RICHMOND, Va. (WTVR) - If you own a home, especially in the country, chances are you want your power source to your home to be an underground line. That way if a storm takes place, your power line won't come down.
But one Chesterfield family is rethinking their underground line after it malfunctioned and caused many of their appliances to fry.
"I am under a lot of stress," Donna Quinn, the homeowner, told CBS 6 reporter Joe St. George.
In the last month Donna has not only dealt with this issue, but has also suffered a stroke and a hip injury.
Quinn showed CBS 6 the damage the malfunction line has caused - destroying everything from their oven to their television to their microwave.
The Quinns said Virginia Dominion Power initially told them they would compensate them for the broken appliances. But in a letter dated September 10 that offer was rescinded.
Dominion concluded even though it suffered an "equipment failure" at the property it was water dripping onto the line that caused it to malfunction, making them not liable.
"We are very sorry that this happened to this customer," Daisy Pridgen, a Dominion spokeswoman, said. "But this is something that was unpreventable on our part."
While Dominion replaced the underground power line, they directed the Quinn's to contact their home insurer.
"I cannot believe that they would do that," Donna Quinn said.
As Quinn prepared to write her $500 deductible, her advice to neighbors with similar underground lines is to have them inspected.
"They should get it checked out," Quinn said.
