Thursday, August 9, 2012

the water heater saga

About 3 weeks ago we noticed a puddle in our basement. It was around our water heater as well as our boiler and we couldn't quite tell then which it was from. Daniel finally looked carefully and determined it was the water heater. Lucky for us (or so we thought) we have a home warranty. When we bought our house 2 years ago (almost) we asked for the seller to buy a 2 year home warranty for the house for us since it's a 65 year old home with a lot of old things in it (like the water heater and boiler..both around 20 years old). Once Daniel figured out the leak was the water heater and  that the problem was that the tank was cracked we pulled out our home warranty paperwork and he called them up about coming out to look at it. It took a few days but they finally got back with us and then scheduled for a plumber to come out a few days later. Not a huge deal because it still works, it's just leaking (which I'm hoping isn't enough to cause a big difference in our water bill). So the plumber guys came out 2 weeks ago and said that it was definitely cracked (duh) and we would be getting a new one. They told us there'd be a $75 disposal fee for the old water heater and a small fee to get the gas line up to code (our water is heated with gas). We told them for the $75 they were going to charge to remove the old one that we'd take care of that ourselves and they said ok. We had no choice but to agree to the fee for the gas line but figured it was going to be a small fee so that was fine. A few days later we finally heard back from the home warranty company and were then told there was a $75 fee for the gas line, a $75 fee for the water line, the $75 for the disposal of the old unit, and then there's the $100 service fee that we have to pay whenever we call them out for a service call. According to them we had to agree to pay all of the fees before they would order the new water heater. So yeah, looks like $325 for a new water heater that should be taken care of from the home warranty we have. After talking to my mom and dad, my dad said something about the company needing to obtain permits to install the new unit....I said something to Daniel and he filed it away in his head somewhere. Well, a couple days ago after a huge headache for Daniel (he had to go back and forth between the plumber and warranty company because apparently they don't communicate with each other) they scheduled to install the new water heater today at 3 (4 at the latest). Daniel called the town to check on permits and according to them yes we did need one and no, one had not been pulled for our house. Well, 4:30 rolled around and they weren't here...then 5pm. Daniel called the number he had for them and whoever answered said that 95 was blocked and the guys had to take the long way (and a phone call was apparently too difficult for them??). Sometime around 5:30 they finally showed up. Daniel asked about permits and they called their boss and supposedly he has all the paperwork filled out for them, just hasn't taken care of actually getting the permits (probably because it's $52.50 that he figured he'd get to bill us for but not actually get the stinkin' paper!). Since we're having to shell out so much money for the new water heater, we want to make sure it's done right, so Daniel told them they needed permits before they could do it. They're supposed to get them in the morning and then maybe come here afterwards? I sure hope so. I don't want to be sitting at home all day just waiting and wondering when they'll show up. I am however getting on my high horse and writing a few complaints about how awful it seems that both of these companies have been to deal with ..especially the warranty company that is charging so many fees. Our warranty runs out in September, they've already sent us renewal paperwork to the tune of like $579 for one year. Yeah right. They're crazy. I'll have to bug Daniel for the names of both companies so everyone else can run for the hills from them.

Kids and I had a good day other than the water heater issues. We went to the pool for a few hours before rushing home to make sure we got here in time for the plumbers (which wasn't necessary since they were so late!). I'm aggravated about other things in life but people make their own choices and they're the ones that have to deal with it! Daniel's keeping himself busy with work work and school work. He's looking forward to his 2 week break from school in a few weeks; we're looking forward to it too!! We found out Zach got into the AM Pre-K that I applied for--YAY! Both boys will be in the same school in the Fall which will make my life so much easier. Zach's class starts 15 minutes after Jacob's and he obviously gets out earlier in the day. I'll get some good exercise walking them to school everyday (and back home!).  And on that note, I'm tired! I'll have pictures to post tomorrow!

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