Zippy Posted October 2, 2008 Share Posted October 2, 2008 (edited) Okay.. So I don't want to be a complainer.. but when you see the city light up around you and you're still the only one with open windows all the time, it makes you wonder, wtf?Sooo.. Let's start from the beginning.. As many know a hurricane came through Houston almost some 3 weeks ago. We were out of the country for the first week, so we returned about 2 weeks ago to a house which had partial lighting. We were at the end of where on one side everyone had full electricity, and on the other side, was all dark. So fine.. I'm a pretty patient guy.. so I wait for the repair guys to work down the street and surely they'll get to our house.. Last weekend our street had power restored, however our situation had not changed.. On Sunday Centerpoint posted that if you're still without power, then call.. Well, we had been calling since Saturday, so surely we were in the system "somewhere" already.. The initial call was that we had a tree limb on our drop line. Instead of waiting for Centerpoint, on Sunday we had a contractor's electrician come by, cut down the limb, and reconnect us to the grid. Still no go. It was determined that it was a transformer issue and needed to be either fixed by centerpoint, or 1200$ from our contractor.. We'd figggured, certainly with a call in last Saturday (Sept 27th), we'd get someone to assess the issue sooner than later. Well.. no.. Silly us.. Someone did stop by on Monday (9/29) and saw our ceiling fan working.. And determined that we did indeed have electricity.. When told no, we don't have full power.. He said he would send a "troubleshooter" that evening.. Nobody showed up.Called Monday morning, the "call" was on the truck..Called Monday evening, they'll be there that evening..Called Tuesday morning, you have a branch on your drop line? They'll be out today.Called Tuesday evening, we'll get to you..Called Wednesday morning, they'll be out today.Called Wednesday evening, they'll be out there by midnight... (wtf?! I wouldn't want to be working in a Texas backyard at midnight on anything!)Did not call today because it is useless.. My frustration is more of "Don't f-ing BS me.." If you're not coming out today, tell me when.. Don't tell me you're coming out and then not show ALL WEEK.. If you tell me it's going to be Oct 10th at 11am, show up, and do your work, then fine.. I can accept that it will take that long. But don't tell me day after day that "we'll get to you.. " or "we're coming out today.. " or some variant.. Situation as it stands so far according to the last electrician who came out is that we only have 110 running into the house and we have a phase out. The culprit is assumed to be the transformer. So we have been unable to use: Stove, refrigerator, A/C, washer/dryer, dishwasher, and about half of the room lights and outlets in the house. Some lights work.. Some ceiling fans work.. great.. I'm better than none.. but when there's only (as of today) 4341 people left in centerpoint's area without lights.. and some 1000 workers.. could someone come by a small house close to downtown and take 30 minutes to fix something which is ready to go?So: Anyone know an electrician who can fix a transformer for not too much money, and/or what other avenues I can take to get any attention from the bureaucracy of Centerpoint?Thanks/rant offedit: time warp! Edited October 2, 2008 by Zippy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highway6 Posted October 2, 2008 Share Posted October 2, 2008 Still without power..., Any other options?!Well it is October.... set up a haunted house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musicman Posted October 2, 2008 Share Posted October 2, 2008 Situation as it stands so far according to the last electrician who came out is that we only have 110 running into the house and we have a phase out. The culprit is assumed to be the transformer. So we have been unable to use: Stove, refrigerator, A/C, washer/dryer, dishwasher, and about half of the room lights and outlets in the house. Some lights work.. Some ceiling fans work.. great.. I'm better than none.. but when there's only (as of today) 4341 people left in centerpoint's area without lights.. and some 1000 workers.. could someone come by a small house close to downtown and take 30 minutes to fix something which is ready to go?So: Anyone know an electrician who can fix a transformer for not too much money, and/or what other avenues I can take to get any attention from the bureaucracy of Centerpoint?usually the electricians won't touch the transformers....so are your neighbors (who are on the same transformer as you) also only receiving 110? if so then i'd say there is a transformer problem, if not it something in your specific circuit. i was talking to someone this morning who still doesn't have power..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zippy Posted October 2, 2008 Author Share Posted October 2, 2008 usually the electricians won't touch the transformers....so are your neighbors (who are on the same transformer as you) also only receiving 110? if so then i'd say there is a transformer problem, if not it something in your specific circuit. i was talking to someone this morning who still doesn't have power.....The neighbors are fine.. there are two others sharing the same transformer, but it seems just the feed to our house is broke.. The electrician I was working with would dig into a transformer, but it would of course cost more than I'd like to spend.