My plumber charged $160 to fix the cistern on my toilet - but created another problem. Do I pay again?

By Quentin Fottrell

'The cistern on my toilet has been constantly refilling and making a hissing noise'

"How many times do I have to pay for the same problem?" (Photo subject is a model.)

Dear Quentin,

I read your response to the reader who had an issue with their central heating system and was reluctant to pay twice for what they regarded as the same problem ("My heating engineer didn't fix my radiators on his first visit. Do I pay him a second time?"). I have a similar complaint, but this relates to a toilet that is malfunctioning.

The cistern on my toilet has been constantly refilling and making a hissing noise, so I asked a plumbing company to send someone over. Unfortunately, I seem to be flushing my money away on this problem - or at least that appears to be what the plumbing company would like me to do.

It cost $160 for them to investigate the issue, and they said the cost of the repair would be deducted from that fee. I sent them a video of the problem and the name of the brand so they could identify the issue more quickly. They fixed the constant flow of water, but now, whenever I flush, I have to lift the lid and manually reset the cistern.

They sent someone back to look at it, and he insisted that everything was fine. But it isn't. They appear to have solved one problem only to create another, and now they want another $160 to come back. I don't know what the plumber did, but he left me with a new issue. How many times do I have to pay to fix the same problem?

Frustrated Homeowner

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You can email The Moneyist with any financial and ethical questions at qfottrell@marketwatch.com. The Moneyist regrets he cannot reply to questions individually.

Most fair minded customers would regard the job as incomplete rather than fixed. That does not, however, mean that the plumber created the problem.

Dear Homeowner,

A plunger won't save you now.

The plumber was hired to fix one problem, and may or may not have uncovered another. Based on your account, the cistern appears to have developed a new fault immediately after the repair and/or the original problem may have been more complex than first realised. Whether the plumber directly caused the problem, failed to identify an underlying issue, or repaired one faulty component only for another to reveal itself, the result is the same: the cistern does not function properly.

Your cistern no longer refills endlessly, but now you have to lift the lid and manually reset it after every flush. Most customers would regard the job as incomplete rather than fixed. For that reason, ask the plumbing company to return and reassess the repair without charging a second fee. The new issue arose immediately following their work. That does not, however, mean that the plumber caused the problem.

Of course, plumbing problems can be more complicated than they first appear. Components wear out over time, and repairing one issue can expose another. And that's the nature of the job: You are not only paying them to fix the problem, you are paying them for their time. Jobs can be complex, which is why some companies charge an "investigation" or diagnostic fee. Such fees allow them to recover costs and manage the time and expense.

Replacing a toilet cistern can cost anywhere from $160 to $500, so you were charged at the lower end of that scale. Viewed in that context, paying a further $160 simply to have the company revisit a repair that has not restored normal operation seems difficult to justify. If the company insists that this is a separate problem, ask them to explain why a toilet that functioned one way before the repair and another way immediately afterward should attract a second diagnostic fee.

If the company refuses to reconsider, get a second opinion. Another plumber may identify the underlying issue or recommend a solution. You will probably need to pay a plumber to ensure the cistern refills properly, but whether that money should go to the same company depends largely on how they respond now. Businesses earn repeat custom by being able to give satisfactory responses when things don't go according to plan.

The logic behind diagnostic fees

Service companies often reject the suggestion that diagnostic or investigation fees are simply a form of upselling. It avoids them getting pulled into an endless loop of free visits to fix an unknown problem. For example, Two Mike's Plumbing and Heating in Goodrich, Mich., says that a typical diagnostic call can consume an hour or more of a technician's time, even if they spend only a few minutes at a customer's home.

Diagnostic fees cover time, labor and materials, as well as the expertise required to identify the source of a problem. "Though the technician may only spend 10 minutes diagnosing a problem at your home, they can easily spend an hour or more diagnosing more complicated problems at other homes, on top of the time spent driving and logging information about the call," the company explains.

The base fee also protects the customer, in theory, from being overcharged. "The diagnostic fee is a flat rate, so the company doesn't charge more when the diagnosis takes longer than normal. Occasionally, technicians go straight from diagnosis to repair, and regular service-labor fees are then added for the repair work," it adds. (For the record, this is not the company you hired to repair your cistern.)

If the plumbing company refuses to repair the cistern under the original $160 fee, tell them why you are disappointed. Focus on the fact that the cistern still does not work properly rather than accusing them of causing the second problem. Given these circumstances, I believe the company should revisit the repair without charging another diagnostic fee. But if multiple visits reveal unrelated faults within an aging cistern, additional charges become easier to justify.

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-Quentin Fottrell

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06-13-26 2030ET