12:35 AM
Writer
To anyone who's willing to listen,
I am Paul Kwo and I live in San Gabriel, CA. I have not had my power restored yet due the Santa Ana wind that hit on the morning of Dec. 1. This is my story.
Like most people in the city of San Gabriel, the power to my house was knocked out at around 1am on Dec. 1. My friend's home a few blocks away was knocked off about an hour before mine was out. It wasn't a big surprise to me so we just went to bed and hoped for the best in the morning.
Throughout Thursday we waited patiently for our power to turn back on only to be disappointed. But still we were patient and knew these things can take some time. We spent parts of our day dinning out in search for power and food. By the end of the day, we saw part of Alhambra and even the western part of San Gabriel come back on. We were very hopeful that we would get power back by Friday.
When Friday morning came, our power was still out, so my family and I decided to dine out for brunch and waited for our power to turn back on. It finally did come back on Friday afternoon and we were grateful. My friend's home a few blocks north of me still was without power and that part of San Gabriel Blvd. has been blocked off.
But on Saturday afternoon the power to my house suddenly started to flicker and eventually dimmed to nothing except a tiny faint signal of light through some of the wall mount lights of the house. We basically had no usable power inside the house. My parents called Southern California Edison and they told them it was an issue with the power circuit that they are repairing the power right now. So we waited patiently for them to repair the problem. But we thought as a family that it should be something different from what they are currently working on, but we trusted them.
On Sunday we were still without power. So this time I called in and asked them what the issue was. I told them that our house had a flicker of power and actually had full power for one day. I wanted to know what that was and what exactly happened. They told me that it was the power circuit and they are working on the repair. They said it would either be repaired by 5pm or that they would get an updated. They also said they would call me when there is an update. I was understanding and said I would wait for them. But they never called.
My house still had no power all of Sunday. I ended up spending more money dinning out and using power of restaurants to do most of the work that I needed to do. I also had to cancel all my piano students this weekend because I was unable to teach them without power in the house. I was losing money and had to spend even more money.
Finally early in the morning on Monday I called Southern California Edison to find out any updates. On their pre-recorded update message it said it was a power circuit issue. But I know there's something amiss here. So I called in again and spoke with someone to talk about this issue. They told me it was a power circuit issue. At this point I was unsatisfied at this answer. This was the same answer my family got two days ago and a day ago. Five days after strong winds and all SCE could tell me was some issue with the power circuit. I kept telling them that this doesn't sound right and that I need a more specific answer to my house, not a generic answer. The operator transferred me to her supervisor.
The supervisor gave me the same exact generic response. I told the supervisor that is not an acceptable answer after 5 days of work. I have been patient the last 4 days waiting for them to do their work. I told the supervisor it isn't the fact that I don't have power that is infuriating me, but the fact that I'm not given a real answer. The supervisor just said that's all the information they had. So I asked her if she can ask them what the issue was, and she told me no, all she can do is write a note about my situation. She told me their only line of communication to the field is through leaving notes. They do not communicate with people working on the field directly.
This is the kind of system Southern California Edison has. They expect their customer to sit quietly in the dark, literally and figuratively, awaiting for their rescue. They brushed me off without even an acknowledgement that I am a human being and I deserve some answer as to why two houses down from my home there is power while there isn't power in my house. But instead they gave me a generic respond and expected me to accept this fact.
Finally in the early afternoon on Monday someone from Edison finally showed up and inspected the problem. I only knew about this person because my neighbor got a call from Edison that someone will stop by on Monday. Worse of all if I didn't see her speaking with my neighbor and that the pole was in my backyard I wouldn't even have caught her and got an answer that my problem was due to a down phaser and not the generic power circuit problem I was told by their operator. She told me that she would put in a work order and hopefully someone will come by later today, hopefully. She told me to call if it doesn't happen and ask to speak with the San Gabriel Planner.
At 5pm, no one has came by. I called Southern California Edison and I asked to speak with the San Gabriel Planner. I was transferred to another operator who informed me that their office is closed so I should call back tomorrow. I told her I was told to call that person about my power issue by your staff. She questioned me if it was someone from Edison. I told her absolutely. She then told me that Edison deals with repair so I should just talk to her. So I said alright and I asked her what's the status of my house. She immediately told me they are fixing the power circuit in my area, the same generic answer that I've been getting. So I immediately stopped her and told her that I was specifically told by SCE staff that it was a phaser at my house. So she told me she will put a work order out for me. I was absolutely confused at why she's putting out a work order when it was supposed to already have been put into the system. She asked if my house was gated or had dogs and I told her no. I asked her when I will have power and she told me she doesn't know when someone will actually stop by and fix my power.
It is now midnight on Tuesday morning and my house still has no power. SCE will only give me a generic answer and won't tell me when my power will come back on even though the problem has been identified. I am not demanding that my power be restored immediately but that they have an answer for me so I can plan ahead. I can't plan accordingly if I can't have a real time frame. But this is the kind of system SCE has always ran on. We all know that power companies like to give people a huge window of time whenever they do work expecting people to hold their lives while they do their work. That is not acceptable. We as customers have no leverage because we are stuck with them. But this is the type of system they run. They have the power so we have to sit here in the dark.
I urge anyone who is willing to listen to me to please reflect my story that this kind of non-communication and brushing off your customers with generic answers cannot be tolerated. I urge everyone to tell SCE and any other power/water/gas companies in America that this lack of communication and lack of respect for their customer's time is absolutely unacceptable. My family and I have lost a ton of money and have been placed under tremendous amount of stress not just because of a loss of power, but because we are left in the dark in terms of information. In the age of the internet and information, how can a corporate giant not be able to provide their customer with a specific time when they can come and fix my problem.
Thank you very much for listening,
Paul Kwo
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