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Friday, January 10, 2003

Jean Coleman thought she smelled gas in the basement of her house in West Deer on Sept. 7.

She told her husband, Donald, and then called Dominion Peoples.

The company immediately dispatched a serviceman. He tested the natural gas lines, found several small leaks and shut off the gas.

	As repair work was under way on their home's gas lines, Donald Coleman remembered a maintenance agreement he and his wife, Jean, above, had with Dominion Products and Services. The Colemans said it would be helpful if workers would remind customers about maintenance agreements. (Pam Panchak, Post-Gazette)

He attached a red warning tag to one of the lines and gave the Colemans a checklist that explained what he had done and what they had to do -- call a plumber -- before Dominion Peoples would turn the gas back on.

The couple called Kennihan Plumbing, Heating & Cooling in Valencia. Dave Good, one of Kennihan's most experienced plumbers, pressure-tested the gas lines. He found the same leaks the Dominion Peoples serviceman had and several others. Good said he could repair them and then check for other leaks when he again pressure-tested the lines.

He recommended the Colemans replace all the gas lines, install shut-off valves for the dryer, water heater and kitchen stove, and provide a safer connection to the stove.

"He was right. That work needed to be done," said Donald Coleman, 56, a custodian for Ingomar Methodist Church. "He showed me how the person who installed the gas lines did so by connecting a number of smaller pipes together."

Coleman said he thought the original owner might have installed the gas lines when the home was built in 1908.

After finishing all the interior work, Good pressure-tested the gas line that runs from the house to the street. It leaked.

The repair work was under way when Donald Coleman remembered a maintenance agreement he and his wife had with Dominion Products and Services, a wholly owned subsidiary of Dominion Peoples. Jean Coleman found the check for $39 they sent to the company in February.

Donald Coleman called Dominion Products and Services and spoke to Mary Shields, a customer service representative.

Shields said the Colemans should have called as soon as Good detected the outside leak. She said the company would have sent someone out to confirm the leak and then do the repairs.

Sorry, Shields said. It's too late.

The bill for the outside work came to $588.39 -- $11.61 less than the $600 Dominion Products and Services usually pays its plumbing subcontractors.

The Colemans sent a letter to Shields asking the company to reconsider. Among other things, they said it would be helpful if the Dominion Peoples serviceman would have asked whether they had a maintenance agreement for interior or exterior gas line work.

John T. Glaneman, a network coordinator for Dominion Products and Services, answered their letter. He said it was not the serviceman's responsibility to ask about maintenance agreements. Besides, Glaneman wrote, the serviceman works for the gas company, not Dominion Products and Services.

"Now, we have no way of knowing for sure whether or not that line had a leak or was replaced as a matter of convenience," Glaneman added. "Since we only pay for the replacement of lines that have been verified as leaking, I have no choice but to deny reimbursement."

In October, the Colemans asked Dominion Products and Services to reconsider Glaneman's decision. No one got back to them. They called the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

"I want to say at the outset that I am partially at fault for not immediately remembering we had a line maintenance agreement," Donald Coleman said. "I had forgotten all about it, probably because we only pay it once a year.

"But I think Dominion Peoples is partially at fault because the serviceman didn't ask us if we had a maintenance agreement. I also think the checklist the serviceman gave us should have included a reminder about maintenance agreements and what number to call if customers have them."

That sounded like a good idea to me and to Dan Donovan, a spokesman for Dominion Peoples. Donovan said he would check on it.

When he called back, Donovan said company lawyers said a reminder about maintenance agreements on the checklist might be OK. Donovan also said Dominion Products and Services would review the Colemans' problem but didn't know what, if anything, could be done.

Lawrence Walsh can be reached at 412-263-1895. His e-mail address is pyp@post-gazette.com.