The list of why it sucks to be a grown-up just keeps growing

When we bought our house, we also purchased a home warranty that will cover things like a leaky sink, a broken humidifier, the replacement of the central air conditioning unit and a fix of the furnace (all things we’ve had done, by the way… for a total of about $300 of our money and thousands paid out by the home warranty company... cha-ching). Anyway, when something happens, we call the home warranty company, they assign the appropriate service person and then that person calls us to set up an appointment. Pretty easy, right?

Apparently, not so much. We called on Sunday for a kitchen sink that is yet again leaking. They told us to expect a call that day from a plumber. OK, fine. Well, the Pretend Husband had a message from the plumber that was left around 9 p.m. and was very confusing for everyone. The message, in a heavy French-Canadian accent, went on and on about how the guy didn’t actually know why he was calling and couldn’t read the fax from the home warranty company, but it said to call and he tried a few different numbers and were we the ones he was looking for and call him back s’il vous plait.

The PH returned the call and said the conversation went on for about 10 minutes while he had to explain to the plumber why he had gotten a fax from the home warranty company he works for and not a call from us. Then he told him the problem and then had to try to explain why this particular plumber was the one who was called instead of the company that did the work the first time (which I think the PH made up because how is he supposed to know how the warranty company assigns the work?) The plumber tried putting the PH on hold and calling the warranty company to get some answers (to what, we’re still not sure…) but was put on hold and finally gave up.

He also asked the PH what parts he should bring to fix the sink (um, you're the plumber... shouldn't you be telling us that?!?) and when the PH tried to give him directions to our house, he got as far as, "Take a left off the exit" before the plumber said, "Ok, got it" and refused to listen to the rest of the directions.

Then he told the PH he would come over and look at the sink after he went to another house, but when the PH asked when he would be at our house (you know, so someone could actually be there to let him in), the guy told him the work at the first house could take five minutes or five days (because that really narrows it down…) And, yeah, a day later, we still haven’t heard back from the guy.

But I’m not complaining. It’s still better than the call I had to make this morning to again cancel the insurance we have canceled at least six times in the last four months.