1 in 7 plumbers has Google reviews about missed calls: what we found scanning 900+ contractors
· 3 min read · By the Fullweek team
Short answer
Across 916 home service businesses in seven Sun Belt cities, 12% to 17% of plumbers and about 13% of HVAC companies had recent Google reviews complaining that nobody picked up, the call went to voicemail, or no one called back. That is roughly 1 in 7. The complaints show up at busy, well-reviewed shops too, not only small ones.
Key takeaways
- 15 of 87 plumbers in Phoenix and 13 of 93 in San Antonio had reviews about phone problems (about 15% to 17%).
- A second scan of 477 businesses in five more cities found 12% of plumbers and 13% of HVAC companies with the same complaint.
- Restoration companies were lower, at 5% to 9%, likely because their work arrives through insurers and referrals.
- A review about an unanswered call is public and permanent. Every future customer who reads it is a second lost job.
On this page
Why we looked at reviews
Most contractors know they miss some calls. Few know how many, and fewer know how often those misses turn into a public review. Call logs are private, but Google reviews are not. So we used them as a signal: if a customer was annoyed enough to write "nobody answered" on a company's profile, the call was not just missed, it was remembered.
How we ran the scan
- We pulled Google Maps listings for plumbing, HVAC and water damage restoration companies in Phoenix and San Antonio (439 businesses, 338 with reviews we could read).
- We repeated the pull for five other US metros (477 businesses).
- For each business we read recent reviews and flagged any that complained about the phone: no answer, straight to voicemail, a full mailbox, or a promised callback that never came.
- We counted a business once, no matter how many such reviews it had.
The results by trade and city
| Scan | Trade | Businesses checked | With phone complaints | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phoenix | Plumbing | 87 | 15 | 17% |
| San Antonio | Plumbing | 93 | 13 | 14% |
| Phoenix + San Antonio | Restoration | Rest of the 338 | n/a | 5% to 9% |
| 5 more cities | Plumbing | 477 total | n/a | 12% |
| 5 more cities | HVAC | 477 total | n/a | 13% |
The pattern was consistent: in every city, somewhere between 1 in 6 and 1 in 8 plumbing and HVAC companies had at least one review about the phone. We call it 1 in 7 to stay on the conservative side.
It is not only the small shops
You might expect missed-call complaints to cluster at one-truck operations where the owner is under a sink. They do not. Several of the companies with phone complaints had thousands of reviews, including two with more than 6,000. High call volume creates its own gaps: lunch, shift changes, evenings, and the first hot week of summer when every line rings at once.
Across the full scan, the typical business had a median of 127 reviews and a 4.9 star rating. A phone complaint stands out against that much praise, and it often sits near the top of the profile because it is recent.
What a missed call costs
Emergency searches carry the most expensive clicks in home services. Advertisers pay about $76 per click for "emergency plumber near me" and $81 for "24 hour plumber". If you paid for that click and the call went to voicemail, you paid for a lead that went to a competitor.
- The caller with a burst pipe at 9:47 PM does not leave a message. They call the next listing.
- The review that follows lowers conversion on every future call from your profile.
- If you buy shared leads from a marketplace, an unanswered lead is money spent with zero chance of a job.
How to close the gap
- Measure it first. Pull a week of call logs from your phone system or CallRail and count unanswered calls by hour. Most shops find the gaps after 5 PM, at lunch and on weekends.
- Cover after hours and overflow. Use an after hours answering service or an AI agent that answers only when your team cannot, and hands off when the caller asks for a person.
- Book, do not just take messages. A message is a callback you still have to win. The answer should end with a time on your calendar in ServiceTitan, Housecall Pro or Jobber.
- Reply to the old reviews. A short owner response that explains the fix ("we now answer 24/7") turns a warning into proof.
Want to know whether your own reviews mention missed calls? The free city audit checks your profile against the top three competitors in your city and flags any phone complaints.
Sources
FAQ
What percentage of plumbers have reviews about missed calls?
In our scan of 916 home service businesses, 12% to 17% of plumbing companies had at least one recent Google review complaining that nobody answered or called back. That is about 1 in 7.
Do HVAC companies have the same problem?
Yes. 13% of HVAC companies in our five-city scan had reviews about phone problems, about the same as plumbers.
Does answering every call actually matter for a contractor?
Emergency callers rarely leave voicemail; they call the next company. Emergency plumbing clicks cost $76 to $81 each, so a missed call is often paid demand handed to a competitor.
How can I check my own reviews for missed-call complaints?
Search your Google reviews for words like voicemail, no answer, never called back and could not reach. Or request the Fullweek free city audit, which does it for you.
Related posts
- Guides
Plumbing answering service vs AI receptionist
Human answering service, AI receptionist or both? What each does after hours, what it costs, and how to pick one that books jobs instead of taking messages.
· 3 min read
- Guides
Are Angi leads worth it? The cost per won job math
Angi leads cost about $50 each and contractors win roughly 1 in 6 or 7. That puts the real price near $300 to $350 per won job. Here is how to run the math on yours.
· 3 min read
Related pages
See what your city is missing
Free audit: your Google profile vs the top 3 in your city, missed-call signals in your reviews, and the jobs you are losing.
Get free audit