Saturday, June 4, 2011

Things I Learned on a Hot Friday Afternoon (continued)

Sorry for the delay. Morpheus had a vet appointment for his annual check up so we got to take a ride with the A/C cranking!! He is doing great & still meowed all the way there and back even though I told him to enjoy the A/C.

Ok so here is what I learned:
1. My patience only lasts 21 days. It may last more if it is not 97F outside and 88F inside. I don't know. Let's not try it OK?

2. Every person at GA Power will tell you something different which may or may not be entirely truthful.

3. Corporations with a monopoly do not care (and don't have to care) about customers.

4. If GA Power causes the initial emergency which causes your service lines to be cut, they don't consider it an emergency to reconnect your lines 21 days later.

4 1/2. In fact they will tell you the following:
A. The person that processes those requests leaves at 4:00pm and there is no one else to get the fax from the city & enter it into the computer.

B. A supervisor told me that it takes 3-5 business days to process those requests because "an engineer has to come out and survey the location and determine the length of the line before they can send a truck out to reconnect service." When I asked why during storms or when trees bring down lines, they don't waste time with engineers & whatnot & just string lines back up, he did not have an answer. When I stated that the old line is laying in my front yard & they can use it for length, he did not have an answer. When I said that they should know the location of poles & lines & whatever else because an Ga Power lineman was out twice on May 13th & surely there are reports, he did not have an answer. When I asked that the reconnect be expedited given everything that happened including the fact that GA Power tried to charge me THREE times the amount of my actual bill this month when I haven't had electricity since 5/13, he said 3-5 business days.

C. When S. called & talked to a different person, that person said that if the request is in & processed on Monday she will send a truck right out to reconnect service (no mention of silly engineers or line measuring).

D. The fact that you have been without power for 21 days through no fault of your own & no act of nature but because of negligent maintenance of service lines at a vacant house that nearly caused your house to blow up or burn down or kill you & S. & the cats or lose everything you own & cause you to use up all your vacation time dealing with this (which you can never get back) & cause you to have to file a claim on your homeowners insurance & pay a deductible, makes no difference to a corporation who has a monopoly on a service you can't do without & who could give a flip about a customer who always pays on time but who is not rich or important or on the corporations board of directors or a political figure or whatever.

5. It takes 21 days for me to lose my patience and post run on sentences!!!

Note: this rant brought to you today by GA Power. We now return to our regularly scheduled blog....
Sent from my iPhone

14 comments:

Shakerwood said...

Sounds like you need to call said local politician or a member of their board and start stepping on some peeeeeoooonns on the way up the corporate ladder.

sewprimitive karen said...

Clark Howard?

I hate that you have to deal with Uncaring Corporation.

sewprimitive karen said...

Oh, and I hope you sent your blog posts to the b****ds.

Nancy Near Philadelphia said...

This really -- I mean REALLY -- sucks! Big time!

robin said...

I think I'd be calling a talk radio station and have them look into it. Sometimes their prying into things and a story on the air can make things move quickly.

Wendy said...

I can't do anything to help you, but I sure do sympathize with you. Just glad that you and your family are okay. Maybe your local newspaper would like to hear what's happened to you.

Linda said...

How you have survived this heat for 21 days without electricity is beyond my comprehension....not that you've had any choice. I agree with Cathi & Robin - time to call a politician or a news outlet.

Karmen said...

I only have four letter words for your situation. I would fling them about with great seriousness and abandon. I admire your clear-headed analysis of the situation while on the phone with an idiot.
Do they make "Frosty Paws" for kitties? Damn, they'd have to eat it right after you bought it; see nothing but 4-letter words. Nothing.
Love and hugs sent in your direction.
Karmen

Michele said...

So sorry.....I really feel for you. Frustrating seems to be an understatement! You certainly deserve the to let off some steam!! I can't imagine how you must feel! Please keep venting on your blog and keep us up to date. You are in my thoughts!

*karendianne. said...

Holy crap Gretchen. The whole time I read this I couldn't help but thing "Law Suit" because I would want to take them to court for all the lost time and any number of reasons you list here. I normally don't believe in that sort of thing but I'm really pissed this is happening. IT'S WRONG. Oh look, I just see where someone is mentioning call the local politician. Agreed on that. The only problem there is, if I were you, I'd be so freakin' tired by now. I couldn't take it anymore. I think I'd be at the point where I'd have to delegate my Anger. I'd need a team!

dianne said...

Delegating Anger seems like a mighty fine idea to me, too - we have a thing called "9 Wants To Know" - the local news channels send out investigative reporters (with camera crews) to harass Politicians and Giant Corporations and Monopolies and Other Citizens Who Don't Give a Crap - in general, those reporters find the Responsible Party and make that person's life a living hell whilst documenting the Injured Party's pent-up frustrations and losses - which seems appropriate, given the conditions, don't you think?!?

Mama Spark said...

LMAO reading this. Sooo sorry you are going through this. You should send the company a bill for your time that you had to take off to deal with this since it was their fault in the first place!!! There was someone locally that was an attorney in a similar situation and that's what she did, and they ended up paying for her time too!!

Gari in AL said...

Having been without my laptop for a week, I am just learning about your power problem (much bigger than my laptop problem). I hope when you read this, you have power and AC again. I have been without power for 14 days, twice, following a hurricain but at least there was no one to blame.

bunbear said...

wow. i just happened to read your blog after not seeing it for a few weeks. sounds like you have been thru hell and back. i personally think ga power should pay for every single inconvenience, including every meal you had to eat out, the urgent care bill for cat bite, even travel to and from places to do your laundry. if you can document as much of your time and expenses as possible, it's worth a shot trying to get them to ante up. but the absolute main thing is that no one, man nor beast, was hurt. things are replaceable. i'm so glad you were home that fateful day. isn't it something how that happened? you have angels watching out for you for sure.!