Beware of your Plumber!!!!
By bird123
@bird123 (10632)
United States
September 17, 2011 11:31pm CST
Who doesn't have plumbing problems from time to time? What do most people do?? THey call their friendly local neighborhood plumber, right? An elderly lady down the street had a plumbing problem. She smelled gas one day and called her local gas company to check it out. Sure enough, she had a small leak at her water heater. Part of her vent was bad too. The gas company turned her water heater off and advised her to call a plumber. She calls a plumber and gets it fixed. Sound simple?? Is there a catch??? You bet! You could buy the bad gas fitting and vent pipe at the hardware store for 75 dollars. So how much do you think the plumber charged the elderly lady on a very small fixed income of social security?? The plumber charged the lady 2000 dollars. I could not believe my ears. The total job couldn't have taken more than an hour maybe two if everything went wrong. How can that plumber charge her 2000 dollars??? That is stealing and nothing more. I called her plumbing company and complained but they didn't want to talk about it. I had the elderly lady file a complaint with the better business bureau. Maybe it will save someone else.
In conclusion, there are many greedy repair people out there. Never call one. Get estimates, guarantees. If you don't know them, check them out anyway you can. If you say just fix it and never ask the cost up front, you might just get robbed when they show you the bill. I don't know how these people sleep at night stealing from elderly people who are fighting to feed themselves along with all the medical bills.
In time, it will catch up with them. In the meantime, people, be careful out there. Vultures await to eat you alive. If I had only known about her problem first, I would have fixed it for her rather than allow such robbery to take place.
1 person likes this
5 responses
@waflay (2737)
• Nairobi, Kenya
18 Sep 11
Most of the repair people always take advantage of others especially if they realize you are so naive in their field of operation and so one is overcharged.Like for mobile phones I've seen where a repairer goes to an extent of removing some of your phones accessories.It's too bad most people don't realize that and once you go with the phone other problems will arise,return it to the repairer who will even charge you to replace the accessories.It's now hard to trust anyone because cheating has taken it's toll nowadays.
1 person likes this
@knicnax (2233)
• Philippines
18 Sep 11
I agree with you. They take advantage of the fact that you need them. When I have to have my cellphone repaired, I don't leave my phone with them. It already happened to me once. The speaker of my phone was broken so I had it fixed, they fixed it alright and it was okay for a few days, then the sound went out again. I tried opening the phone myself and found out that the original speaker was taken out and replaced by a fake one. I remember the person who repaired said that they just needed to re-solder the wires cause it broke, but they replaced the whole speaker instead :| Ever since that incident, I watch when my phone is being repaired. Second time I had it repaired, i watched the person like a hawk. Told him I had nothing else to do. They were charging me 1000 pesos for the replacement of my cellphone flex if they find out if that's what's causing the problem. I told them that the price is too high for me. They said we'll negotiate it later, I'll just check what's wrong with your phone. I was actually reluctant to have it checked, but since checking is free, so what the heck. I let him check. While opening my phone he accidentally ripped the flex, so he had no choice but to replace it with a working one (cause it might be that the flex is still working but it just needs to be re-attached or something). He put my phone back together (with the new flex) and just charged me 500 pesos for the repair. If I weren't there at all, he might have just put it back together and tell me that it's broken. I paid 500 pesos and told myself never to have anything repaired in that shop again cause they might overcharge me the next time.
Lucky for me, I love tinkering with stuff so I learned how to open my phone and twiddle with it. No more repair services for me!
@changjiangzhibin89 (16533)
• China
19 Sep 11
I think everybody might be indignant at it.What you said is very right.The plumber was not so much stealing as robbing.How come he found it in his heart to charge the old lady so much ,who lives on a very small fixed income of social security.I doubt if it does its work that file a complaint with the better business bureau.There is malpractice in all trades.
@changjiangzhibin89 (16533)
• China
20 Sep 11
You are right!I think the plumber was lifting a rock only to drop it on his own feet.
@choybel (5042)
• Philippines
18 Sep 11
I believe some people just get away with this kind of crime and it has become their norm. Like you said, it will catch up with them in time. There will always be somebody wrong to mess with, and then it will be their end. I am cautious with paying for purchase price or service as well. I mean, if I feel that the price of something is just plain daylight robbery, I voice it out and would not purchase it at all.
@megamatt (14292)
• United States
18 Sep 11
Sadly this is a very common situation. There are people out there that are going to take advantage of the uninformed for a quick few extra dollars. Or in this case, very many more extra dollars. There are many people who don't care about helping people these days. Its sad to admit that fact, but the sooner that we realize that, the more we can come to terms of it.
There are a lot of people who will pick you dry and also do a substandard job, that you may have to call upon you for their services again. These people sleep well at night, because they have no concern with anyone. Of course, there will come a time where they could get scammed by someone as well and they would know how it feels to be the victim. Life does have a tendency to be interesting in that sense and come back to bite those who will rip off people in the end. Well some of the time at least, but sadly justice is not always served and people will live to scam another day.
@gk655321 (236)
•
18 Sep 11
That's sad, but it can happen with anyone. There's been so many stories about elderly people trying to get something repaired or fixed with their houses and after giving them money "for supplies" the construction workers never show up to do the job or only do half the job. People are scum sometimes.
@bird123 (10632)
• United States
19 Sep 11
Now construction workers are another discussion themselves. They contract the job, then start but leave soon after. It's a fight to get them to complete the work. Yes, on top of that, better watch those prices. Maybe the tight economy will get a few of them hungry enough to do people right.
