Potty humor, but I'm not laughing

Oh yes, folks, there is yet more plumbing drama to document. When we last left our heroes, they were waiting to get the plumbing repairs completed so that they could apply to have the water turned back on at the new house. You may recall that the county turned off the water while we were waiting for our special order toilet to ship from Louisiana. Wednesday actually went pretty well with the repairs, but only 3 of the 4 toilets got installed Wednesday. The "special toilet" did arrive during mid-afternoon, but there just wasn't time to get to it. Since the water was already off, there was no great rush, so we told the plumber it was fine for him to go home and complete the work Thursday (he had been out most of the previous night on an emergency call).

Thursdays are simply crazy for me at work, so DH took half a day off and agreed to meet the plumber back at the house at 11:30. Everyone was on time, and the plumber set about unboxing the very large box that UPS had delivered the previous day. Then DH hears him call out, "we have a problem." As most of you probably know (though I did not until we started down this road), most toilets come with the bowl and tank as separate pieces. You can buy one-piece toilets, but that is not the standard configuration. I'm sure you can guess by now what I'm about to say.

There was only a bowl in the gigantic box, no tank. It had not occurred to my husband or the plumber to check the box that was delivered because it was easily large enough to hold both pieces. The sticker on the outside of the box said "1 of 1," so there was absolutely no reason to suspect anything was missing. When he texted me the news, all I could think was "tell me you are joking." But it was no joke, and I was not laughing. "They WILL overnight a tank at their expense, or there will be bloodshed" was my text response. DH set about calling the store and prepared to kick butt. I, on the other hand, reached the end of my strength and had a minor meltdown (at home, alone). I sat on the sofa and had a good cry for about 5 minutes. Loud boo-hoos, body racking sobs, the works. Then my work phone started ringing, and I had to be a big girl and get with it.

DH was smart to not keep me updated in real time for the rest of the story. I was upset and angry enough as it was. Had he kept me current on events as they unfolded, I likely would have snapped. Not finding the people on the phone to be very helpful (he could not get connected to someone in the actual plumbing department, despite several promises of "I'll transfer you"), DH went into the store himself. He ended up speaking with the original guy who helped us, though not the guy we actually placed the order with. When he pulled it up in the system, he says "oh, the tank is backordered." And you were going to tell us this precisely WHEN?!! They were ordered on Friday, they knew we were in a hurry, and we called Monday to make sure everything had shipped as promised. No one ever said a word about anything being backordered. "We don't know when they will come in. Do you want us to order a different toilet?" No, we can't wait several more days for that. Try again.

So he checks the part numbers. Turns out, there is a toilet in stock at the store that has the same tank part number. "You can buy that toilet, use the tank, then when your backordered tank comes in, you can return it." I THINK NOT!! That *may* have been a viable option if you had told us back on *Friday* that the tank for the one we wanted was backordered. But now, especially after we verified the shipping on Monday? Absolutely unacceptable!! DH looks at the guy very seriously and says, "No. I am not buying anything today. You will open the box and give me the tank I need. You do *not* want to have to speak to my wife about this."

They gave it to him.

The tank fit fine, and is now installed. Plumbing was finished late Thursday afternoon, complete with water upgrade certification. DH was first in line at the county water department Friday morning. "Service to your home will be restored sometime between Monday and Friday next week." Could you possibly be any less specific? But it's done, and supposedly, we will have water next week. And if the county doesn't get it turned back on by then, as promised, I think I might explode.

Are we there yet?

Currently feeling: absolutely frustrated