For background purposes. My hot water heater went out on 5 Dec 08. I finally had it fixed on 13 Jan 09. Yes over a month with a water heater that leaked when ever it was on and on many occasions would not even turn on.
I spent a lot of time on the phone and in person with people who were convinced the average consumer is in the end willing to accept what ever is thrown at them. For those who know me. I am not average. So I spent a month with no hot water and in the end the insurance company did in fact pay, the plumber who was trying to get that bucket of gold prior to Christmas at my expense walked away with nothing.
I am writing this because the next plumber to arrive installed the new hot water heater and it was a direct replacement. The whole process took all of about 40 minutes and required no parts. The bill, over $200. Could I have done it, yes. But then in the eyes of the insurance company and the plumbers I am a “dumb consumer” who will accept what ever is thrown at them as “price of convinces”
The insurance companies have a “racket” going with many of the providers of service. The consumer pays up front in the form of insurance premiums. Then the consumer pays again for the on sight “service call fee” and the extra “other” things not authorized to be covered by the insurance company.
At the height of this fiasco I was expected to wait 3 weeks and pay $1500 for my hot water, I can imagine how many consumers bite the bullet and give in.
Be a smart consumer there is a reasonable price for convinces. Pay a worker a good wage for their work, but be smart don’t let them treat you like the “dumb consumer”
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Tolerating the intolerable
So I am heading out the door this morning and in my preparations for work I do the normal guy things, you know shower, shave, coffee, quiet time. Not today. Work is one of those things I tolerate because if you don’t tolerate work then small other things like cash become a challenge.
Anyway I am at step one of the morning preparation, shower time. In most American home this is easy, turn on the water adjust to desired temp, do your business. For the last month that has not been my privilege. There is a process for hot water because my water heater has gone south. It now requires opening several valves hoping the igniter will work, running lots of water to ensure a higher than truly needed flame and being quick because anything can bring it all to a very cold cold halt. Once again this is something I tolerate because it is a part of the process of getting out the door and going to work to make the money that makes the house go round. It has become yet another example of tolerating the intolerable. It helps that I am aware that most people in the world do not have a hot shower every day and many are fortunate to get a running shower on a weekly or monthly basis.
There are some things I have been tolerating that add nothing to the process of making the house go round and round. CATS. Last year I went from 2 to 4 cats overnight. If I had doubled my cars, my kids, my bills, my computers, my wives overnight there would be hell to pay, but not cats. They fight me going in and out of doors in the morning when normal people are still sleeping. They have no issues with taking several thousands of dollars worth or furniture and changing it to tattered rags. They have now qualms about parking their big lazy butts over the heat vents so they stay warm, at everyone else’s expense. And of course the expectation is that I will feed them, keep them healthy and if you’re a cat nut I will leave their destructive claws in tact.
So this morning as I have no hot water and ungrateful cats about my feet I have decided to not tolerate the intolerable. Work, cold shower, house issues tolerable because they add value to the running of the house. The new cats that “appeared” overnight, no value to the running of the house. They require resources of the house, they take resources of the house, and they don’t add value to the house. So there days are numbered, anyone want a fat lazy obnoxious cat?
Anyway I am at step one of the morning preparation, shower time. In most American home this is easy, turn on the water adjust to desired temp, do your business. For the last month that has not been my privilege. There is a process for hot water because my water heater has gone south. It now requires opening several valves hoping the igniter will work, running lots of water to ensure a higher than truly needed flame and being quick because anything can bring it all to a very cold cold halt. Once again this is something I tolerate because it is a part of the process of getting out the door and going to work to make the money that makes the house go round. It has become yet another example of tolerating the intolerable. It helps that I am aware that most people in the world do not have a hot shower every day and many are fortunate to get a running shower on a weekly or monthly basis.
There are some things I have been tolerating that add nothing to the process of making the house go round and round. CATS. Last year I went from 2 to 4 cats overnight. If I had doubled my cars, my kids, my bills, my computers, my wives overnight there would be hell to pay, but not cats. They fight me going in and out of doors in the morning when normal people are still sleeping. They have no issues with taking several thousands of dollars worth or furniture and changing it to tattered rags. They have now qualms about parking their big lazy butts over the heat vents so they stay warm, at everyone else’s expense. And of course the expectation is that I will feed them, keep them healthy and if you’re a cat nut I will leave their destructive claws in tact.
So this morning as I have no hot water and ungrateful cats about my feet I have decided to not tolerate the intolerable. Work, cold shower, house issues tolerable because they add value to the running of the house. The new cats that “appeared” overnight, no value to the running of the house. They require resources of the house, they take resources of the house, and they don’t add value to the house. So there days are numbered, anyone want a fat lazy obnoxious cat?
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