Deserves better in Bowmanstown

Dear Editor:

The customer service department of PPL Utilities Corporation needs much improvement, in reference to the storm that hit the Bowmanstown area on Thursday, May 26, 2011.

After our power went out at approximately 9 p.m. on Thursday night, I called PPL at 1:58 a.m. to report our outage. They told me that the power would be restored at 5:30 a.m. The electricity did not come back on. At 12:30 p.m. that same day, my wife called PPL; she was told the electricity would be restored at 3 p.m. This did not happen. At 5:19 p.m. I again telephoned PPL; they told me that the power would be back on at 1 a.m. on Saturday, May 28. However, again the power was not restored. At the same time, they also told me that this outage was never reported.

At 3:38 a.m. on May 28, I telephoned PPL; they told me that electricity would be restored at 10 a.m. that same day. At 8:07 a.m. I called them to verify the restoration time. PPL reaffirmed that it would occur at 10 a.m. on Saturday May 28. Again, this did not happen.

Consequently, I called them back at 19 a.m. on May 28; this time they said that electricity would be back on by 2 p.m. that same day. At 12:46 p.m. on May 28, my next phone call to PPL claimed that the power restoration would be at 4:30 p.m. that afternoon.

Finally, at 4:19 p.m. on Saturday, May 28, almost 43 hours after the blackout, the electric power was restored in my Bowmanstown home.

My family and my neighbors deserve better. I understand that PPL Utilities Corporation was very busy. But if they had no idea of the time of electricity restoration, then their customer service department should have conveyed this on their phone to their valued customers. Instead, they repeatedly gave false and misleading information to us.

We had just purchased groceries and filled our freezer. The high cost of groceries together with this lengthy power outage would have cost my wife and me hundreds of dollars. Luckily, we transported our frozen food to a relative's freezer in her home.

This could have been avoided. PPL should have told their customers that they did not know the time of electricity restoration. Your customers of Meadow Crest in Bowmanstown all deserved better information instead of very misleading promises.

Sincerely,

Robert Sikorsky

Bowmanstown