Who to Escalate Issue with Level 1 Electrical ASP to?

John Kimble on 30/09/2022 - 10:53
Last edited 30/09/2022 - 11:41 by 1 other user

Hello,

Hoping for some expert advice.

TL;DR Who do I escalate a matter to about a Level 1 Electrical ASP?

I've tried to make this as concise as possible. Apologies in advance for the length.

<rant>A few months ago, a Level 1 ASP was digging up the road outside our place to upgrade the electrical wiring in the area and accidentally hit our water main pipe. They repaired the pipe, but we subsequently encountered issues with sand and grit in a lot of our fixtures, causing leaky toilets and stuck valves that we needed a plumber to come and resolve.

I emailed the ASP and said they should pay the invoice for the plumber visit, because the catalyst for these issues was them hitting our pipe.
After a few back and forth emails, the managing director eventually showed his hand by mentioning that all our pipes and valves are old (they probably are, we live in a art Deco building) so it wasn't just due to them hitting the pipe. I argue this has no relevance???

I've been following up regularly since, and he just basically fobs me off with random responses like "haven't looked at it yet", "checking with my insurance broker", "I'm currently overseas".

Who can I escalate to? ACCC? Fair trading?

I raised a case with Ausgrid and they said it's not them. Council said it's not them either.

Should I even bother? The bill is only ~$900, but I don't see why we should pay for something they caused. We've not had any plumbing issues until they introduced sand and grit into our system.

We are still having issues with our shower water pressure that we've decided it's probably too difficult to resolve </rant>

TIA,
DJK

Poll Options

  • 1
    ACCC
  • 2
    Chuck an Elsa and Let It Go
  • 16
    Electricity Ombudsman (but seems like this is more for electricity providers?)
  • 3
    Fair Trading
  • 1
    Other (Please advise)
  • 1
    Small Claims Tribunal
Home & Garden

Comments

  • Ugly on 30/09/2022 - 10:56
    +1

    My father had a similar problem a few years back when an electrical contractor broke their phone and NBN cables.
    Went all the way to the ombudsman, but eventually they paid up.

  • coffeeinmyveins on 30/09/2022 - 11:02

    The bill is only ~$900

    Only?!

    Is this a private company or ausgrid themselves? if private, tell them you are going to leave reviews on FB, Google Reviews, and then contact the relevant ombudsman .

    • John Kimble on 30/09/2022 - 11:05

      Yeah, pretty steep, but we didn't really have a choice, live in a 4 unit strata block and the strata manager sent the plumber. They had to visit twice and fix quite a few fixtures across three apartments.

      A private company. Ausgrid said they approved and oversaw the electrical works, but they didn't engage the ASP to complete the work in the first place.

    • pegaxs on 30/09/2022 - 13:20
      +1

      tell them you are going to leave reviews on FB, Google Reviews

      Ok, Pam, settle down…

  • AndyC1 on 30/09/2022 - 11:09
    +1

    If they were digging up the road then they would have been employed by or sub contracting to the electrical distributor for the area. \

    As such make a formal complaint to the electrical distributor for you area (not a phone call, but via the internet or email as a phone call can be classified as an enquiry…..). In the complaint give them 5 working days to resolve it or you will go to the ombudsmen (you will need to get the correct name for the ombudsmen who looks after electrical issues in your state).

    IF the dug up the road then the council will have a record of which company did the work. I would also chase up the council to get the company name and make a formal complaint to them as well.

    • John Kimble on 30/09/2022 - 11:19

      I know which ASP company it was, they were digging up the road between us and the sub station for weeks and I've been emailing their director back and forth for the last few months.

      Council and Ausgrid just say I have to keep hounding the ASP for a resolution, but since I'm not getting anywhere, I want to escalate to someone else but I have no idea who is the most appropriate, hence my post.

      • AndyC1 on 30/09/2022 - 11:37

        Have you made formal complaints to the ASP and Ausgrid and the Electrical ombudsmen?

        • John Kimble on 30/09/2022 - 12:12

          Not to the ASP yet, was trying to give them a chance to resolve.

          I've drafted an email to say if I don't get a resolution by x date, I will escalate to "someone" , but not sure who the appropriate "someone" should be, which is why I'm asking for advice.

