At a time when people complain about rising gas prices and dwindling home values, when so many of us haven’t seen a raise in years and wonder how this is all going to turn around, I met an inspiration today.

His name is Jon. He’s the Seattle Bathtub Guy.

We had a half-tub downstairs and it needed refinishing. In the process of getting bids, there were companies wouldn’t touch something that small and others who quoted $600 and up.  I had searched the Internet far and wide, came up with bids….let ’em sit for a while….and then, when we got fed up looking at the peeling finish again, I went online for a second try.  That’s when I came across Jon.

I went to his website, read up on him and liked what I saw.  I exchanged emails, but as I was talking with him today, I had no idea who was going to come to that door.  That, as a consumer, is the scariest part.  Is it a con artist who wants your money and you’ll never see again?  Someone who does the job, but isn’t very good at it?  The possibilities are endless.

Jon is one those rare people these days that loves his job.  Of course, what drew me to the Seattle Bathtub Guy was the fact that his bid was a couple of hundred dollars less than what everyone else wanted.  What inspired me to write about him and his company is seeing how busy he is, how his phone never stopped ringing while he was here working, and that he doesn’t like to let it ring or go to voicemail.  He likes to talk to people.  He looks you in the eye when he talks.  He’s pleasant and did a fantastic job.  Even now, while he’s on the phone, he’s telling someone that he’s going to go see his grandma tonight.

He’s not a fan of email and the internet, but uses them as a necessary evil.  But he’s on to something.  He’s got a flurry of jobs from Portland to Seattle, hiring more help as work demands,  He’s offering a needed service, at a fair price and backs it up with a “if you chip it, the first repair’s on us” promise.

Got a feeling we’re going to be hearing a lot about the Seattle Bathtub Guy in the future.

Starting now….

Tim Hunter