MATTHEWS, N.C. — Rich London reached out to WCNC Charlotte after he said a crew was prepping his neighborhood for Google Fiber and broke his sprinkler.
According to London, they trenched his yard on Oct. 26, 2021. It was after then he noticed the issue.
"I ran my sprinkler, found out it was broken, and immediately called them," London recounted. "They said they'd take care of it. They did nothing for a week. I called them again. They said, 'Go get it repaired, and we'll reimburse you'."
On Nov. 5, 2021, after paying $540 to get his sprinkler repaired, he filed an online claim.
London contacted the company's chat support about 10 days later, saying he'd never received a response. After several more attempts, he was sent a web link telling him to file a claim online, which he had already done.
He decided it was time to reach out to WCNC Charlotte.
WCNC Charlotte is always asking "where's the money?" If you need help, reach out to the Defenders team by emailing money@wcnc.com.
WCNC Charlotte emailed pictures of London's yard along with his paid invoice to Google Fiber.
Through that process, WCNC Charlotte learned Google Fiber team used third-party companies to prepare and trench London's neighborhood and flagged his claim.
"I was connected with the person affiliated with a division, with the construction division, where the problem was, and, they finally took ownership and took some responsibility and got the ball moving," London said.
London said he didn't hear anything before he got a resolution after contacting WCNC Charlotte.
"I followed all the rules, filed a claim within two-and-a-half months and six phone calls/online chat sessions later, they totally ignored me," London shared. "It wasn't until the [WCNC Charlotte] Defenders team got ahold of them, and then, the next business day, Google paid attention. And within a week, I was paid."
The takeaway is it's not always enough to be in the right. People also have to keep the receipts and be persistent sometimes to get results.
Contact Jane Monreal at jmonreal@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.