Lady, You've Got Some Nerve!

smellslike$tome

I work out of my home. I pull up my drive this afternoon and as soon as I park I see this unknown mini van pulling up too. It's fairly rare for someone to approach my house even though I have a 4' x 8' plumbing sign down by the road. So anyway, I walk up to the driver who appears to be a middle aged caucasian woman with one of our hispanic brothers in the passenger seat and someone else in the back who I really didn't pay any attention to. I get to the driver and she says "Are you the plumber?" "Yes ma'am I am, how can I help you?", "I just left Lowe's and we forgot to get the toilet bolt's he (motioning to Jose') needs to move my toilet with. Do you have some you could sell me?" "No ma'am I do not. I don't sell parts off of my truck." "oh (in stunned disbelief that I wouldn't be perfectly willing to sell her my truck stock) I see Well I'm getting my bathroom tiled and ..." This is where I cut her off and ask "Is he (motioning back at Jose') your plumber?" which was of course a purely rhetorical question I just wanted to hear her say it "uh no he's the tile guy" "then why is he touching your plumbing?" This was met with stunned silence which I just let hang in the air for about 3 seconds before saying "I can't help you" at which point I turned and walked into my house.

Of course you always think of what you should have said or done after the fact and I should have said "oh yes ma'am I have just what you need" at which point I should have retrieved them from my truck, placed them in her hand and said "that will be $20". I was never going to do any work for this woman anyway but if she wanted the bolts, their they were or she could drive back to Blowe's to get them. If she'd paid I would have at least had lunch money for the rest of the week.

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dkillianjr

What a peice of crap! I guess Jose's donkey couldnt haul the toilet.


Dave

CPlumb

Had a neighbor across the street who would come over ANY TIME HE THOUGHT HE COULD to bug me about a plumbing thing. I used to help ,,,then one night ,was getting in late from a job ( 9:30 pm ) . As I walk in my door ,I go to swing it shut behind me ,,,,, don't hear the door shut ! Turn around and this is walking in my foyer saying ," Hey ,been waiting a while for you to get home ,, my garbage disposal is making sounds ,,, come on over and look at it ."

I JUMPED HIS ASS !!! Chased him back across the street " M Fing " him the whole way . Told him he owed me for the past few years of being nice and his taking advantage and MF,MF,MF !!!

Will NOT do work in my neighborhood anymore ,,,, it ain't worth the aggravation !!!

Like the way you handled that lady ,,,, WELL DONE!!

CP

Grumpyplumber

THAT is funny.
What kinda moron thinks you wanna be talking shop at that hour?
Top it off, the chucklehead walks into your home behind you..I mighta slapped 'im.

3Kings Plumbing

Lucky for me I have 2 neighbors that are retired plumbers. One was a union guy, he came over one day and asked if I had an 1/2 ball valve. I gave it to him. But he's a good neighbor, there's been a few times my wife had to go to work and I'm not home from work yet and they watch our 2 boys for a little while. no more than a hour though. Not to sound rude but me and my wife are the youngest couple on this street.

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CPlumb

Fellas , I'm not a TOTAL prick ,,, All for helping neighbors . I'll help ya move your stuff , watch the kids , prune the trees ,haul trash etc,etc ,

BUT my trade is my living . Why is it that folks are much more reluctant to bother a doctor or lawyer to practice their trade AT ANYTIME DAY OR NIGHT at their own home ?? Yet it's ok to interrupt my private life no matter what I might be doing ??!!

I just tell them now ," I'm sorry , I don't work in my own neighborhood , it costs me too many friends ."
CP

AtlanticWBConst

Why?, because you'd been too nice of a guy. (Give am inch, they'll take a yard)

..... But, you finally set that guy straight...

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Grumpyplumber

I have a sister that decided to become a real estate tycoon, got herself up to three houses mortgaged...you know where this is going.
After repiping a single bath home with rotted/pitted copper, doing two basement bath additions, and a multitude of smaller fixture replacements water heaters etc in exchange for cheap rent.
Not long after, she decided to up my rent.
Her justification "It wasn't worth that much".

