This is PLUMB crazy!

OMG- you won't believe what's been going on around here!  A long time ago, I wrote a couple posts about the plumbing issues we've had around our house.  Well, folks, it turns out that this problem is far from over!

Last I left you, we had decided to close down our half bath because we didn't have the $5500 necessary to fix the additional problems.  All six of us have been living with one bathroom since February.  It's been torture!  We still have not finished paying back the $9,000 we borrowed from my grandfather for the first set of plumbing issues.  We were talking to him the other day about it and he said not to worry about paying the rest of the bill right now.  He wanted us to take a break from paying and get our half bath fixed instead.  We agreed.  We're desperate for another potty around here, people!

SO- we called out a new plumber.  We didn't like the original plumber, Mr. Rooter.  They were cocky, condescending, and far too expensive.  It was like getting your house plumbed by a used car salesman.  After they left, we felt like we had been taken, but there was nothing we could do about it.  The new plumber came out and we explained our situation.  He gave us a much cheaper estimate than Mr. Rooter so we gave him the green light.  The floor was torn out of my bathroom and my back yard was dug up AGAIN.

I'll skip ahead a bit.  In the midst of the work down in the backyard hole, the plumber called out to me.  He figured out why my half bath was not working.  It was not plumbed!!!  Stop and think about that for a moment.  We paid $9,000, plus $700, plus $400 to fix the plumbing problems in our bathroom and the BATHROOM WAS NOT EVEN HOOKED UP!  The sewage came out the pipe and just flowed freely into the ground.  I'm dead serious.  This is why the bathroom was not working.  Mr. Rooter dug a huge hole in my backyard, around my patio, down the side of the house, and all the way to the street and did not tie it in to the bathroom plumbing!  Both of the new plumbers and my father believe that this act was done maliciously.  They knew my plumbing would not work and that I'd have to call them back.  They knew they would get another job out of it.  My plumbing did not work.  I did call them back.  They came back out, charged me $400 and quoted me another $5500 to fix their own mistake.  What they didn't count on was that I would hire another plumber who would catch what they did.

We left the huge hole open and called Mr. Rooter back to see what they did (or neglected to do).  They, of course, denied that it was done intentionally.  They said that they must have missed that line coming out of the bathroom.  OK, stop and think about this again.  These are licensed plumbers and they're not able to find the line coming out of the bathroom???  Yeah right.  In fact, we know that they saw the line because they CUT THE END OF THE PIPE OFF!  It was in the way of the new line they laid, so they just cut it off!  So, long story short- they are crooks.

They finally admitted that they botched up the job and asked what we wanted.  We told them we wanted the new repairs covered, including both the plumbing and renovation work to put the bathroom back together.  We also felt we should be compensated for a year and a half without the use of our bathroom.  I also asked for the $400 back that they charged us to snake our toilet the last time, when they told us it was going to be $5500 more.  He scoffed.  He said he'd give us $3200 back, which does not even cover the plumbing repairs to fix their mistake!

So, here are the facts:  they did the work incorrectly and charged me $9000.  When it didn't work, I called them back.  Instead of fixing their mistake then, they charged me $400 more and quoted me $5500 to fix what they did wrong.  Because of that, I had no bathroom for 18 months, ripped out my bathroom, and dug up my back yard.  All because they screwed me.  And they don't want to pay.

I didn't even respond.  I hired an attorney.  She is quite confident that we will get back more than I originally requested from Mr. Rooter.  They should have settled.  Now, I hope that they end up paying out way more in court.  Our attorney even suggested going after them for grossly overcharging us for the first job.  Our new plumber said he could have done it for maybe $3000.  Yikes!

Call it karma, say what goes around comes around, call it what you will, but I want Mr. Rooter to get what they deserve.  If you google their company name, websites come up of the top complaints about them.  I've talked with the inspector from our city who inspected both jobs.  He has the power to keep them from doing business in our town.  I hope he moves forward on that because I want to protect my community from being robbed like I was.

This is a national company, so please do not use them for any plumbing issues you might have.  I'm not normally one for bashing a company on social media, but I want to protect innocent, hard-working people from being scammed.

And finally, enjoy your potty today.  You don't realize how important it is until it's taken away from you!

Benefit of the Doubt

I'm so far behind right now.  I planned on blogging about the many, many things we accomplished in the past week but don't have sufficient pictures yet to illustrate my words.  I have such a fun and interesting evening planned tonight...I'll have to tell you about that later.

Instead, I'll share with you something I experienced while we were on Workation.  One morning, we treated ourselves to breakfast at Cracker Barrel.  We were on our way to Lowe's for supplies and thick, crispy bacon was calling my name.  Parked beside the fireplace was a folded wheelchair.  On the back of the wheelchair was a cardboard sign with magic marker writing.  It said,

"HOMELESS

TRYING TO SURVIVE

DON'T SMOKE DON'T DRINK

ANYTHING HELPS"

When I first saw the sign, I actually stopped in my tracks to read it.  I wanted to take a picture of it.  Then I realized I was just standing in the middle of the restaurant so I picked up my pace and joined Hubby at the table.  I immediately brought the wheelchair and the sign to his attention.  His words matched my thoughts- "Well, how can they afford to eat at Cracker Barrel then?"  We were both quite disgusted that these panhandlers didn't even try to hide the sign begging for money.  They were too busy enjoying a fancy, expensive breakfast.

