A telephone service provider received criticisms from residents at the July 10 Patrick County Board of Supervisors meeting.
Kim Harmon, a resident of Pole Bridge Road, which is situated in the Mayo River District, said her home telephone service has been little to none for the past nine months.
“In November of 2022, a lady overcorrected her speeding and ran over one of the small green towers, and” the service provider “took their sweet time about coming out and fixing it,” she said.
Brightspeed, which offers home internet, TV, and phone service, is the primary provider in that area and much of the county.
When a repairman visited, Harmon said stopgap measures were used rather than replacing the tower and the damaged wiring that runs to it.
“They kept splicing and twisting the wires together just like you or I could do with some little appliance at home. So, in June we had a really bad storm, and I was without phone service from June 4 to June 20. No phone service whatsoever,” she said.
Over the past three months, Harmon said she’s been without phone service for 25 days.
She added her husband has Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), and they only have a landline because they are unable to get cell reception due to the location of their home.
Harmon said the service provider “also does not offer anybody internet service anymore either, and since that time we actually have some people who had internet for about 15 years and suddenly they no longer get internet from” the company.
Harmon said no fiber optic cables have been run out onto their road to show the provider plans to try and improve service. Instead, she said the company returns to the same box and fixes the same thing over and over again.
“In June, when I lost phone service for two solid weeks, they came and fixed it. I had phone service for two days. We had another rainstorm, it went out, and I was without service again for a week, and so were most of my neighbors on my line,” Harmon said.
She said some customers on Pleasant View Drive may have the service, but there’s so much “roaring and static” one cannot hear what the person on the other end of the line is saying.
“This affects many of us. Most of us, 90 percent of us, affected in this region are over 65 years old. We have people on oxygen, people with severe health problems,” she said.
Since Patrick Henry Volunteer Fire Department is no longer running medical calls in the area, Harmon said the community depends on volunteer agencies in Bassett. She estimates it takes those agencies around 25 minutes to get to the area – even when the telephone service is working.
Harmon said she called a supervisor with the service provider and asked him to come out and look at the tangled wires on the outside of the tower.
“It’s covered with a Hefty garbage bag, and it’s only halfway covered, and the wires are in a wadded-up stash of little connectors and bare wires that the rain hits,” Harmon said. “In June, instead of repairing the cable and burying it, they did a jumper wire, ran it half a mile, and crossed the road with it, strung it up Pole Bridge sign, and went to the tower to give me service,” she said.
Two days later, Harmon said it affected the service of other people on her road. A service technician returned three days later and addressed the problem by running a second line across the road.
Currently, there are three lines running across the road, Harmon said. The lines are draped across mailboxes, propped up with sticks, and stretched across someone’s driveway.
Harmon said the lines have been damaged by a lawn mower twice.
“As time goes on and cars run over those lines, it frays them and wears them. These lines have been laying on the ground for nine months now,” she said.
“We just need help. We really need help” getting the company” to do their job. They say they’re going to give us credits, I’ve gotten one credit for $20. That’s all I’ve gotten for one month,” she said.
Clyde DeLoach, of the Blue Ridge District, said he’s had complaints about service issues also, and hopes there’s something the board can do about it.
“It’s unacceptable,” he said.
Denise Stirewalt, of the Peters Creek District, agreed, especially as there is no cell phone service in the area.
“In Smith River, we’ve had complaints as well, and even my own personal house phone when it rains, there’s no point in even calling the house phone,” Doug Perry, of the Smith River District, said. “I hope you’re not having to pay the bill because they haven’t provided the services.”
“When mine goes out, I don’t pay it. I call them, and I call them, and I call them,” Stirewalt said.
Clayton Kendrick, the chairman, said he talked with State Corporation Commission (SCC) officials and sent them several photos of the wires.
“The lady from the State Corporation Commission said she’d get back to me, and she suggested that we call our local representative from” the company, he said. “I think the county’s been sending them stuff for a right good while” to let them know about service-related issues.
Kendrick said it’s definitely something the board needs to look into.
“It might just be me, but I’ve kind of got the thought that” the company doesn’t “want to spend anything in our area. I said I’ve got a cable at my place that’s grown into a tree,” he said.
DeLoach suggested the board contact Del. Wren Williams, R-Stuart, to help with the issue.
“This is a safety issue,” DeLoach noted.
Kendrick said something needs to be done to fix the problem.
“There’s no sense in what we’ve got there,” he said.
Brightspeed did not respond to requests for comment.