A leaking water heater just as the temperature drops.
Cold showers are great in the summer, but not so much on a fall or winter morning when the temperature outside is anything below forty.
I dodged a bullet. My water heater was leaking. I thought it just needed cleaning so I called CK's with a special coupon where they offered a water heater flush and a general check of the plumbing. I should have known it wouldn't be so simple. In fact, I knew the water heater was old and nearing the end of its useful life, so I wasn't surprised when I got the bad news. Still, I was hoping to squeak by for a while; but when I weighed the possible timing of not having hot water, there was no real decision.
Chris at CK's quoted a more than reasonable price and we agreed on a scheduled time. During the entire process of checking out the plumbing on the initial check, he was polite, straightforward, and cleaned up as he went from task to task. Along the way he noted things to be replaced immediately, others that could wait, and still other things that were fine.
The only negative was actually having him show up during the time we agreed for the water heater replacement. His earlier scheduled jobs ran over, and only after I called him, did he call back and give me an ETA. I appreciate the fact he's the owner and the repairman all in one, and stuff happens that can throw a schedule off; but as I have to schedule around my job for things like this, I do expect some simple courtesy. And when he forgot some of the parts for a couple of smaller repairs and had to come back again a couple of days later, well . . . .let's just say I understand . . . but it didn't thrill me. He did apologize for that, though. Sincerely, even.
Still, CKs did a great job overall, and I'd likely call them again even as hope I won't need to.