Scottie Lange is a man of serious demeanor — one whose look lets you know right away that he isn’t going to waste his time or yours.  And while he has stared down many a plumbing crisis without flinching, you can’t help but notice the twinkle in his eyes when you get up close and personal.  Customers love him, pipes respect him, and judging from the photos hanging on the wall of his tidy, no-nonsense office in Oak Harbor, fish fear him.

Scottie Lange is also a man who understands that while image is no substitute for getting the job done, having your name “top of mind” when it’s time to call a plumber is invaluable.  Thanks to Scottie’s marketing shrewdness, a bit of caffeinated inspiration from a Starbucks acquaintance, and some help from Meyer Sign & Advertising, the answer to “who ya gonna call” if a plumbing problem rears its ugly, clog infested head anywhere within a twenty mile radius of Whidbey Island is likely to be Scottie’s Plumbing. 

If ever a name was destiny, having one that rhymes with a euphemism for toilet is pure kismet.  Having trouble with the potty?  C’mon…say it.  We answer that question and more in this little interview. 

Tell us a little about your history.

My grandpa sold his last cow in Dakota and moved out here, and this is where I was born and raised.  My dad owned a plumbing and heating shop, and I became a plumber in 1981.  I started my own business 15 years later.

What made you decide to be a plumber?

I had a choice: I could have gone into electrical or plumbing, and I figured you couldn’t get shocked by water.

How should people go about choosing a plumber?

Number one, you have to look out for “one man show/fly by night” operations.  When you get ahold of someone, make sure they call you back.  I’ve had a secretary ever since I got away from being a one or two man shop, and we have a good system of scheduling — that’s how we’ve grown.  But the biggest thing is your reputation, especially in a small town like this.

Who do you think people hate calling more, a plumber or a dentist?

I myself go to the dentist twice a year, and I don’t have a problem with it.  You go to a dentist for a tooth cleaning and you’re happy, but if you’ve got a cavity, I’m thinking you’d rather call the plumber — but people do tell me that they would rather see me in the grocery store than at their house.

What is the best part of your job?

There is a lot of satisfaction when you help someone out of a tight situation.  Ninety percent of the time our plumbing calls are disasters — there’s water going somewhere it shouldn’t.  I’ve tried to build our business to respond as quickly as possible, and there is a lot of satisfaction in doing that.

What is the worst part?

Having to tell someone you can’t be there because you’re too busy, and getting workers to come out to the island.  I wish I had more plumbers available to me, but we’re a bit isolated and I insist on using only licensed help — and it takes a lot to get that license.

So how did the slogan, “Having trouble with the potty just call Scottie” come about?

There’s a little old gentleman named Jerry who goes to Starbucks with his wife almost every morning.  He’s a customer of ours, and I went to high school with his kids.  He always has a word of wisdom or something funny to say, and one day he just blurted out, “Having trouble with your potty…you’d better call Scottie.”  About six months to a year went by, by which time I had decided to use his idea, so one day when I saw him at Starbucks I bought him a cup of coffee.  He asked me why, and I said, “I just paid you for that slogan.”

What does your sign say about you?

It’s kind of jovial — it makes you smile.  The logo was priceless.  I’ve had marketing people tell me that companies have paid millions of dollars for a slogan like ours, and mine just cost me a cup of coffee.  I get so many people telling me how good it looks, and that they see my trucks all over town.  Now, you don’t really see my trucks all over town, but obviously when people do it sticks in their minds.  When I worked with Meyer Sign on the design, I thought I would just do the front half of the truck, but I didn’t like the way it looked, so I asked them to mock it up all the way back.  It looked great on paper…but when it actually went on the truck it looked spectacular.

How rampant a problem is plumber’s crack?

Well, if you don’t weigh 400 pounds it isn’t really an issue, and our pants fit pretty good right now.

If you had to make a career choice between being a plumber and being a ghost buster, which would you choose?

Ironically, I had a great ghost buster costume for Halloween back in the day…but to be a ghost buster I’d be sitting around way too long waiting for the phone to ring, and I don’t have to wait long in my business — but once we do get a call, it’s pretty much the same thing: you hit the flashing red light and away you go.

So in summary, if you have a plumbing problem, who ya gonna call?

Scottie!