By Samantha Vercellino
In 2013, Peoples Gas notified G. Droba of its plans to move his gas meter from the basement to the outside of his house. The Mount Greenwood resident didn’t mind—until his basement suffered severe water damage.
During the switch, he said a pipe was jarred loose from the foundation’s cement, which created an opening for water to seep through to the laundry room leaving an inch of water to clean up.
Hoping to prevent any more flooding, the retired Chicago police officer called Peoples Gas to fix the error. He said a company representative paid him a visit to assess the problem, but the utility didn’t take any immediate action.
“They were very polite, but nothing was getting done,” Mr. Droba said. “And every time it rained, water kept flowing in from the outside.”
After six months of waiting, he filed an online complaint with Sandra Marcelin-Reme, a 21-year veteran of the Consumer Advocacy Department, who immediately requested Peoples look into the case.
Less than 24-hours later, Mr. Droba received a call from the gas company, and a few days later the utility sent a repairman to fix the problem.
Overjoyed the water leak had finally been sealed, Mr. Droba wrote a short but heartfelt thank you to the CUB staff.
“I’m very appreciative of everything that CUB does,” Mr. Droba said. “Especially since the utilities are difficult to work with sometimes.”
If you have questions regarding your utility, phone or cable service, call CUB’s Consumer Hotline, at 1-800-669-5556, to see how the utility watchdog can help you.
