Two Auckland company directors are in a furious mud-slinging match over a $40 plumbing bill.
Steve Taylor, director of mediation service 24-7 Limited, has set up a website attacking Atlas Plumbing director Samantha McGaw for, he claims, threatening to march his wife to an Eftpos machine to pay an unpaidbill.
Ms McGaw, meanwhile, says she was right to be mad at the "nasty" Mr Taylor, who failed to pay $40 of his bill without warning and says the threat allegation is untrue.
The dispute started when Mr Taylor had Atlas Plumbing install a dishwasher on Monday, only to discover it did not work properly.
He called the plumbers back the next day and they fixed a broken tap in Mr Taylor's house.
When Mr Taylor received his bill, he refused to pay a second travelling cost for the plumbers' work, and deposited $40 less than he was charged.
Atlas Plumbing usually does not let customers pay by direct deposit, but Ms McGaw had made an exception for Mr Taylor.
Ms McGaw rang Mr Taylor and demanded payment, and he claims she said she would "come around and march" Mr Taylor's wife to an Eftpos machine to make sure he paid.
"Ms McGaw simply flew off the handle at first my wife, and then myself - she just lost it," Mr Taylor wrote on his site.
"It astounds me that Atlas Plumbing ... could behave in such an appalling manner.
"Ms McGaw was not only very rude, but also quite cruel in how she treated my wife and I."
But Ms McGaw said Mr Taylor had been the one hurling abuse.
"You should have heard the language that was coming out of him," she said.
"He never called me to ask why he had underpaid us. I can't stand people like that."
She said she had told Mr Taylor she would march him or his wife to an Eftpos machine because they should not be allowed to dictate the terms of payment, but she had not been rude. She later denied this was the case.
"He just didn't like the way I spoke to him. He's a man who can't stand a female director. I never swore at him, I was never rude to him.
"It's just not worth our effort. It's all about karma at the end of the day," she said.
Mrs McGaw and Mr Taylor are understood to have settled the dispute on Thursday night.
