NO GOOD DEEDS GO UNPUNISHED SOMETIMES IT SEEMS.

                                           Email me      macgeo2345@hotmail.com
      Sub titled "Handyman's Lament."              read my blogs   http:/macgeo1234.blogspot.com
   
In one case, I was called by an elderly couple in their eighties who lived some 20 miles out of Mt. Vernon in a rural area, complaining they had plumbing leaks throughout their home. Being considered elderly myself, I tend to give other older folks a break on my charges, knowing they are probably on a fixed income. Such was the case here.
On a job like this one, I charge a fee for travelling time past 10 miles from my town. I explained this to the lady and also told her my hourly fee was $45.00 per hr. from the time I arrived at their home. It's normally less if it's in the city of Mt. Vernon. She readily accepted my terms, and because it was a serious plumbing leak, I postponed another scheduled job so I could get to it right away. ( We all know how much damage can occur from a water leak. (Which reminds me, I need more diapers!)
     I arrived there to be greeted by a sweet old lady and her husband and she proceeded to show me the plumbing leaks. Virtually every source of water in their home had leaks of one kind or another so I proceeded to repair them one at a time. There were some defective parts, but a lot of them were loose connections and washers, a couple of replaced taps which I always carried just in case, and I completed the repairs in three and a half hours. It would have amounted to $157.50. plus $40.00 trip charge from and to Mt Vernon. Totaling $197.50 + $16.20 tax=$213.70. I threw out the cost of parts.
    They had treated me like Royalty by pouring me a cup of coffee and offering a 2nd cup .
    Then the inevitable question was asked,"How much do we owe you?"
    After calculating the cost of what it normally would have been, I told them it was #213.70 but since they were so nice to me through all that, I reduced it to a flat $100.00 plus tax because of their age. She smiled, then laughed gleefully and wrote the check. I wondered about the humor as I drove away. I barely got home when the phone rang and I answered it promptly. It was her. She announced to me that all the plumbing was leaking again so she was cancelling the check. I knew it wasn't true since I know my work is better than that. It flashed through my mind to tell her she was next door to God anyway, so he'd probably fix the leaks and handle the expense part . I didn't though. Being mean back wouldn't have proven anything. I just told her to call some one more competent than I and hung up the phone. The check went into file #13 for future reference.
    Imagine how high my price would be if I had to have malpractice Insurance. Tort reform I say!!
    Just sayin'