'According to these guys... I did not know what I was talking about': Clever homeowner gets petty revenge on water department after they belittle her intelligence

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Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Mar 13, 2023 11:00 AM EDT

Water department workers totally underestimated this woman who just wanted some work done at her house. The OP, u/Angrycat11111, shared her story to r/pettyrevenge, and as she tells it, she was trying to install a shutoff valve in her house. 

Since the house was a bit old, the OP had a problem. She wanted to turn off the water in her house, but that isn't as easy as it sounds at this house. She called the water department to shut her water off since it was impossible to do without their help. However, these workers were pretty condescending to this woman. They treated her like there was nothing they could do to help her. So, this woman went along with their solution, to the water department's surprise. 

Scroll down to read all about this smart woman's plan to get her water shut off. Then, these people tweeted and deleted – but we've got the hilarious proof that they wrote out some goofy nonsense. 

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  • 01
    Font - CO r/pettyrevenge Posted by u/Angrycat11111 2 Stupid woman bests water department workers My ex husband and I bought our home from his parents. They had the house built in the 50's.
    via u/Angrycat11111
  • 02
    Font - For years, father in law wanted to install a shutoff valve in the utility room to, you know, shut off the water to the whole house to do some repairs. Plumber told him it would cost a large amount of money because they could not find the shut off from the city water main at the street, the "buffalo box", a/k/a water main shut off valve. Since the buffalo box was MIA, they would have to freeze the pipes to stop the water before installing the shutoff valve. It was an expensive process to f
    via u/Angrycat11111
  • 03
    Font - When we bought the house, we decided to get the shut off valve installed. We called the water department and they sent 2 workers to shut off the water.
    via u/Angrycat11111
  • 04
    Font - When they arrived, I explained the problem. They went out to the front yard, walked around a bit and told me there was nothing they could do for me. According to the 2 workers, it was my problem that they could not find the buffalo box and that I should call a plumber to dig up my front yard, sidewalk, and city easement to find MY buffalo box.
    via u/Angrycat11111
  • 05
    Font - Well, I have a background in residential real estate construction and I was familiar with how water mains and buffalo boxes are installed and I told them it was the city's issue, as they were responsible for the buffalo box, not the homeowners.
    via u/Angrycat11111
  • 06
    Font - According to these guys, as a woman, I did not know what I was talking about and they left. They were incredibly rude about it, but peons like these think they can get away with being rude to an ignorant woman like me.
    via u/Angrycat11111
  • 07
    Font - Fast forward to a year or so later. I get a call from the city manager asking why I hadn't paid my water bill for over a year. I told him that I wanted to pay my water bill, but I wanted them to first turn off my water. He was a bit taken aback that I WANTED them to turn off the water.
    via u/Angrycat11111
  • 08
    Font - So, I explained what the city workers told me about locating the buffalo box and their attitude about women not understanding those type of things. I also told him that if the city could not turn off my water, I would be happy to have free water forever, cuz I would never pay another bill. We had a nice long chat about the situation and he said that he would resolve my concerns.
    via u/Angrycat11111
  • 09
    Font - The next day, these same 2 guys show up at my house with some digging equipment and spend the whole day digging up the easement and the sidewalk. Their attitudes were rather somber, cuz the city manager told me he was going to give them a talking to about how they mishandled the situation. I even got an apology!!!
    via u/Angrycat11111
  • 10
    Font - They found the buffalo box, under the city owned sidewalk!! They fixed the buffalo box so it would be accessible and came the next day to fix the sidewalk. They asked if I wanted the water turned off, declined, and I told them I would have my plumber take care of it when we had him install the interior shutoff valve. And then I paid the water bill.
    via u/Angrycat11111
  • 11
    Font - dedalus5150 I love it "Hey, you didn't pay your water bill! We're going to shut off your water!" "Good luck with that"
    via u/dedalus5150
  • 12
    Font - cleggzilla As soon as i read that the "buffalo box" was MIA, I knew you were going to quit paying the bill. Im just honestly surprised that it took them an entire year to notice.
    via u/cleggzilla
  • 13
    Font - cocoabeach Now see I assumed they noticed and sent guys out to shut her water off several times before figuring out it could not be done. Probably the same two guys that were disrespectful to her to begin with. They probably didn't report back to anyone because they were afraid of the consequences. Then several more months before the city manager got involved.
    via u/cocoabeach
  • 14
    Font - malanhelen Mexico here, same situation. Our neighborhood never got water meters, we would be billed a flat 30 cubic meters. Two years ago my mother is now eligible for half pricing because of her age, and the city now thinks we are paying too little, so they want to install a meter and want me to find and dig out the shut off valve, I tell them that's outside my property and I cannot do it. I do know where it is, so I just put a little flag where they should dig. They send some one out to
    via u/malanhelen
  • 15
    Human body - SargeantBubbles Wow, "go ahead, shut off my water" in this situation is such a power move
    via u/SargeantBubbles
  • 16
    Font - or Nandy-bear You know what p es me off most about these ? It's always people who have ZERO experience in the field. You could be using your own preteen child in the job and they'd still know infinitely more than the f muppet, yet they still have the blocks to denigrate the skills of em. My favourite is when it happens in IT though, because that gives some wonderful opportunities to stealthily introduce issues that will appear down the line. My favourite of these is having RDP combined wi
    via u/Nandy-bear
  • 17
    Rectangle - Tamalene I can just imagine the conversation on the way over. "Well, st." "Yep. We're about to eat some crow." "Do you think she'll remember us?" "Definitely. Women remember stuff like this." "Well, st." "Yep."
    via u/Tamalene
  • 18
    Font - Angrycat11111 OP Best "snort" I've had in a while!! Thanks for the chuckle!! They ate a lot of crow that day! Sweated a lot, too! Hard work, 90°f weather, sunny day!! They were not happy campers that day. I thought about offering them some homemade lemonade, icy cold. Nope! But I did have a glass as I sat on the front stoop and watched them!
    via u/Angrycat11111
  • 19
    Font - AMonkeyAndALavaLamp Not mentioning the interest you had to pay for being a year late on your water bill, that's an impressive revenge on those two a oles. Even sweeter knowing that the same two guys had to eat their words while digging around finding that box. Kudos!
    via u/AMonkeyAndALavaLamp
  • 20
    Font - Angrycat11111 OP I actually laughed when I greeted them at the door!!! They waived all the late charges. The city manager was really nice about the whole thing and he obviously dressed these guys down about it. They were sooooooo nice this time! And they had to come back to fix the sidewalk. I guess they might have been ped that they actually had to work and not just drive around telling people to take care of their "own" problems!!
    via u/Angrycat11111
  • 21
    Font - logsdon36 So you were getting free, unmetered water? 18 Reply Share ... Angrycat11111 OP Water was still running through the meter at the back of the house. I was getting the bills, but I chose not to pay the bills since they couldn't cut it off. If the city manager hadn't called me about the unpaid bill, he would not have known about the city workers who chose not to provide me with the service I requested. It worked out, I paid the bill, I got them to fix THEIR problem, and the 2 worker
    via u/logsdon36

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water city plumbing construction petty revenge digging home
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