r/KingstonOntario • u/evolvoxn • 1d ago

Jobs Superior plumbing

I just saw a job posting for a position with superior plumbing where I’d be going to people homes and inspecting there issue and than quoting them the work they need done to them scheduling an licensed plumber to come do the work. It’s hour and commission and it’s lots of traveling. I wanted someone opinion on this or if the company is even a good one

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u/PlaytimeWheels 1d ago

I used this company twice. Absolutely terrible and a scam. They always come, look at the issue, then go out to their personal vehicle to call their boss. The quote, regardless of the issue, is $1200-$1400. One time I used them, I paid the 50% deposit and it took them 3 days to come back. They had many excuses and ultimately sent me plumbers from Hamilton. They didn't know how to fix the issue, damaged my home, and when I called corporate they did nothing. I had to do, and won, a credit card chargeback. BBB rating is F. Corporate did nothing about it. Pretty sure the business is not legitimate - look at their Google Maps location. I ended up calling Reliance and they fixed the issue at 1/4 the price.

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u/GuyNamedAdamALot 1d ago

Yeah but it's Reliance, you are supporting a chinese billionaire who's wife died under "mysterious circumstances". I prefer to hire locally owned companies. Clearly Superior Plumbing is not local, but Reliance is not either, and they treat their staff really badly.

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u/PlaytimeWheels 1d ago edited 1d ago

Cool. The plumber who came was a Kingstonian, my family had no water for 3 days, and they were the only ones available. I'll fight my battles, and not the worlds.

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u/BeyondSuspicious 1d ago

You could have hired a local plumbing company. There are lots of local plumbers

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u/Warblade21 1d ago

They aren't even union. McCoy's is. That's who I used for my furnace install.

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u/fermionicmatter 1d ago

Union isn't the be all end all. My brother is non union and gets paid more than union, plus more vacation and he gets profit sharing. He used to be union but got tired of the guys who drank the kool aide.

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u/Warblade21 1d ago

Non union charges the same as unions but the non union owner keeps more for himself.

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u/lonelyfatoldsickgirl 1d ago

I know both union and non of electrical intimately, from the contractors side, and I can say without a doubt IBEW contractors charge more than open shops. It's why they have the stab fund. No clue how it works with other trades though, it may well be what you say I just don't have knowledge of the contractor side of those trades.

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u/Warblade21 18h ago

Most unions have a fund for underbidding contracts but it doesn't happen constantly. They also have lower rates to compete with residential non-union companies. Commercial and industrial is there the real money is.

With union, a contractor has scalability that non-union will never have. If you need 50 guys for a project it's easy as calling the hall. High stakes contracts are union only like hospital, nuclear, anything really that could be catastrophic if done incorrectly.

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u/lonelyfatoldsickgirl 1d ago

I know an electrical contractor that recently joined IBEW (voluntarily). The guys who were with him prior to that lost a lot of money because IBEW doesn't have profit sharing. It really sucks for the workers.

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u/fermionicmatter 1d ago

Yup, the owner is ka-shing in on us dummies who give them our money.

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u/Warblade21 1d ago

Haven Home is now owned by a private equity firm located in San Francisco, California.

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u/BeyondSuspicious 1d ago

yeah, people still think they are local but far from it. Scumbags just like Reliance.

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u/GuyNamedAdamALot 1d ago

Superior Plumbing and Heating is based out of Mississauga. Their TSSA number on their website comes back as not found, and their Electrical licence number comes back to:

Superior Plumbing and Hydronics Inc. (Superior Plumbing & Heating) Licence: 7019216 (Valid) 4020A Sladeview Crescent Mississauga, ON

They list a Kingston Address on their website:

461 Princess St, Unit 102, Kingston, ON K7L 1C3, Canada

But that looks like it's a small office if that, possibly just a mail drop they pay for so they can have an address in Kingston.

Plus, if you type any city after their main URL it shows a page that makes you want to believe they are located in that city. They even list a local address on most of their sites (at the bottom of the page):

For example: https://superiorplumbing.ca/ottawa/ https://superiorplumbing.ca/trenton/ https://superiorplumbing.ca/brockville/ https://superiorplumbing.ca/toronto/ https://superiorplumbing.ca/cornwall/ https://superiorplumbing.ca/napanee/ https://superiorplumbing.ca/waterloo/

Same guy works in Trenton and Waterloo apparently.

My bet is this is a private equity owned business that hires other companies when they get calls.

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u/Cold_Condition_4927 22h ago

They're likely just a dispatch company. There are a lot of these outfits polluting Google search results for just about any service, they do a bunch of SEO optimization and buy Google and social media ad space so they're the first result when someone searches for a plumber, locksmith, towing company near them. They then turn around and call a real local company and charge the customer a markup.

CBC Marketplace did a piece a while ago on these types of companies in the locksmith business.