Don’t Breaker The Script!

A storm causes a tree to fall across the powerlines, tearing them completely off the building.

I call up the power company to report it and get a repair crew out. I am met with a woman who is obviously reading from a script and is very devoted to it.

Me: “A tree came down and tore the wires off my house, so I need a repair crew to come out and re-attach them.”

Call Center Agent: “Before we do that, go out and flip the main breaker on and off. That often fixes issues.”

Me: “That won’t do anything. The power lines are lying on the ground. They are no longer physically attached to the building.”

She keeps insisting I go and flip the breaker. I’m not getting anywhere, so I finally said I will. I put the phone down, wait a minute or two, and pick it up.

Me: “Didn’t work.”

Call Center Agent: “Okay, I guess we will have to send a crew out to try and find out what the problem is.”

I had a good laugh with the crew when they arrived. I told them about my call and said I really hoped they’d be able to figure out what was wrong.