Woman pays $800 to fix leaking toilet floor but problem persists after repairs

Back to square one.

A woman was dismayed to find her toilet floor still leaking after she paid $800 to fix the issue. More chilling was the fact that she was initially charged over $4,000 for the job.

The 60-year-old housewife, surnamed Lee, had received a notice in end June informing her of a water leakage issue originating from her kitchen and toilet floors, which affected her neighbours living downstairs, reported Shin Min Daily News.

Lee had reportedly approached the authorities for help in engaging a contractor but was told she had to make an appointment and there was a wait of two to three months.

Worried her neighbours might be displeased with the long waiting time, Lee hurried to look for an alternative and chanced upon an online advertisement on Aug 1, which claimed that they could repair floor leaks without needing to remove existing tiles.

She immediately contacted the contractors who arrived at her home two hours later. The contractors, whom she described as three young men, claimed that the leak could be repaired by drilling and applying glue to the affected area.

According to Lee, the contractors informed her that the repair would be charged based on the amount of glue used, with every catty (about 500g) of glue priced at $168. According to Lee, they had brought along two large buckets containing 47 catties (23.5kg) of glue but assured her that not much glue would be needed to fix the leak.

"I thought he would only use three to five catties, so I agreed to proceed," Lee explained.

However, she grew suspicious when the contractors spent nearly 30 minutes repairing the toilet floor and discovered that the two buckets of glue had been nearly emptied.

"After weighing the amount of glue left, they asked for more than $4,000 [in payment]. It was only lowered to $3,400 after some debate," Lee said.

When requesting an invoice, however, Lee found out that the contractor did not have a business licence and refused to pay the full amount.

"After another round of discussion, I paid $800 to settle the matter," Lee said.

Thinking that she could put the unpleasant experience behind her, Lee was shocked and angered when she received another notice last Sunday (Aug 20) informing her that the leakage had not been resolved.

Subsequent attempts to contact the contractors were futile and Lee was left with no choice but to find another contractor to fix the water leakage issue.

Lee told the Chinese daily that the three men had become unhappy after she refused to pay the full fee. As only she and her husband were at home, she worried about their safety.

"I feared they would turn violent if they didn't receive payment, so I paid to avoid any incident," Lee elaborated.

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lim.kewei@asiaone.com