M Willner
Premium
join:2006-05-12
New York, NY
| reply to debgcd
Re: SLOW to get Insight services back up after ice storm
said by debgcd :
I want the services I pay for and depend upon and until I see an Insight service truck actually out there on the road this weekend I do not believe that they are actually even attempting to restore services. I think they are just waiting for regular work week hours and warmer weather. I have noticed that whenever service goes down on a Friday or Saturday nothing happens until Monday or later.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Our staff has been working 24/7 to repair damages, maintain generators, answer questions and restore service as soon as power is restored and conditions are safe. As I mentioned on my blog today, »www.michaelsinsight.com/2009/02/···202.html our plant worked miraculously well under very extreme circumstances. Most customers had their cable, Internet and phone service the moment their power came back on.
Our extremely dedicated (and very tired) staff truly appreciates seeing the kind words of thanks and understanding from our customers who realize how difficult recovering from something like this is. |
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cooldude9919
join:2000-05-29
Cape Girardeau, MO
clubs:
| reply to debgcd
A good amount of cable MSO'S lines are ran overhead on poles just because it is cheaper to get pole permits from the electric company than to mess with going underground. The sheer size of the ice storm and amount of trees fallen which in turn took down tons of lines, snapped poles, ect, is pretty crazy. There are still people in SE Missouri without power, and ameren has something like 4k plus people working on it. If insight had lines on any poles that where snapped, they have to wait for the power company to put new poles up before they can even think of getting new lines ran.
You cant really compare this storm to previous outages, and it sounds like insight is doing their best to safely return service to people as quickly as possible. |
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CylonRed
Premium,MVM
join:2000-07-06
Bloom County | In one KY town - 300 poles were snapped - going to take awhile to get them back up... |
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Tails
join:2007-09-25
Sanford, NC
 ·Windstream
| reply to debgcd
I think what Greg_z was trying to say is that you can live without your NETZ, TV, and phone for a few days. The only thing that you really need in this day and age is a phone. Do you not own a cell phone? 
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Do or do not, there is no try! - Yoda |
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wenter99
Alpha Male
Premium
join:2003-12-09
Albuquerque, NM
 ·Comcast Digital Vo..
 ·T-Mobile US
 ·Comcast
| said by Tails  :...The only thing that you really need in this day and age is a phone... It is? What is your definition of "need"? |
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Bamafan2277
join:2008-09-20
Louisville, KY
| reply to debgcd
I am also in Louisville, KY. Insight covers alot of the North Central part of KY. You have to think they dont have massive crews like LG&E and are not able to call in back up like LG&E. Cable is a luxury. Be glad you got power back and are not freezing. I know its a pain to be without internet but I would rather have power first, than nothing at all. |
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La Luna
Surviving Ashraful
Premium
join:2001-07-12
Warwick, NY
clubs:
·Optimum Online
·Vonage
| reply to debgcd
said by debgcd :
Dear Greg, please do feel free to toss out your computer, phone and TV and have "more fun." No sense living in the modern era and being unhappy eh? Me.. I want the services I pay for and depend upon and until I see an Insight service truck actually out there on the road this weekend I do not believe that they are actually even attempting to restore services. I think they are just waiting for regular work week hours and warmer weather. I have noticed that whenever service goes down on a Friday or Saturday nothing happens until Monday or later.
That is the silliest thing I've read in a long time, like a child stamping his feet because Insight is purposely withholding *your* services.
I would imagine there are other things in line that are much more important and need tending to long before they get to "the services you pay for".
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1/20/09 The Beginning of the End
12,673 DEADLY TERROR ATTACKS SINCE 9/11 |
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Tails
join:2007-09-25
Sanford, NC | reply to wenter99
As in an emergency. |
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HarleyDude
join:2002-01-04
Kennett Square, PA
·Comcast
| reply to cooldude9919
Not entirely true. Utility placement guidelines are "Zoned" just like property use. There are zoning rules for underground as well as aerial. Under the zoning rules, you can't place UG cables in an aerial zoned easement.
