My mother just purchased a new home. She is 80. We are unable to get phone service in the form of a land line because a contractor cut the cables and they have never been repaired. The cell phone service and internet (which is now satellite as the wires were cut for the cable service) is unreliable and spotty at best. I am concerned that in an emergency she would not be able to call for help and I am unable to reach her to stay in contact with her.
I wanted to see if there is anyone that I can contact to peruse having the cables replaced/reconnected. She is not the only elderly person living in this neighborhood, and I feel this is a very dangerous situation for them to be in.
Contact the Blue Stake and find out when the contractor had the job Blue Staked. This is what guarantees whomever is digging holes knows exactly where and how deep every utility is.
Then call the contractor and find out when they are going to be out to fix their error. If they tell you they aren't responsible, tell them you were offering a courtesy by calling them and you will call the Registrar of Contractors for your state and file a complaint against their contractors license.
The General Contractor for the job is fully responsible to restore these services. If you can find out who holds the ten year warranty on the new build, that is who you want to speak with. Don't let them try to brush you off. This is absolutely an insurance claim against their general liability policy, if they choose to take the hard route.
I promise you, no contractor wants complaints filed against their license. It is bad for business.
Speak with the owner, you will find that information at the registrars website and make it known that you know they are responsible for ALL of the job and ALL of the sub-cobtractors, venders, suppliers and anyone else that occupied the jobsite. It is fully on them to deal with this issue.
As far as the satellite service, you need to contact the provider. This service should be more dependable then landlines. We used a satellite when full-time rving and we had service everywhere. Sounds like a poor installation job.
So I called DTE; got the same response -"not our job", "cable company has to cut their own lines". Called cable company again. Guy came out, took a look at the orange lines hung in a circle, said "not our job" and left.
I felt like telling him that it's about time the company grew up and accepted its responsibilities. But I knew that wouldn't produce anything except perhaps a comment on some hidden client data and I'd have trouble getting service if I ever needed it again.
I decided to just leave the cable alone; it was clear that there were some issues between the two, turf wars perhaps?
Sounds like no one was using the lines when they were cut or they were private lines when they were 8pcut. My home has public lines on the right of way and then we run private lines from the public souce across our private property to our home. If the private line is cut, the home owner is responsible for the repair. I set my own private utility poles and strung my power, phone, cable, and internet lines to my pole then underground (about 6') to my home. I chose this method because there is limestone rock formations in my area just below the surface. I did not want to blast a trench (like I needed for a section of my water line).
In our rural area, most utilities are monopolies govern by either the state or a local municipality so we have a well known governing body to call with problems.
A local tv station might be willing to take this project on, doing some background research and working toward a solution. I think stations like this "feel good for helping" projects.
What type of contractor is this? What work was it performing? There are various contractors' organizations in various counties and states. Do some research and determine if this contractor is a member of a trade organization and contact them. I'm not intimately familiar with them but believe that they do maintain standards which members must meet.
Who hired this contractor? You could also let that individual know what the contractor did.
You could also contact the builder of the new home and alert it to the fact that a contractor wasn't appropriate in carrying out its duties, creating an unsafe situation for your parent and other elders.
In the meantime, you might want to consider getting a life alert pendant. The one we got for my father activated even when he leaned over. The company selling it and providing service would respond to an activation and if necessary, notify (in our case) 3 individuals: me, police or fire department, and unfortunately I've forgotten who else we chose.