Investigative reporting is of little value other than promoting ratings when it is incomplete -- for instance, What is the number of complaints against Beacon as compared with other companies doing the same business? How do their prices compare with other companies that will respond to emergency needs?

I've used Beacon. They were more expensive than I liked, but they found and corrected a problem that had plagued us for several years and that another major company had completely missed.8

I have been performing residential plumbing service here in the Puget Sound area for 15 years and have been working at Beacon Plumbing & Mechanical for 2 years now. Beacon is the finest large size service company I have ever seen. With a shop as big as Beacon it is always a challenge to find that perfect balance between quality and quantity. When you have a small shop, as I had for 8 years, it is much easier to control all aspects of your client's experience from initial call reception to service completion. With a shop that does over 20,000 service calls per year it gets a little more challenging. When you've got 80+ employees you're going to have quality control issues. Beacon is quick to dismiss any employee that shows lack of concern for quality or our client's best interests. All employees are drug screened at random and provided with regular training and journeyman assistance. As I have worked at a few other plumbing service companies and know something about most others in the Puget Sound, I feel that Beacon has THE most competent staff of any company around. The idea presented in Mr Ingall's story on King 5 seemed to 'expose' that many of our techs are simply 'trainees'. Look at ANY plumbing shop around the Sound and you'll find that, unfortunately, a large percentage of techs in this industry are 'trainees'. You'll find no finer trainees than at Beacon, I have seen this first hand. As a licensed residential journeyman plumber active in the industry for 15 years, I feel like the 'new guy' when discussing plumbing details with most of the guys at Beacon. I am proud to be working with such a highly competent group of professionals and feel that the association with them has made me a better plumber. I felt bad for Ms. Theoria Engstrom when watching the story on King 5 but I want to know more...like why was her sewer line twice the average cost, where there landscaping challenges, was it longer than most, was it extraordinarily deep? Who was the technician? We have the best sewer guy in the state, and I know him to be conscientious, fairly priced, and providing of the highest quality work I've seen. Does the phrase "You only cry once when you pay for quality" mean anything? If anyone at Beacon has provided less than the highest quality work then we need to make it right. It is NOT right when I do a job for a client who agrees to the discussed rate, and then, upon hearing that their friend knows a guy that could have done it for less complains that I charged the difference too much. Difference in price is dictated by many factors such as quality of materials, target profit, and costs of doing business. I am not the cheapest plumber in town, nor am I the most expensive. I know of no other company with the same cost of doing business and I know of no other company with the resources to handle the volume of service calls that we do. Just this morning I dug up a sewer line in a client's back yard to access their clean out, cabled their main sewer, cleared and retrieved a root ball obstruction, tested the system with a full tub of water and several toilet flushes, backfilled the hole and cleaned up the work area all for $450. Too much you say? Well, two hours later the client called and said it was backing up again. I went back within 2 hours of their call did the whole job again, retrieved another root obstruction another 65 feet out from the first and charged nothing, in fact, I gave the client a $50 coupon and my sincerest apologies for their inconvenience! We all make mistakes. It's not what happens to you that counts...it's what you do about it that counts. I'll never know everything there is to know about plumbing or heating, but with well over 250 years of combined experience between the journeymen and 'trainees' at Beacon Plumbing & Mechnical, I know there's always someone that I can turn to that has the right answer. I bring that 250+ years of experience out to every call with me and so does every guy, journeyman or trainee, that comes to help you in your time of need when they are in a Beacon Plumbing truck.

I seen you report on Beacon Plumbing and feel it was a great report to expose the real truth about plumbing contractors and the tactics used to rip off customers. I am a plumbing contractor with 30 years in the trade, and yes I have a journeyman card. I use trainees, but only under direct supervision of journeyman plumbers which is required by state law. The comment that everyone does it is weak and the owner of Beacon should be ashamed of himself.
The problem is that these companies work with a flat rate pricing manual and most of the company meetings focus is sales, sales, sales. The so called plumbers are rewarded for bringing in the most sales, regardless of customer satisfaction. The employees are paid on commission and this is a recipe for disaster.
This company is like most service companies in the area in which they would rather hire salesman rather than qualified plumbers.
No matter how Beacon trys to justify themselves they are still in violation of state law.

