December 11, 2001

PLAINTIFF:
Bonnie L. Cobb
Shady Acres D-21
Laurel, DE. 19956

VS.

DEFENDANT:
All Nite & Day
8864 S. DuPont Highway
Felton, DE. 19943

On October 5, 2001, I called All Nite & Day to set an appointment to repair a leak beneath my home.

When I spoke to the receptionist there, I explained to her that I would be home on the following Wednesday so the appointment was set up for 9 am on October 10, 2001. I also explained to her that I had appointments in the afternoon so the appointment time was quite satisfactory.

She explained to me that the rate for labor was $125 for the first hour and $85 per hour for every hour after that. She also made a point to tell me that payment was expected at the time of the service call. On the day of the appointment, the plumber showed up at 11:40 am. Since he was nearly 3 hours late, I immediately showed him where the leak was located and where the main water supply shutoff valve was located in hopes that he would begin work and get done in enough time for me to keep my other appointments.

When the plumber turned off the main water supply, he came back out from under my home and told me that the water was NOT shut off and the valve was free-spinning. I checked inside my home and reported back to him that I had no water inside the home---that the water supply was indeed shut off. To prove this to him, I picked up an outside garden hose and showed him that there was no water coming from it.

After again insisting that the water was NOT shut off, I went inside my home and called the office of my mobile home park to request that they send the maintenance crew to my home to replace the main valve. At that time, I was informed that the crew was in Seaford and it would be several minutes before they could arrive. Apparently, the plumber kept his clock running while we waited 40 minutes for the park maintenance truck to arrive to repair a valve that he, the plumber had twisted off.

The valve faucet was replaced within 10 minutes and before they left, I heard the plumber ask them if they knew where he could possibly get the parts to repair my leak. They replied that they didn't know so I offered that there was a hardware/plumbing supply store within a block of my home (O'Neal Brothers) and the maintenance crew agreed.

The maintenance team left and the plumber made a call on his cell phone but never left to retrieve the proper parts to repair my leak.

I went inside my home and within 20 minutes, the plumber was finished. He then spent several minutes preparing the invoice. When he presented the bill, he showed me the part he removed which consisted of a short piece of copper pipe with two fittings on it. He also showed me the part he had used to repair the leak which consisted of a single fitting which was much larger than what he had removed. He told me that the fittings were extremely close together and that he could not replace both of the fittings so I had no water to the toilet in my bathroom.

Since it was nearly time for me to be at another appointment, I wrote him a check (#1961) to cover the full amount of the invoice---$20 for parts, and the balance of $257.50 for labor.