client horror stories

On a roll.

My Mean Lady story. Not really a lady.

Saturday afternoon a guy calls, water coming out of bathroom ceiling in his daughters condo.
Another unit above.
I knock on the door.
Woman answer the door screaming, " WHAT ?!? I'M TRYING TO WATCH TV!!! "
I explained to her it would be in every ones best interest if I looked in upper unit before in cut open his ceiling.
" I TOLD THAT A--HOLE I DON"T HAVE ANYTHING LEAKING!!"
I walked back into her hall bathroom into a puddle of water and wet rug on the floor. Her toilet supply nut had split and water spraying. I reached down and turned off the angle stop. Informed her of what I found.
She replied with, "You can tell the A&&hole down stairs, he doesn't have to worry about the leak anymore" She wasn't yelling anymore.

"Now Matty, the first rule of plumbing. Don't leave any dna on site!"

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...hmm...



...scribble...scribble...

Another FACTOID OF THE DAY!

I am going to get that license any day now...

...now what was that about spit...

frodo said:

...some loud mouth that lasted a week

I did not like him.

...every time he started to drink coffee or gator aid. I would dump the clutch.

and make him spill it on himself View attachment 9055

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How many times have you sent a FNG to the truck for a LH monkey wrench?

Boss sends me to a friend-of-a-friend's house to trim out a bathroom remodel job. He warned me to be fast as this is a T&M job and the customer was complaining about money. Customer wasn't home but I was told to just go in and do the work.
I finish and leave.
Next morning the boss approaches me and says the customer is claiming that an iPad, gold watch and other items were stolen from her house and she thinks I did it. Boss asked me what he should do about it (me).
I told him to call her back and inform her that she needs to involve the police, file a report on all of the items and also contact her insurance company to file a claim. If she doesn't do it, she's full of sh@t.
Sure enough, she just wanted cash reimbursement for the items and not involve police or insurance. What a scammer, and she never cared that I could lose my job for her antics. Not even an apology to me from anybody, either.
He never paid her and she never called again. Hmph.

Good stories!

Matt30 said:

Normally plumbers go rough in first, then the sparkys, then us tin bangers.

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I know that in England (and maybe Canada?), electricians are called "sparkies", carpenters are "chippies", bricklayers are "brickies".

What are plumbers called?

turd herders

lmao, some awful scenarios for your guys....

Initial call was for no hot water to a 4 unit apartment complex , when I arrive a senior man greets me and gives me the number to his landlords saying to call them for payment upon completion , fair enough but still as protocol I call before I start any work dam landlords just hanged up on me when I told them our price estimate , so I go and tell the senior guy that greeted me and he says he will pay the bill ok , now luckily i just had to reignite his assembly in the water heater , the gas valve was off , most likely from a pissed off plumber that had the same outcome as me .it beign a commission job and me beign a young dumb guy .i pretented to replace the whole pilot light assembly, which already looked new and wasted an hour scratching my stomach.well when it was time to collect , turns out the old guy didn't have enough money and we would have to wait a whole week till he gets his check .. Ok no problem I decide to wait a whole week then call to collect , now this is the reason why this is in this threat . When the old guy finally picked up he started calling me a stupid man for doing the work for him which he wasent ever planning on paying.i felt so bad that I drove out there and was about to turn off all the dam water in the units , but then I felt bad this was a ghetto neighborhood , these people have it bad enough.. Lesson learned tenants don't make decisions.

wait wait...this is good, !!!!!!!!!!!!

you are in the "hood"

and the land lord hung up on you.

and you believed some tenant was going to pay?

LOL LOL LOL....

i would have drove off, leaving the tenant standing in the street mumbling to him self

far as i am concerned, when he hung up, he said NO


you have a big heart,

My apprentice was at a customers trailer and a 80 yr old man was walking down the hallway and his cane went through a hole in the floor. He had to grab him so he didn't fall His pants fell down to his knees and he had to hold up old mans pants up by his belt. He told me. He don't get paid enough for this ****. Lol



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If it looks like the customer can't afford the work, they probably can't.

I have had people pay me with change.

sometimes you get embarrassed to take their money.

BUT, I am jaded enough to know some people will pull that crap to get out of paying.

so the heart has turned cold..PAY UP!!!

steventheplumber said:

If it looks like the customer can't afford the work, they probably can't.

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In my experience, I have an easier time getting paid from the people who look like they don't have two dimes to rub together, than the people who live like high rollers. If people are paying cash, the "poor people" will usually have exact change or leave a little more. I will give "high rollers" a bill for like $171.38 and they will give me $160 and say "we good?"

Matt30 said:

In my experience, I have an easier time getting paid from the people who look like they don't have two dimes to rub together, than the people who live like high rollers. If people are paying cash, the "poor people" will usually have exact change or leave a little more. I will give "high rollers" a bill for like $171.38 and they will give me $160 and say "we good?"

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It's your perception of these people that makes you believe that they don't have that money. They're simply taking advantage of any situation they can to save that money. The people who don't splurge on unnecessary BS are the ones who've learned to save a dime. My point was you can almost always tell which customer you are going to have a problem with, before it happens.

many decades ago when I started out with a drain cleaning service, If I took a bad check, I didn't get paid. I get a call for a main line. I walk into this house with about 4 college girls. No Furniture. Only a couple mattresses on the floor in the bedrooms and a grand piano in the living room. So I had to see the check they were going to pay me with. Different address on the check.
Different address on the drivers license and not even the same as on the check.
NO WAY!! .
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.Did I get lucky??
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They came up with some Travelers Checks though so I cleared the drain.

Mr_David said:

many decades ago when I started out with a drain cleaning service I walk into this house with about 4 college girls.
They came up with some Travelers Checks though so I cleared the drain.

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I just bet you did, you stud.

What happens if a customer refuses or falsifies payment? I understand the bad check part.

How are you finally compensated, court?

Small claims court usually. If it's a piss ass amount, just have to eat it and never work for them again

Last Friday I had a kitchen sink stoppage. back to back with another unit.
I knocked on the neighbors door to ask them not to use the sink until I was done.

The old man answered the door in his birthday suit !!!

THE HORROR !! I am scared for life.

KULTULZ said:

What happens if a customer refuses or falsifies payment? I understand the bad check part.

How are you finally compensated, court?

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You can file a lien on the property. That gums things up for them if they ever want to refinance or sell it. If they own it outright, probably not the only lien on the property. You Just might have to stand in line.