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 ?


What's Your Take? Leave a Comment

Leave a Reply

  1. 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”

  2. 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… 🙁

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

1 2