Location: Arizona
Hello, this is something that is currently happening to my brother in law.
Apparently a week ago, my brother in laws toilet started overflowing. They shut off the valve and contacted the landlord. The landlord wanted to make sure they had a second working toilet. They did. He said he would get someone over to fix it and a week later someone did. So they thought nothing of it.
They got their water bill this week for $7500. Understandibly, they panicked and contacted the city and they said there's nothing they could do. They got them on some sort of payment plan that dropped it down to $2500. That's still, what sounds to me, ridiculous for a weeks worth of water for a toilet whose water valve was shut off.
The whole family is giving recommendations: talk to landlord, get itemized bill, take landlord to small claims, etc. But is there anything that can actually be done? They live in a 3 bed 2 bath duplex that's about 1000sq ft, if that. To me, it sounds like there's another issue at hand beyond a stuck toilet, but I'm not a plumber.
Can my in laws do something about this issue that was out of their hands?
Thank you.