What's wrong with this story?
 

So I'm visiting me mom's and find one of the toilets not working. Handle that moves the flapper is corroded off. It's a small piece of bent wire that looks like part of a coat hanger and costs about 2 cents to make.

I call the biggest plumbing company in the Yellow Pages—who also have the highest Better Business Bureau customer satisfaction rating. Lots of pictures of smart looking plumbers wearing bow-ties etc. (I'd do the job myself, but don't have the time or the tools handy).

I give company the Kohler toilet model number on the phone, and tell them I need a new handle and describe it to them. I don't ask about price.

Guy comes yesterday, spends 10 minutes, and says he doesn't have the right Kohler part. None of the six handles he brought along fit. Comes back today with the right part and installs it in 5 minutes. (I timed both visits)

Total cost: $354.38 Total work time: 15 minutes. Total labour costs: $278.- (which works out to an hourly charge of $1,112.- per hour!) BTW travel time is negligible—the place is 5 minutes away—and this was during normal business hours.

Breakdown:

1. Yesterday's visit charged at "minimum initial visit charge" of $180.- plus $31.- in parts for a piece of copper wire used for a temporary fix, plus taxes.

2. Today's visit charged at "continuation rate" of $98.- per hour(or portion thereof), plus $24.- for the actual part, plus taxes.

Total: $354.38

Yes I paid. (Didn't have the time or energy to feck around with this guy.)

Relative of someone you unsuccessfully defended or represented trying to "get square"?

Karma, you think?

Perhaps you're right.

Simple, really.

He added in the Porsche tax. He obviously knows you own an expensive sports car and can afford to pay a "bit" more than other folks.:rolleyes:

Why didn't you repair it yourself?!?


KT

Just visiting. I had no tools and no time to chase down the part.

Damn, did you get at least get a kiss or some cuddle time afterward? :)

Kohler stuff is very expensive too.

I get far less than that for a house call.

You do house calls? Your a doctor?

Unheard of in these parts!

Hmmm.

Just for reference:

You can do this job, including travel time, shopping, a disposable pair of pliers and install for about $20 and one hour...


Just sayin'


KT

A cheap tool set at Home Depot + parts, about $40. I'm sure the plumbers are laughing about this one.

you sure it wasn't a Ducati toilet?

The plumber was just letting you know that YES, you do have the time to chase down the part.

I purchased a pretty good set of basic tools to leave at my mom's house for such emergencies.


I once ended up replacing her shower controls while chasing down a leak for my parents............on a Sunday.............without access to Home Depot or Lowes.

it didn't match but it worked.;)

you also could have just gone outside and pee'd behind the garage or something...

What is wrong with the story is you...

The few times I need a repairman in my house.. When he enters the house I ask him for a ballpark estimate before he does any work.

If his estimate isn't crazy, "yes go ahead"

If he tells me $500 to replace a flush valve.. Its adios...

Shoe string would have worked :D

That's what we do round here in the sticks.... Hell I can change the flush lever in my toilet in 5mins with just my leatherman

I've had this happen on a few toilets and always got some cheap, Chinese junk kit at Home Depot and fixed it myself in 15 min. Never cost more than about $10. For what you paid, you could have bought all Snap-On tools for the job and still done it in less time than it takes to drive to a hardware store.

Moral of the story: Learn to fix it yourself. Even if you're a hack. I suck at fixing things, yet I will fix almost anything.

Things I won't do:

Drywall & texturing
Copper piping
Changing oil in the cars. Motorcycles - no problem

Hmmmm..... can't think of anything else.

I had a couple of Kohler toilers. Good quality but awful to get parts for. Even the flapper valves all different.

Don't be shocked to find out he spent an hour or two finding the right part. I spent at least four hours searching for mine.

A freaking paper clip would have worked!

My Wife recently called a plumber when I was out of town.....they told her the pressure regulator was leaking and gave her a quote of $5000 to replace the main to the house as well as install a new pressure regulator. They were so nice they even offered to start the work the same day! Unfortunately, our home was built in 1927 and still does not have a pressure regulator. When I got home I replaced the leaking hose to the water heater that was the reason why we had such a high water bill leading to her calling the plumber. Fortunately my Wife only got a quote.

