Action 9

Charlotte residents upset with Google Fiber crews installing cable

By Jason Stoogenke, wsoctv.com
By Jason Stoogenke, wsoctv.com

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Google Fiber crews have hit utility lines multiple times this year in Charlotte.

The company is laying thousands of miles of cable, is enough to stretch between uptown Charlotte and Atlanta more than eight times.

Crews hit gas lines twice in February in the Highland Creek neighborhood, leaving hundreds without heat.

Crews hit an AT&T line last month on Ken Tompkins’ street.

"It's just been a nightmare," Tompkins said.

Action 9 found similar stories in other cities like Atlanta, where WSOC-TV's sister station WSB-TV recently tied Google Fiber to four broken utility lines.

"You just wish they would take the time and the effort to make sure it's done right and there's no issues," Atlanta resident Keith Bahun said.

Google Fiber emailed nearly identical statements to both TV stations.
 
"We're constantly working to minimize disruption" and the company has "worked to resolve issues quickly and safely," Google Fiber officials said in the statements.
 
Tompkins begs to differ. 
 
"It was a struggle to get anything done," he said.
 
Google Fiber told him to coordinate with AT&T to fix the line, and that took up about 18 hours of his time, according to Tompkins.
 
"I spent hours playing project manager for their project," he said. "I lost valuable time with my family and at work trying to get things restored."
 
Google Fiber wouldn't confirm or deny putting that responsibility on Tompkins. 
 
The company said it has "a team dedicated to speaking with customers who have any questions or concerns about construction" and advised residents to call  877-454-6959 with concerns.

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