Thinking in Public
I asked Claude Code to rank them. Every name holds a near-5.0 average across hundreds of reviews, the kind that holds up at volume.
I asked Claude Code to find Vancouver's top plumbing companies and tell me what they share. It pulled from VendorRoster's own ranked list, my directory, built from weighted Google ratings. It also pulled from Troy Media's Vancouver rankings, Waterview Vancouver's list, and plumbing.ca. Ten names show up across all four. Checked September 2026.
Rating and review count — pulled September 2026
Every one of these holds a rating at or near 5.0 across hundreds of reviews, some past a thousand. A five-star average from twelve reviews means nothing. A 4.9 average held across 11,700 reviews, like Milani's, means the company delivers the same experience on job four thousand as it did on job four.
Past the rating, three things repeat: same-day or emergency response, a name attached to one thing they're known for, whether drains, hot water tanks, or heating, and years in business. Pioneer's been at it since 1976.
If I were starting a plumbing company today, I'd build the review engine before the brand. Ask every customer for a review the same day the job closes, the fastest way from twelve reviews to hundreds. Pick one thing to be known for first, then let the rest of the services grow around that reputation. Answer the phone on the first ring, because same-day response shows up on every list.
The customer is mid-emergency: water on the floor, phone in hand, searching "plumber near me." They pick whoever has the most reviews and answers first, and they decide in under a minute.