Print

[Marktk]

so I got a message today that the phone company sent their crew out to bury a new line to my house. the problem is they never called to set up a time and in doing their work they hit my boiler line coming to the house. they then called a plumber out to" fix " the line. when I got home at 530 not knowing they had been there, wwell I wasn't very happy. I then got my message .our crew went out today to bury the new line but unfortunately they hit the boiler line.we are working on getting someone out to repair it. That was at 926am I was out of cell service most of the day so didn't get the message until I got home. Of corse 530 on fri  nobody is around anywhere. so the repair was two pieces about 16inch splice into my 1inch pex then each tube was insulated the wrapped together. it looked ok. then the 4 ft of outercasing that they cut off was wrapped around the tubes with the seam pointing down then reburied. So im asking all who may have an opinion what would you do? what might I expect for problems.

[ijon]

First off what kind of line did you have? Second boiler water line should never be spliced underground . It was their  mistake and they should replace the whole line. They should have know better. I am sure they heard of Miss dig. Rise cane and kick some sand with them. It was not your fault, you should not have to settle for a half a--  fix.

[hondaracer2oo4]

Sounds like they actually broke the law. I  believe they have to dig safe the area before any trenching. Was that completed? If not I don't believe they have any foot to stand on. I would start with that. Furthermore underground lines can not be spliced together for obvious reasons, if it fails you wont know until the boiler has pumped all the water out and ruined the boiler. I would certianlly be looking to have the line replaced. If you don't have Rehau or Thermopex I would have it replaced with that because of course the company that you bought your last line from is not in business anymore and that is the equivalent pipe to your old piping.

[RSI]

I would make them replace the entire line. If they won't, submit a claim to your home owner's insurance. They will probably make the phone company pay for it.

[ijon]

I agree with RSI. Let the insurance company do the lawyer work. Good idea.

[netwerx-r-us]

Well the problem with that at the end of the day its a claim on your insurance , insurance doesn't care who's at fault its a claim filed by you , i believe id get a police report and file a claim against their insurance

[Line hand]

Call Tennessee811 and report the problem u have they can give u options I believe


I'm in bama but we have to have this clearance before we dig anything

[Line hand]

Oh yeah and take pictures of everything around we're they dug to show they did not leave paint showing what was what

Hope this will help u

[mlappin]

You don’t say where you are at, but in the states if you dig without having utilities marked you are at fault if you hit a utility line. Another little known fact from talking to people over the years, those marks only give you an ideal of where those lines are at, your supposed to hand dig as they could be off by as much as three foot on either side.

Might be a tough row to hoe but I would insist that the line is replaced as a whole. I have holes show up in our ditches in front of the house time to time, every time it’s because the contractor for the phone company cut a drainage tile while installing a cable, takes at least six months of calling and bitching before they get repaired, then sometimes the repair isn’t worth a darn and they suck dirt again. Usually mentioning I’ll hold the phone company responsible if I drop a wheel in one of those holes and roll the mower makes em listen.

[CRJR]

Miss dig only marks utilities phone, power, gas excreta. The tool they use to
find them will only pick up that there is a utility there if there is metal buried
with it that is why plastic gas lines are wrapped loosely with a copper wire.
 There for unless you buried wire in your trench there tool will not see that
 there is anything there. In Michigan where miss dig marks a utility you have to
Hand dig  3' each side of there flag if you hit a utility inside of the 3' you are liable,
 if you hit a utility outside of the 3' they are liable

[BoilerHouse]

Had the phone company bothered to set up a time and consultation, you would have alerted them to the fact that there was a boiler line buried and you would have shown them its approximate location.  If I, or any member here, had any problem with our underground line, we would replace it and not try a splice the problem area.  The phone company is totally responsible and should replace the entire line.

[Marktk]

No they did not call me until after they were done and say their work order says to contact me after the line is buried which is not what I told the first tech that was hear after I crewed him out for not calling before he arrived. I work in the service field and cannot believe that a company will just show up unannounced do their thing g then leave .with no notice to a home owner .in this case a sub for the phone company tears up my yard then hits my drain tile then my boiler line. That kind of work I would expect deserves a phone call or an appointment.a locater  had stopped out for the high voltage but not for anything else but they wouldn't have marked the boiler anyway which is why I told the first guy to make sure they call before they come out. Not to mention that I wouldn't want anybody out to my place with out me being here which is why I told the guy to make Sur they call me first... so now day two three has past since I concerned the area operations manager ,he asked me too give him a few days to check into what happened. 

[slimjim]

Marktk, do yourself a favor, DO NOT entertain any more phone conversations, use E Mail or letters with copies for your records, paper trails for disputes will hold up in a court if it goes that far and at the least it shows a bit of professionalism and seriousness, these conversations should be date and time stamped, any phone conversations to this point should be logged with the names of the person you spoke with as well as what the conversation content was. I would agree that they blew it by digging on your property and destroying your pipe, it should absolutely be replaced in one piece and with good pipe. You do not have lots of time before freeze up so they should be made aware how important the timing is and it should be in writing, perhaps in a letterhead from a local lawyer.
 Let me tell you a true story, in my last marriage my stepdaughter broke an arm while playing outside, we took her to the emergency room, while waiting to be seen, an older gentleman came in with a bleeding head wound, he waited for about 30 minutes without being seen, my stepdaughters dad who looks a lot like me ( a bit eccentric, long hair and full beard ) stood up, walked over to the elderly gentleman and handed him his business card ( he is a logger) and loudly enough that everyone could hear including the receptionist he said Sir, if you live through this waiting for service, Please give me a call, I'm a lawyer and we will own this hospital, it took about 10 seconds for the old man to be whisked away and the professionals to start doing their job.

[yotehunter66]

^2. Good advice Slim.

[ijon]

In my opinion the phone company has the right to do just about anything (not that I agree) with that "eminent domain" law. About five years ago AT&T came across my property  with a high speed line.They  screwed up the lawn and put a pole in. Just like I needed another pole. Because the the border between the two companies is in my next field. I could not get the service. Hang tough make them replace the pipe. Its not your fault.