If You Can’t Trust Your Plumber, Who Can You Trust?

I Thought Bob Was Good to the Last Flush. Was I Wrong?

Photo by Giorgio Trovato on Unsplash

My toilet kept running after I flushed it, so I called in Bob, my plumber, who turned up that afternoon. “It needed a new part,” he told me as he left. “I’ll send you the bill.”

I knew it would be a hefty bill, but Bob is reliable and trustworthy, and always turns up promptly when I have a plumbing emergency, which is just what you need in a plumber.

The Whistling Throne

Bob had fixed the problem. The toilet stopped running after I flushed. Instead, it began to whistle. When I flushed, it emitted a high-pitched whistle, which continued until I jiggled the handle.

I did what I normally do when it comes to new plumbing problems — I ignored it and hoped it would go away. Over the next few days, my toilet whistled after I flushed. Not only that but it would occasionally begin to whistle even if I hadn’t flushed.

I’d be sitting in front of the fire reading a book, enjoying the peace and quiet. Then my toilet would begin to serenade me.

When the bill arrived, I didn’t pay it. Instead, I called Bob. “You definitely fixed the problem, but the fix seems to have broken something else.”