# Lawyers--Contractor screwed up, endangered my family, I need suggestions. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 30, 2010, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawyers-contractor-screwed-up-endangered-my-family-i-need-suggestions/555637 "2010-09-30T18:13:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2010, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawyers-contractor-screwed-up-endangered-my-family-i-need-suggestions/555637/61 "2010-10-03T15:07:40Z")
I’m not a plumber, but I used to work on gas lines. Leaving a leak is unacceptable. My only religion is checking religiously for gas leaks. All joins should be checked (we just used a mixture of dish soap and water to see if there is any bubbling. We were dealing with gas in the natural state, so without the additives added by gas companies). Someone leaving your house without checking those things is unacceptable. I would accept what they offer. I would also file a complaint about them to whomever makes sense. Don’t let your silence be bought, but don’t let greed get in the way of what’s reasonable. ---
**Author:** ![NoCoolUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawyers-contractor-screwed-up-endangered-my-family-i-need-suggestions/555637/62 "2010-10-06T23:25:25Z")
> [@drachillix](#): > > For you, its personal, and thats why you are upset. Nobody got hurt, nothing blew up, they corrected the problem, you want to hurt him, post negative reviews with your story on yahoo, google, etc… In fact I didn’t, don’t, want to hurt anyone. I specifically said > [@NoCoolUserName](#): > > …but that’s a) not reasonable and b) not going to fix anything. > [@astro](#): > > My God. You’re being a world class drama queen…You’re making a Busby Berkeley production out of this. I’ve told you LITERALLY a BILLION times not to exaggerate. 🙂 I did say > [@NoCoolUserName](#): > > I’ll calm down in a week or two, I suppose, but right now I’m steaming which I had rather hoped would clue people in that I understood that I was over-reacting at the time and would get over it. > [@raindog](#): > > What it is about our society that every transgression has to be a request for payment?.. While I appreciate and share your irritation at the “Sue the Bastards!” trend in our society, the fact is that money is used for compensation for everything from burning yourself on hot coffee (why was THAT ever reasonable?) to losing one’s spouse in a plane crash. I was asking for advice about what is customary and reasonable (because I was not feeling reasonable and so stated) in the hope that I would not do something stupid which I would later regret such as threatening to sue and or other overblown statements/claims/threats. Also, (see next quote) a financial penalty for a screw-up is often the motivation for other folk involved in the same activity to be more careful, so that others do not suffer the same (almost in our case) fate. If there is no penalty for shoddy work, many people will continue to do shoddy work. > [@dzero](#): > > Rather than being concerned with compensation, I would be more concerned with the next family this might happen to… In fact this plumbing company is highly recommended, I am convinced that they do not typically do shoddy work and feel that they have already learned their lesson: always use the leak sniffer. > [@boytyperanma](#): > > …Demanding money when it didn’t cost you anything is ridiculous to me. I’m not demanding anything. The top guy offered an unstated rebate and I was asking what might be reasonable. > [@PunditLisa](#): > > People make mistakes. YOU make mistakes. And before you say that you’ve NEVER made a mistake that could potentially kill someone, think again… I wouldn’t say such a thing, and in the OP I _did_ say > [@NoCoolUserName](#): > > Sure I know people make mistakes, I’ve made them myself on occasion… and because I sometimes make mistakes, and because cars are one of the most dangerous devices in our world, I always make the kids wear seatbelts (not to mention myself & VeryCoolSpouse) before the car will move. And I never do my own gas-pipe work. With 59 years of experience I can say that I’ve made mistakes that might have caused people serious damage, and I regret those. Once again, I am not insisting on compensation–it has been offered and I am trying to do the reasonable thing. > [@PunditLisa](#): > > …That’s what your doing. And it’s unreasonable. Nope, that’s not what I’m doing. He has offered and I am (was) specifically asking what IS reasonable. What I said in the OP was: > [@NoCoolUserName](#): > > The top guy at the plumbing company is offering a rebate (amount yet unstated) and I’ll accept that. And I have. He graciously offered to have his tech here when the official inspection happens to answer any technical questions that