Plumbers! (rant)

My kitchen faucet needs to be replaced - it can't be completely turned off and the steady stream is annoying me. I called the property managers and asked for it to be repaired. They called a plumbing company, who contracts with the owners' home warranty insurance company. I set up an appointment, for the plumbers to come out and was ASSURED, by both the property manager AND the plumbing company, that I didn't have to pay the $50 show-up cost.

This morning, the plumber showed up and IMMEDIATELYtried to shake me down, for the $50. I called the property manager, who talked to the plumber, who was on the phone with HIS office, at the same time. No one was budging and I certainly wasn't going to give this bozo $50 of MY hard-earned money, when I am only renting.

The upshot is, the property manager will bring over a check, for $50, Monday morning and the plumber will fix my faucet (I hope).

I will be SO glad, when I can buy my OWN house. My dad owns a home repair business and things will be fixed quickly AND fixed right, the FIRST time.

I'm with you on this one.. We rent to and I can't wait to own a house!!!

We've had a clogged up sink and liquid plumber doesn't work and nobody has come to fix it.. thank goodness it's the bathroom we rarely use!!!

Heather

Having worked in the industry (well, I worked for an HVAC company, but I find HVAC, plumbing, electricians etc. are all more or less the same), I can tell you that working in a rental unit can be a nightmare when it comes time for the bills to be paid. The renter will tell you that the landlord is supposed to pay the bill, the landlord will say it's the renter's responsibility ... and that's when they're not trying to claim it's the superintendent's job, or the job of the housing board, or some other random person/organization. To be perfectly honest, I can't blame the plumber for asking for money upfront, even though you had been assured you wouldn't have to pay -- it's the only way the plumber has of being sure his company does, in fact, get paid. (And even if the customer pays the upfront "show-up-and-ring-the-doorbell" fee, there's still no guarantee the plumbing company will get paid for the full service call, eg parts and labour; if there's a financial dispute between the landlord and renter over who's responsible for payment, it's usually the contractors who get burned, unless it's a service like hydro that can be cut off until payment is made.) As the dispatcher/receptionist, I hated getting involved in these kinds of disputes.

I'm not saying this doesn't totally suck for you and all other renters (including myself), because for the most part I think both renters and landlords are honest and are willing to see service contractors get paid for their time and effort. I'm just saying I know where the "pay me now!" mentality comes from: it comes from being burned by those few rotten landlords/renters too many times to be willing to take that risk again. I'm glad you were able to work out a compromise!

Originally Posted by katl8e

My kitchen faucet needs to be replaced - it can't be completely turned off and the steady stream is annoying me. I called the property managers and asked for it to be repaired. They called a plumbing company, who contracts with the owners' home warranty insurance company. I set up an appointment, for the plumbers to come out and was ASSURED, by both the property manager AND the plumbing company, that I didn't have to pay the $50 show-up cost.

This morning, the plumber showed up and IMMEDIATELYtried to shake me down, for the $50. I called the property manager, who talked to the plumber, who was on the phone with HIS office, at the same time. No one was budging and I certainly wasn't going to give this bozo $50 of MY hard-earned money, when I am only renting.

The upshot is, the property manager will bring over a check, for $50, Monday morning and the plumber will fix my faucet (I hope).

I will be SO glad, when I can buy my OWN house. My dad owns a home repair business and things will be fixed quickly AND fixed right, the FIRST time.

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If the sound of dripping water is bothering you, tie a piece of string to the faucet and let it hang down into the sink. Arrange it so that it is in the path of the drip. The water will flow quietly down the string rather than making that annoying drip sound.