Then guilt washed over me.  I was so quick to judge.  Perhaps a caring stranger gave these folks a Cracker Barrel gift card in lieu of cash.  I felt like a worm right then.  My grandfather, a former pastor, always kept McDonald's gift certificates in his office.  When a stranger would come into the church looking for a handout, my grandfather would give him the certificates.  As a child, I once asked him why.  He told me that if the person was truly hungry, this would feed him.  It also assured that he wouldn't use good money to make bad purchases.  This life lesson always stuck with me.  I was sure that this is what had happened with the Cracker Barrel beggars. 

I looked around the restaurant and quickly determined which people belonged to the wheelchair.  It was a couple in their 40s wearing lots of layers.  His hair was overgrown and he wore a beard.  The woman looked severely depressed and was not well kept.  The couple never spoke to one another.  I imagined the pain they were suffering as I watched them eating biscuits from the corner of my eye. 

I explained my epiphany to Hubby and expressed my guilt for judging too quickly.  He did not agree with me, however.  He was certain that the wheelchair and sign belonged to regular people who were out to make a buck off of the naive.  "Well," I said, "I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt." 

I continued to watch them from time to time, wondering if biscuits and coffee was going to be the staple of their meal.  They probably ordered one side of bacon to split between them to make their gift card last as long as possible.  I was wrong.

The server came out carrying a large tray full of plates.  Do you want to guess what they ordered?  Steak and eggs!  Asking for handouts, eating steak for breakfast....I was floored.  My guilt was replaced by anger.  There are so many people in the world who sincerely need help.  Then there are people like this who make it so that I won't trust anyone.  I've always been leery of giving donations to people holding signs.  Unfortunately, this is why.  If these people were truly hungry, they wouldn't have splurged on such an expensive breakfast.  I know I couldn't afford a breakfast like that.

What are your thoughts on this story?  Which side of the fence would have you been on?  And after seeing the steak and eggs, what would have you thought?  I'm curious to see how others see this.

The Real Deal

A while back, I wrote about how I received an invitation to join Knowledge Networks, a company that pays you to take surveys.  I was doubtful and suspicious.  I didn't think anything could be quite so easy.  Well, here I am with my follow-up post.  It's for real!  In yesterday's mail, I received my first $10.00 check!  I didn't think I would ever see an actual payment but here's proof!  The $10 payment was for the introductory survey called Getting to Know You.  Other surveys will not pay that much.  Points are built up by completing surveys and you can spend the points on various things.

So if you were wondering if this is a legitimate company, it is!  I've received a lot of hits on my other post Knowledge Networks - Possible Scam?   So obviously a lot of people are concerned.  If you've been directed here by googling this company, trust me.  It's real.  And please stay around for a while.  I write about a lot of other things.

And as for me, I'm just pumped that I can get paid to take surveys from time to time!  What a perfect stay-at-home job!

Knowledge Networks - Possible Scam???

Recently in the mail, we received an 8x10" white envelope addressed to Current Resident.  Hubby was on his way to the trash can but decided to open it, just to see what it was.  It contained these documents along with two crisp dollar bills.  OK, now they've got our attention!  The welcome letter stated that our household was invited to join KnowledgePanel.  "Each year, only a few addresses are selected at random to get this invitation."  The letter said that participating in surveys will earn cash and other rewards.  In fact, it said that $10 will be given for each member of the family (over 13) who signs up and completes the introductory survey.

Well, I am a great fan of surveys and any type of form that requires writing neat, capital letters in boxes or filling in bubbles with a #2 pencil.  So getting paid to take surveys....sounds too good to be true!  I am a very skeptical person who thinks that anyone and everyone is out to get me somehow.  So I was ready to pocket the two bucks and toss the high quality, glossy brochure.

But instead, I decided to do a little investigating.  Isn't Google one of the greatest devices ever invented?  I Google all kinds of things every day!  When I typed in "Knowledge Networks," the recommended key phrase popped up - "Knowledge Networks Scam."  Oh no, I thought, here we go!  But every article I read was by someone like me who was asking if anyone had encountered problems with this company.  Some were dated from years ago.  No one had anything bad to say.  My skepticism dialed down a bit and I began to wonder if this company was actually legit.  Then I found this page from The Better Business Bureau rating Knowledge Networks with an A+!  So I got to wondering, Is the BBB in on it too?  Are they all trying to scam me?

At this point, I don't know what to think.  Hubby thinks I should give it a try.  They don't ask for membership fees or bank account information, they don't draw blood, ask for your social security number, or fingerprint.  Has anyone else had experience with this company?  Am I being naive to consider joining something that sounds too good to be true?  I would appreciate any thoughts you might have.  Thanks, friends!