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"Republicans believe Democrats are wrong. Democrats believe Republicans are evil." - Charles Krauthamer |
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OSUGoose
join:2007-12-27
Columbus, OH
clubs: | reply to NotATreeHugger
Thats why we should burry the lines, for storms like this, then all u have to worry about is it getting dug up, which prollyt wouldent happen this time of the year. |
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OSUGoose
join:2007-12-27
Columbus, OH
clubs: | reply to M Willner
then mike, why dont u guys go and burry ur lines, to prevent these issues |
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CylonRed
Premium,MVM
join:2000-07-06
Bloom County | A lot higher cost in a relatively poor state. |
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OSUGoose
join:2007-12-27
Columbus, OH
clubs: | yes but they wouldent be blowing the cash they are now to work overtime fixing all this, u gotta think long term savings vs short term cost. |
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CylonRed
Premium,MVM
join:2000-07-06
Bloom County
| You do understand that if the power poles were taken down then the facilities would also likely have no power. They would also have to convince the power company to bury their lines as well.
And they would have to jack up their prices to cover the cost and in a relatively poor state - that could very well cause people to not use the service.
You can't just look at one side of it and say it is a no brainer. |
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OSUGoose
join:2007-12-27
Columbus, OH
clubs: | no convincing needed, just enact a ordance, alot of suburbs around here u see NO aerial lines, period. |
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CylonRed
Premium,MVM
join:2000-07-06
Bloom County
| Ugh - you missed the point again... We have above wires as well in and around Dayton, Ohio. The only places that don't are places that are newer (last 15-20 years) and they happen to be in the rich areas where the owners can afford the extra cost. The utilities will also have to raise their costs as well to cover the added costs.
since storms like this are once in 10-15 years - the savings is not huge especially for older, poorer areas. I would expect the easements for poles are probably smaller than the easement needed for burying lines.
Again - not as simple as you think it is... |
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MSauk
MSauk
Premium
join:2002-01-17
Sandy, UT | reply to debgcd
You are a sad person, wow. The ICE STORM was pretty major and you sound like a 5 year old who didn't get his/her ice cream after dinner!
Give me a break |
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Singular
Premium
join:2008-08-13
Shelbyville, KY
| reply to M Willner
I always find it nice to find owners of companies getting involved with their customers. That is just something that I really enjoy and every company should do it. Thanks for the explanation Mr. Willner! I know it doesn't mean much but be sure to thank everyone for me. I understand what is involved with something like this, and I know the countless hours spent by your dedicated staff to get things working again. So Thanks. |
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dbmaven
There's no shortage
Premium,Mod
join:1999-10-26
Sty in Sky
clubs: |  reply to debgcd
(topic move) SLOW to get Insight services back up after ice stor
Moderator Action
The post that was here (and all 4 followups to it), has been moved to a new topic .. »SLOW to get Insight services back up after ice storm |
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mearr
@comcast.net
| reply to debgcd
Re: SLOW to get Insight services back up after ice storm
The ice storm missed Indiana this time, but we had one like it about 5 years ago. And the cable company I work for was hit hard.
Whole nodes out get checked first, in some cases they just needed generators because commercial power was still out. We started out with I think 15 generators for 45 nodes, half of them were stolen. We even chained some to the strand and people climbed up there, cut the chains and took the generators. We had people working round the clock gassing up generators and moving generators.
And yes, we do try to get emergency services back on first. Police, fire, hospitals, that rely on us for internet service to communicate get priority. Those were some of the first nodes powered.
We also had whole neighborhoods with so many power lines down we couldn't even drive down the streets, much less begin to work. It's not necessarily just the poles, we have to wait for power to raise the individual drop lines. So if your power line is down, we can't put your cable back up until your power is out of the way. In some places the lines down were so tangled with trees you couldn't do anything, trees have to be removed as well, and no we can't do that for you. Some places in our plant were without power for 2 weeks or more. But we were NOT "waiting" for a normal workday or just sitting around waiting on power. We worked 18 hr days for 2-3 weeks repairing and replacing lines in other areas. Giving power time to fix the hardest hit areas, so we could then get in and restore service.
The OP reminds me of the guy we had complain to our division office that "all the cable guys are just sitting at Ryan's NOT doing anything when they should be working". He was right, once a day for the first week, we all did go to Ryan's, usually around 8pm after working since 6am with no breaks. We stopped to eat and regroup and reroute people. Trucks have to be gassed, people have to be fed. Some of our guys WOULDN'T even go home when told, they just nodded and said yes, then took their trucks out and continued restoring services. I personally know several people in our area that were booking 12 hours of OT a day during that cleanup.
And we do "share" resources like the power companies, we had triple our normal crew working that storm, when Buffalo got hit a few years back, we sent some 30 people from different states just from our company to help them.
Don't tell me cable employees don't care when your service is out or sit on their butts, I know different, firsthand. Before you complain about utilities or cable employees not working hard enough to restore services, I suggest you work for one. |
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