My excellent track hoe operator cut my phone cable. He called a buddy who works for the phone company, and he says the phone company charges $300 to come fix it. It is a copper shielded 4 line wire. It has some goo on the inside. It is a buried line not in a conduit.
Does the price seem high? I know I could splice the wires, but a ten foot section was just destroyed, and I don't have any of that specialized wire. And then there's the issue of weather and water.
What would you do?
Steve
ask the phone company who owns it, you or them? then compare every phone company and cable company who serves your address for brand new installation with no previous existing service, on one left column, to three actual repair estimates including the phone company's on the right column. consider the portability of the phone number, and do you need that portability. as soon as you move the phone number from the dial tone company to the cable tv company's telephone service you may see a savings during the first year or promotional period. also at the point where you have actually left the dial tone company their computer awakens after a month and starts offering you some cheap service if you'll come back to them. even if you have landline voicemail, ask the landline phone company to forward your landline calls to your cellphone. your careful options choices here may be a financial blessing in disguise, depending on your patience in shopping around, and how many providers are eager to have your business. - b
This is a $10 out-of-pocket fix. You don't need "special" wire - almost any insulated wire will do. By that I mean everything from doorbell wire to 10-3 house wiring.
The BEST way to fix your problem is to replace the entire run - from the Telco's terminal to your demarc.
The second best way to repair it is to move the splices above ground in a box of some sort.
On the other hand, I'll bet the telephone company will fix it free. They are usually responsible for all wiring all the way up to your demarc. But even if they think it's your responsibility, look at the problem from the Telco's point of view. It'll cost them, oh, $100 to fix your wiring. They'll recoup that in five months - after that your monthly bill is pure profit. Conversely, if you tell them you can't afford the repair fee and that you're switching to all cell phone service, they get nothing.
Did anybody call Miss Digg (or whatever it's called where you are) to flag all the utility cables and pipes before the job was started?
My *guess* is that if that was not done, or even if it was done but the equipment operator cut the cable anyway, the phone co. *must* be notified (it's their cable) so *they* can fix it -- and they will bill you (or the operator) for whatever their normal charge is.
Perce
Thats total nonsense and just a band-aid. You can effect a "see it works" repair that way and nothing more. Part of a repair is that you restore original performance and longevity.
It could be for free but the OP is basing everything on "someone said" instead of quoting actual cost. They would certainly minimize the cost if the trench was open and ready for the phone guy to work.
But even
Around here, you can be fined for not calling the utility locater service. If the service marks the line, and you hit the line and it's not where they said it was, you are not responsible. If you don't call the service and dig up a line, you are screwed.
TDD
What did the phone company actually say? I'll bet if you had the trench open and ready to go the cost would be less.
You can buy proper splice kits and cable at a real supply house if you were going to do it yourself.
Forgot about that. If they called 811 (ours is called "PA One Call) and the cable wasn't flagged there is no charge.
Yep, no-brainer; OP action was proximate cause of the problem; least can do is step up to the plate to see it is fixed properly. Why anybody even asks what's the right thing to do is beyond me. :(
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pay it
$300 sounds ten times too low for the job.
Dumb f*ck. The thing has already been fixed by the phone company. I was just asking about the cost of the repair and if that sounded reasonable. BTW, it was done to phone company standards, using phone company patch kits, and by a phone company employee who lives in my own little town, and with whom I'm friends. He says they charge $900 to fix a 14 line cable, and it's only splicing wires, then putting a big blob of sealer on the ends. The standard two or four line is $300.
Sanctimonious d*****ad. Yeah, you're an expert on the "right thing" to do, and have done it in every situation in your life. Guess you don't know shit about cable repair, but had to add SOME comment. Am I right?
He charged me $100.
frankly, the track hoe operator should pay it. The person should have known better. That there may be stuff burried in the ground shouldn't be news. Be glad it wasn't a power line, sewer main or a gas line.
They don't trench those lines, they just pull them in with a vibratory cable plow. They certainly won't even look at repairing the existing cable unless it's an extreme length, they'll just plow in a new cable and hook it up. It's an hour and a half job or so for the contractor they use for the work and much of that time is unloading and loading the cable plow from the trailer.
SteveB wrote: ...
No, not really...
If it were already repaired and you had a bill, what was the point in even asking? Pay the bill and go on.
As AZ says, I'd really expect the operator to foot the bill unless (a) you directed him where to dig and/or (b) did call the general cable-locator number before digging...
I can't say as I've _always_ done "the right thing" of course but I surely wouldn't have any problem in a situation such as this and as a general practice I find the times I have failed have tended to have decreased markedly as matured...
Anyway, nice to have such a _pleasant_ conversation... :)
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Why use that kind of language and make that declaration when *YOU* specifically omitted that information? Not everyone has a crystal ball.
In most of the English speaking world "what would you do?" means a decision is not yet reached. Describing your action followed by "What would you have done?" would be what most people would use to communicate what you were apparently trying to communicate but didn't.
I was
Depends on locality. In my area they would be more likely to open up a trench to expose the damaged cable and use a couple splice kits.
Well, after the fact, I have seen repair kits at Menards and Lowe's for fixing buried telephone cable. I know Lowe's also sells the cable. So, in the future it's not that hard to fix it yourself.
In my area they use a wide wedge on the bottom of a shovel handle. They step on the thing to open up a slot in the ground for the required path, then poke a new wire in the furrow. After the wire is laid, they dance around like Zulus and stomp the dirt back, covering the wire.
Timeline. Broke cable. Asked what to do. Heard that $300 was standard price. Needed it fixed. Had it fixed. Listened to answers (?) here.
Irrelevent. It's not the homeowner's cable. When the homeowner is long gone, the phone company will still be responsible for the cable and the cost of dispatching a service call. They are going to fix it based on their experience and in a way to insure no future calls.
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