Phhh!

Customer service is apparently dead. Long live customer service. Wait. Make that decent customer service. Someone pull the obit from the file.

I had an appointment for between 8 and 12. Guy calls me at 1. No apologies. Just verifying my address. Walks in the door. Drops tool box. Starts asking questions, giving me no time to answer. As soon I say I have hit the reset button on the water heater. He says he knows what's wrong and heads back to the truck for parts. I'm pretty sure this does not bode well for others who have purchased the same water heater. (Major dept. store brand...I already went and posted a review.)

He correct in his sight unseen assessment. Needs new thermostat. Twenty minutes. That is the total amount of time he's at my house. Goes out to the truck. Comes back and tells me how much to write the check for. No bill. I ask. Where's the bill? I'm not used to writing a check to a repairman without seeing a freaking bill first. He doesn't understand my reluctance. And now neither of us remember the total either. So I follow him out to the truck. We finish the transaction outside. At least he didn't ask to use my bathroom like so many repairman do. So for even less than 20 minutes of actual work time, I pay $168 for labor. Yup. Those "free" parts are so free.

But, hey, I've got hot water.