          • SBOB on 30/09/2022 - 14:50
            +1

            @John Kimble:

            Not to the ASP yet, was trying to give them a chance to resolve.

            I've been emailing their director back and forth for the last few months.

            pretty sure i would have given up on that chance after a week or 2

            • AndyC1 on 30/09/2022 - 15:28
              +1

              @SBOB: That's one more week than me as if a company does not do something within a week then your info/request has gone to the very bottom of the bucket (aka bin usually) and in that case formal complaints hopefully mean that it gets investigated by other people.

              • John Kimble on 30/09/2022 - 15:48

                @AndyC1: The thing is he responds quite quickly…just with nothing substantial though. I just didn't think a director of a (not small) company would have the time, patience or desire to string someone along for under $1k.

                I know, I'm an idiot.

  • mbck on 30/09/2022 - 11:54
    +3

    Please update if you do get a resolution. This sounds like a huge headache

  • payless69 on 30/09/2022 - 12:23
    +2

    Bikies!!

    We lived on a hill and them plastic pipes broke once trucks went over our verge. Yep, sand kills flickmixers, toilet valves etc.
    I good flush after the repair would have gone a long way.
    Since I found out that our council still has asbestos water mains I installed a sediment filter for the whole house.

  • DingoBlue on 30/09/2022 - 12:55

    flush it out mate

    • John Kimble on 30/09/2022 - 13:09

      The shower? How do I do that? I'm guessing there's still debris in the mixer or something…no other fixtures are still affected after the plumber attended.

      • JIMB0 on 30/09/2022 - 15:40
        +2

        The sand is probably blocking the shower head or the strainer where it connects to the wall. Its easy to pull apart yourself and flush it out.

        • John Kimble on 30/09/2022 - 15:51

          Thanks, but have cleaned that out already, the head itself is all clear. It's only when hot water is used, that it's slightly less pressure.

          Bath tub spout is fine, kitchen tap is fine, so has to be something in that shower head pipe somewhere else. 🤷🏻‍♂️

  • jizmo on 01/10/2022 - 16:45
    +1

    You need a plumber to substantiate the allegation Then send invoice of damages to the company.
    They didn't dial before they dug so their insurance will most probably be void on the claim and would have had to pay for pipe repairs out of their own pocket. (As was a mates when it happened to him).

    Probably the only way you'll see any money is to go to court and hopefully win based on the plumbers report.
    Is all that going to be worth $900?
    The company' knows what most peoples answer will be that's why they're fobbing you off

    • John Kimble on 01/10/2022 - 18:22

      Your last paragraph makes me sad, because it's probably true.

      The plumber's report says the valves and fixtures were full of debris and sand. They couldn't/wouldn't say it was due to the electrician's hitting the pipe (they weren't there for that), but it's a clear link to me.

      Issue is the ASP's plumber is saying our pipes and valves are old…this I feel is irrelevant, it's not a great analogy, but if you are in a car accident with a 20 year old car, you still need to pay up or pay your excess to get that 20 year old car repaired or give the owner the value of the car.

      • jizmo on 01/10/2022 - 19:45

        Your only recourse would be to find the plumber who did the repair maybe by contacting the offending company over a trivial thing needing them and plumber in at the same time "Who do they use"
        Then getting the plumbers details on the work done on that day. Most are only going to detail the repair and items used
        Better chance of Jesus coming to earth tomorrow in a pink tutu riding a unicorn

  • John Kimble on 06/10/2022 - 08:41

    UPDATE: Yesterday I emailed the ASP a deadline to resolve the issue. WIthin minutes he called me, offered to pay half of the plumbing invoice only.

    Basically said take it or leave it, because although I am more than welcome to escalate, he claims our water mains pipe under the road was installed too shallow into rock (which is not to code) so shouldn't have been there for them to hit to begin with (so saying it also wasn't entirely their fault they hit our pipe).

    I think I will take it, we are still out of pocket, but it's better than nothing and I still don't even know who I will escalate to if I wanted to. The EWON website says it's not them, go to Fair Trading. Go to Fair Trading, that website doesn't have an appropriate category either (as far as I can tell).

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