Power company killed off my tank!

[Tang Salad]

Re: Power company killed off my tank!

Ouch. :mixed:

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12974580#post12974580 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Semper Fi 1959
Let's say I bought a fish that cost me $100 2 years ago as a juvenile but has now grown to an adult. How in the world to I go about figuring out the fish prices?

You need to provide "replacement cost" not initial purchase price, correct? If so, find prices of the fish at the sizes they were when the power company killed them.

 

[SeaWeed89]

well to everyone that thinks there different and they know their priorities....i hope it never happens to you. ive had the great life cars, houses, etc. and to get it taken away from you with none of it being your fault is why those programs are there to help good honest people whom really need it. i agree that you should atleast downgrade or posibly get rid of if your a complete bum and have no itentions of trying to pay or havent paid in 6mo. but to all of you who think that you wouldnt go looking for help if you didnt have family where would you get it (and im talking about towns that have hardly any jobs including flipping burgers) please tell me how you would do it.

 

[Semper Fi 1959]

"they floated you for a couple of months without payment"

When did I ever say this? You know what they say about assuming...

I said I got backed up...but I paid what I could. Gotta love that MINIMUM amount due. I love these terms MOOCH and HAND OUT. Absolutely kills me. I've done more for this country, for this government you speak of, and for YOU than you could possibly fathom. During tough times if this same government and country can't try to help me out the same way I helped IT, then what the hell was I doing all those years??? What were we fighting for? Why do I have friends in the ground that will never get to see their wives again? Why do I have a scar across my skull from a bullet? Yes, I VOLUNTEERED for all of that and I NEVER asked for anything more than I deserved and had coming to me. Which most of the time was nothing because we didn't do it for the money, believe that. Over the winter I felt I deserved some help from a program designed to do just that, HELP. A lot of 'help' it did.

I say to all of you guys with your 'corporate America' speeches and all that... "If you can read, thank a teacher. If you can read in ENGLISH, thank a Marine". Without us, there wouldn't be a corporate America. Without us and what we did and do, you'd be speaking German or Japanese. Freedom isn't free, believe me. And to me, it has a flavor you'll never know about. Again, god help any of you up on your soapboxes thiking you're too good and it will never happen to you if you ever need a hand.

I know people that have food stamps yet have new sneakers every week. I know people that live in housing paid for by the gov't yet drive a brand new Jeep Grand Cherokee. I know people that collect S.S. at 45 because they 'got hurt' at work yet are at a bar every night after babysitting all day under the table. I know people that ship something worth $100 but insure it for $500 hoping it gets destroyed. I do not put myself, nor can you, into any of these categories. In no way am I a mooch. You can think I shouldn't get any kind of help with the dead livestock, that's fine. But don't insult me just because I got help from public assistance ONCE in my whole life.

And as I said, I DID sell some stuff off. It's quite hard to sell a tank as a complete setup with THAT much in it. Believe me, I tried. Everyone wants to lowball lowball lowball and get it for nothing. I'm sorry but I wasn't selling off my investment and years of hard work for a few bucks. Would YOU have given me a fair price? Hell no you wouldn't have. That's the problem with this hobby...everyone OVER estimates the value of their OWN stuff and UNDER estimates the value of everyone elses.

And having 15 hours to go get a generator makes a ton of sense if I had the money to go get one (at THAT point). I will definitely have one handy now though.

 

[aslavatortin]

Suing isn't the answer, find a new job and save some money this time in the form of an emergency fund in case something like this happens again ("they" recommend $1000 to start with, but you should work your way up to an emergency fund of at least 3 months' gross pay.

 

[SeaWeed89]

how do you save when your barely making ends meat ? with 2 jobs...im not trying to be rude or anything to anyone im just trying to learn something.

 

[NaH2Ofreak]

mmmmmmmmmm...ends meat....anyone got any A1?

J/K chris!!

 

[Gtstricky]

Well this thread is going no where good.

We are all great at Monday morning quarterbacking but the fact still remains that what happened to Semper sucks.

Semper thank you for serving your (and my) country, glad your life is going back in the right direction, and I wish you the best.

 

[aslavatortin]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12977285#post12977285 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by SeaWeed89
how do you save when your barely making ends meat ? with 2 jobs...im not trying to be rude or anything to anyone im just trying to learn something.

At some point, he was making ends "meat" because he had $2000 in fish stuff. All I'm saying is, moving forward, save up an emergency fund before reinvesting in fish (or paying some ambulance chaser a retainer ).

 

[aslavatortin]

Oh yeah, Semper, if you haven't already, use your GI bill and get a degree! I got an email from military.com the other day that it's up to around $48,000 now!!!:eek1:

 

[ransomed4ever]

I don't think whether someone believes in taking public assistance or not isn't the point to this thread. The fact is that he was assured that his power would NOT be shut off, but then it was. The company has also admitted that this was their mistake. It really doesn't make a difference the circumstances of it being shut off when they promised it wounld not be. The same thing could have happened if the power company was doing line work and assured customers that the power would not be cut, but if it was the company would be liable for anything that happened there. But, I guess in today's society not many people or businesses care to stand behind their word.

 

[HippieSmell]

I'm sorry you lost a bunch of livestock, that sucks. I also thank you for serving this country, but I have to say the "travel agents to Allah" signature is a bit harsh. I just want to say that the crap you've been getting from some members is absurd. Nobody knows your circumstances, and everyone needs to think before they post ASSumptions. Also, go ahead and sue if you want, that's what the court system is there for. A lot of people tout the merits of capitalism and the free market but shun lawsuits. I've got news for you, that's all private businesses respond to, lawsuits. Lawsuits are the capitalist counterpart to democratic protests. Sadly, a lot of free market purists don't want either. Go figure.

