Asking plumbing customers for reviews: ask everyone, after the truck leaves

When to add a plumbing customer

A plumbing job ends one of two ways. An emergency starts with a call about a burst pipe or no hot water and is usually over that night. A planned install, such as a water heater, is booked ahead. The email should follow the way the job ended.

1. Emergency or repair: the evening of the job

   Add the customer once the technician has left and the invoice is closed. After 8pm, add them anyway. Sending hours default to 8am to 8pm in your time zone, so the email waits for morning.

2. Planned install: the next morning

   The customer has had a night with the new heater or fixtures. Add them with the rest of the previous day's jobs.

3. Reminder: 72 hours later

   One reminder follows 72 hours after the first email and stops when the customer clicks or unsubscribes. You can have up to two.

The first email goes out within about 10 minutes of asking the customer, so the moment you ask is the timing decision. Quick-add takes a name and an email and asks at once. After a long day, import the day's list as a CSV file on the Contacts page and press Ask all new, which asks every contact not yet asked; importing alone sends nothing.

If all you have is a phone number, ask for an email address when you book or on the invoice. Texting is not switched on yet, so a customer with no email cannot be asked. When the invoice is in a landlord's name, add the tenant only if they dealt with your technician and gave you their email.

If your jobs live in Housecall Pro, the guide at /help/connect/housecall-pro shows how to send completed jobs over, through Zapier or with Housecall Pro's own webhook, which it offers only on its MAX plan. It is not a built-in connection. The customer is added soon after the job is marked complete, and the email follows within about 10 minutes. On a repair, that can be while your technician is still in the house; for the evening rule, add customers by hand.

Which review sites matter to a plumber

Google comes first. Google lists Plumbers as a Local Services Ads category ^[1] and says “Star ratings and number of reviews affect how your business is ranked within Local Services Ads” ^[2]. If you run those ads, your Google reviews count there.

An email in a plumber's words

Every customer gets this same email, whatever the job was. Edit it in Settings › Templates, and send yourself a test first to see what a customer sees.

Nothing in it asks how the job went, mentions stars, offers anything or names a technician. GossipGarden adds your postal address and an unsubscribe link below it.

What Google and the FTC say about asking

Asking is allowed: Google's help center says you can ask customers to visit a Google link or scan a QR code ^[8]. The limits are on how. Everything below was read on 16 October 2026.

Google's Maps content policy ^[9]:

• Merchants “should not require or pressure users to leave ratings or write reviews while on the premises,” and the policy does not define “premises” or mention a service visit. A link sent after the truck leaves is the safe practice. That is our advice, not Google's ruling.
• No staff quotas. The policy lists “Merchants requesting that staff solicit a certain number of reviews,” so set no review targets for technicians.
• No selection. Google lists “selectively solicit positive reviews from customers” as prohibited, so nobody is skipped because of a callback or a complaint.
• No incentives: payment, money off or free goods or services in return for a review.

The FTC's Endorsement Guides (16 CFR 255.2(e), Example 11, as read in the eCFR on 16 October 2026) describe a marketer that invites customers who gave very positive feedback to post reviews and simply thanks the rest. That “may be an unfair or deceptive practice” if it leaves the posted reviews “substantially more positive.” Inviting all recent purchasers “would not have been unfair or deceptive” ^[10].

Questions plumbers ask

Can my technician ask for the review before leaving?

Better not to. The policy bars pressure “while on the premises” but does not define the term, so a link sent after the visit is the safe practice ^[9]. Google itself suggests putting the link “on your receipts” and “in thank you emails” ^[11].

Can I skip customers who had a callback or a complaint?

No. Google lists “selectively solicit positive reviews from customers” as prohibited ^[9], and the FTC's Example 11 describes a similar practice ^[10]. Add every customer. GossipGarden has no step that asks how the job went, so nothing in it sorts customers by the answer.

Do I need Angi or Nextdoor as well as Google?

That depends on where your calls come from. BrightLocal's Local Consumer Review Survey 2026 (a vendor survey of 1,002 US adults, published 11 February 2026) found the average consumer uses six different review sites ^[12]. We ask on Google, Facebook and BBB. For Angi and Nextdoor you use their own tools.

I work from home. Does my home address go in every email?

Not necessarily. Every email carries a postal address, and you enter it at setup. The CAN-SPAM Rule (16 CFR 316.2(p), as read in the eCFR on 16 October 2026) accepts the sender's current street address, a Post Office box the sender has accurately registered with the Postal Service, or a private mailbox accurately registered with a commercial mail receiving agency ^[13].

Sources

Each number in the text points to the source it came from, as read on the date shown. Rules and prices change; check the source before you rely on one.

1. Google Local Services Ads Help: business categories supported in the US (read October 16, 2026)
2. Google Ads Help: Local Services Ads reviews (read October 16, 2026)
3. Meta: Community Feedback policy (read October 16, 2026)
4. BBB: customer reviews FAQ (read October 16, 2026)
5. Yelp for Business: how to get Yelp reviews without asking (7 March 2025) (read October 16, 2026)
6. Angi help center: how to have success with reviews (read October 16, 2026)
7. Nextdoor for Business: how businesses can get more recommendations on Nextdoor (read October 16, 2026)
8. Google Business Profile Help: ask customers for reviews (read October 16, 2026)
9. Google Maps User Generated Content Policy: prohibited and restricted content (read October 16, 2026)
10. eCFR: 16 CFR Part 255, FTC Endorsement Guides (current text; last amended 26 July 2023) (read October 16, 2026)
11. Google Business Profile Help: get more reviews with a link or QR code (read October 16, 2026)
12. BrightLocal: Local Consumer Review Survey 2026 (11 February 2026) (read October 16, 2026)
13. eCFR: 16 CFR Part 316, CAN-SPAM Rule (current text) (read October 16, 2026)

Every customer gets the same ask. GossipGarden never filters, screens or routes anyone by rating or sentiment. Why that matters.

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