LONGWOOD, Fla. – A Longwood couple is battling their power company after they say a power surge ruined their appliances.
Duke Energy isn't denying it happened, but the fight is over how much the couple should be paid. Duffy Carroll's 30-inch wall oven was just one of the casualties, "the digital display is fried," he said. "None of it works."
His commercial style Jenn-Air range and oven are also ruined.
He says it happened last month when a Duke Energy employee was working on a transformer in his neighborhood. "I was in the house and basically all of a sudden heard some popping sounds, zap and pop," he said. "We saw sparks coming out of the outlets, then basically smelled smoke." The fire department later found "melted wires" in the wall according to a report.
There were damaged outlets, a ceiling fan, and coffee pot according to the Carroll. "I think the following morning we noticed the appliances are fried," Carroll says he submitted a claim to Duke immediately. "Did they ever dispute that this was their fault?" Investigator Louis Bolden asked.
"No," Carroll said. "Never."
The items couldn't be repaired and the company agreed to pay, but not what the Carroll's wanted.
For example, Duke offered $2,200 to replace that KitchenAid wall oven, because it's ten years old. However, to buy the same model now it now costs more than $3,300.
"They should step up to the plate and restore our home back to the way it was before they started work outside," Carroll said. A spokesperson from Duke sent us a statement reading, in part, "the actual cash value is replacement cost minus depreciation for the age of the damaged item." Carroll says with that formula and all the damage, his family will be out of thousands for duke's mistake. "I understand that things cost a little more nowadays," Carroll said. "But we had nothing to do with the mistake that was made so for us to have to come out of pocket, $4,000 or $5,000, seems just out of the question for me." Some energy companies offer "surge protection" options, but it's basically an insurance policy which could leave you in the same situation. Many home improvement stores carry whole-house surge protection devices.