client horror stories

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frodo

Just call me Macgyver
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we all have them, stories about the weird side of dealing with the public.

here is a couple of mine.

lonely house wife

I got a call about a drip under a Kitchen sink.
The client , wearing only a robe,
showed me the way to the kitchen sink, I had to lay on my back, and shinne a flash light at the valve,
mean while, she straddled me, as she filled a glass of water
I saw the whole show

ER UM...what do you say?

I just let her expose herself, then left quickly.

contrary to stories you hear, the liability of making a move is very high.
it is VERY easy to be accused of things that did not happen.


believe it or not, same street, different house.
the shower drain is clogged,
I am pulling rubbers out on the trap with a bucket cable.
the owner, asks what the problem was.
I informed him, he needs a strainer and to throw the prophylactive's in the garbage,
he said propa what?
I said rubbers man, dont throw the rubbers on the floor, put them in the trash

He said he works out of town and does not use rubbers
As he started yelling...I said sign this ,,and got the hell out of there
I could hear them out in the street. .
 
Oddly enough, I have also caused a divorce by pulling condoms out of a sewage pump except I was talking to the wife and exposed a cheating husband. And again "ok sign here have a nice day" and high tailed it outta there before I witness murder.

I could fill this thread with stories, I'll check back in a bit!
 
Frodo, that first story sounded like the beginning of a letter to Penthouse, but obviously didn't end like one. LOL.

I obviously don't have any client stories, but I'm looking forward to "hearing" more stories.
 
Frodo, that first story sounded like the beginning of a letter to Penthouse, but obviously didn't end like one. LOL.

I obviously don't have any client stories, but I'm looking forward to "hearing" more stories.
You would not believe some of the stuff.

we plumbed a new house,,BIG,,,NICE..

he had a special order disposal. when it arrived, he had moved in already.
nice guy..about mid 60's
i was under the sink.
his wife, girl about 25. came in raising hell. she had just found out the car was not in her name.
he told her, not in my name either, the house, nothing is, it is in my brothers name.
do you think i am stupid?

SHE went to calling him every thing ....
I got finished..and gave him a wink as i left. he grinned ear to ear
 
went to a house to fix a leak underneith
poor part of town,,very sketchy

i fixed the leak and went home

next day, boss tells me the firemarshal wants to talk to me about a house that burnt down i had worked on.

funny thing was, it was pvc pipe, not coppere, i did not use my torch.

the tenants burned it down, said it was my fault for insurance

they went to jail
 
went to a house to fix a leak underneith
poor part of town,,very sketchy

i fixed the leak and went home

next day, boss tells me the firemarshal wants to talk to me about a house that burnt down i had worked on.

funny thing was, it was pvc pipe, not coppere, i did not use my torch.

the tenants burned it down, said it was my fault for insurance

they went to jail

WTF? What morons!! And to accuse you of having done it.... Jerks! Some people are such scumbags!
 
Holy cow these are some stories! Lol! I wish I didn't believe them but I don't think you can make this stuff up! Lol
Thanks for sharing and the chuckle!
 
Holy cow these are some stories! Lol! I wish I didn't believe them but I don't think you can make this stuff up! Lol
Thanks for sharing and the chuckle!

To BE HONEST...these stories are encounters over a 30 year period
not every day is a freak show..maybe every othr day!!!!:D





not me..but a true story

old plumber owned PTL plumbing {praise the Lord]

he got a call to fix a leak, he fixed it, then gave the home owner the bill

the owner said he wasnt going to pay him, said if he had fixed it right to begin with, it would not be leaking.

plumber..said he did not recall ever working on his pipes.

owner said..hell yes you did. 20 years ago!!!

plumber said..warranty only last 90 days, you gotta pay

owner shot him dead
 
This one is going to sound Pervy, but, hey, what can I say.

told they are remolding their bathroom, found a leak.

>>>THEY KNOW WE ARE HERE>>>

we crawl under the house, and find the leak, about that time a girl goes into the bathroom and gets ready to take a shower

the flooring had been stripped, you could see between the boards

I did not watch, ;) :eek: My helpers eyes were bugging out of his head. :D:D i had the shush him a couple times
 
Boss's daughters house and I aint say'n noth'in!!!!!!

we were slow, so Boss sends us to his house, that his daughter is living at.

her complaint is a drippy sink

as we entered the bed room, laying on the bedside table was a .....12'' long battery assisted play toy

I aint spreading this rumor. NO WAY....we took an oath...keep our mouths shut, cause that is daddys little girl

back at the shop, his daughter worked their doing pay roll.

