EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WFIE/Gray News) – Owners of a restaurant in Indiana say a plumber returned to re-clog their pipes over a disputed bill.

Thai Bistro & Bar Operations Manager Jesse Sanders said when their kitchen’s grease trap started to overflow, they called Heavrin Plumbing Company to fix the block.

EN ESPAÑOL: Plomero regresa a tapar tubería después de que restaurante se negara a pagarle

Three days later, when it happened again, Sanders said the restaurant called the plumber back, this time saying it was an emergency.

After Heavrin Plumbing returned for the second job, Sanders said they received a bill for nearly double what they had already paid for the first visit since the plumber returned on overtime hours.

Sanders said the exact same work was done twice, but the second time he was charged nearly double.

“I was shocked. I couldn’t believe it. Like, OK is this really happening?” Sanders said.

The first bill was $235. The second was $390, and Sanders said he refused to pay the second one.

It’s not about the money,” Sanders said. “It’s about him [the plumber] just standing behind his work.”

After refusing to pay the second bill, restaurant surveillance cameras showed the plumber returning the next morning to re-clog the pipes.

“The following day, we received a text message saying that he’s on our property,” Sanders said. “He put a balloon into our grease trap, and he’s not going to remove it until we pay.”

Texts exchanged between the parties show the restaurant owners were given about an hour to pay their bill before the plumber would leave for the weekend.

“If we were to leave the balloon in there, it would overflow the restaurant with water, dirty water from the grease trap,” Sanders said. “Basically, we would’ve had to shut down.”

The restaurant owner called police to the bistro to mediate.

With officers on scene, and the bill paid, Heavrin Plumbing removed the balloon.

The restaurant said the bill they handed over was ultimately marked as “paid under protest.”

Heavrin Plumbing Company Owner Joel Heavrin told WFIE over the phone that the restaurant has a history of being slow to make payments to his business in the past.

Evansville Police Department Public Information Officer Anthony Aussieker said these types of matters are normally settled in small claims court.

But Heavrin said he didn’t want to go that route, and instead took matters into his own hands.

“Frankly, it was not worth me pursuing it in court,” Heavrin said. “It was not worth my time, just wasn’t worth it for me.”