Whose fault is it when your cable installer climbs up your utility poll and breaks it? Is it yours? Is it your electric company’s? One woman found out the hard way that not only was it her problem — but that ComEd was going to shut her electricity off if she didn’t find a way to fix it.

From the Chicago Tribune:

The Comcast technician who came to fix Carolyn Pfeifer’s low-hanging cable wire was professional, prompt and pleasant in every way.

Now if he could just shed a few pounds.

Pfeifer said the man arrived at her Plainfield home on a November afternoon and dutifully climbed the utility pole in her backyard to pull the wire up.

Pfeifer went inside and assumed everything was under control. But about 10 minutes later, the technician knocked on her door.

“He said ‘I’m sorry, I broke the pole,’ ” Pfeifer recalled. ” ‘I guess I need to go on a diet.’ “

She tried to get Comcast to fix it, they said it was ComEd’s responsibility. ComEd told her she owned the pole and that they were going to shut off her electricity if she didn’t get it fixed. When she tried to hire someone to fix it, they told the ground was too frozen to put a new one in. ComEd told her it would cost $6k to bury the wires.

Frustrated, she called the Chicago Tribune, who called Comcast and ComEd on her behalf. Suddenly, both companies were offering to install a new pole. Ultimately, Comcast is taking responsibility.

“Due to the unusual circumstances and our commitment to continue serving the customer, Comcast will incur the cost to replace the pole,” said Angelynne Amores, spokeswoman for the cable company.

Behold, the power of local media.

service call leads to power struggle [Chicago Tribune] (Thanks, Mark!)
(Photo:stirwise)

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