Quick Answer
Ironclad Plumbing put this guide together because we see what happens when homeowners hire the wrong company. These are the patterns that repeat across Austin. If any of these happen, stop. Get another quote.
| # | Red Flag | What It Means |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Can’t give you a license number | May not be licensed. In Texas, this is illegal for plumbing work. |
| 2 | Won’t tell you the service call fee until the tech arrives | You’re being set up for a sunk-cost pressure play. |
| 3 | Diagnoses the problem without looking at it | They’re selling, not diagnosing. |
| 4 | Tells you it’s urgent and needs to be fixed TODAY | Creating pressure so you don’t get a second quote. Real emergencies are obvious. |
| 5 | Won’t show you what they found (no photos, no camera footage) | If the problem is real, showing you is easy. Hiding it is suspicious. |
| 6 | The person who gave the estimate isn’t the person doing the work | This is the sales-tech model. The person you trusted left. A stranger is now in your house. |
| 7 | No written estimate before starting work | Once your toilet is in pieces, you can’t negotiate. Always get the number in writing first. |
| 8 | Recommends replacing when you asked about repairing, without showing you why | Replacements are higher-margin jobs. A good tech shows you why repair won’t work. |
| 9 | Keeps finding “additional issues” after starting | One surprise is plumbing. Three surprises is upselling. |
| 10 | Cash only / no receipt | No paper trail = no warranty enforcement, possibly no insurance, possibly no taxes. |
| 11 | Quotes $2,000+ for a job without ever mentioning permits | Big jobs usually require permits. Skipping them means no inspection, no code compliance. |
| 12 | Gets defensive or annoyed when you ask questions from this list | A good plumber welcomes informed customers. A bad one needs you to not ask questions. |
Print this list. Bring it to the estimate. Not as a confrontation. Just as a reference for yourself.
The High-Pressure Sales Playbook (How It Actually Works)
(Keep the 7-step breakdown from the previous version. This is the most valuable section of the entire toolkit. It stays as detail below the TLDR table.)