Question: In the last year or so, there have been two accidents in our neighborhood in which cars severed utility poles. Power was knocked out in each case and traffic was contraflowed for hours. Who pays for all this damage?
Answer: The utility companies will go after whoever caused the damage. Many poles are jointly owned, so each owner will bill for their respective costs.
When one of its poles is damaged, Hawaiian Electric’s construction and maintenance department replaces the pole "and tracks the costs," said spokesman Peter Rosegg. The legal department’s claims division bills the person responsible.
Hawaiian Telcom also has a process to bill the person responsible for damaging its poles, including the cost of labor, a spokeswoman said.
According to HECO, about 130 poles are hit in a typical year. Repair or replacement costs vary, depending on the equipment on the poles, such as transformer boxes.
"The responsible driver or his/her insurance carrier is billed, typically about $6,000," Rosegg said. "We are usually successful in recovering the costs."
Question: After six phone calls in one day to Hawaiian Electric Co.’s customer service to ask a billing question,
I gave up. Their phone message said that my hold-wait and my callback wait would be between two and three hours. That is absolutely ridiculous. How many people do they have answering their customer service phones? Also, I could not locate a fax number on my bill nor on their website.
Answer: A new computer system that manages customer billing is being blamed for the lengthy delays in reaching customer service representatives.
HECO changed the computer system at the end of May. Customer service employees "went through extensive training before we changed the system," but they are still "breaking in on the new system," said spokesman Peter Rosegg.
"We expect significant delays to decline in the next few weeks and disappear within a month or two," he said.
Rather than wait on hold, customers can request a call back, specifying a convenient callback time. But customer questions are not taken via fax, Rosegg said.
The best option, he said, is to email the company to avoid waiting on the phone. Emails can be sent by going to the "contact us" link at www.heco.com.
"We know customers are experiencing long waits when trying to reach our call centers and we apologize sincerely," Rosegg said.
Regarding staffing, Rosegg said delays were anticipated, so support staff was added to customer service centers on all islands.
A "large number of people who touch the customer information system daily" also are assisting in the transition, he said.
Meanwhile, HECO changed how its phone system routes specific calls, such as reporting outages, starting/stopping service or inquiring about billing.
"The goal is to direct customers more quickly to where they can get specific help," Rosegg said.
Mahalo
To Cindy at the state Taxpayer Services office. When I called to ask how I could get my tax refund released, she quickly looked up my return and identified the needed document. When I told her I had submitted it some weeks ago, she said it must still be in processing. But instead of telling me to "just be patient," she told me to fax it to her. Thirty minutes later, she called and said to expect a check shortly. I am not often delighted by my government, but I sure am now, thanks to Cindy, employee of the decade! — Mark Torreano, Waikiki
Write to "Kokua Line" at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu 96813; call 529-4773; fax 529-4750; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
