Hardware stores sell plumbing supplies, but that doesn’t mean every employee is a trained plumber.

One customer arrived carrying an ancient rusty faucet and expected the desk supervisor to fix everything.

The problem was that the store hadn’t even existed when he claimed to have bought it there.

He still demanded an expert.

Nobody is a plumber

I used to work in a hardware store, a big one, as a desk supervisor. I would deal with delivery orders, complaints, problems, and things like that.

My store stocked everything you would need to build a house, literally everything under one roof.

However, everyone that worked there was trained in retail, not building, carpentry, plumbing, or electricals.

This man encountered an odd customer who brought in a rusty bathroom tap.

Though every customer assumed we were experts, most were pretty understanding when we told them we weren’t.

Besides, most of our customers were tradesmen themselves, and they rarely needed help.

However, we did get the odd one or two. One stands out in my memory though.

This old guy comes in and upends a plastic bag onto my desk in front of me.Out spills an ancient, rusty bathroom tap (faucet).

This thing is definitely over a decade old and our store has only been opened 10 months at this point.

This was how their conversation went.

Me: Hi, how can I help?

C: I need help.

Me: With what?

C: Everything.

Me: Can you be more specific?

C: Well, I’m not a plumber.

Me: Neither am I sir.

C: What are you then?

Me: I work in a hardware store.

He told the customer that they don’t carry such a product.

C: You must have some knowledge of your products!

Me: I do, sir, but that isn’t one of our products. And if it was, I could only advise you on stocking, availability, and installation. I have no idea how to fix a plumbing fault.

C: I bought this here 7 years ago!

Me: We only opened last year sir.

The customer demanded to see a plumber.

C: I want to see a plumber now!

Me: Yes, I would probably advise that.

C: Well, are you going to get one?

Me: I’m afraid we don’t employ any sir.

But he explained that plumbers don’t work in a hardware stores for minimum wage.

C: Why the hell not?

Me: Well, I suppose because they train for years to practice plumbing to set up a decent business. They would much prefer to do that than answer technical questions in a hardware store for minimum wage.

With that, he scooped up his rusty tap and left.

A hardware store is not the right place to look for a plumber!

Let’s see how others reacted to this story on Reddit.

Customers are strange, says this person.

This user shares their personal thoughts.

Here’s an honest opinion from this person.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about an employee who isn’t happy with the company’s new time tracking rules, so decides to find a way around them.

Finally, here’s a harsh but honest response.

This customer insisted he bought the rusty faucet there seven years earlier, even though the store had only been open for 10 months.

When told there weren’t any plumbers on staff, he became angry and left with his broken fixture.

He wanted years of skilled labor from a minimum-wage retail desk.