(*edit - For an update of my experiences with Knowledge Networks, please see my follow-up post here.)

Mystery Shoppers Beware!

I recently received a very official-looking letter in the mail. It was from a company I had never heard of, but upon later Googling, was a real company. Also enclosed was an actual check from an actual bank. The first thought that entered my mind was, "Scam! Run, Forrest, Run!" But Hubby said he checked up on it and it looked quite real.

I read every word of the document, which seemed to make sense. It said it was looking for mystery shoppers. Well, who wouldn't want to get paid to shop??? There were very specific instructions...spend $100 at a certain store and fill out this evaluation form. The second part was to evaluate Western Union. I was supposed to wire a specific amount of money to an unknown person and rate how professionally this was handled. The check was for the exact amount of both assignments.

But I wasn't born yesterday. I thoroughly check out anything in which I take part. So I decided to ask my mother, a business banker, if she had any thoughts on the matter. She said she'd never seen a letter like that but surely wouldn't believe it. She said that most people probably wire their own money before waiting for the check to clear. And then the check ends up bouncing. BINGO! She nailed it on the head! I found this article online and it totally confirmed all her suspicions. http://voices.washingtonpost.com/crime-scene/cons-scams/loudoun-authorities-uncover-my.html

So, if you happen to receive one of these letters in the mail, don't waste your time investigating it. Tear it up and go on with your day. It's fraud.

Scam?

A few weeks ago, hubby and I were dining out at a local Cracker Barrel restaurant. As we walked to our car, we noticed an older model white van that seemed to be following us. We picked up the pace a little and jumped in our car. An older gentleman approached the passenger window. He was nicely dressed so I wasn't too alarmed. I cracked it a few inches to hear what he was saying. The first question he asked was, "Do you speak English?" This threw me a bit because we live in a total English-speaking community in the Midwest US. He began his story that he and his wife had travelled from a large city two hours south to see their new grand baby. Silly him left his wallet at home and they had no gas money to get back. He continued on that his wife told him not to approach us but he didn't listen because we looked like such nice people. He needed some money and even had the two-day-old baby in the van to prove if we wanted to see her. We had two dollars in plain view on the console so I handed him that and we left. Scam? Probably. But it was only two dollars.

A few weeks later, hubby took the kids to Friendly's Restaurant to eat while I was at a meeting. An older gentlemen approached him and asked, "Do you speak English?" He began the same story about leaving his wallet at home and needing gas money. Hubby interrupted him and very bluntly said, "You already got me once, dude." The man looked surprised and simply replied, "Oh." Hubby found the restaurant manager and told him the story. He kicked the man out.

We haven't seen him since but I wouldn't be surprised to run into him again at some point. Next time, I think I'll tell him that I love babies and would enjoy getting to hold his newborn!

Fwd: Fwd: Fwd:...

Do you get sick of your inbox being cluttered by emails that start with these annoying 3 letters:

Fwd:?

It seems like I'm getting more and more of these lately. When email use peaked several years ago, I got tons of forwarded emails. We were all stupid back then and believed them all. But then people wised up and stopped forwarding them. But for some reason, they seem to be back! And here's the new twist: "Snopes verified!" Yeah right! Just because the email says "Snopes verified," you're going to trust it that it actually is verified on snopes.com? I've checked out many of these so called "verified" emails and NONE of them were verified as being true on snopes.com. In fact, snopes.com verifies that they are untrue! It just goes to show that people will believe anything they read. (Are you in fact believing me right now? Ha ha.)

My favorites among the group are the people who need to get $100 million into the US so they're going to send the money to you, a perfect stranger. You get to keep it all, provided that you pay $250 to help get it here. Or there's the one about flashing your headlights at a car who doesn't have theirs on is part of a gang initiation. They're going to come back and murder you if you flash them. I can't tell you how many times I've received that one. I have also received the one about they guy who asks you to help him while you're loading up your car at the mall. Then he kidnaps you. That one scared a lot of people I know personally but it has so many holes in it and is verified as an urban legend.

One of the newer email hoaxes is one where they tell you not to use the remote unlock button for your car. If you do, someone can steal the "code" that comes out of the remote and they can use it to break into your car later. How do these hoaxes get started? I think someone, who thinks they have a sense of humor, decides to make up something totally off the wall that causes you to be inconvenienced (not using your car remote) to see how many people will forward it and believe it.

Also, there's the one about the little girl who licked her hands after using Purell and died of alcohol poisoning. If one would ingest an entire bottle of hand sanitizer, yes, this could be possible. But licking one squirt off their hands will not cause your children to die. Many of my friends have quit using Purell because of this email hoax.

Please people, before you send out your next unbelievable FWD, please verify it on snopes.com to see if it's true. You may just save yourself a lot of embarrassment and your friends a lot of stress!

~she~