I was getting a I know you know look,,,And I was giving her a

I dont know squat look

things were ackward for a week or so
 
come on MAT...your leaving me hanging here. jump in !!


the snake

Wayne, A plumber i have great respect for,

he was deadly afraid of snakes..

we were topping out a house, it was lunch time.

he ws sitting on the floor, leaning against a stud

I was directly across from him, leaning on another stud.

i see a king snake, slithr into the building,,he is coming down the hall

I tell wayne, in a calm voice

Wayne, snake is comeing down the hall behind you

NOW,,In all fairness, I am a bit of a jokester, a cut up, prankster
he ignored my warning, thought i ws joking
a minute later, he saw me looking at something, so he turned his head, and was nose to nose
to that damn snake
LOL LOL LOL....He jumped up...Hollering at me..Why the hell didn't you tell me a snake ws behind me???


I hollered back I DID!!!!

ya'll this s the same guy who sank the Boss's bass boat when a snake dropped in it off a tree branch

he shot 3 holes in the button . Bobby, our boss, Fired him 3 times that day.

We kept telling Bobby, we aint at work, you cant fire him, you gotta hire him back.

then he fired me, because I told him that wayne knew more than he used to, so give him a raise also.

fishing trips are fun
 
Frodo, that snake story reminds me of when one of my father's co-workers was using the can when he felt something bump his balls. He looked down and there was a copperhead in the toilet bowl. He ran for his gun and shot the hell out of his tub, toilet, floor, and wall. The snake got away.

I imagine his plumber had an entertaining story to tell when he got the call to replace the fixtures.
 
This one always stood out. I used to work for a 24 hour service company. 9pm it rings. The customer tells me he thinks a pipe burst under his sink. He is on municipal water.This conversation followed.

"Ok sir, you need to locate your water meter and shut the water off".

He replies "well aren't you the f'in plumber???"

"Well....yes...but"

"Then get over here and fix the god damn thing!". Then he hangs up, without giving me his address, and he called from a private number!

About 10 minutes pass and he calls back furious because I'm not there. I explain he didn't leave me an address, so I didn't know where to go. So he tells me his address.

"Sir....I am at least 40 minutes from there. It would be your best interest to shut the water off or your house is going to be destroyed"

He replies "just get the hell over here".

So....I eventually get there, get to the house. I know in the area all the meters are under the basement stairs. He opens the basement door and you cannot see the first 3 stairs there's so much water. I jump down and turn it off. Go upstairs to find the braided supply on the kitchen sink faucet blew apart.

"You're gonna wanna call your insurance company" I said

"I'm going to bed"

"......well, okay. I'll go do up the bill"

Then he gave me a credit card number, come to find out it was maxed. I drove by a few weeks later and the house was for sale, and I know changed hands a few times over the years. I drove by today, new owners again
 
Here's a new construction story. I used to do HVAC/R before I was a plumber. We were doing HRVs for a pretty shady builder, cookie cutter homes in a new subdivision. It was just a crazy atmosphere, rush rush all day long. From the time foundation was poured, owners were moving in within 3 weeks. Best believe they were cutting corners.

One house sat at a vacant rough in stage for months due to a dispute with the builder and owner. Things settled. Normally plumbers go rough in first, then the sparkys, then us tin bangers. The other guys were busy on another house so we started first.

I walk in the door....there must of been 200 pigeons that infested this house. Bird crap absolutely everywhere, on everything. There were dead birds in the soffits, and the smell.....yuck.

Of course, we walked right back out and my boss refused the job until that bio hazard was cleaned. We never went back to work there.

I met one of the sparkys on another job a few months later. He told me that the builder went in, just swept up the poop clumps and everyone else did their jobs. Bird crap on all the studs and in the walls just got covered over, and they just blew insulation over the dead birds.

The last I heard, the people who bought the place were continually getting sick and couldn't figure out why, so they moved. Now every time I drive by, that house is for sale.
 