Two months later, after I'd moved out and told her no more plumbing, she called back whining, as if I owed her, that another plumber, a friend, charged her $75 to repair a leak and "he wasn't even there more than two hours". (poor fool)

It's one thing for a neighbor to hound you, act like you owe them...another thing altogether when family does it.

EricTheHandyman

I've got both friends and family that are not rich by any means. When I work for them they say, "no discounts, we'd have to pay somebody, it might as well be you." very refreshing.

Then there's the friend, who has more money than anyone else I know, who says "don't forget the friends and family discount." Grrr....

A Good Plumber

I've been only reading these threads since I became a new member recently. This one of the funniest I've read.
Someday I'll share funny a story or two with you guys.

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Herk

After about 32 years in business, I could probably think of an unlimited number of these stories. Like the guy who showed up at my door with all the tubular from beneath his kitchen sink, still assembled, who said, "Do you have one of these?" Of course, he wanted me to supply parts, not do any work.

And there are all those people who call me who want me to talk them through a repair . . .

Often, some woman will call and ask some question about a plumbing repair her husband is doing. These people are never going to be my customers. They prefer to do the work wrong if necessary to avoid paying someone else.

I was finishing the work on a basement remodel once when the neighbor from across the street came over and drug me back to his house to look at the tubular under his sink. I told him I probably had everything I needed on my truck if he let me finish loading up from the other job. Oh, no - he wanted me to stand there and tell him how to do it for free, and couldn't understand why I was becoming upset.

Ultimately, he had me do the job after I yelled at him. Afterward, he was amazed at how quickly I did it and how good it looked.

I get plenty of calls from people wanting me to thread a pipe so they can replace it. Oh, they're willing to pay - maybe two or three dollars - for an hour of my time at home. They've been spoiled by local lumber yards where there are flunkies who will thread pipe. Not well, of course. There's something about the training . . .

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There are no dumb questions - just a lot of inquisitive idiots.

Grumpyplumber

For me, phone DIY inquiries go something to the effect of:
"Oh...you may not realize this because it's plumbers inside info, but pipe dope is the big secret to sealing PVC joints perfectly...never use that silly glue stuff."

I did an estimate for a 2 bath repipe...woman insisted I was overdoing it by stating the main needed to be upgraded to at least 3/4" from the 50 year old pitted 1/2" type M copper she had coming from the meter.
I got that feeling like she was picking my brain for info
I finally humored her by quoting a rediculously low a price.
She then accused me of trying to take advantage of her lack of knowledge of plumbing with my price.
At this point I explained to her she was right...that expensive copper wasn't necessary...she could do it herself with the much sturdier steel steel pipe and save the cost of a plumber altogether by simply having the guy at Home Depot thread it for her.
"Us plumbers only pawn that copper stuff cause it doesn't last long and you need to rehire us soon."
Sure lady...thats it.

Bjd

Yea years ago I put up a higher fence around my yard just to keep people from stopping me every time I mowed the friggen grass.

" Hey do you have one of these, or hey my lawn pump wont work today"

Its like hey I really wasnt doing anything anyway, so sure I go over and spend a few hours for you for no.
right

gitnerdun

My garage doesn't face the road and is not marked. Not to be a smartazz, but why do you have a sign if you don't want visitors?

smellslike$tome

I don't mind "visitors" although I don't get them very often. The last "visitor" I had bought a $1600.00 water heater installation at my kitchen table and has since sent me numerous referrals.

What I do mind are cheapskate, illegal alien hiring, presumptuous, "I'd do it myself (if I knew how)", people who approach a man who is working to provide for his family with no intent to hire him but only to sponge off of him.

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theman

A friend of mine is a building inspector, he tells me about CONTRACTORS that stop at his house on week ends trying to set up an inspection first thing monday morning I guess it works both ways.

al

OAKGC

That's when you say..."I don't have any friends and you're not family".

plumb.bob.down

Put the price to 'em, that's one way of getting rid of the people who want a lot done for nothing.

Grumpyplumber

BINGO!
I get calls like "I got a quote from another guy for $850 to install a 50 gallon, which is rediculous...how much do you charge?" - "I charge $1,000"