How Big Business/Government Really Treat Us

The following is a true story that happened just this past week. I've omitted the names of the people involved, but the facts are 100% accurate.

Saturday Nov. 11, 1995 approx. 9:30 p.m.
The wind is howling with near hurricane force gusts all over Delmarva. In one small house on the Shore and older couple sit and ride out the storm as they have many times in the past. Suddenly with a roaring crash, a Delmarva Power electric pole, complete with its transformer and wires, comes crashing through their kitchen roof and wall....

Flashback to approx. two weeks prior....
A contractor for Delmarva Power inspects another pole on the line. They decide that this pole is weaking and drill and insert a large steel plug near the base of the pole to help strengthen it. Even though the pole shows signs of deterioration they decide not to replace it.

Back to the storm...
Luckily our older couple was not in the kitchen area when the pole came through and no one is injured. A very upset housewife calls 911, where the dispatcher responds with less than anything resembling concern. Wind and rain continue to hammer the shore and with each passing minute are ruining more and more of the kitchen and its contents. No one shows up from Delmarva Power that night despite the possibility of live wires being inside of a residence!

Sunday morning, the storm is over and everyone is left to clean up after it. Still, the electric company has not sent anyone to investigate. After a call to Delmarva Power's dispatcher they are told "Well, we didn't realize it was serious." Not serious? What does Delmarva Power classify as serious then?! Our homeowners are forced to take shelter elsewhere and wait for the electric company to remove the pole and wires. FINALLY, Sunday afternoon the electric company shows up...they remove the wreckage of their pole and erect a new one -- As they should have done two weeks prior to the incident!

Monday morning, our homeowners call a lawer seeking only to recoup the cost of repairing their home. They are told that almost no one wins a suit against the power company and it would cost several thousand in fees to even try. They are also told that they should contact Delmarva Powers adjuster/inspector, that possibly HE can help. Upon contacting the power company (again), they send a representative out. They are told that Delmarva Power considers such things as "An act of God/Nature" and will not pay any damages. They are also told at this point that Delmarva Power will not restore power to the residence until a certified electrician will certify that the house wiring is OK for power to be restored.

The moral/point of my story...
Not only are these people out the money of repairing and/or replacing their trailer (which is paid for), they are out the expense of having an electrician come and repair electric wire damage done by the pole's passage through roof and wall! The option of just going out and seeking a new residence is taken away from them by their age. Their current residence has been taken away from them by Delmarva Power's uncaring attitude -- they simply refuse to accept responsibility for their actions. Here I should also note that the pole broke off at almost the exact spot of the metal plug that was put in by Delmarva Power's own contractors!!!

So, the next time, you hear of some large corporation (like the electric company), talking about how the people should not regulate such-and-such or should give them tax or zoning easments, just think "What will they ever do for me?" -- the answer "Nothing."