might come up. > [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > > [@BigT](#): > > > > Why are so many of you guys obsessed with how it affected the OP? > > Because he’s greedily looking for whatever way he can to make a buck out of the situation. I wonder how often he demands free food at restaurants. I’m not, in fact, _looking_ for anything from the contractor. A rebate was offered and I was hoping for advice from Dopers about was was reasonable. And I don’t demand free food at resturants. If it’s lousy food I ask for a refund and don’t eat it…and don’t go back. > [@Shark](#): > > What concerns me is that the OP smelled gas and then went and plugged in a fan. If you smell gas, do not do anything in the immediate area that can generate a spark. Don’t plug in or unplug anything. Don’t even flip any light switches if you can help it. Now granted, if the water heater that was installed had a standing pilot light, there already was a handy dandy ready to go boom ignition source, but if not, the fan might just have sent him skyward. I did think about this, but as I said, I felt it likely that the smell was left-over from the guy working on the gas line, since he had to run a new one for the heater (a tankless, AKA “on-demand” water heater which required a larger line than we had). It was a judgment call, which might have been faulty. I did the best I could with the information I had. > [@Lanzy](#): > > You want money or opinions? Mistakes were made, including the one you made. > But if you want money you must get yourself to a lawyer, you’d probably win something even if you don’t really deserve it, but wrapping yourself up in concern for the “others” that might be harmed might make you feel better about sueing. But just admit you want money to the lawyer. I did not ask the contractor for money, I did ask The Dope for opinions. I did say in the OP > [@NoCoolUserName](#): > > 'I don’t want to do a “my lawyer will call your lawyer” sort of thing. > [@raindog](#): > > …If this happened to me (and I wasn’t already knowledgeable about the risk they likely faced) my questions would be these: > > 1. How/why did this happen? > 2. What have you done; or will do, to prevent it in the future so another family is not put at risk? These questions did occur to me, and were dealt with. My question in the OP was > [@NoCoolUserName](#): > > What’s “the usual” in this sort of circumstance? …which I would consider slightly different from ‘How much should I be paid?’ Admittedly there’s a distinction here which might not come across in a plain-text setting. > [@NOLA\_Cajun](#): > > The OP seems to be silent on this after all of the response… With 8 kids, a full-time job (to feed/support same) and other demands on my time…I’ve been busy. And I was hoping to give a detailed response, which I only now have had the time to do. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawyers-contractor-screwed-up-endangered-my-family-i-need-suggestions/555637/63 "2010-10-07T00:33:57Z")
Thanks for the update. I’m glad you’ve calmed down a bit and hope that the resolution offered will be satisfactory for all parties. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawyers-contractor-screwed-up-endangered-my-family-i-need-suggestions/555637/64 "2010-10-07T05:33:06Z")
We’re thinking about going tankless for any new water heater, too - you’ll have to come back and let us know how you like it after you’ve had it for a while. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawyers-contractor-screwed-up-endangered-my-family-i-need-suggestions/555637/65 "2010-10-07T06:44:33Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Of course, simply turning on the fan might have caused a spark that could cause the accumulated gas to explode. That was my immediate thought. This was a serious serious mistake. I’ve personally witnessed a plumber set a house on fire by mistake. It was caught before anything really bad happened (a hole had to be cut into a wall to extinguish it). Shit happens. Take the $50 and treat your family to a nice meal with a mental slice of humble pie for dessert. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawyers-contractor-screwed-up-endangered-my-family-i-need-suggestions/555637/66 "2010-10-07T06:47:58Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > We’re thinking about going tankless for any new water heater, too - you’ll have to come back and let us know how you like it after you’ve had it for a while. 🙂 while you’re researching it look at the new heat pump units to see which is more efficient. It would be great to pull heat out of the air during the summer but not sure how that works in the winter. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawyers-contractor-screwed-up-endangered-my-family-i-need-suggestions/555637.md?page=3)