially contacted Van’s Plumbing & Electric via phone to discuss the statement and after being placed on hold several times I was told that I would have to speak with the boss (owner). Following this phone call, I visited Van’s Plumbing & Electric in person in an attempt to respectfully and mutually come to an agreement regarding my concern with the statement I had received. During this visit I voiced my concern that the statement amount was close to three times that of which was quoted. I offered fair solutions to my concern which still exceeded the quoted amount. I was immediately met with confrontation and threats from the staff who were visibly upset (red facial color, body tremors and a lack of eye contact). After roughly five minutes of discussion with the employee who initially quoted the job I was told by the owner of Van’s Plumbing & Electric, who appeared from around a corner, to “leave” that he would “give me the job” and that I was a “charity-case.” The owner then denied me a receipt for waiving any charges and said I “will not receive anything else from Van’s.” With my family at my side we left in shock and disbelief of what had just transpired. Following this interaction we felt bullied and fearing future retaliation. It is extremely unfortunate that a local business serving Whatcom County for over four decades has come to treat their customers in this fashion. Because of the unwillingness of the staff to understand my concerns and attempt to come to a mutual agreement, the threats made and ultimately the name calling by the owner, I can not recommend doing business with Van’s Plumbing & Electric.

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  Response from the owner

  Thank you for taking the time to communicate to us why our service did not meet your expectations. We are very sorry that you feel you received poor customer service from us. We pride ourselves on excellent customer service and satisfaction. When the customer had come in to discuss installing a heat pump circuit, he was given a verbal rough estimate on the work he described. He was also told that if it was accurately described, this should be a very close figure and we would perform the work on a time and material basis. There were a few staff members present for this conversation. When the electricians arrived on-site, the customer asked if it would be possible to make provisions for a hot-tub load in the future. In doing so, changed the scope of the project from a single circuit to adding a sub-panel. The electricians were more than happy to do the work being requested. Some of the existing work we were attaching to was undersized and needed to be re-done to complete the project and comply with Electrical Code. The customer never requested a cost from us on any of the additional work he wanted done. Since we confirmed with him earlier that “time and material” would be charged, our electricians continued with their work. While we were on the job-site, we communicated with the mechanical contractor also on the site to make sure he wasn’t being held up on any of the work he was performing. He replied that he had “plenty of work to do, and we were not in his way”. When Mr. Hollstein received his invoice in the mail, he called our receptionist and displayed an angry and intimidating verbal demeanor. He was then asked to come into our office to discuss this with a manager. Upon arriving he spoke with the staff member he had originally discussed the project with. The staff member then told the customer he would look into this, speak with the electricians, and contact him back to discuss a solution. The customer stated an amount that he was willing to pay and that he wouldn’t pay anymore than the amount that he came up with. He threatened that if we did not accept this amount that he would write bad reviews about us on several social media sites and verbally demean our business. There were several staff members who heard this conversation. The owner of our company, hearing the threats, came from his office and told the customer “if that’s all you are willing to pay we will give you the job”. He instructed the bookkeeper to zero the invoice and affirmed the customer that “he will not be receiving any additional invoices from us”. We purchased all the materials to complete this job, paid both electrician’s wages, and paid Labor and Industries for two electrical inspections (both of which passed). We have given this all at no charge to the customer for any inconveniences he may have had with our company. We feel that this is a more than fair resolution to any concerns. Our customers are very important to us and we strive to keep them satisfied.

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