That's still better than Suddenlink!

With the woman looking at it like WTF?

I had a similar experience with a contractor who installed a microwave. They drilled holes for the mounting toggle bolts and didn't notice their drill put a half inch hole in a drain line coming from the upstairs. When they ran water, it would splash on the bolt and dribble out in small amounts. we only found it because we were replacing the kitchen floor and it was wet under the floor where it shouldn't have been.

If the contractor was drilling from the other side with a long drill, it would be easy to miss that he punctured a drain line. and the tools they use to thread the line in the walls follow the holes, so it would be quite possible to pull the cable right through the pipe and not even know you'd done it.

Incidentally, it costs $500 to actually fix the pipe and $15,000 to pay someone enough to make it worth doing the job.

This article states nothing about her attempt to work with her own insurance company. While I agree that expenses should be paid by someone else, there comes a time when restoring your life and protecting your family's health and safety takes precedence over arguing about who is to blame. I don't know what's more disgusting -- the picture of the mold and raw sewage seeping through the walls, or knowing that, 5 month later, this problem still isn't fixed.

@MyPetFly:
ROTFLMAO!!!!!

That would sterilize any bacteria in the poop soup, that's for sure!

The pipe was behind a drywall. Also PVC pipes are soft and drills cable installers use are powerful. You can easily drill through a pipe without even knowing you hit it.

But hey shit happens!

I don't know blocking ads would be detected by server logs, but I figure that for the sites I frequent (blog sites, at least) I might as well let the ads be served so they can make a buck.

The company I work for never hands out cash they always pay someone to fix the damage because people want

1 More cash
2 Free stuff on top of the damaged items

Wow you don't use Firefox and block ads? I see no ads whatsoever. It's a whole different experience!

@dweebster: Sure. They passed a regulation several years ago that if a restaurant offered tea at all, they must also offer sweet tea...

She has got to be entitled for more than just the damages considering the incredible inconvenience this has caued. Not to mention that she probalby had to go live in a hotel to avoid the stench.

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Okay, rant over. I'll pipe down now.

@Sndtrkman: I like to call them 'CramCostic, or CramCaustic. Take your pick really =D

How was he to know a pipe was there? Does he have the blueprints of the house? I'm not defending Comcast in this as I believe them a horrible company, however, as a contractor myself for another company, we don't get the information such as where pipes are, and most of the time, people who own the houses don't even know where this stuff is. Seeing there is another cable right beside it, it would have looked to me as a valid place to install that line as well. However, I do wonder about hitting that pipe. Was it in that bad of shape that he was able to drill right through it? And why do the homeowners keep using things that are attached to the pipe and make matters worse for months at a time when they saw it from the first?

If you haven't yet, you've gotta look at the slideshow. One of the pictures actually show the cable through the pipe. It's amazing. [tinyurl.com]

Man that is shitty.

You'd think the installer would notice that drilling became increasingly more difficult as he hit the pipe. If that didn't do it, maybe the poo spraying in his face would clue him in.

I'm not familiar with the requirements that the State of Georgia places on contractors (i.e. licensing, insurance, permits, etc.), but I know that with any subcontract work I do, I'm required to submit a certificate of insurance, and sometimes proof of license.

@Thanatos: No, this isn't a case of double recovery, the contractor is a collateral source and they're covering an amount in addition to what the insurance company is willing to pay for. If she got $12,000 from the contractor first, then went after the insurance company for $7,900, she'd have a problem.

wait wait wait..... the installer actually ran the cable THOUGH the sewage line?

Oh man!

The difference: it's all going to be paid for out of Verizon's pocket...no court case necessary. At least they got that part right.

Glad for his sake that he went with Verizon.

@Lo-Pan:

Actually, it is both. I just had a similiar problem with an apartment that I just got out of. First, she had the sewage leak, and since she is in a basement apartment(like I was)it stays damp and Voila! the mold sets in. Either one of these is a health hazard. In my case, we have over 30 floods over the course of 10 years due to the landlord being cheap and the idiots upstairs not hooking up their washer machine properly. The last straw was the sewage flood which happened because the same idiots kept flushing baby wipes and cat litter down the toliet and it back up, and the pipe burst in our apartment. I know how this woman feels and hope that she takes these guys to the cleaners!

OK, I couldn't find the one with the firefly singing to the tune of "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia" but it makes the same point.

Um, yeah, every time I flush the toilet, the channel changes...

So that's sewage?

I may have missed something, but that looks like mold from water damage. I mean it's almost the same thing, but I'd rather have mold than sewage. either one is getting worse as we read the article, what ever she is going to do, she needs to do quickly.

Also, is that a grasshopper on the cabinet in the top photo?

When the dope put the face plate on, he should have seen the fact that there was a drain pipe there.

I knew Comcast was incompetent, but drilling through a pipe? Yeah, that was a hit out of the park.

Look at the pictures.. the pipe is in her
wall. Unless the diggers hotline started
cataloging where pipes are in walls
I dont think they'd be much help...

isn't that what digger's hotline is for? i thought that was a national thing, designed for circumstances, oh, exactly like this one.

That is one of the smartest cable guy in the world!!

I want to be a comcast cable guy so bad!

Duh apparently I need to learn how to read. So yeah go get em.

@jsbaker99: The problem is that they will only pay the difference up to a total award of $12,000. She's 3-4 thousand short on her damages. It could have been stated more clearly, but as you say, there's no problem if the amount were truly $19,900.

Her insurance offed $7900 and the company offered upto $12,000 for the difference. My math says upto $19,900 which is more than the estimates she has gotten.

I don't see what the problem here is besides the fact this happened in the first place.

Strange, that's what comes out of my cable all the time!