Homeowner discovers home repair company won't quote her without her boyfriend present: 'I am the only homeowner and I make all the financial decisions'

Author image for Remy Millisky
Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Feb 6, 2026 5:00 PM EST

This worker lost a customer thanks to his outdated views! 

Some things never change… 

In certain industries, and especially in blue-collar roles, men are put on a pedestal, while women are looked down upon. We're literally in the 2025s, so you'd think we'd have worked past this by now. It's a viewpoint that's based in decades-old misogyny. 

This type of guy thinks that a woman's place is at home with the kids. But he clearly doesn't realize that a lot of women do that while having a successful career and social life and a full bank account. Women can do it all and make it look easy! And for that matter, so do a lot of men! The differences between men's and women's roles in society today have never been more blurred: both genders can do almost any job, parent their kids, I mean, the list goes on and on. Thanks to HR rules and stuff, everyone can feel comfortable in the workplace, too — women don't have to cater to their gross male bosses to get ahead. 

Still, that won't stop some oldheads or dim bulbs from believing that men are superior. They're just not really worth anyone's time! If you meet one of these people in the wild, you should just try and ignore them if at all possible. They won't change their minds, and they're just going to be entitled and impolite. 

In this woman's case, she's literally a homeowner who was considering getting her house worked on. She got a cold call, which she answered — red flag #1, honestly — but things only went downhill from there. During a phone call to confirm and set up an appointment, things only got worse still! You can read the entire story below to see for yourself what happened. 

As commenters advised, this person did the right thing by ignoring this bozos, but she still shouldn't be answering any cold calls. There's a reason our phones filter them out for us! But secondly, there's just no reason why she'd ever want to give her hard-earned cash to a bunch of men who don't believe she's their equal. Like please! There are so many contractors out there who could replace her gutters at a competitive price while still respecting her as a homeowner. No one has to settle for being treated with anything less than the utmost respect. And the company who treated her this way certainly won't get far if they treat every potential client this way… yikes. Turns out that people, men and women, just don't like to be talked down to.  

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  • 01

    'Can't get a home repair quote if my boyfriend isn’t home'

    Woman in pink and purple coat puts hand to ear while looking away from repair man in gray overalls holding wrench standing behind her
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 02
    the other day i got a phone call from a local renovation company offering to give me a free quote to replace my gutters. i set up an appointment for
    via u/zubrat
  • 03
    tomorrow at noon. cool great fantastic. today i get a call from their front office to confirm my appointment. i said "yep I'll be here!"
    via u/zubrat
  • 04
    and expected that to be the end of the call. they asked me to confirm that i'm the only homeowner. i said yes. they asked
    via u/zubrat
  • 05
    if i was married. i said "no, but my boyfriend lives here with me" and immediately the woman on the phone sounds bothered and asks if
    via u/zubrat
  • 06
    my bf will be home for the appointment. i explained he will be at work, but i am the only homeowner and i make all the financial decisions regarding the home.
    via u/zubrat
  • 07
    she said that per policy, all homeowners must be present when they come to assess & give the quote. i reiterated that i am the only homeowner.
    via u/zubrat
  • 08
    i bought the house before we started dating. she apologized but again told me about the policy blah blah blah. she asked if we
    via u/zubrat
  • 09
    can reschedule at a time when my bf will be home. i said i will talk to him about his schedule and call them back for a new appointment.
    via u/zubrat
  • 10
    i will not be calling back. :)
    via u/zubrat
  • 11
    zubrat OP ironically i met my boyfriend when he tried to sell me a roof
    via u/zubrat
  • 12

    Turns out a lot of people have dealt with this kind of treatment while attempting to get home repair services!

    tritoeat Hard pass! I once got a call from a company trying to get people to claim storm damage so insurance would cover a roof replacement. I told
    via u/tritoeat
  • 13
    the guy I wasn't interested, and he explained again that insurance would pay his company and I wouldn't pay out of pocket. I said again that I wasn't interested, and he replied, "I will call
    via u/tritoeat
  • 14
    back when your husband is home; maybe he will understand."
    via u/tritoeat
  • 15
    ttdonedidit This happened to me with getting a quote about installing gutters. No one even needed to be here to get a quote but I happen to be working from
    via u/ttdonedidit
  • 16
    home that day so I said yeah they can come and they came and they refused to even walk around my house on the outside and give a quote unless my partner was also home. And I basically told them to fuck off.
    via u/ttdonedidit
  • 17
    Admirabl... Please don't ever even entertain companies that cold call or door knock you. They are looking for customers for a reason.
    via u/Admirable-Apricot137
  • 18
    Decent, legit local companies don't have the time to be cold calling people, because they are busy, and get more than enough customers just by referral and good reviews.
    via u/Admirable-Apricot137
  • 19
    What a piece of work those people are. That's so unprofessional. I would absolutely leave a 2* review on their Google. (1* reviews are easier for the company to have removed)
    via u/Admirable-Apricot137
  • 20
    Woman in pink and purple coat puts hand to ear with worried expression
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

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