I've just had a similar experience with joints for the gutters outside my house, when scaffolders broke one putting up the scaffolding I needed so I could get my roof fixed (long story - I won't bore you with the details). Fortunately, I managed to track one of these holy grail joints down after a truly epic quest. The roof (and gutters) are now all fixed. The maddening thing is I couldn't really complain to the scaffolders as the replacement joint was only a couple of quid, but I wish I could charge them my freelance writing rates for time wasted or something.

Anyway, I feel your pain over this horrendous catalogue of woe. But you've also written about it hilariously here. :)