It is always best to get two or three estimates before getting something fixed when it comes to your home or office. It is just common sense. Of course as Voltaire said "Common sense isn't so common." So when the Pentagon wanted to buy a couple of washers, you would think they might want to get the price....but they didn't. Take a look at how expensive these little babies were.
From The Guardian:
Plumbers are notorious for excessive bills. But none has come even remotely close to matching an extravagant claim by a South Carolina firm: almost $1m (£500,000) for two metal washers worth 19c each.Charlene Corley, 47, co-owner of the plumbing and electrical firm C&D Distributors, who supplied parts to the military, is awaiting sentence after pleading guilty yesterday to defrauding the Pentagon. She faces 20 years in jail.
The most expensive washers in history were part of $20.5m the company stole from the Pentagon over the last 10 years. The company shipped plumbing and electrical parts to US bases round the world, including Iraq and Afghanistan.
Where did the $999,999 go you ask? Charlene Corey bought cars, houses and a few other knick-knacks for around the house. She defrauded the government...but the government let her do it. They are complicit in this, or at least extremely negligent. Perhaps the accountant in the Pentagon could have looked at the bill and realized you can buy washers for less than the price of a phone call at a pay phone.
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