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August 9, 2007
fleeced by emergency repairmen
It seems that when you need a home repair urgently you can be at the mercy of unscrupulous operators who will fleece you -- badly.
I have had to call emergency plumbers in the middle of the night because a heating pipe developed a leak and threatened to damage my home very severely. I found an emergency plumber in the Yellow Pages. He appeared, fixed the leak within a few minutes, and charged several hundred dollars for his trouble. I have had an similar experience with an after-hour locksmith, and another with an unscrupulous firm that fixed my garage door opener.
I am looking to get together with other homeowners to find solutions to this problem. One idea would be to arrange a service similar to the AAA emergency road service.
Any ideas ?
Comments
I don't mean to sound flip, but I'm not sure I share your point of view. I think any tradesperson who comes to your house in the middle of the night with no notice and fixes the problem satisfactorily should be well compensated. I would consider it fleecing if they did not fix the problem, or were inexperienced and made the problem worse. Plumbers make great money during business hours - I would expect to pay a lot. And apparently you would have been out a lot more money in repairs to your damaged house if you weren't able to find someone willing to come out in the middle of the night. Again, I don't intend for the tone to be rude, but if you have found the prices of three separate trades to be objectionable, you might find it worthwhile to take a basic home improvement course so you can fix more of these things yourself.
Posted by: Anonymous at August 9, 2007 5:02 PM
Don't mean to sound rude, but I agree with the previous poster... you're fortunate to have found
competent tradesmen to come after normal business hours to assist you.
Posted by: bren at August 9, 2007 5:10 PM
Also agree. A couple of hundred dollars seems like a small price to pay to have a repair done properly in the middle of the night.
Posted by: Anonymous at August 9, 2007 5:27 PM
What they said.
Posted by: Amy at August 9, 2007 6:34 PM
I also agree. If someone called me in the middle of the night I would charge them double or triple. You are way off base here. What kind of work do you do that you would be happy to charge someone the same amount for emergency service?
Posted by: Anonymous at August 9, 2007 7:31 PM
I agree three.
"several hundred dollars" ?
How much would YOU charge to wake up at 3am, drive to my home and move my fridge from one room to another, or clean my coffee table with windex? I don't know about you but I'd charge you $300 at least to do that job (actually, a lot more because I don't need $300, but thats by the by), and doing that doesn't even require any skill or training or insurance or tools.
Posted by: Anonymous at August 9, 2007 8:43 PM
Please define fleece. I'm dying to know what this guy did wrong.
Posted by: Anonymous at August 9, 2007 9:16 PM
I guess I agree with the poster.I expect to pay xtra for an emergency visit. I just dont expect to pay an arm a leg and a months mortgage.
Posted by: donna at August 9, 2007 11:09 PM
As someone who used to live with an emergency tradesperson, there's only one thing I can add to the first poster's comprehensive reply: The people who seemed most able to afford emergency service were the ones who complained most bitterly about the cost.
I don't know what you do for a living, OP, but I bet you'd want a pretty penny to do it at 3 a.m.
Posted by: Anonymous at August 9, 2007 11:22 PM
You could have just shut down the heat and the water main until the morning and call a plumber during normal business hours.
As for the locksmith, I can only assume you locked yourself out... how about leaving a set of keys with a neighbor you trust or close friend elsewhere in the city... a middle of the night cab ride to pick up keys is a lot less than drilling a lock.
Posted by: Anonymous at August 9, 2007 11:25 PM
So if it's so friggin' easy that the plumber can fix the leak in "a few minutes" why didn't you fix it yourself?
And why are you fixing your garage door opener in the middle of the night. If you want AAA service, sleep in your car.
Posted by: Anonymous at August 9, 2007 11:31 PM
Same thing happened to me, only in addition to charging me a few hundred bucks, he raped my wife--and I STILL felt pretty lucky because the leak was fixed.
Posted by: Anonymous at August 10, 2007 8:24 AM
Wow that's not funny.
Posted by: Anonymous at August 10, 2007 8:53 AM
What's the old saw about this -- something like "Fixing the drain - $1.50, Knowing HOW to fix the drain - $500"
There is a big assumption on the part of upper class types that tradesmen - because they're working class - shouldn't charge much.
I've seen articles recently about a professional backlash - people realize they DON'T need a masters degree in English Literature to end up doing carpentry for a living. Go straight to the carpentry and enjoy a comfortable, balanced life.
Posted by: Anonymous at August 10, 2007 8:58 AM
8:24, I really really hope that comment was a lame joke about feeling as if you were violated by having been charged a lot for something that appeared to be a trivial task.
If you're making a joke at the expense of your wife who was really raped, I hope she has the sense to leave your sorry ass.
Posted by: Anonymous at August 10, 2007 9:04 AM
ooohhhhhhh.... don't think that you thought first... what a horrible image... I hope that you
just didn't have your coffee yet and weren't thinking clearly... :(
Posted by: bren at August 10, 2007 9:10 AM
Out of curiosity, what would have been a fair price for the middle of the night scenario?
Posted by: BrooklynZoo at August 10, 2007 9:50 AM
Well, he said the leak was fixed, didn't he?
Posted by: Anonymous at August 10, 2007 10:10 AM
Joe the plumber is called on a sunday evening to fix a serious leak in the house of a Doctor. Instead of taking his truck, he drives over in his car, a top of the line Beemer. Joe fixes the leak in an hour, and gives the doctor a bill for $500, which he pays. When the doctor lets Joe out the front door, he notices the beautiful Beemer in the driveway. He says to Joe "wow, beautiful car...how can you own that, when I can't even afford one?" Joe replies..."neither could I when I was a doctor"
Posted by: guest at August 11, 2007 5:15 AM
I think a service similar to AAA emergency road service is a great idea. Get on it. I would pay to be a member.
Posted by: guest at August 13, 2007 4:09 PM
Make your wife go to plumbing school.
Just tell her to be careful. Most of those guys are just looking to lay pipe.
Posted by: guest at August 16, 2007 12:03 AM
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