Enough is Enough

We have had issues with our electricity provider for a while now.  It has now reached a point where I am about to have a heated conversation with this company.  ENOUGH is ENOUGH!

1.  For the past 6+ months our power randomly goes off for 6+ hours at a time. We don't know what the cause is, but the same 32 homes in our neighborhood (lucky us) always lose power. It is incredibly frustrating, but I've maintained my cool and made arrangements when we lose power. We'll go spend the night at Shelley's parent's house. We'll light candles, locate the flashlights, or crack a window. That being said, we have lost hope that we will ever have reliable electricity in our house.

2.  Last week this same company decided to lay new underground power lines. When I heard this I got excited that perhaps they were addressing whatever issue was causing our frequent power outages. If what they are doing fixes the problem remains to be confirmed, but I do know that whatever they are doing has already caused NEW problems. Ourselves, and others, in our neighborhood have all had our ATT lines cut during the underground digging. We came home to find that we had no home phone, no home internet, and no TV. I have a few problems with this.

a. How did the trained professionals cut the wrong line repeatedly? Several homes in our neighborhood reported the same problem, and we don't all use the same lines.

b. How did the trained professionals not realize they cut the wrong line? Isn't there some indicator on the lines?

c. If they did notice they cut the wrong line, why did the trained professionals not notify the homeowners immediately or contact ATT themselves? Why were we left to schedule and oversee the repairs of something that occurred as the direct result of this company's trained professionals.

We contacted ATT and, after spending a large chunk of our weekend waiting and overseeing the repairs, our service was restored. You know when they call they give you an 8 hour window of when they may arrive.  Grr. Calm down Shelley. It's not ATT's fault.

3.  We arrived home on Monday, the day before our home study mind you, and our backyard was DESTROYED. Our backyard has never been an oasis, but it was at least tolerated. I cannot put into words the mess this company created in our backyard less than 24 hours before our home was being reviewed by our adoption agency. Luckily I have pictures to share.

I am so angry with this company right now. Hopefully I can maintain my composure when I speak to someone about these issues.  We are not very happy customers right now. I'm hoping they'll bring in some dirt to patch up the mess they created and come clean up their trash.  I know we can't get the 8 hours of ATT time we spent on Saturday back, but they need to know how terribly inconvenient their actions are to their customers.

I should add that by some MIRACLE, our home study did not include touring the backyard! Thank God! I kept dreading the moment she would ask to see it. I knew for sure we'd be black listed for it. Whew!