SW Gas Customer-Owned Line replacement - Scam? (insurance, house)

[AZGuy1981]

SW Gas left a flyer on my door, offering to check my underground line between the meter and my house for leaks, and if they find any, they'll move the meter to my house so they become responsible for any leaks outside the physical building. They'll pay to move entrance point to the house up to 20 feet as well. (If they don't find any leaks, they'll leave it alone)

Is this a scam? It sounds like they're offering to do literally thousands of dollars worth of work for nothing. When I called to ask some questions, I asked what they're getting out it, and she gave some vague answer about how the State Commision "made" them do it.

Has anyone had any experience with this program? Should I do it? If it sounds too good to be true...

[curly5759]

I had a similar experience with APS. My lights in the house were flickering. A friend checked it out and said the problem was most likely in the underground lines. I called APS, they came and checked it out. Pretty soon a crew came out and busted up the concrete, ran new lines, replaced the concrete, all at no cost to me. Problem solved!

Curly

[AZGuy1981]

Originally Posted by curly5759

I had a similar experience with APS. My lights in the house were flickering. A friend checked it out and said the problem was most likely in the underground lines. I called APS, they came and checked it out. Pretty soon a crew came out and busted up the concrete, ran new lines, replaced the concrete, all at no cost to me. Problem solved!

Curly

Actually, generally speaking, stuff that goes wrong on a customer-owned line is the customer's own responsibility. That's why this seems like something that's too good to be true, they're offering to do thousands of bucks worth of work that normally I'm totally on the hook for.

[AZ-NG-gal]

My name is Libby Howell and I manage corporate communications for Southwest Gas in southern Arizona. Please feel free to call or email me if you have any questions about our new Customer-Owned Yard Line (COYL) program. Rest assured that it is NOT a scam. We requested this program from the Arizona Corporation Commission, and it went into effect January 1, 2012. Our goal is to replace as many customer-owned yard lines as possible by moving the meter up to the structure, which then would make the natural gas line our responsibility to inspect and maintain. (The average home or business owner typically does not have the expertise or resources to maintain these lines, and a natural gas line that has not been properly maintained could be a possible safety hazard.)
Feel free to contact me at 520-794-6515 or libby.howell@swgas.com

[RickTucsonHomes]

Originally Posted by AZ-NG-gal

My name is Libby Howell and I manage corporate communications for Southwest Gas in southern Arizona. Please feel free to call or email me if you have any questions about our new Customer-Owned Yard Line (COYL) program. Rest assured that it is NOT a scam. We requested this program from the Arizona Corporation Commission, and it went into effect January 1, 2012. Our goal is to replace as many customer-owned yard lines as possible by moving the meter up to the structure, which then would make the natural gas line our responsibility to inspect and maintain. (The average home or business owner typically does not have the expertise or resources to maintain these lines, and a natural gas line that has not been properly maintained could be a possible safety hazard.)
Feel free to contact me at 520-794-6515 or libby.howell@swgas.com

Wow! Now that's impressive customer service response!

[Steve Pickering]

Originally Posted by AZ-NG-gal

My name is Libby Howell and I manage corporate communications for Southwest Gas in southern Arizona. Please feel free to call or email me if you have any questions about our new Customer-Owned Yard Line (COYL) program. Rest assured that it is NOT a scam. We requested this program from the Arizona Corporation Commission, and it went into effect January 1, 2012. Our goal is to replace as many customer-owned yard lines as possible by moving the meter up to the structure, which then would make the natural gas line our responsibility to inspect and maintain. (The average home or business owner typically does not have the expertise or resources to maintain these lines, and a natural gas line that has not been properly maintained could be a possible safety hazard.)
Feel free to contact me at 520-794-6515 or libby.howell@swgas.com

Ditto. Great response. Makes sense too.

As an aside, it shows the energy companies are making money and have a great reserve.

[tom4416]

Libby,

Thank you for chiming in. It's always impressive when someone from a company actually monitors various communication sources and clarifies when appropriate. Hats off to you and SWG.

[tom4416]

A "scam" usually involves some benefit to the scammer - could you point out what that benefit would be in this case? You think they want to move the gas lines because ........? Seems to me they are doing all this work for nothing and will then have more responsibility for the line than they did before the repair. No idea why they would be on the roof but why not go outside and ask them? Seems like you're making all kinds of negative assumptions without trying to get any clarification from the workers and/or the gas company.

As to the five guys digging the ditch - you probably have a supervisor, a pipeline specialist/plumber who will lay the new pipe, couple of laborers doing the actual digging and then an inspector to make sure everything is being done to code and will sign off on the job when the ditch is closed back up. Overkill? Sure, but it's the same reason it takes eight highway workers to fill a pothole.

[Finger Laker]

Originally Posted by tom4416

A "scam" usually involves some benefit to the scammer - could you point out what that benefit would be in this case? You think they want to move the gas lines because ........? Seems to me they are doing all this work for nothing and will then have more responsibility for the line than they did before the repair. No idea why they would be on the roof but why not go outside and ask them? Seems like you're making all kinds of negative assumptions without trying to get any clarification from the workers and/or the gas company.

As to the five guys digging the ditch - you probably have a supervisor, a pipeline specialist/plumber who will lay the new pipe, couple of laborers doing the actual digging and then an inspector to make sure everything is being done to code and will sign off on the job when the ditch is closed back up. Overkill? Sure, but it's the same reason it takes eight highway workers to fill a pothole.

Exactly ... anything with a gas line takes extra caution and you should be happy about that ... also, on a construction crew every job function is specialized .... many reasons for this, but one of them is cost ... different tasks have different pay rates .... also different tasks will have different associated insurance rates

I typically see 3-4 man crews doing basic communications trenching from curb to home - that's at a 12" hand dig and normally takes a solid 1/2 day ..... 5 for a gas line seems very reasonable

[xcargrl]

You bet there's something in it for SW Gas! As with any corporation, their concern is their BOTTOMLINE! They're protecting the corporation from any possible future liability.
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepu...pipelines.html
I think the way they have approached the whole "inspection" thing is very underhanded and deceitful! I'm disabled and can't be without gas for any reason!