Plumbing Update 2: The Return of the First Plumber

He’s not as much as an asshole as I thought. Maybe he was having a bad day on the first visit. It was late by the time they got here. Or maybe today was a “best behavior,” friendly attempt at damage control/CYA ordered by his boss.

The first guy came back today to reattach the downstairs toilet. Since they charged $250 to move it so they could snake, Dad said they could damn well come back to reattach it.

He had a long talk with the office after dealing with the guy on the second visit, the one who couldn’t get the camera more than 8’ into the pipe, after the first guys snaked all the way to the septic tank (34’) with no problem the previous day. He arrived well after 6pm, when the appointment was “between 2 and 4 pm.” The increased, overtime labor rates start at 5pm. Missed most of my day at work, Dad (who had a dr. appointment that day) was able to come over at 5:30 to wait so I could run into work to at least help my abandoned coworker clean and close.

He also discussed the invoice with them, which charged for two separate toilet removals ($500!) and other stuff they did not do. To be fair, the tablet system the guys used to create estimates and look up individual charges/fees seemed like a mess, with conflicting prices and fees that were way, way too high when compared to other companies and to what we were actually charged after the invoice was questioned and adjusted. Shady company, or honest mistake due to crappy tech? Not really sure. Probably a little of both.

Today, they threw in a free camera inspection of the pipe, along with reattaching the toilet. How nice, lol! Shockingly, they came to the exact same conclusion as our septic guy: rust and minerals have built up and reduced the diameter of the pipe. Imagine that. No need for their original recommendation of jackhammering up my garage, hallway, and bathroom to replace the “collapsed” pipe for tens of thousands of dollars!

It was definitely a CYA trip. He even said “we don’t want to have improperly advised you.”
They were very nice. I folded my freshly washed laundry at the dryer while they worked. Kind of pointedly, but not obnoxiously lol. They also advised flushing a few times to make sure the waste and paper goes all the way to the tank and doesn’t get caught up on the jagged rust bits and start forming a new clog. The same thing my septic guy said yesterday.

All is well, just sick of getting up early to let workmen into the house (furnace guy, septic guy yesterday, plumbers today).