May the Fourth be with you!
The Kitties are Coming!
In other news: after a fruitless search by Handsome Son to match the busted valve cap, I called the plumber. Reluctant to incur a serious bill, but needs must.
And here's where the story improves. It's a family firm, been working with them since the present principal's dad founded it, they know me.
Some female relative takes the calls and I explained the situation to her, pointing out that a shutoff should last longer than three years. She agreed warmly!
The plumber I wanted got back to me in no time, and I put it to him that we were stuck unable to do laundry, and I needed him to put it right. Because three years was too soon.
He said he'd send another guy I'm not so keen on, good plumber but argumentative. I said oh, sadly, can't you come yourself? Will he know this is only three years, too soon?
He clearly knows he's being played but might have to answer to his mother for this, says well let's diagnose, and worst comes to worst just charge for the part.
Which came to pass. The guy who came was waiting for me when I got over there five minutes later. He first tried to install a blue cap instead of the red, because "that's the side that's supposed to be blue".
I pointed out that two blue caps were not useful, that his boss installed the red one, and that plumbers over the years have noted the builders installed the pipes in reverse. And that three years is too soon. Whereupon he grudgingly replaced the blue with a red cap.
And when I asked him what I owed, said $20. Total. A big improvement on the usual $130 to even attend. Literally just the cost of the shutoff replacement. Even if three years is too soon.
HS came home later, tested the machine for filling, texted me to say he had a load of laundry in process.
So we're now back to where we were before this happened and I can order the dryer.
Much better day! But I still maintain that three years is too soon. I will let go of this at some point, I expect.
That's good service! Glad your washer is fixed!
ReplyDeleteSo's Handsome Son!
DeleteYes. Sometimes one must just roll with it, even if THREE YEARS IS TOO SOON! When you think about it, $20 is a bargain to be able to do laundry again. But I take your point.
ReplyDeleteIt's full Old Lady Mode. Next I'd have been saying don't worry about me, I'll just sit here alone in the dark!
DeleteAnother case of the squeaky wheel syndrome....good for you! You can check that one off your angst list.
ReplyDeleteYes, let's hope it doesn't leave a vacancy for a new one, heh
DeleteWell done! A plumber for $20.00 is unheard of!
ReplyDeleteIt's probably a once in a lifetime event.
DeleteI'm so happy you got it all worked out and laundry can now be done! That price for any plumbing job is unheard of - you can't look at a plumber for that here!
ReplyDeleteHere neither! I've never got away with less than $150 even for the simplest job. That's why I was postponing calling them. I've given them so much work over the years that I guess they felt it wouldn't kill them to do this one favor.
DeleteSo that turned out to be a pretty good Star Wars Day.
ReplyDeleteYep, the Force was with me!
DeleteSmiling here. Had the same situation with my dryer and dealing with the same repair service for thirty years. My Maytag was that old and occasionally needed a repair. One day the son of the owner came up from the laundry room and said he'd nipped a wire on the start board and Maytag no longer made that board. He'd soldered it, but it probably would fail and when it did he would come back and fix it for free. It did fail occasionally and I called and he came. The drawback was putting a wet load in the dryer, pushing start, no response. So, haul the wet load up to flights to the other dryer in the house, call the service man and get the basement unit fixed for free. When I couldn't stand hauling wet laundry up two flights any more, I bought a new machine. The old one didn't owe me a penny.
ReplyDeleteMaytag is famous for lasting forever. I guess you proved it!
DeleteWell, I'm glad you didn't get charged for this visit/labor and you've got a working washing machine in the rental. Having something working again is such a perspective changer. At least it is in my own home. I guess I don't know if it's the same for a place you're not actually living in. I hope the rest of your week goes smoothly. :)
ReplyDeleteIt's a huge relief to me, since I'm responsible for providing a working dryer for my tenant, and he's been patiently hanging his clothes around the bathroom to dry for the fifteen months I've been trying to locate a new dryer. For him not even to have a washing machine was too much!
DeleteHallelujah! What a fine conclusion to that particular saga. Boud victorious! And the benefits of a long-standing relationship with a family-owned firm should not be under-estimated.
ReplyDeleteChris from Boise
PS Glad to hear the olive oil cake became edible with time.