I read somewhere that the busiest time for plumbers is the days that follow Thanksgiving. That's going to be a problem for Mr. and Mrs. Green. You see, on Saturday, while I was at the orange big-box hardware stores that sells appliances, bolt cutters and grass seed, I got three texts from Mrs. Green.
The gist of the first two texts were to tell me that someone had stuffed an entire turkey down the kitchen sink when they weren't looking. And lo and behold! The sink backed up. The Greens had tried the usual methods of prayer, cursing and drain cleaner and now were on to drastic measures: letting the landlord know. And, what was I going to do about it?
In case, dear reader, you hadn't noticed it was the Saturday of a holiday weekend. There isn't a lot I can do. I am here. They are there. Getting on an airplane to jet over to Birmingham just to check out their sink is cost-prohibitive. So, I texted Mrs. Green back the only thing that made sense to me: call a plumber on Monday.
The third consecutive text message in her trilogy was to tell me that her refrigerator wasn't cooling or freezing. Coincidentally, I happened to be making an emergency refrigerator purchase at the time of Mrs. Green's texts. But this one was for my home. My 27 year old side-by-side is making funny noises and the ice cream is mushy. However, mine has been on the fritz for weeks. If Mrs. Green knew about her refrigerator for any length of time, she shouldn't have waited until a holiday weekend to tell me.
Given that the Greens--who are perfectly delightful tenants most of the time--expected me last August to get on a plane, fly to Birmingham, purchase a tarp at the hardware store, find a ladder and put the tarp on their roof, I am not inclined to offer up any feedback on the whole refrigerator thing.
I examined my options. I could purchase a refrigerator which she would hate. Or, I could tell her to look for a used one and bill me (knowing full well they would expect me to get on a plane, pick up the refrigerator and deliver it to their home). Or, I could just completely ignore her last message and see how serious her situation really is. Which, is what I decided to do for now.
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2 comments:
I have NEVER in all my years of renting expected my landlord to fix a problem that I caused. Absolutely never. If I (or my visitors) stopped up the sink (or toilet) then I took care of it - my mistake - my dollar. As for the fridge, you are 100% correct. (a) the problem might not be as bad as they are telling you it is and (b) it certainly could have waited until regular business hours. Coolers are sold everywhere down here. Since the fridge was there when they rented the house, you are legally obligated to provide one for the duration of their stay...however, it sure doesn't have to be a top of the line fridge...not even close.
Hmmm...looks like some spamming going on here?
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