Vienna woman says it took 5 calls to Washington Gas before gas leak was correctly diagnosed
After the fifth call, a worker told her he detected "explosive level" gas readings.
A Vienna woman says it took five calls to Washington Gas, who sent a representative out each time, before a gas leak at her home was correctly diagnosed and fixed.
"Every, every single one of the five people from Washington Gas that came into our house smelled the gas. So, they all knew there was a problem. They just couldn't find it," said Andrea Jacobs.
It was only after the fifth worker from the company came out, that she says the issue was finally resolved.
In Blink camera footage that Jacobs shared with WUSA9, you can see and hear a man say, "I'm getting pretty strong readings at your house, it's gotta be the service."
Jacobs tells WUSA9 that man is the fifth Washington Gas employee who was sent to her home.
"The fact that I had to come back to this and they should have found it. It kind of ticks me off a little bit," you can hear and see the person say.
"He said he was shocked. It took so many calls to Washington Gas before they identified that problem," said Jacobs.
It began in December.
"[The] end of December I smelled gas in my basement and I called the fire department. They didn't detect dangerous levels of gas inside the basement and that's really what they look for, so they advised we call Washington Gas," she told WUSA9.
She says they didn't seem too concerned, so she put off calling the gas company for a few days.
First Call January 8, 2024
On Jan. 8, Jacobs says she made her first call to Washington Gas, because the smell of gas was still there.
"They [Washington Gas] came out and read that the furnace in the basement was passing gas. They said that when the gas is turned off in the house the furnace is still leaking gas," said Jacobs.
She called her HVAC company, and they came out to her home in Vienna.
On a receipt from that visit, the worker wrote that they checked all of the gas connections on the gas pipe for leaks.
They wrote didn't find any leaks at this time. Also checked the furnace and water heater. Found leaks at this time.
"They didn't see a problem so they left. We thought it over and called them back and said can you take a second look. They came back and they replaced the gas valve just to be safe," said Jacobs.
Second Call January 8, 2024
She tells WUSA9 that she could still smell gas in her basement later that day, so she called Washington Gas back, and they came out.
"Once again they told us the problem was the furnace," said Jacobs.
She says she called her HVAC company again, and they came out and replaced her gas valve again, for free.
"They told me that's a very unusual problem to have happen and they don't believe the furnace is the issue," said Jacobs.
Third Call January 16, 2024
About a week later, on Jan. 16, Jacobs says she was still smelling gas in her basement. So, she called Washington Gas a third time.
A rep came out to her home to take a look.
"They told us now the issue was not only the furnace but the gas line outside that runs to our generator," said Jacobs.
That worker, Jacobs says, shut off the gas line to both.
She says she called her HVAC company and they assured her it was not an HVAC problem.
Jacobs says she also called the generator company who told her to have Washington Gas come back out after four to five days to re-read the situation and ensure they had isolated the problem to the generator line and to confirm that the problem was not the main gas line.
Fourth Call January 22, 2024
This time, the Washington Gas worker who came to her home, told her there was no gas line problem, Jacobs said.
"Something didn't strike me right about that particular rep," said Jacobs.
Fifth/Final Call January 23, 2024
So, she called Washington Gas the very next day. This worker she explained, went around to the side of her home where the meter is located.
"He said that his scanner that reads for gas levels, that the gas reading out here exceeded the maximum levels of the scanner it was so high," said Jacobs.
She says he ordered a crew to come out immediately and stayed at her home until the gas leak was in the process of being fixed.
Jacobs told WUSA9 that the person who was fixing the leak told her it was "pouring out."
Reaction
"I was shocked. He was the fifth person that had come out to test for this problem and he was the first one that had identified a grade one gas leak," said Jacobs.
"I mean, my heart sank. I was terrified. My family had been living here for several weeks with this problem, and the level of incompetence that we had encountered during our journey of trying to identify the issue just prolonged that time that we were living in a potentially dangerous situation," said Jacobs.
She sent a lengthy email to Washington Gas.
"Today, for the first time in over a month, I finally feel safe as there is no gas smell in my basement," Jacobs wrote in an email to Washington Gas on Jan. 24.
She asked for a reimbursement of the $724 she had spent on what she called "unnecessary repairs" and for accountability.
"Never mind the over $700 in bills I racked up going down rabbit holes to fix problems that didn't exist. This is a public safety issue. We have a company, Washington Gas, that is supposed to be the expert in identifying gas problems, gas leaks, and they left us, you know, with a number of different diagnoses and living in a potentially dangerous situation for weeks until they were able to confidently identify the problem," said Jacobs.
On Feb. 13, she was reimbursed for the $724 by Washington Gas. She also received a call from a Washington Gas rep.
"They promised to retrain employees, both their employees and contractors, and so I was satisfied with that, with that response. So, hopefully they do just that," said Jacobs.
Response From Washington Gas
WUSA9 reached out to Washington Gas about the issues Jacobs' faced. They sent WUSA9 the following in an email:
Washington Gas confirms that the company approved Ms. Jacobs’ full claim for reimbursement.
As Washington Gas believes in continuous improvement, the company will review the involved personnel’s actions and identify opportunities for improvement.
Jacobs says she's satisfied with the reimbursement and their promise, but hopes what happened to her serves as a warning to others.
"I want to make sure that people know to trust their gut and to be persistent. Especially when it comes to these types of safety issues, you know, and, and especially when the experts are telling you something that doesn't sit right with you," said Jacobs.