HOUSTON – A Spring woman said not only is she getting the run around from AT&T, but she’s also getting it from the subcontractors hired to install a fiber optic cable underground in her backyard.
Just like the job itself, the woman said everyone is passing off the blame for the botched work.
“They didn’t tell me anything so that night I had horrible anxiety. I had no idea what was going on,” said the woman who asked not to be identified.
About one year ago, she said she found herself in a deep mess.
“Everything was flooded,” she said. “Everything would come up through my tub, my toilet or my sink.”
She said she hired a plumber and learned a sewerage line in her backyard had been ruptured the day before when a contractor was ordered to install an AT&T fiber-optic cable underground. She said she told the contractor right away.
“And that’s when he said, ‘we broke your sewerage line.’ and then he told me, ‘we’ll fix it. The plumber is going to charge way too much money… this happens to us all the time,’” she said.
But there was one major issue.
“They wanted to do it and they’re not plumbers,” she said.
She said the pipe was poorly patched up and the plumbing issues persisted until she hired a certified plumber back in April. Out of desperation, the woman said she had to borrow money from her family and pay out of pocket.
“It’s extremely frustrating because they should take responsibility for what they’re doing,” she said.
The woman adds that between plumbing repairs and having her carpet ripped up, she’s out of about $15,000.
A representative for AT&T said it’s looking into the issue and released the following statement:
“Our goal is to minimize impact on residents before, during and after construction related to our network expansion process. In this case, our contractor has been in touch with the homeowner regarding their claim.
Additional: - Damage can occur for a number of reasons, from contractor error to locates not being accurate. Our contractors are instructed to obtain proper permitting, closely follow local construction codes, and abide by rules governing rights-of-way and property easements.”