Just a footnote to my previous post about the water problems I was having at home. There are several aspects of human nature that I am not fond of, and the following behavior is not at the top of the list, but it is annoying nonetheless.
What does it take to get some people to treat you honestly and fairly? I surely don't know. As I mentioned, I had a plumber out to diagnose the problem with my water system. This guy charged me $55, just for the diagnosis, which was that my well needed a new foot valve. For those who don't know, as I didn't two months ago, the foot valve is deep in the well and is what keeps the water from draining back down the pipe, so that when you need it the pump does not have to work to send your water up 300 feet of pipe. This 'expert', and I use the term very loosely, had me convinced that this was a very involved procedure which would cost a lot of money, and, being that I was going to the expense of pulling the pump up, I might just as well replace the pump which was 20 some-odd years old. His final quote was upwards of $2000, depending on the depth of my well. This was depressing news for me, because that was money I had hoped to put toward the publication of my first book.
Luckily, fate was with me this time. My neighbor was over to help with another issue. I told him about the plumber's quote. Joe thought it was laughable. He lives two houses away and he put in a whole new pump two years ago. The entire job cost less than $400.
The bottom line is that this 'plumber' aka crook, thought he saw a sucker and tried to take advantage of that fact. The reality is that the process of pulling a pump out of a well is not all that involved, and certainly is not that expensive. I called the company who had serviced Joe's well, Dalmick Well Drilling Service. THEY WERE FANTASTIC. Kevin came out and, in 20 minutes, he determined that it might be the control box that was at issue. This was a much easier fix and did not involve even leaving my basement. He changed the box and followed it up by saying that if this did not solve the problem, he would come back and replace the foot valve at no charge. Because he was done so quickly, I decided to push my luck. I asked Kevin if he could pull my pump up (something I had been told might reduce the amount of sediment in my water). Kevin willingly did this, quickly and efficiently. While he was doing this, he pointed out that the water level in the pipe was right up to the top, indicating that the foot valve was, in fact, doing its job.
Kevin's entire visit cost me only $150, less than 3xs what I had paid the other plumber to do nothing but give me a price gouging, incorrect, quote and cause me a boatload of anxiety.
Check out my website.
Be patient, it is still under construction.
http://furrytails.mysite.com/index.html
What does it take to get some people to treat you honestly and fairly? I surely don't know. As I mentioned, I had a plumber out to diagnose the problem with my water system. This guy charged me $55, just for the diagnosis, which was that my well needed a new foot valve. For those who don't know, as I didn't two months ago, the foot valve is deep in the well and is what keeps the water from draining back down the pipe, so that when you need it the pump does not have to work to send your water up 300 feet of pipe. This 'expert', and I use the term very loosely, had me convinced that this was a very involved procedure which would cost a lot of money, and, being that I was going to the expense of pulling the pump up, I might just as well replace the pump which was 20 some-odd years old. His final quote was upwards of $2000, depending on the depth of my well. This was depressing news for me, because that was money I had hoped to put toward the publication of my first book.
Luckily, fate was with me this time. My neighbor was over to help with another issue. I told him about the plumber's quote. Joe thought it was laughable. He lives two houses away and he put in a whole new pump two years ago. The entire job cost less than $400.
The bottom line is that this 'plumber' aka crook, thought he saw a sucker and tried to take advantage of that fact. The reality is that the process of pulling a pump out of a well is not all that involved, and certainly is not that expensive. I called the company who had serviced Joe's well, Dalmick Well Drilling Service. THEY WERE FANTASTIC. Kevin came out and, in 20 minutes, he determined that it might be the control box that was at issue. This was a much easier fix and did not involve even leaving my basement. He changed the box and followed it up by saying that if this did not solve the problem, he would come back and replace the foot valve at no charge. Because he was done so quickly, I decided to push my luck. I asked Kevin if he could pull my pump up (something I had been told might reduce the amount of sediment in my water). Kevin willingly did this, quickly and efficiently. While he was doing this, he pointed out that the water level in the pipe was right up to the top, indicating that the foot valve was, in fact, doing its job.
Kevin's entire visit cost me only $150, less than 3xs what I had paid the other plumber to do nothing but give me a price gouging, incorrect, quote and cause me a boatload of anxiety.
Check out my website.
Be patient, it is still under construction.
http://furrytails.mysite.com/index.html
posted by furrytails at 7:33 AM
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