I hired Beacon 8 months ago to clear out a clogged drain. When they got their cleaning tool stuck in my pipe they wanted to charge me $3000 to remove it. DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY!!! Management was difficult to work with and it took me over 6 months to finally get them to take responsibility for their incompetence. Even in a plumbing emergency please take time to do your homework so you don't end up with the nightmare I had to live through.

ITS rare, very rare that you see a broadcaster put at risk mega bucks in advertising revenues from a business that has dedicated massive amounts of advertising dollars in order to expose a problem at that business. Congratulations KING for having some brass ones. Whether Beacon comes out clean or dirty, the fact that KING took a chance impresses the hell out of me. And broadcast news media doesnt generally impress me that much. By the way if anything can be learned from this, its an example of what happens when a company grows so fast that the boss loses control of his own business. HE becomes an out of control traffic cop instead of an owner..

Well Chris,

This time you really missed the mark. Your sensationalism and want for a "breaking story" doesn't even come close to passing the smell test. Anyone who knows the plumbing industry is aware of how rates, training, and typical customer satisfaction percentages are developed and reviewed. Book rates are established by independent sources. Those rates drive the pricing for creditable companies who service large customer bases. Plumbing insiders also know how trainees are moved along through their apprenticeships… close supervision earlier in the process, and then more independence as they mature. All along, the journeymen give the apprentices more and independence to develop technical skills, as well as their creative problem solving skills. Meanwhile, the customer is charged the book rate... no matter how long that job takes. This is standard operating procedure for ALL companies that develop new talent. And speaking of talent… Beacon has an active recruiting program. They have been successful in recruiting excellent people... many are college grads!!

I am a former owner of a large plumbing company in Seattle. I would trust my plumbing needs to only one company in this whole state...Beacon. They charge fair rates and have excellent service. They get the job done right the first time. That is the culture the owner has established, and I know first hand that anyone who does not live up to that culture is not kept on the payroll.

Finally, as far as your interviews go... you have done lousy work with data gathering. You call out the sewer line installation in Tacoma, but as another blogger points out, every sewer install is unique. Did you get the specifics from Beacon as to why the install ran more than an “average”? To say this lady was charged twice the average is nonsensical. There needs to be the "other side of the story" in your reports. What about interviewing a few of the 99+% of the completely satisfied customers? Oh wait, that wouldn’t get the sensationalism you are looking for. But maybe there is a different agenda here....is KING mad because Beacon advertises so much with other networks? Be honest now…..

I think your investigation borders on a witch-hunt to feed your own need for ratings. Oh by the way… which will be one less from now on?

A couple of questions need to be asked of KING and all other TV stations doing investigative reports. Why are these seen only during sweeps in November, February, and May? It couldn't be about ratings, could it? Another question. Beacon Plumbing is one of the largest broadcast advertisers in the region. Would you care to tell us the state of KING's business dealings with Beacon? Have they recently pulled their ads, or maybe balked at your spot rate? There couldn't be any chance that this 'investigative' report is little more than revenge by the sales department for their failure to spend money at KING-TV, could it? One of the problems with investigative TV reporters is that they never investigate TV stations. I spent 20 years in broadcast news and I would like to think KING is above this sort of thing - but I know better.

I was thrilled to see this story. I had 2 Beacon "plumbers" come out, I paid 40$ for the estimit, they wanted that up front and first before anything else. Then they gave me a 590$ cost for pulling out an old and hooking up a new dishwasher. I knew it was totally way too much money. One thing, I did complain and I did get my 40$ returned.

I was so glad that someone finally stepped up to the plate about this company... Start freakin after you call Beacon. I have never heard anything good about this company. No wonder they can advertise at Safeco field, Metro buses etc.
I am in the construction industry and have been for many years. The rediculous pricing and trip charge amounts that Beacon charges is not within industry standards in my opinion.Remember a bad word goes alot farther than a good word. Congrats King 5 investagators. And for the press release from Beacon: Not everyone files a complaint with the better business bureau.

