I must be in the wrong profession


sorabji.com: The Stalking Post: I must be in the wrong profession
By The Watcher on Tuesday, December 24, 2002 - 09:36 am:

    I had four appointments for a plumber to come to my house, with a national chain.

    For three of those they never showed up.

    The one time somebody did show he was an hour later than the apointed time range. And, even then he felt unqualified to do some of the work. So, he made the third appointment.

    I have ranted at telephone reps to no avail.

    I have cajoled dispatchers to no avail.

    I have calmly stated my case to to shift supervisors to no avail.

    I have complained to regional managers to no avail.

    I have even sent strongly worded E-Mails to corporate head quarters and recieved no response.

    And, you thought the government was hard to deal with.


By Nate on Tuesday, December 24, 2002 - 11:30 am:

    try a local plumber. they don't have advertising budgets so they rely on word-of-mouth a whole lot more.

    plus, they're usually crazy and interesting.


By Nate on Tuesday, December 24, 2002 - 11:31 am:

    * crazy and interesting may be a regional thing.


By Platypus on Tuesday, December 24, 2002 - 02:34 pm:

    local plumbers are always better.

    mine is really cool. i think he has ocd or something, because he's a very tidy plumber. when he replaced the hot water heater, he left the heater cupboard looking cleaner then when he started.

    he's also very through--and not afraid to admit it if he can't figure out what the problem is. his name is greg. greg the plumber. hurrah.


By wisper on Tuesday, December 24, 2002 - 09:40 pm:

    i think you should fly this Greg guy in, watcher.
    He sounds good.


By Platypus on Wednesday, December 25, 2002 - 11:15 am:

    it would be worth it, let me tell you. he'd probably even come on christmas--he's committed to his job, man, COMMITTED!


By Sd on Wednesday, December 25, 2002 - 03:24 pm:

    this sounds like seinfeld...


By The Watcher on Thursday, December 26, 2002 - 10:39 am:

    Actually, most of the plumbers that do the work under this company's name are local.

    They just contract out their work. And, they can then use the national companies callin center to make their appointments. If you call one number the operator answers with the national chains name. Call another and the same operator answers with the plumbers name.

    Maybe it would be cheaper to fly this Greg in.


By patrick on Monday, December 30, 2002 - 11:36 am:

    i didnt know a national plumber chain existed. i suppose it makes sense.

    i would guess a plumber in your neck of the woods nate would be some sorta Brautigan/Kerouac burn-out old hippy type.