The plumber who comes back

Two kinds of help keep a building in Nasr City running, and the residents know exactly which is which.

The first is the plumber who answers his phone at night, comes back without charging when the same pipe weeps a week later, and explains what went wrong in words a tenant can repeat. That costs him. Evenings, unpaid return visits, patience with people who are anxious about water on their floor. He could earn more per hour by doing none of it.

The second is the hardware stall downstairs. You pick a part, you pay, you leave, and nobody pretends you will be looked after. It works too. The prices are lower because nothing is spent on care, and everyone understands the deal.

The trouble is the space between them. The company with a number on a fridge magnet, a line that rings and rings, a technician who arrives with a different appointment written down, and a message afterwards asking you to rate your experience. It costs nearly as much as doing it properly and earns none of the goodwill. People leave having paid for service and received an imitation of it.

The plumber who comes back is expensive to be. But every family in that building has passed his number to a sister, a neighbour, a colleague who has just moved. He does not advertise. He does not need to.

Proper care looks like a cost on the day. Over a year it is the cheapest marketing anyone in that building has seen, because the people doing it are his own customers, and nobody is believed more than they are.