First of all, I have called Beacon to my house for a potential service call. The 2 employees that showed up (on time) were very courteous and did NOT pressure me. I got a couple of bids and went with the middle bid. It was NOT because of any customer service issues, it was just fit in my budget for this particular need. I would seriously call them again and felt that the 2 employees represented the company very well. The respect that they showed to me as a customer went far and above what I've seen with other contractors and service providers in the past.

Also, doing a broadcast like this only makes us question what KING has as a motive?

Recently our family had a very big story in the media and these investigators with KING were less that respectful and down right rude to my family and our privacy. The only TV media that respected our family was KIRO. So, KING, take notice that your integrity & respect in the media world is certainly not number 1 in Seattle. We tell everyone we know about the situation. Once again showing that a BAD referral can hurt you as well. You are NOT immune to what can happen when you don't give the story correctly or harrass people when you are just doing your "job".

Followup: KING5 news contacted me about my earlier posting. They were offended, to say the least. But that is a GOOD thing. The news department acted without the knowledge or consent of the sales department - who were obviously not happy that one of their major clients was the subject of an investigative support. That's how it is SUPPOSED to be. But other stations and media conglomerates don't maintain the same high standards that Belo does. Some of those are even in this market.
;-)
The KING news staff really CARES about their integrity, or they wouldn't bother to contact a blogger an hour after his posting. While I don't always agree with KING news, I have gained a lot of respect for them that they still believe in journalistic tenants.

Lars is correct. And I'm glad to learn what he discovered. Good to see that King 5 is doing it right.

I was told by Beacon that I needed to replace my sewer line at a cost of $9500. They told me that I was responsible for all the line to the sewer main. I called the city and they told me to stop because the city would repair.

Becon still billed me $1500 to clean the line the city said they would.

I complained and stop payment on the check but, they threatened to sue me and put a mechanic lien on my propety. There was a lot more that happen to much to list here but I will never ever call this company again.

I am a young adult and I fear the pressure they might put on senior citizens.

This is a response to Brian, who works for Beakens: I was most interested in your description of the $450 job: "Just this morning I dug up a sewer line in a client's back yard to access their clean out, cabled their main sewer, cleared and retrieved a root ball obstruction, tested the system with a full tub of water and several toilet flushes, backfilled the hole and cleaned up the work area all for $450."

Earlier this month we had a similiar job and Beaken charged us $3400. It took them 3 1/2 hours. I am still in shock and feeling really foolish too. When your toilets are over flowing and you are faced with a bucket of unpleasant stuff it is easy to fall prey to someone who can "fix it, but it's gonna cost a lot!" Dumb? You betcha!

Charlotte, thank you for sharing your story. Brian must be a fictional cahracter. My story is identical. I called Beacon and I'm Freakin' because I was ripped off. My husband was out of town, my child was sick and the sewer backed up. Unfortunately I called Beacon. The first Beacon "plumber" that came to my house had faulty equipment, but said the job would be $1,600. I thought, "ok". The next day they sent the scam artists, they said, "I'm sorry ma'am that job is extensive we need to charge $3000" What!!! By this time I was 24 hours without plumbing and had a child with the flu. They told me how difficult the job would be...Blah, Blah. Now I know better. Two extrememly overweight men dug a 1.5 foot hole and replaced 8 inches of pipe. The job took 3 hours for $3,000. The reasonable amount should have been $1,000 (which includes Beacon adverstising). Beacon, Shame on you! Spend more time satisfying your customers and less time advertising. You'll have a better business...I guarantee it!

Again, Whether Beacon is right, wrong, guilty or innocent, good for KING 5 news. I dont care if its sweeps or not, you showed some guts. Don't stop. Also, kudo's to Jesse Jones's story on the Totem Lake UPS Store. I Know they spend bucks with KING and other stations as well. To put advertising dollars at risk so they can actually perform some real public service is unique. Just keep your reporting accurate and to the point. Don't add showbiz to legitiment reporting.