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musicman Posted October 2, 2008 Share Posted October 2, 2008 The neighbors are fine.. there are two others sharing the same transformer, but it seems just the feed to our house is broke..i would agree that it's between the tranformer and your house and not a transformer problem since the others have no problems.call centerpoint again and make sure and describe what is happening when the workers arrive. this should be something that can be handled quickly. from the prior calls that you've made have you gotten an automated response saying something like "press 1 if your power has been restored" or "press 2 if you are still having problems?" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zippy Posted October 2, 2008 Author Share Posted October 2, 2008 i would agree that it's between the tranformer and your house and not a transformer problem since the others have no problems.call centerpoint again and make sure and describe what is happening when the workers arrive. this should be something that can be handled quickly. from the prior calls that you've made have you gotten an automated response saying something like "press 1 if your power has been restored" or "press 2 if you are still having problems?"If they would tell me when they are coming, I would be home to explain it.. that would be a luxury at this point..My wife got an automated call, but it went to voice mail.. We immediately called their supposed "support" line, and told them that nothing had changed.. That was the Monday evening call.. Zip.. Zero.. Nada.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zippy Posted October 2, 2008 Author Share Posted October 2, 2008 (edited) Called back today.. the response this time was: "Really? You don't have power?" Who the F runs this company anyway?! Edited October 2, 2008 by Zippy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arivechi Posted October 2, 2008 Share Posted October 2, 2008 if it really seems to be just your house... and it's ~ half your house that isn't working then it might be your circuit breaker box. A transformer problem would affect more than just your house. Our friends (who let us stay with them while our power was out for 14 days!!!) had a similar problem last week. Half the outlets in the house would go off and on at irregular intervals at random times. The electrician came and messed a little in the circuit panel outside - voila! power. But they had to replace the old circuit panel on the bungalow to upgrade the Amps coming into the house to accommodate the modern electric items inside (or something like that, I am far far from being knowledgeable about electricity).So, call an electrician to come check your circuit breaker box to look at the main and how the power is distributed to the panel of circuits. I'll tell you that there was a crackling, hissing sound coming from our friends' panel. scary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pumapayam Posted October 2, 2008 Share Posted October 2, 2008 (edited) Called back today.. the response this time was: "Really? You don't have power?"Who the F runs this company anyway?! I'd be frustrated too man. You may very well be the last person in Houston without power. Update: HOUSTON -- CenterPoint Energy has restored power to more than 2 million of its customers who lost power when Hurricane Ike hit southeast Texas, but 4,341 are still in the dark more than two weeks later, KPRC Local 2 reported Thursday. You and 4340 other people, not much left. Maybe one more day. Edited October 2, 2008 by Pumapayam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lynne77009 Posted October 2, 2008 Share Posted October 2, 2008 I can feel your pain. I live on W. Cottage and just got power back yesterday afternoon. Very frustrating to be the last person on my block to get reconnected. Hang in there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
houstonmacbro Posted October 2, 2008 Share Posted October 2, 2008 I am so sorry for all the folks without power. I know how awful that is (we all lived through it).Hope the lights are back on soon for everyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pineda Posted October 3, 2008 Share Posted October 3, 2008 Centerpoint announces their work is now completeI'm so sorry for you if you still don't have power, we just got ours back last Saturday after 16 long days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
editor Posted October 3, 2008 Share Posted October 3, 2008 I am so sorry for all the folks without power. I know how awful that is (we all lived through it).Hope the lights are back on soon for everyone.I know I get squirrelly when the power is out for a few hours. I don't know how you guys and the thousands of others are coping. Good luck to all of you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zippy Posted October 3, 2008 Author Share Posted October 3, 2008 Well.. FINALLY after what.. 21 days? They came by and plugged a couple of wires in.. took a whole HOUR?! no, no need to thank me for waiting patiently while everyone else's power was restored.. ugh.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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