 

[maroun.c]

Not really familiar with this whole process of assistance, which I also believe is out of the scope of this post so will not comment on it, still I agree that they messed up big causing lots of damage and killing hours of hardwork to get a stable tank and I believe you should give them the hard time they deserve and if you manage to make them pay for it then sure go for the max you think you can get.

 

[Semper Fi 1959]

I'll be changing my sig when I'm done with this post...even though I believe in free speech and free views, if it offended one then it offended too many. I saw it on a bumper sticker on a site I went to earlier to vent after getting a little 'touchy' so to speak.

Back to the topic...

I'm not suing. Never had any intention of suing over the tank. I joined a CIVIL SUIT that was started long ago by others who were wronged by this company in a similar fashion - unrelated to the tank incident. (whole different topic - in original post I mentioned that this isn't the first time they have screwed me over).

The consumer advocate for the company finally called me back after all the stuff had died and I had left 100 messages on her office phone and cell phone, and I let her know what had happened. I understood that she was trying to help and I let her know that, but at the same time she promised I would never be without power and that the disconnect was a simple formality. I remember one voicemail in particular that I was NOT so nice in..."This is insert name here, and I'm standing in my living room looking at a dead $500 fish..." I was not happy that day.

SHE sent me out a claim form for my damages or losses as you'd say and I'm left to fill it out. That was the whole point of the thread...how do you put a price on things you've been accumulating for years and years and hours and hours and etc etc. That was all I was trying to get help with. They aren't denying responsibility, but when I have some $$ in my hand I'll feel better. I have a feeling I'm going to get nowhere even though she is admitting fault.

The claim form she sent me to fill out says:

"With the exception of weather related claims, each matter is investigated to determine the underlying facts. In cases where National Grid acknowledges responsibility, claim payments will be made only to the properly identified owners of the damaged property."

And there's a section that says:

"List the items damaged: YOU MUST UNCLUDE MAKE, MODEL NUMBER and DATE OF ORIGINAL PURCHASE. Enclose a written repair bill or estimate for each damaged item. If items are not repairable, enclose a statement from a repairman stating the cost to repair them would exceed the cost to replace them along with a copy of the original purchase receipt or a written estimate of the replacement cost."

How would YOU (looking back) put a price on stuff in your tank if you lost it all tomorrow?

 

[melev]

Good lord, what has happened to our RC community? Todd was right when he warned everyone to keep it helpful and not make attacks.

I'm very sorry to see what happened to your livestock that you've cared for for so long. Generators are very expensive, but renting one for a day is about $40 with tax. That should have been the first thing you should have done. Tanks without power rarely last past 6 hours due to the sandbed sucking all the oxygen out of the water.

You mentioned you were stirring the water, but the best thing you could have done was siphon out a ton and pour it back in. For water that is cooling off, you could wrap the tank with a blanket to seal it off, and heat up some tank water on a propane camping stove or grill perhaps. Battery powered air pumps would be another option.

Choose the prices that you feel are fair for your livestock and present the list. Odds aren't really in your favor to get money back, but perhaps you'll get a specific dollar amount in electricity credit for the next few months. If you bought a coral for $50 and it grew larger, would you actually sell it for $200 or would you probably sell it to someone for $75? It can be difficult to decide if you are selling it for a fair price vs selling it at LFS markup pricing. I'd try to avoid getting greedy with your claim, and let them know that when you provide the list. Let them know what it easly could have been perhaps, so they realize you are being reasonably in a situation where you did no wrong and were following their guidelines.

Let us know how it turns out.

 

[Semper Fi 1959]

Darn it...I didn't think of siphoning it out and then dumping it back in. Making a dump bucket system of sorts...

I was standing there with a friggen plastic kitchen spoon, one of the ones you stir pasta with, going back and forth until my arm almost fell off.

I was doing this because I remember reading something about 100 years ago about a tank that lost power and the guy got like egg beaters or something like that to run on battery power and was stirring the water that way. I just kept thinking water movement water movement. And actually, the blanket covering the tank method to keep heat in sounds familiar too. And if memory serves me, it was at a school? Or business of some type...I don't think it was in his home. And a student helped him or something? Maybe I'm losing it...wish I could remember where I read this story now...

 

[melev]

Oxygenation is key. And obviously heat was an issue too. For us in Texas, we have tons of heat and we have to float ice in our sumps in an emergency. Frozen 2-liter bottles work too, if you have some stored in the freezer for those times.

 

[MPeer]

Semper - I'm sorry about your loss. Sounds like if the power company was willing to replace or repair any losses incurred due to the disconnection, then I say go for it. However, if they contest then through their own admission of wrongdoing, the power company breached your contract with them. You have standing to sue for any consequential damages suffered as a result from their breach. If the court favors you, the damages awarded should be the same as what your tank and anything lost or damaged were worth before the disconnect.

In judging the value of your loss if it's not clear, they usually use a reasonable value, which is usually a fair market price at the time.

Hope everything works out for you in the end.

 

[IridescentLily]

Oh my goodness. I'm so sorry about your losses, I feel just sick for you.

 

[Mark426]

I have been through tough times too....but ...I dont care how much you love your tank or your family loves your tank. When you are having trouble paying your bills thats the 1st thing to go! Take care of your family 1st, then your bills...a silly aquarium doesnt even make the list! Be glad its gone and take care of whats important. Drain the friggin thing! You will bounce back...the next time around your tank will be better than ever.

 

[rkelman]

Wow lots of judges here. I think he asked for help didn't he? Not abuse I don't think.