We had problems with Beacon's also. A toilet in our upstairs has slowly over the years quit flushing well. This appeared to happen when the kids when to college and the toilet was not used much. We called Beacon- not an emergency call- and the young man came out. He kept on telling us this was an older toilet and that's how they flush. I had told him that the toilet worked fine for several years and it just had been recently, but he kept on telling us it was the toilet's design. I did discuss with him that I would like a new toilet, but wasn't quite ready to put all that money out and also wanted to research the various kinds. For now, we were just hoping to spend less and have the toilet flush better. So he started with snaking, but he ended up taking the toilet off and doing several other things, which he did forewarn us about but did not give any quotes for. The frustrating thing was the bill came to over $600 and the toilet does not flush any better. As he was leaving, I asked out of curiousity how much a new toilet installed would cost and he said anywhere from $400 to $700. Had I known this, we would have opted to wait and get a new toilet (this was not our primary bathroom). In all my other dealing with service repair- the serviceman always gives options and compares how much a new product would cost versus repairing. In addition, we had mentioned to him at least 3 or 4 times, that a new toilet would be great but we didn't think we could afford it. We should have asked how much the repairs would be ahead of time, but put our trust in him. After seeing the news program, my guess is the repairman was a trainee.
Bottom line- had we known- we could have paid the same or slightly more and had a completely new toilet- instead we are out $600 and did not improve the system at all. A waste of money and would not recommend them to anyone.

Responding to Marilyn, your story is so similiar to mine it seems we had the same plumber techs. I wonder if there are any others? I emailed Beaken asking for a detailed explaination of the charges and never got a reply. What does a citizen "do" in these circumstances? If nothing else I would like to see some change so that others aren't ripped off too.

I remember meeting the family that runs Beacon Plumbing, and let me tell you, they were so personable and kind. I would call them in a heartbeat to get a quote for my house if I needed plumbing.

Throughout the years, my experience with the people at KING 5 seems quite different. The employees I've met, especially the reporters are extremely rude. They seem to want to demonize our communities and businesses so they can sell more commercial time. It's seems to be a total sham operation.

Try stopping by the KING 5 TV station and you'll find it locked up like a fortress. Look around and you'll find King 5's building is surrounded security cameras everywhere. Then, when you try to call these sneaky people to challenge them on their typical sloppy journalistic practices, they get defensive. To make matters worse, KING 5 calls itself, "The Home Team". I just want to know what home team they're referring to. Apparently, signals come out from this apparent alien group to our communities, but nothing is allowed back in in response. What planet are these guys from? Earth to KING5! We know you guys are hiding in there somewhere within your hallowed halls.

The only thing decent about this station is the when they're not playing ancient repeats of Almost Live (which, by the way, is the most unfunny comedy show in the history of television).

The news media (and KING 5 is no exception) has the tendency to believe its bullit-proof, hiding behind constitutional speed bumps. Most of the "Journalists" that you see on the tube are reporting news frm a show biz approach. Is it fun, exciting, interesting...? You know, shock and awe...You can thank the news magazine formats that came of age in the 70's for the quality deterioration that you see today. Electronic and print media survive on ratings. Thats the first and last bottom line. That deal from the FCC where a broadcast outlet is licensed "in the public interest" has been dead in the water for many years. I applaud KING for the Beacon storie. They elected (Maybe not by majority) to put big ad dollars at risk. As far as KING being locked up like a fortress, they're not a walk up retail store that sells energy drinks. They're no different than any high profile business with a big building. Buzz on over to the Microsoft campus, Boeing or Starbucks HQ and try to take yourself on a self guided tour at one of those facilities...

I contacted Beacon Plumbing on an emergency basis because we lost service in our only bathroom and one of the people in the household is disabled. Because this was actually the second time in less than 30 days that we had to have the sewer line cleared, they proposed to line 100 feet of side sewer with a resin sleeve as a more permanent fix. While I was at work they dug a hole straight down that was 13 feet deep and 4 feet wide. The hole was extremely dangerous for their own workers as well as anyone who came near it, due to the lack of support or shoring, the sandy condition of the soil, and the rainy weather. They covered the hole with an old piece of rotting picket fence I was using as a rustic garden ornament. Upon leaving the hole in this condition, they did not return or contact me again or five days. I finally called them. No one seemed to be aware of the job in progress or concerned, so at this point, I called in another plumbing company to handle the project. They found access to the line in a different area where they only had to dig 3 -4 feet. They were concerned about the hazard posed by hole and filled it in. Before they did, however, with the help of a friend, I photographed it and sent it to the folks at the City of Seattle who issue permits for this kind of work. Beacon now wants thousands of dollars from me. Overbilling is one thing, but when I think of what might have happened to someone because I called Beacon Plumbing, I am disgusted.

