SS: Cable is out...

[BigJon]

So...the lawn guys came by Monday night (at night?) to mow our condo lawn. They were edging the sidewalk and hit the freaking cable line somehow.

I go out to yell at the guy...even though I know that it wasn't really his fault...it was the cable company's fault for not burying it deeper. But at least it made me feel better. Somewhat.

Called up the cable company that night. They said they'd send someone out by 8PM to repair it. 8:10PM the guy rolls up, takes a look at it and tells me "I can't repair it because I'm not allowed to leave the cable line running OVER the sidewalk." He didn't have any of the equipment to dig the line out from under the sidewalk either. So he logs the call and puts in a service ticket to have them come by tomorrow (Tuesday).

Middle of the afternoon...no one has arrived. I have Mommypooh call the cable company and they tell us someone should be there between then and 6PM.

6PM rolls around and no one has shown. We call the cable company AGAIN and find out that the service ticket was logged wrong so they just assumed we didn't need service and dropped us off the list. That's when I started to get pissed. He tells me that someone would contact us tomorrow to set up an appointment to have the line repaired. I tell him "just put my name at the TOP of the list and they won't need to call...the first guy that shows up to work that morning heads over to my house and fixes it...simple as that". He responds with the typical CS Rep "I'm afraid I can't do that sir...I don't have the ability". Whatever.

My track record with this company has never been good so far...but I don't wanna hassle with trying to switch. When they first hooked us up, it took them 2 weeks to come out and repair the lines that had been apparently cut by the original cable company or something. Then, about a year ago the line was cut when some construction on our drainspout pipes was done. It took them a whole week before they came out to repair it..and apparently that's when they didn't bury it deep enough.

I bitched the guy out for a long enough time that he gave me $10 off my next 6 months of service ($10 every month)...but that doesn't really make me feel any better. I just want the damn thing fixed.

No TV. No phone. No internet.

It sucks.

[redcolours]

thats really bad news. which cable company is it?

from what i know, underground lines take a long time to get fixed. markouts have to be done by other utilities so whoever does the repair (who has to dig it and rebury the fixed line) does not hit those other utilitiy lines (phone, electric, water mains, etc). That can take days. Only then will the cable company come out and do the dig, line replacement, and rebury. this happened to one of my buddies.

keep calling to have at least a temp line installed. unless youre in a community/development that prohibits any temp lines above ground, you can have them put some temporary wire from where it was cut. ask for a supervisor each time you call. thats how my friend got his underground line fixed sooner.

[BigJon]

That's what I ended up doing today.

They told me it would take 10-14 days to get the line reburied...I reminded them "you're not just reburying my line...you still need to repair it!!!"

I ended up speaking with a supervisor (company is WOW aka Wide Open West) and he made a call to have someone come out today to "try" and temporarily fix the line.

I've already got a couple of ideas on how they can fix it...I'm making sure he's not just going to show up and say "durr...I can't fix this" and leave. We're going to try everything from digging by hand to strining a frickin' line up into the trees.

[BigJon]

Another update:

Mommypooh just found where the line was cut. Apparently the last time they came out to fix a break...they got lazy and never ran it UNDER the sidewalk. Instead, they stuffed it into a crack in the sidewalk. When the landscaper came by with the edger...he sliced it clean off.

Now I have something to tell the repair tech when he gets to my house. He's going to splice it and put it back where it was for now. Then when they come out in 2 weeks they can rebury it CORRECTLY. I told the supervisor...I am NOT going without phone service for 2 weeks. I've already racked up a bill on my cellphone just calling them.

[BigJon]

Cable's back. Whew.

Couldn't live for another 2 weeks without it.

[kgsilvas]

Glad you've got your lifeline back!

[irwin]

At first I was like "wtf. cool off dude. it's just cable tv." then i saw you lost internet too. I would've gone apeshіt.

[Mommypooh]

At first I was like "wtf. cool off dude. it's just cable tv." then i saw you lost internet too. I would've gone apeshіt.

dude don't forget the phone was out too. I am a total phone-a-holic. I spend 2-5 hours on the phone a day, plus the internet useage, and the cable is my friend too.

Though the phone was the real biggie to me, as I need my adult communication and with out phone the only person I can call for free is my mom and she works full time and has 2 little kids of her own to take care of. So she can't talk for long.