What Idiot Did This?

[blas]

This has been going on since yesterday evening. For the most part, I have no signal on my cell phone. For a few minutes every hour, it will come and go. I have watched the bars come back, then go. NO ONE can get a hold of me. It goes straight to voicemail. I can't check my voicemail, because the calls fail. The one time I was able to check my voicemail, it got dropped seconds later. I was able to call my dad for 10 whole seconds, and the call dropped and he only got my voicemail after that.

Same thing for my mother and brother. We all have AT&T (formerly Cellular One).

Dad went to the store today to see what the deal was (since Mom is working and I'm not very diplomatic or reasonable when I'm angry, as we all know).

Some IDIOT was digging and they hit a fiberoptic line.........I guess it must have been a MAIN line, because Dad said the store was pretty much mobbed with people demanding to know why they don't have any service.

I don't think AT&T should pay for any inconveniences. I think the idiot who was digging should pay for a credit for every customer who hasn't been able to use their phone since yesterday.

And no, I am NOT a bratty whiney little princess who is going to OMG DIE from not having a cell phone. Of course I can survive without it, but it's pretty difficult when you don't have a land line, your family doesn't have a landline, and one idiot's lack of common sense has caused a problem for almost every AT&T customer in the area. Because as of this moment, AT&T has NO idea when this will be fixed.

[Chanlin]

Actually the person this is most likely going to wash out on is the line locater who failed to properly flag the areas that were unsafe for digging.

Line location is not an easy job from what I understand and most companies that contract out allow one miss like this and then if you get a second one your canned. Of course depending on what AT&T decides to do its very likely the guy will get canned even if this is his first mistake.

[eltf177]

Actually the person this is most likely going to wash out on is the line locater who failed to properly flag the areas that were unsafe for digging.

Line location is not an easy job from what I understand and most companies that contract out allow one miss like this and then if you get a second one your canned. Of course depending on what AT&T decides to do its very likely the guy will get canned even if this is his first mistake.

It depends. If the contractor called the One-Call Center for a Utility Ticket, waited the required 48 hours, was told everything around his proposed route was marked and he hit an unmarked or mismarked line then it's the responsibility of the utility marker. However, if the contractor dug without a Ticket, didn't wait the required time, hit a properly marked line or used a machine too close to the marks then he's in _big_ trouble.

We just had that happen here day before yesterday. Contractor digging up a parking lot was told by the site foreman "you don't need a ticket." Contractor used a backhoe-mounted jackhammer and hit a phone line. Somehow I don't see the site forman stepping up and saying "my bad, I told him he didn't need a ticket so I guess we eat the damages and fines"!

[DeltaSierra]

I don't know if you can really blame the digger who hit the line either. Up here in BC, our telco, Telus wants to be absolved from providing CORRECT maps indicating where their lines are. A couple months ago a contractor was doing some digging, and had a copy of their "current" line locations, but it turns out the map was wrong, not only did he sever the line, it was off by FOURTEEN FEET!!! They tried to sue the digger for having to repair the lines, but the map proved that they were the ones in the wrong. Now they claim they shouldn't have to keep up-to-date correct map locations for their lines. Ridiculous.

[Hyndis]

Some years back they severed a major internet line while doing roadwork just down the street. It was a fat fiberoptic cable, too. Telecommunications were utter hell for about a week until they patched it up, and they were working 24/7 to get it fixed.

Its just one of those things that happens. I imagine there's already enough yelling and screaming going on at the construction crew involved, and it will be fixed ASAP. Cutting those cables causes all sorts of mayhem for everyone, including giant corporations.

[Madman6510]

Actually the person this is most likely going to wash out on is the line locater who failed to properly flag the areas that were unsafe for digging.

This is, of course, assuming that whoever was digging actually called a line locater in the first place.

In which case all blame goes to the guy digging the wrong holes in the wrong place.

[Aethian]

"Miss Dig" missed one here. An entire section of a route lost power...one lady who is a sctrict lacto-vegan by dietary need lost ALL of her fridge's contents.... the construction crew had to replace that. One guy who does the pig roast every other year....yea he had to get two new pigs.

[Gothicsmurf]

I've noticed that since Cingular went back to AT&T, I have almost no service in my apartment.

[EmiOfBrie]

I've noticed that since Cingular went back to AT&T, I have almost no service in my apartment.

Well, Cingular has always been AT&T, or at least half of it always was.

Cingular was a joint venture between SBC and Bell South. SBC bought AT&T and took their name, and dissolved the old "AT&T Wireless" into Cingular, then AT&T bought Bell South, so they figured they didn't need the Cingular name any longer.

[jedimaster91]

I can be sitting in the same spot and once second have full bars, the next no signal at all. I HATE Cingular/AT&T. But Verizon screwed us over with a $300 early termination fee 3 years after the account was closed, so I won't use them either.

[eltf177]

I don't know if you can really blame the digger who hit the line either. Up here in BC, our telco, Telus wants to be absolved from providing CORRECT maps indicating where their lines are. A couple months ago a contractor was doing some digging, and had a copy of their "current" line locations, but it turns out the map was wrong, not only did he sever the line, it was off by FOURTEEN FEET!!! They tried to sue the digger for having to repair the lines, but the map proved that they were the ones in the wrong. Now they claim they shouldn't have to keep up-to-date correct map locations for their lines. Ridiculous.

I've personally witnessed this. A _huge_ trackhoe was digging for a waterline. The hoe was _sitting_ on the marks for the power and the bucket was at least 30 feet (10m) away from the marks when it HIT the power. I've never seen anything like it before or since; sparks and smoke everywhere and I swear that hoe tried to get airborne! The operator was lucky not to get fried and luckily nobody else was near enough to get hurt! You can bet the utility marker got royally chewed out for this one!

[Chromatix]

Reminds me of an incident when I was at university.

One day, there was a power glitch. This was unusual. It reset at least one of my computers (I already had several).

Half an hour or so later, there was another power glitch. This one reset more computers.

The word the following morning was that somebody had jackhammered through the main power line in the city centre. The line wasn't cut, but it was momentarily shorted. As for the *second* glitch... that was a *fireman* who had got in the hole, and was promptly ejected from it at a rate of knots. What a numbskull.

[Lachrymose]

Woah. Cellular One's going waaay back.

OT but this reminds me about someone digging when and where they shouldn't be.

It was about 5:00 AM right outside of my old apartment building. They were constructing new houses down the street a bit.

I heard the backhoe start up outside (woke me up) and start digging.

I'm thinkin, WTF...it can't be legal to do this at 5AM.

Just then, the worker hits an electrical line and BAM..the entire complex is without electricity.

I'm pretty pissed at this point because I had to be up for work in a few hours and couldn't set my alarm or anything now (bad planning on my part having no batteries for my clock, I know.)

Just then the guy packs up the backhoe and is gone.

It took hours for them to reconnect the electricity.

I was pissed I called the cops (non emergency line), but they said there was nothing they could do about it and I should call the construction company. Whatever, they are probably the ones who authorized the work at 5AM.

Oh, well..life went on. Haha.

[sms001]

And no, I am NOT a bratty whiney little princess who is going to OMG DIE from not having a cell phone.

It took out the main HOSPITAL numbers on this end of the break They were on the radio all day giving alternate numbers.

Glad you (unlike a SC) can keep this in perspective Blas.

[blas]

I got full signal back sometime yesterday evening when I noticed I'd gone more than a few minutes without losing my signal.

I'm sure that was tons of fun for everyone at the Cell One store to deal with...I feel bad for the reps, it's not like it was their fault some idiot didn't watch what they were doing.