When it comes to working on a home I have found that there are good and bad contractors, electricians, handymen, etc. I just have never come across a good fair plumber for some reason (I am sure they are out there somewhere).

Do you know how many tubing cutters I've purchased over the years for this reason? Sometimes I can find one, if I'm at my house...Last time I was in Mexico...

Sometimes, you can find the parts and the tools you need, at the dollar store.

Oh, a 993 oil change is a lot of fun. No job in the world is worse than plug wires on a 993.

993tt

Well the answer I was looking for was that "most tradespeople are unprincipled swine".

I can't remember when the last time was that I have had a tradesperson in (in the last few years) that was even remotely capable, and whose work was worth was even remotely the number on the invoice.

Maybe this is just the town in which we happen to live here.

But I don't know what it is about North America. We live ion Europe part-time, and I've spent a lot of time in Asia, but I have never had this kind of crap in either place.

There is sort of a base-line minimum expectation of competence and value-for-money in Europe and Asia, which never seems to be met here.

Instead all trades-people here seem to come from the "smash and grab" and "rape and pillage" school of "deep incompetence".

I may have to shoot the next one in order to prove a point.

MIL had a burst hose on the washing machine. Invoice from the "Big Yellow Page Ad" plumber? $400.

Next time call "Joe's Plumbing" or "Larry the Handyman". You'll be treated much more fairly.

Dottore, did he not fix the problem? How was he incompetent? For not having the right part in his truck? Incompetent is misdiagnosing the problem a few times and charging you for the entire time it takes him to get it right. When I've been in a real pickle, I was willing to pay whatever it took to fix something. Go to any car dealership with an emergency problem and see what it costs you. I've had to pay whatever they charged when I was stranded and had no tools or spare parts with me. Last time was on July 4th when I had a tire blowout in the most remote part of the Mojave Desert in Nevada (look up CalNevAri on the map), after everything had closed on a Saturday on a holiday weekend. Man, that was an expensive day. But what the hell else was I gonna do? It's not like tow trucks and tire repair shops are sprinkled throughout the desert.

I got gouged by a plumber a few years ago and have had the same problem several times in subsequent houses. Now I know how to fix it for free. Expect that the charges are directly proportional to how badly you need it fixed.

BTW, I used to sell Yellow Page ads. Some of those you see on the back cover or the peel off magnets on the front cover can run upwards of $10k PER MONTH. They need to make that money back somewhere.

Oh, you're an attorney? Nevermind. My RE attorney billed me $1200 to read a 3-page commercial contract (including a "file opening fee" and "paralegal fee").

F-him...

My apologies for ranting.

This may not seem like big thing.

And maybe it isn't.

And maybe it's symptomatic of a larger issue.

But I no longer care.

I'm going to bed!

After arguably the best meal of my life.

at: http://www.bluewatercafe.net/






Sweet Jesus, was that meal!

If you want some help in choosing tradesmen, try AngiesList. You have to subscribe, but it is well worth it. You need a plumber to fix your toilet, you go to the list and search for "A" grade plumbers within X miles of you, then read the reviews by other AngiesList subscribers who collectively rated the plumber "A", chances are you'll even get a sense of what the guy will charge you. I've found all my tradesmen through this resource and haven't had a bad one yet. Because it is a paying site, the idiots stay out.

At these prices, it should at least be a reach around.

This is actually a variation of the 'while we're in there' routine....

No estimate going in means you're fair game. Call back / come back means you can afford it.

Sorry to hear about it. It's the way things are these days. We are all old enough to remember when we were not living in a third world country.

Home depot (or any hardware store) sells the part you needed for under $5.
It takes about 2 minutes to install (less time than it took to pay that bill) and usually requires no tools whatsoever. Maybe a pair of channel locks if the old one won't unscrew by hand.

You had the time to do it yourself. He charged you an incredibly ridiculous amount and you paid, He's a man of low morals but in this case I'd say the responsibility for you getting ripped off falls directly on your shoulders.

Yup. There's few easier jobs.

996tt - you can't even tell it has plug wires when you open the engine lid.


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1255706537.jpg

If I ever have to do plug wires on a 993 again, the engine is coming out. No ifs, ands or buts. Plugs are no problem. Wires are just beyond belief.

what do you mean by flushing? never heard of it.