Patty Johnson's Blog

Starting on Tuesday we started having power surges in the house where the lights would flicker and my bedroom tv would actually turn on. One of the times I actually heard a pop near my computer and smelled something so I called Public Service. They said they'd have someone check it out within the next three business days. The next day while I was out there was another power surge because when I came home my bedroom tv was on again and the clocks were all blinking. My computer was also off so I tried to hit the on button. That's when I realized that it wasn't working. I called public service again and told them that my computer was now fried. The next day another power surge fried my charter dvr so I again called public service. This time they had a technician call me. He said that he had put a recording device on my house for 24 hours and everything looked fine so I should call my landlord and have them get an electrician. So, I did that and they came over to check things out. They thought it was one of my floor lamps that was the problem because where the bulb is put it was kinda loose. So they told me not to use it, get some new surge protectors and basically hope it doesn't happen again. That night at like 10pm the lights got really bright and then there was a huge pop and the living room breaker turned off. Adam tried to turn it back on and it didn't work. We ended up going to my parents house because we didn't want to stay here. The next day, which is Friday now, we went to my house and the maintenance people had come here and left a note telling us to not plug in so much stuff in the living room. We had also discovered that one of the two top of the line surge protectors that we had bought the night before wasn't working. It would turn on but wouldn't let anything that was plugged into it turn on because it now wasn't grounded or protected. So, I once again called maintenance. They called and told me they'd come over again so we went back to my house to meet them there. When we were pulling in the driveway the neighbor's son was walking down the street so we asked him to see if everything was working in his dads house (the other half of our duplex) So the maintenance guys come and they bring this other guy who was a total jerk. They basically said it was my fault because I have too much stuff plugged into our living room. Then, my dad talks to the kid from next door and he says that he also doesn't have power in his living room! So, now is when they start to finally believe me that something else is going on. They go over there to check out his living room and while they are there they get to experience the power surge, lights flickering and hear a pop at his place. They decide to call public service to have them come out again. When they came over to my place to tell me that, they notice that the light by my front door is flickering and smoking. They tell us to turn off our breaker til we figure out what is going on. So, public service comes and they first don't think anything is wrong either. Then, the people who live next to our duplex come out and tell them that they have been having surges too and that their tv was actually smoking. Then, they decide to go up on the pole and do a final test. Then, they find that something is wrong with the box on the pole. So, they finally figured it out and replaced the box. We are still moving our computers out of the living room and maintenance is going to replace all my outlets (because they are loose and upside down) So, now I have to file a claim for my computer with public service and hope that they give me money for it. I'm glad it's all figured out.