DAVID FORBES v. ADONI PLUMBING SOLUTIONS, LLC

Let’s get one thing straight: you don’t expect to pay a plumber $20,000 for fixing a sewer line and then get billed an extra $4,000 because they broke something while doing the job—and then, months later, discover they botched the repair so badly that your house is still leaking like a sad, soggy sponge. But that’s exactly what David Forbes says happened, and now he’s suing Adoni Plumbing Solutions, LLC for $7,500 in what can only be described as a plumbing horror story with receipts.

David Forbes, a homeowner in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, just wanted to know if there was a leak under his house. Nothing too dramatic—just a routine check, the kind of thing you do when you smell something funky or notice the floorboards acting suspicious. So in February 2025, he called in the professionals: Adoni Plumbing Solutions, LLC, a local outfit presumably in the business of fixing plumbing problems, not creating new ones. At first, things seemed fine. Adoni came out, poked around, and delivered some bad news: the sewer line between the half-bath and the hall bath was rotted out. Classic aging infrastructure. No shame in that. So they replaced it. Big job. Big price tag: $20,000. Ouch, but okay—sewer line replacements aren’t exactly DIY territory. You grit your teeth, sign the check, and hope it’s the last you hear of it.

But then… the plot thickens. During the replacement work—somewhere between the pipe-snipping and the soldering—Adoni allegedly broke an air vent under the house. Now, air vents in plumbing systems are not decorative. They’re critical. They let sewer gases escape and keep your drains flowing smoothly. Break one, and you’re not just dealing with water—you’re flirting with methane, gurgling toilets, and the distinct possibility that your house sounds like a haunted swamp. So when Forbes found out this vital piece of infrastructure had been damaged by the very company hired to fix things, you’d think the response would be: “Oh no! Our bad! We’ll fix it for free!” Instead? Adoni handed him another invoice—$4,000—for repairing the damage they caused. Let that sink in. They broke it. They charged him to fix it. And he paid. Whether out of exhaustion, trust, or sheer disbelief, Forbes handed over four grand to clean up their mess. At this point, you’ve got to wonder: is Adoni Plumbing in the repair business, or are they just running a creative damage-based revenue model?

Fast forward to July 2025. Forbes, probably still wincing at the $24,000 total, calls in a foundation repair company for a hydrostatic test—a fancy way of checking for leaks under pressure. And guess what? The test fails. There’s still a leak. Which means, despite the $20,000 sewer line replacement and the $4,000 air vent “oopsie fix,” the problem wasn’t solved. So Forbes calls Adoni back. They return in November—four months later—and do some diagnostics. But here’s the kicker: they only test the old section of sewer line, not the brand-new section they just installed. It’s like a mechanic saying, “Your car won’t start,” and only checking the tires. They suggest replacing more of the old line, still not pinpointing the actual issue. No mention of the connection point—the tie-in—between the old and new pipes. The junction. The seam. The place where, you know, leaks actually happen.

Forbes, now possibly Googling “how to sue a plumber” between sips of cheap wine, calls in American Leak Detection in December. These are the bloodhounds of plumbing. They sniff out leaks with science and gadgets. And what do they find? A leak—right at the tie-in between the old and new sewer lines. The exact spot Adoni installed. The connection they made. The report says it: defective or negligent installation. Not “maybe.” Not “could be.” Negligent. That’s a strong word in plumbing court. That’s like a chef serving raw chicken and saying, “Well, some people like it rare.”

Now, to fix this? Another plumber estimates $3,500. Because of course it does. Because nothing in this story costs less than a used car. So Forbes, now out $24,000 and still dealing with a leaking sewer line, does the only thing left: he gets a lawyer. Rick D. Tucker, of Robinett | King (and yes, that sounds like a law firm from a 1940s noir film), sends a demand letter on February 9, 2026. The ask? Simple: $3,500 to fix the botched tie-in, plus a refund of the $4,000 they charged to repair the air vent they broke. Total: $7,500. Adoni? Radio silence. No refund. No fix. No “Oops, our bad, we’ll cover it.” Nothing. So Tucker files in Washington County’s Small Claims Court—because even though $7,500 is a lot, it’s still under Oklahoma’s $10,000 small claims limit. And thus, we arrive at SC-2026-176: David Forbes vs. Adoni Plumbing Solutions, LLC, a tale of hubris, pipes, and the audacity of charging someone to fix your own mistake.

So what’s Forbes actually asking for? $7,500. In small claims court, that’s not chump change, but it’s not outrageous either—especially when you’ve already dropped $24,000 and still have a leak. The $3,500 is for corrective work: a new plumber, new materials, a proper fix. The $4,000 is pure refund—money he paid under what feels like emotional duress after being told, “Hey, we broke this, and now you owe us.” It’s not punitive. It’s not revenge. It’s just… fairness. And honestly? In the grand economy of home repairs, $7,500 is less than what he already paid for a job that still isn’t done right. So no, this isn’t greedy. This is what happens when you expect a professional to act like one and they don’t.

Now, let’s talk about the absurdity. Because there’s so much to choose from. Is it that a plumbing company charged a customer to repair damage they caused during the job? That’s wild. Is it that they refused to test the section they installed, despite a failed hydrostatic test? That’s negligence with a capital N. Is it that they want to keep $4,000 for “fixing” something they broke? That’s like a tailor charging you to re-sew a button they ripped off while trying to fix your sleeve. But the real absurdity? The sheer gall of it all. The confidence. The lack of accountability. The silence after the demand letter. It’s the quiet arrogance of a company that seems to believe: “We’re the experts. You pay. You don’t question. You don’t hire leak detectives.” Well, David Forbes did. And now, in a courthouse in Bartlesville, a plumber is about to learn that in 2026, homeowners have options—and receipts.

We’re not rooting for blood. We’re not saying Adoni should go out of business. But we are rooting for the little guy who got nickel-and-dimed by a company that treated his house like a piñata. We’re rooting for the idea that if you break it, you don’t get to charge for fixing it. And we’re rooting for the satisfying clunk of a judge’s gavel saying, “Yeah, you kinda messed up. Pay the man.” Because if you can’t trust your plumber, what can you trust? Not your drains. Not your vents. And definitely not your wallet.