GOOD story,, I hate getting ripped off.

i had a lady call me over and over, wanting me to repipe her house.
But, i have a policy. certain area of the city, I will not do work.
every time I do, I get ripped off.
so i made excuse after excuse.
finally, i told her i would do it. i jacked my price up by 100% and said I wanted 1/2 before I would start, cash, no check
she agreed. DAMN..i thought she would just go away.
So, true to my word. i repiped her house. as I was getting close to finished.
she left. Her kid said she would be back..I waited, she did not come back
every time I called, no answer, when I knocked on the door, TV on, lights on, no answer
i got drunk one night, and around 2 am i ripped the water service from the meter to the house out of the ground
ant cut the pvc up in short pieces/

sure enough, at 7am i get a call

I's Aints gots no WAAtur..

I told her call someone who cared
 
For a short period of time I worked for a company who specialized mainly in drain service.

I'm on call and I get a call from an area on the outskirts of the city where people have big bucks. Big yachts and sail boats....Tom Selleck has a summer home there.
Anyways, the septic backed up in his basement. I arrive on the scene. Before I bother snaking I ask him when's the last time his tank was pumped.

"My tank never has to be pumped" he laughs

I'm like :confused:..."well, where's your waste go?"

"over the cliff. It's gravity. Are you even a plumber?"

"Yes...that's why I should alert the proper authorities because if you're dumping raw sewage over the cliff, that's highly illegal"

So...he says his tank hasent been pumped in 15 years. I put the snake into the tank enough to poke a hole in the waste and all drained away. I put the camera down, the solids were compacting in the pipe, it was full.

"So you just gotta get your tank pumped. No big deal"

He looks like he just saw a ghost

"If you don't know where your tank is, I can locate it for you"

"Oh I know where it is....you see that huge hot tub? It cost me close to $30K last summer. The tank is under that"

"Well sir you got some work to do, I'll go tally the bill"
 
For a short period of time I worked for a company who specialized mainly in drain service.

I'm on call and I get a call from an area on the outskirts of the city where people have big bucks. Big yachts and sail boats....Tom Selleck has a summer home there.
Anyways, the septic backed up in his basement. I arrive on the scene. Before I bother snaking I ask him when's the last time his tank was pumped.

"My tank never has to be pumped" he laughs

I'm like :confused:..."well, where's your waste go?"

"over the cliff. It's gravity. Are you even a plumber?"

"Yes...that's why I should alert the proper authorities because if you're dumping raw sewage over the cliff, that's highly illegal"

So...he says his tank hasent been pumped in 15 years. I put the snake into the tank enough to poke a hole in the waste and all drained away. I put the camera down, the solids were compacting in the pipe, it was full.

"So you just gotta get your tank pumped. No big deal"

He looks like he just saw a ghost

"If you don't know where your tank is, I can locate it for you"

"Oh I know where it is....you see that huge hot tub? It cost me close to $30K last summer. The tank is under that"

"Well sir you got some work to do, I'll go tally the bill"
...................

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Poor Walter

I had a helper called Walter, he liked to drink and argue at the bar.
He argued with the wrong person one night. and was found boot stomped in the parking lot

the boy was never the same after wards.

evry morning, when he came to work.
it was like a cassette tape. every day was the EXACT same conversation,
just hit rewind at 330 and he was ready for 7 am

He drove me crazy, but I felt sorry for him,

funny thing about Walter..he bought some land, put a old trailer on it.
THEN, the area exploded, all the lots around him were huge FINE homes.

they tried to get the HOA to do something about Walters old trailer
they could not, he was their first

wonder what every happen to Old Walter ??
 
Matt, were you saying it was Tom Sellek's house or just a client in that neighborhood? And what an idiot that guy was... No way that hot tub had permits if it was put over the septic tank. I heard Tom Sellek got in trouble recently for hiring someone to go down to a city fire hydrant and fill up some barrels with water (or something along those lines) so he could water his yard.

Frodo, aww. That's sad about what happened to him. It's sort of like talking to one of my elderly friends when she got dementia before she passed away. She'd ask a question and 5 min late would ask the same one.

Its hilarious to me that they couldn't make him move because he was there first. I despise HOAs. I mean, I get that they have a purpose, but I would hate to live somewhere that has an HOA.
 

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