We are Powerless! (long and ranty)

[bhskittykatt]

It has just been epically windy here this week. There have been lots of scattered outages all over the county. The south end of the city, which is normally spared, has been hit hard this year.

Sucky Weather Part One

On my paper route, I've had to stop about once a block to move some piece of debris out of my way. As I turned do deliver to a long, dead-end street, I saw a large tree. Okay, that's not so bad, but oops, there are the power lines in the road! I backed up and called dispatch to let them know there was no way in hell I was going to make it to those customers. Then I called the cops to report the down line.

I also had to deal with the fact that the puny Monday newspapers blew right off customer's porches before I even got a chance to move onto the next customer. I think I'll buy some rocks to weigh the papers down the next windy morning.

Surprisingly, no customers complained. Then again, my newspaper customers tend to be pretty awesome.

CW can't plan

After the paper route I went to my job at the motel. The entire south end of town had lost power, and the motel was no exception. Of course, the computers were down and the night auditor had failed to run the queue reports that we really do NEED for manual operation. Boss Man wasn't pleased, to say the least.

Why do you think?

Meanwhile, we're getting a lot of these:

"Why is the power out?"
"When will the power be back on?"

The wind is howling quite loudly outside, what do you think is the probable cause for the outage? As for how long it will be out, hmm....let me just commune with the power gods and get back to you. F**k, if the power company isn't even sure, how am I supposed to know?

It's an Act of God, and He hates SCs

A couple days after the outage, we get a call from an SC. CW took the call, and the conversation went something like this:

SC: "Yeah, I was at your motel on Monday, and the power went out, and I wasn't able to take a shower, and I was wondering what sort of compensation you're going to give me on my next stay?"
CW: "Well, I'm sorry the power was out, but we're kind of like your insurance company: we don't pay off for an Act of God. I'm not sure I can get you anything, but let me call my manager and I'll get back to you, okay?"
SC: "I'd better get something, because I DIDN'T GET TO TAKE MY SHOWER AND I'M VERY UPSET ABOUT IT!"

CW asks Boss Man. Boss Man isn't sure, so has CW call Guest Relations. She explains the situation, and they say no way in hell that he's getting comped.

CW: "So when I tell him there's nothing you can do and he complains, that won't count against us, right?"
GR: "Right, we have the notes on the account right here."

CW calls SC and leaves the message: "Well, there's nothing we can do, but since our corporate office is always trying to make people happy you can try contacting them at 1-800-XXX-XXXX!" Way to pass the buck to corporate, CW!

More Sucky Weather

It was another epically windy night last night. One of the roads I drive up on my paper route is this very narrow lane that runs along the top of the cliff. The customer's homes are actually built into the cliff in ways that only engineering magic can accomplishe. They don't have driveways, just little turn-outs.

After getting all the way up this windy, narrow little road, I come across a tree that has blown over. Backing up isn't feasible at this point, so I must turn around. I have a very small car with a VERY tight turn radius, and it still took a 35-point (I counted) turn-around. All while staring down a cliff into a black abyss below. I really hope not to do that ever again. I think Mother Nature hates me.

[QASlave]

I don't know what kind in insurance you carry, but what's the use of having it if they don't pay for an act of God? I mean, if my house is destroyed by a tornado, my insurance covers me. Same with the car.

[jedimaster91]

Ugh. Been there, done that. Our city was out for 2.5 weeks.

[protege]

Ugh. Power outages suck.

Several months back, I was without power for 2 freaking days It went out around midnight. I know this, because I was watching the news, and then everything went dark. Well, not *everything...*

Everything except the massive light show in the back, and side yards Seems that the high wind had torn a limb or two (or the entire top!) of the tree around the corner, which then fell on the power line...which caused a *massive* light show! There were literally sparks shooting *over* the house next door, and the sky was literally as bright as day!

As if that wasn't enough, the tree falling, also brought down the line that ran behind my house. So, not only was the one by the street shooting sparks, but the rear line as well. Lots of green ones, in fact. Green, because the line had fallen in such a way...that it was arcing against the chain-link fence in my neighbor's yard...frying the fence's covering. Let me tell you, it was pretty fucking scary Not only could you see the sparks, but you could *hear* the power coursing through the damaged wires.

