I have several concerns, though.

I've read other people say that it cost $2500 to fix! That CenturyLink "had" to replace the cable all the way from the distribution box to the house. For something that I rarely use, it's just not worth $2500 to me.

But I understand that utilities take an easement when they run cable, so I'm not even sure if I have the legal right to say, "no thanks, I'll just do without".

Further, since the landscape company pulled it out, would it be fair to expect them to turn it in to their insurance?

Or, since the 811 guy said that they're supposed to be 30" deep but this cable was barely under the surface, should I be prepared to argue in court that it's CenturyLink's fault?

!! OR !!

Is this something that I could really fix myself with 5 telephone crimps and some heat shrink?

How did you determine that it was a CenturyLink cable? I've never heard of a telephone cable that was 5 conductors.

The contractor is responsible for damage. He needs to handle this. If he doesn’t, File a claim against the insurance company listed on the certificate of insurance you got from him before he started the job.

How did you determine that it was a CenturyLink cable? I've never heard of a telephone cable that was 5 conductors.

I thought that was weird, too. But when 811 came out and marked, they said that I only had electric and CenturyLink.

I feel like it would be obvious if it was from the electric company! LOL And I checked, CenturyLink in my house is definitely not working. So it has to be that.

@ShadyWillowFarm, I do have his certificate, I just hate to do it because I know it's a small company and the increased rate can really hurt them.

I guess I'll have CenturyLink come out anyway, though, and if it's ridiculously priced then I won't have a choice but to turn it in to his insurance :-(

Jason, that is so kind of you to think about the contractor, but this is the purpose of insurance. Were the lines marked?

Jason, that is so kind of you to think about the contractor, but this is the purpose of insurance.

Well, I've been self employed for most of my adult life, so I'm probably more sensitive to the plight of the small business than most... LOL I learned the hard way that those monthly nickels and dimes do more damage than the occasional big unexpected expense!

I had a friend once that owned a restaurant, and I helped him figure out why he was losing money. It took some time, but we finally discovered that he was losing almost $2000 /month from his employees giving out too much ketchup, salt, pepper, napkins, and forks! Those little incidentals that no one thinks about turned his business from a small profit to a loss!

Were the lines marked?

They are, yes. As far as I can tell, though, they were pulling up a stump that was 4 or 5 feet away from the marking with a loader, and the roots had grown around the line. So when they pulled, that root extension pulled the cable up with it.

I'm pretty irritated that the cable is just under the grass, though, instead of 30" like the company that did the marking said. It runs right through the middle of my lawn, and I was planning to rent a trencher and install sprinklers! But now it looks like I'm going to have to hand-dig several feet of it, and then thread the hose under the CenturyLink cable :-/

I was also wanting to build 3 ponds in the front yard, but these cables have completely destroyed that idea :-/ :-/

One of the benefits of using the OneCall locator is you're usually protected against being charged for damage for lines that were not properly located. Anyhow, you gotta call Lumen (its not CenturyLink anymore) to get it fixed.

Good news, the repair guy came out and fixed it but didn't say anything about a charge. He's been here before and is a pretty cool guy, so I don't know if it's just up to the repair guy to decide who's at fault or if there's more to it.

Of course, I might get a surprise bill in the mail! LOL But he acted like it really wasn't a big deal.

Interesting - how was it fixed? Did he just splice the wires back together - can you provide a photo?

Unfortunately he's already covered it up with dirt, so I can't take a picture :-( He added about 3' of new cable, though, with a large waterproof box of some sort on both ends to cover the connections.

"Waterproof" sounds good to me !