Here is a two-word description of the last 24 hours of my life.
Shit show.
Literally.
Now for the longer version.
Last night shortly before 11pm I was woken up by my eldest telling me that there was water coming up the drain in the shower downstairs and it was black. I pulled my half-asleep butt out of bed and dragged it downstairs to find out sure enough that the shower was filling up with black water. We started pulling water out feverishly with buckets. We tried all the standard drain clearing things, plunging, baking soda and vinegar, pouring boiling hot water down the drain. The only thing we succeeded in doing was pulling more black water out of the drain. The house reeked so bad. I tried to call my landlord, texted him too but due to the late hour, I can only assume he was sleeping. So I started calling around to 24-hour plumbing services to see if anyone could come and help. I called a bunch of people, then I got ahold of Roto-Rooter. Thank my lucky stars!!!!!
NOT.
While scheduling the appointment, I coughed and she asked if anyone in the home had been sick in the last month. I told her I was diagnosed with pneumonia back on March 10 but no one had been sick since then. No fevers and I just continued to have a pesky cough. The lady who answered the phone told me that they would send a technician within an hour. I was relieved. But then she called me back and I missed the call but got a voicemail telling me that for the safety of their technician they would not be able to have someone come out. So because I was sick a month ago and continue to have a mild intermittent cough which very well could be an aggravation due to allergy season, I no longer was deemed a person who needed an emergency plumber.
Their website states the following: Yes, Roto-Rooter Plumbing & Water Cleanup is an essential service provider during the COVID-19 virus outbreak. This is because Roto-Rooter provides vital plumbing, sewer & drain, and water cleanup services that are essential for maintaining the safety, sanitation, and operation of residences, important businesses, hospitals and other facilities. Plumbers like Roto-Rooter have unique skills that are important to public health and welfare.
Essential for maintaining the safety, sanitation and operation of residences......unless of course you happen to have been sick and then you and your four children can just deal with the flooding basement filling with sewage water. Your health and welfare are no longer Roto-Rooter's concern. Vital service as long as you are healthy.
Their website also states: Roto-Rooter plumbers and service technicians who come to your home or business will adhere to the CDC's guidelines designed to stop the spread of COVID-19. Roto-Rooter has enhanced its already strict cleaning and disinfecting measures to ensure the safest possible service experience for its customers and employees, including wearing personal protective equipment, eliminating physical contact and practicing social distancing, using disinfectant products to ensure touchpoints are clean in workspaces, vehicles, and on equipment; washing hands thoroughly with soap and water for at least 20 seconds at every opportunity; shared-use devices such as tablets and clipboards are sanitized repeatedly. Also, technicians are using hand sanitizer in between hand washes.
But it should say, we want to make you think we are taking care of the people who need our services but in all honesty, all this stuff we claim to do to stop the spread is just for show, we avoid anyone who might be sick or have been sick in the last month. Those people don't need plumbing services obviously.
I tried so hard to explain that we needed someone, that we were having to haul sewage water out of the shower, that our entire house reeked like sewage. But this company did not care, they stuck by their decision to not serve my family or my home in our time of greatest need because I had been sick over a month ago.
I understand the panic behind COVID-19. I understand the fear. What I don't understand is how someone who is supposed to be providing an essential service can simply decide that instead of donning that personal protective equipment, eliminating physical contact and social distancing and coming and helping me out with the sewage that was coming into my home, they simply tell me I am sorry but we will not be able to send a technician out to help you.
I have never been so disappointed in a company I almost did business with. I really think Roto-Rooter should do some soul searching into what being an essential service provider means.
And I only cried a little on the phone from the frustration of the whole situation.
#pandemic #plumbersnotplumbing