BEACON PLUMBING ripped off, took advantage of my mother's trusting character. They completely screwed her on parts, labor, and never addressed the issue.
I was horrified when I read the receipt, they replaced items that were fine, and never fixed what they were called out to do. It makes me sick!

I quess ratings are more important than reporting all the facts correctly. I think that someone at King 5 has a personal grudge against this company. There are a lot of other plumbing companies in the area that have the same amount of complaints and some worse than Beacon (you can do a simple search to find them) but their names were not mentioned and their complaints aired. I wonder if King 5 really cares about consumers, because I would think they would look at the industry as a whole and not single out just one company. It looks like a campaign to destroy just one company. Of course I appreciate good investigative reporting but this isn't it. There are a lot of good plumbers out there at Beacon and other companies. Yes, there are lots of postives about Beacon and plumbers in general but obviously that would not attract any viewers, would it?

Fay, you are wrong Beacon Plumbing has racked up more complaints at the BBB and AG than any plumbing company since records have been kept.

Check out the most recent story King 5 did on Beacon. They are sending killers and child rapists into their unsuspecting customers' homes.

I have a friend over at KING that informed me that there is a direct family member of one of Beacons competitors (SW Plumbing) working in your newsroom. is this really fair reporting?
seems like there's someone behind this as I thought the story was very one-sided.
I have used Beacon several times, good company, good people. I will use them again, dispite your report.
WHy didn't you report the whole story about the lady who complained about her expensive sewer, you failed to mention that it was Christmas and there was several feet of snow on the ground. Don't edit the facts. Your a News station. I found that out by asking the questions..

I find that most of the folks who are doing the most complaining on this blog are the folks who think that they got taken advantage of. Here comes the woman with the child who has the FLU and her sewer backs up[ PISS AND MOAN] is it Beacons fault that you backed up the sewer??? I s it Beacons fault that your kid had the flu??? Its amazing how many of you piss and moan about the stupidest stuff. I'm a plumber in the state if Washington and licienced and if I had a dollar for everyone that changed their storey after having work done I could have retired 10 times over. It completly amazes me that I will get a call from a customer for a plumbing issue and I arrive at the residence and fix the problem at hand then give a free plumbing inspection of the entire residence, find potential problems and let the customer know! And what do you think they say, oh Im gonna fix it latter, or I really dont have time right now to worry about it. But God Forbid, when the problem gets worse- the customer calls the companys we work for and pisses a river to the supervisor!!!Oh the plumber didnt fix my issues at hand or your employee screwewd me and didnt fix it corectley- And what is the customer looking for? THE BIG FAT FREE DISCOUNT OR FREE JOB!!!I ve been told by customer, especially the house wives that they dont know anything or their husbands are dumb as rocks. Its amazing the stories we here and then comes the phone call once the job is complete, Can you guess what it is????[ YOU RIPPED ME OFF]
All you sorry customers that are complaining are the one who have had the best jobs done for you by the best company out there and because you cant get some money back when you have buyers remorse,because you didnt get other estimates first then its your own dumb fault. But you need someone to blame instead of taking responsibility for what you did.

And as for KING5 you should all quit making a specticle of Beacon! Youre just Pissed because they dont give you a chunk of the advertizing pie anymore.

And for Chris, you SUCK dude, you are the suckyest reporter on TV....

Hey Pat

I heard the same thing also about a King employee that was related to the SW plumbing owner. I also heard that SW beefed up their adverstising just prior to this story being reported.

The owner of Southwest Plumbing is Bill Buckingham and his sons name is David Buckingham, supposedly the wife of David Buckingham is the one who works for KING5..........iTS AMAZING that a company would bash another company since they are in the same trade as Beacon....

Like I said before Chris you SUCK DUDE!!!!!

Hey Gary

Don't you work for Southwest Plumbing?