But, what *really* pissed me off was the power company. I'm trying to tell them about an outage, and their employee was copping an attitude about it. What can I say, other than Duquesne Light isn't known for their reliability. How do I know this? Well, just about every time it would rain years ago, the power would fail. No matter how light the rain was.

[aelliflame]

I don't know what kind in insurance you carry, but what's the use of having it if they don't pay for an act of God? I mean, if my house is destroyed by a tornado, my insurance covers me. Same with the car.

I'm pretty sure that they meant acts of God that aren't more than an inconvenience. Like how the your home insurance isn't going to comp you if the power goes out or because you have to pay for more lights in the winter than the summer. I have a feeling that if a tree fell through the customer's roof they'd get something, just like home insurance, but if it isn't that big of a deal the customer will survive.

[Broomjockey]

I don't know what kind in insurance you carry, but what's the use of having it if they don't pay for an act of God? I mean, if my house is destroyed by a tornado, my insurance covers me. Same with the car.

Tornado != Act of God.

Tornado = tornado. Also natural disaster. Check policies. They spell out exactly what natural disasters they cover. Many policies won't cover flooding, for instance.

Act of God tends to be "random act that no one could have foreseen because it's such a bizarre occurrence." Like a jet engine landing on your house. Different policies will cover cases like that, but it's all up to individual policy issuers. Making a blanket statement when it comes to insurance is incredibly dangerous and misleading. There is literally nothing absolute beyond "you pay them."

[bainsidhe]

Protege, that's when 9-1-1 works in your favor (if you're in the US). We had a neighbor's tree fall and tear the lines straight out of the power box on our house. The electric company said they'd try to be out in the next day or two. Grr. Another neighbor dialed 9-1-1, which meant it was suddenly treated as an emergency and the electric/phone companies came out immediately. Did a temp fix and lo, we had power.

[kendiara]

Three months no power, no running water. Typhoons are awesome

We had one plug so we had a fridge and a light at night at least but nothing much else.

[Mongo Skruddgemire]

You know the funny thing is, when you don't complain and ask nicely it's amazing what you can get.

Power outage at a hotel I was staying at over the summer. No TV, no AirCon, now Showers. The only option I had available to me was the pool.

Worse, the hotel offered pay-per-view movies on demand (billed to the room) and I had ordered one. Saw about 5 minutes of the thing when power failed.

Next morning at checkout I mentioned that I requested a PPV and that we lost power and could I please (I really did say please) have it removed off of the bill.

Not only did I get it removed from the bill, I got a voucher for the restaurant in the hotel's parking lot for a free breakfast buffet by way of apology.

Real somple equasions. Nice = good service. Douchewaffle = you ain't getting jack shit.

[protege]

Protege, that's when 9-1-1 works in your favor (if you're in the US).

Still, not all areas have 911 service...mainly the more rural ones. Where I live though, we do have it. However, it's easier simply to dial the local police department...simply because they're local. Sometimes, the 911 service is a bit slow...compared to calling the police or fire service directly.

[EricKei]

Act of God tends to be "random act that no one could have foreseen because it's such a bizarre occurrence." Like a jet engine landing on your house. Different policies will cover cases like that, but it's all up to individual policy issuers. Making a blanket statement when it comes to insurance is incredibly dangerous and misleading. There is literally nothing absolute beyond "you pay them."

This is true...but insurance companies have been known to attribute everything they can to an "Act of God" simply so they won't have to pay. It was like that here after Katrina. Have flood insurance but not wind insurance (keep in mind that it's seldom windy here, ever)? OK, the hurricane counts as wind damage even tho you had 7 feet of water. Have Wind insurance but not flood insurance? They'll say that your roof being blown off was the result of structural damage caused by an intense rainstorm. Insurance co's here DID pay some claims, but many many more people who had insurance that SHOULD have covered everything were left in the lurch.

Allstate and (iirc) State Farm did that to many, many people around here. they have a right to make a profit like anybody else, but...Hrm. I'll stop here. Too close to Fratching territory.