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Wow
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@slingshotmike:
AT&T did this around 30 years ago to someone, except it took months for the problem to be discovered.
The homeowners couldn't figure out why there was a sewage smell coming from the wall foall that time.
Now that's what I call crappy service.
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.
@jsbaker99: Her insurance shouldn't have to cover a thing. The damage is entirely the contractor's fault, and it should be the contractor's insurance (or Comcast's insurance) covering the cost of the repairs.
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.
@jsbaker99: But just if you take t he insurance AND the money from the 3rd part thats considered insurance fraud. Its one or the other not both.
@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.
@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.
Duh apparently I need to learn how to read. So yeah go get em.
That is one of the smartest cable guy in the world!!
I want to be a comcast cable guy so bad!
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isn't that what digger's hotline is for? i thought that was a national thing, designed for circumstances, oh, exactly like this one.
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@fjordtjie: *Call before you dig, whatever you do.*
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.
@fjordtjie: thats for underground cables and such. It appears that when the installer went to drill a hole through the wall to bring the cable in, he drilled through the PVC drain pipe. This is why cast iron drain pipes are good, you can't miss the fact that your drilling through one of those.
When the dope put the face plate on, he should have seen the fact that there was a drain pipe there.
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...
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?
@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!
Comcast Technical Support, how can I harm you?
Um, yeah, every time I flush the toilet, the channel changes...
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Once again big business takes a dump on the little people.......
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Comcast: It's Craptastic
My friend had a similar thing happen with his Fios installation...so it can happen to anyone really.
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.
@blockbustarhymes: No f**king way! Keep it low! Only Comcast bashing is allowed in here! Even if they have nothing to do with the story...
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wait wait wait..... the installer actually ran the cable THOUGH the sewage line?
Oh man!
@forgottenpassword: Good point. I missed that tidbit when I first read the article. Wonder what the heck he was thinking.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-88886-100x100.png\")
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.
@drwedge:
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!
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-212669-100x100.png\")
Man that is shitty.
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]
Nobody digs this kind of crap.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-496332-100x100.png\")
As a contractor, he should have liability insurance that covers these things.
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?
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-175610-100x100.png\")
From what I understand, that's the turd time this leak a Comcast contractor has dung this kind of crap. This kind of thing just shitn't happen at all. It's fart too common with Comcast. They've done worse though, they nearly destroyed a half dozen houses, pretty much just rectum. Their contractors just don't know what they're pooing. They've pretty much established the fact that they're on the lowest dung of the ladder as far as cable companies go. If the OP sues, I think she'll win when flush comes to shove. I'm sure whoever the fudge is in the case will side with her.
Okay, rant over. I'll pipe down now.
@MyPetFly:
Wow you don't use Firefox and block ads? I see no ads whatsoever. It's a whole different experience!
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.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-23360-100x100.png\")
Maybe she can get Verizon to do an installation that runs through the electrical wires and burns her house down.
The subcontractor company should find someone to fix it and cover the cost. $12000 should be more than enough. She probably wants the whole kitchen remodeled or something.
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
Nah, I used to block ads, but I don't really pay attention to them anyway, except for the idiotic ones that expand to cover the content. And with those, I make a point of not patronizing those companies.
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.
Verizon did something similar to me with their FIOS cable installation in my Southern CA n-hood in Jan 2008. Their subcontractor broke my laterall sewer line in two places causing a sewage backup into my house and tore up all but one sidewalk slab in front of my house!!! They gave my contractor bad checks and bogus credit cards for payment. I'm so sick of the BS, I hired an attorney!
Maybe she should consider subrogration? See if her insurance company can go after the comcast contractors? The insurance company has more resources and more clout, and would probably end up talking to Comcast's insurance company, anyway.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-426969-100x100.png\")
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.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-1178-100x100.png\")
Is there such a thing as cooked sewage???
Incidentally, it costs $500 to actually fix the pipe and $15,000 to pay someone enough to make it worth doing the job.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-474558-100x100.png\")
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.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-457717-100x100.png\")
Why's it always \"raw\" sewage? Even Comcast wouldn't go to the trouble of importing treated sewage from the sewage works just to make a mess, would they?
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That's still better than Suddenlink!
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![[img361.imageshack.us]](\"http://img361.imageshack.us/my.php?image=comcastbe7.gif\"){kind=link}
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Strange, that's what comes out of my cable all the time!
@mdoublej: This is totally Comment of the Day material. Good show!
@mdoublej: Win!
@Sndtrkman: No Crapcast? Come on now.
@2719: Indeed.
@mdoublej: Win!
@mdoublej: Winner.
@mdoublej: I only have basic cable, it's manageable.
@mdoublej: Comment of the day.
@mdoublej: Brilliant.