Furious and Fancy! But what's broken?

dbmcgrew​ If you call in a repairman &/or have a butler they should be able to autonomously find broken items and repair them.

Unfortunately, butlers require the Vintage Glamor stuff pack. They aren't available in the vanilla base game. 😥

dbmcgrew​ True, Vintage Gramour is required for butlers. However, to me, I use them so much that, personally, if I only got one pack I would get that (plus they are even free if you get the 'free services' trait aspirations award on your sim). I consider them a great bargain so I don't have to babysit household maintenance then - & they're great backup since they can cook, clean, do repairs, and even help with tots and infants and more... not perfectly, but still very useful. (The stuff pack is $9.99 full price and is oftentimes on sale... currently $6.99.) But that's me and my gameplay style. Not for everyone or for every household. Just thought I'd mention it since it's a possibility. 

Did you try calling a repairman? 

Thanks for the feedback on Vintage Glamor. I'm relatively new to The Sims, and haven't gotten any packs yet. Part of my frustration is that when I start researching what is required so I can do something in my game, it often turns out that there are multiple packs needed. And of course, everything I want to do requires a different pack. And sometimes I still can't do what I want to do, because the current packs don't support it. (Yet?)

But butlers (and thus, the Vintage Glamor pack) sound really useful. And it isn't an expensive pack. There is also an offer to bundle an expansion pack, a game pack, and a stuff pack for a discount, so knowing different types of packs that would be useful in my game helps.

I'm so glad the info may be useful to you. If I had to choose just one EP I would probably go with Seasons, but also, that's me. It just adds realistic and sometimes really cool aspects to play (I still clearly remember how striking the first good solid snowfall I saw was in the game... I live where we get plenty of snow, and they nailed the feel and look). Hmmm... stuff packs... many of them add occult options, which personally I don't use, but it would be a fun to look through and see what appeals to you. I was just looking through the list and I have to admit... the one that I use most heavily is probably the spa pack, which surprises me. My sims love, love, love their yoga! Mostly I throw dow a mat inside and one outside, plus a meditation stool somewhere. Once they reach level 7 in wellness they can teleport. Very useful in saving time telling them to go somewhere of any distance. There are other things it adds, but for most players if they were picking one pack it would probably be a personal choice of what one adds the gameplay aspects that appeal to you personally. There is a recent thread where someone asked about recommended packs that you may like to look through: 
What Packs Do You Recommend For Me? | EA Forums - 12273658
Anyway, have fun choosing! 🙌

Seasons is one of the packs that I've considered, especially for the Sing Together action. Having an excuse for my Sims to actually use their hot weather outfits and cold weather outfits would be nice too.

One other question about butlers...

I've had bad luck getting caterers and bartenders to do their jobs when I've hired them for events. Are butlers better about doing what their supposed to be doing (unlike bartenders who spend the whole party performing bar tricks rather than actually making drinks for guests)?

That is a good question. The butlers don’t do everything in sight, and some people get disappointed if that’s what they expect, but I find the larger your household is the better a bargain their services are.

Some helpful things butlers do in Sims 4:

• You’ll have someone who autonomously assists with cleaning, repairs, clearing dishes, & making food; they can play instruments, mix drinks, will water your garden, provide companionship (social), & they do a certain amount of tending of minors.
• Butlers will pick up animal toys and poo, and give pets attention if you have the Cats & Dogs Expansion Pack.
• If you have the Discover University Expansion Pack and get roommates they will help clean up after them (plus having prepared food and repairs done helps keep roommates happy); If you make a Servo the butler will autonomously repair it (& Servos need a lot of repairs!).
• If you have the Laundry Day Stuff Pack butlers will do your laundry.
• You can also direct them to do specific tasks, including playing an instrument, go to bed (they are not always on top of that one), make food, etc. Plus you can tell them to not do certain tasks if you don't want them to butt in for certain things. For example child care, gardening, etc... if you want to do it yourself.

Another fun feature with the Vintage Glamour stuff pack is the Globe Bar. It’s cheap compared to other bars, and all Sims love it. I think this pack is a great bargain! (It also has some of my fave formal outfits and my fave updo for women.)

Bartenders are not perfect, and their code could use some love, but I use them all the time. I either give them a room or even just throw a bunk bed in the corner of someone's bedroom. All those options seem to work fine for them. 

However, to be honest I do 'vet' my hired sims in my game, and most especially my butlers (since they live with you). I open them in CAS to make sure they don't have any traits that bother me. They don't need to have all of the 'ideal' traits you want, but you can tweak them if you need or want to with the cas.fulleditmode cheat. For instance, one time I had a butler who was a vampire, and I don't play vampires and I ban them at the door, so that was no good. I either removed that trait and replaced it or I fired him, I don't remember which. 

Tip: If a butler is heading to help with something you don't want them to (ie- caring for an infant) or idling somewhere you don't want, with testing cheats on (I leave it on all the time in my game), right click the butler and choose 'reset'. Alternatively, sometimes I just choose their pie menu and tell them to go to bed. Lol!

I hate caters. The never worked out right to me. I just have one of my sims take care of making and serving food so I can control it or I use the serving tables. Those round clickable serving tables are awesome!

Having the same problem, and calling a repairman doesn't fix it.  Nor does the live-in servo robot that typically acts as butler.  Does anyone have a fix for this yet?