Does anyone work for a local natural gas company??

[Johnny248]

I was wondering if anyone out here in BITOG land works, worked, or as knowledge regarding the local gas company.

I've had to have Consumers Energy come out a couple times recently for turn-on's at a couple properties. The last three times I have sat there for their entire five hour appointment window waiting for someone to show up. Just today as the the 8am - 1pm gap was closing, I called to see what is going on. Is someone actually coming? and they told me they are on the way. Then 1:30 came around. Again, I called back. They told me the technician is running behind because he was re-routed to a gas leak and that they are still scheduled to come out, however with no idea as to an ETA.

After I hung up out of frustration, I received a call from someone else at Consumers telling me that the tech is running behind due to a gas leak call.

This is the third appointment in a row that has been delayed hours due to gas leaks elsewhere.

So my question is this: Are gas leaks really so common that my service calls are constantly delay? I've never had a gas leak in my life. In fact, I can't ever recall anyone ever mentioning to me that the gas company was at their home/business because of a gas leak. To me this sounds like a fabricated excuse for being late for appointments. Similar to how most of us service guys always use the excuse on customers that there was a problem with the parts department, part ordering, shipping problem, or issue with the vendor which has caused their vehicle service to not be completed by the estimated time in which we told them.

I understand and accept that a gas leak should take priority over a turn on call for safety reasons, and maybe I'm 100% wrong in my excuse theory, but what gives? How is having all of these issues with gas leaks? I'm pretty surprised that most people would even detect or know that they have a gas leak.

Am I wrong?

 

[The_Jeff]

You could check your town 911 logs for gas leaks as at least some of them must get reported to the fire department.

Your situation reminds me of when an airplane is grounded because of "a problem with the air conditioning". I can see guys working on the plane through the terminal window-- not near any framusses that resemble AC parts.

 

[901Memphis]

Sounds like a fabricated excuse to me also. I guess they get away with it because they are the only gas company in town?

 

[kschachn]

I worked for a utility for several years and I can tell you that a suspected gas leak call takes precedence over any other sort of maintenance, just as "downed power line" does for the electric utility. People do smell gas leaks but often do not call, thinking it isn't important. Most utilities do surveys of outdoor equipment every couple of years or so, and detect their own leaks that way. Utilities very much appreciate customers calling in about a suspected leak.

Having said that though, the rate of leak calls is pretty constant and a utility should budget labor appropriately so that technicians aren't called off other service runs just to cover. I agree that from your story it seems a bit convenient.

And eljefino - where are the "AC parts" on an aircraft? Please be specific, I work in the airline industry now and have for the past 25+ years. I'd like to hear where you think they are on an airplane and what they look like.

 

[Vern_in_IL]

Gas leaks happen all the time. I've "smelled" many natural gas leaks, usually at the metering station off the main 30" 'er. One even ignited.

Natural gas emergencies are a common call.

However, the company did have one idiot, worked there for 30 years and threatened to "shut the valves!" if they fired him, finally got rid of him..(after they installed alarms and sheriff cameras at the main pump station).. and he shut off a metering valve to the local town, restored gas, less than 30 min and the whole line would have depressurized, he was apprehended.

 

[PandaBear]

There was a slow gas leak in my driveway a couple years ago. My dad smelled it for a couple of weeks but couldn't find it until one day we decide to narrow down the area and call PG&E. They send someone out and narrow it down to an underground pipe under the driveway, and immediately call a crew out to dig it up and replace it that night. The work started at 7pm and finished at 1am.

 

[mtndew_dad]

I happen to be very familiar with how a gas utility company operates. The company I worked for put the safety of the public first and providing excellent customer service was next on the list. Every call in that even mentions an odor of gas must and will be investigated by a front line worker and is treated like an emergency. That means they must stop what they are doing and go NOW. Unfortunately, If the service tech was at or on there way to your job and gets called away it is easy to feel like you are getting a dose of bad customer service. The gas company does plan for a certain percentages of these type of calls, but obviously the exact number, timing and nature are unpredictable.

Natural gas (methane) has no smell in its "natural" state, so a strong odorant called mercaptan is added. The odor is distinct, yet similar to other smells such sewer gas, rotting trash and decaying animal or organic materials so a very large percentage of gas odor calls are a false alarm. Emergency response is also required for suspected carbon monoxide issues (CO detector alarming....again usually a false alarm as old CO detectors are prone to lie), any structure fire or as requested by police or fire depart. Our techs averaged about 1 to 2 emergency calls per 8 hr shift! So they happened more than you might guess. One tech I spoke to had 9 in one day! It can be frustrating trying to proved good customer service with this common yet unpredictable component as part of the equation. As I said, the company I worked for also had a strong desire to provide great customer service and would have no problem paying overtime to have the techs out working around the clock to turn the gas on. Actually, they can't just turn it on a walk away like the water company. A leakage test is required to be performed and a purging and appliance start up/test is completed.

My best advise is to leave a key somewhere for access if you can't be home or ask for a call ahead instead of just sitting on site waiting for what might be hours.

 

[Lapham3]

Years ago I worked with a fella that had worked in Milwaukee and east coast areas for gas companies. He said the the old infrastructure in some areas was so bad that the gas lines were rusting/corroding away and the gas just kept flowing in the void areas=lots of leaks!

 

[Win]

Here, there always seems to be a gas leak within days of pouring new concrete or laying fresh asphalt. It's uncanny.

Their infrastructure is not just depreciating - it's dissolving.