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Comcast Leaves TV Cable On Family's Patio For Nearly 3 Months

Comcast Leaves TV Cable On Patio
A Comcast crew left this TV cable draped across Bridget Farragher's yard and patio in October, then refused to bury or move it for nearly three months. (Credit: CBS)

CHICAGO (CBS) -- For most families, their back yard is a perfect place for their kids to safely play with their toys.

But for Bridget Farragher, her back yard has been off-limits to her kids for nearly three months, after Comcast stuck a long black cable sitting across her yard and patio, then refused to move or bury it.

CBS 2's Dorothy Tucker reports, even on a mild winter day like Tuesday, Farragher's daughter must play indoors with her friends, because the cable TV wire Comcast installed is still sitting across the patio, right next to a kids' playhouse.

"Look how long it is. They could wrap their neck around it. It's like a dangerous telephone wire," Farragher said.

She said she never asked Comcast for the wire, but Comcast crews said they were installing it to improve her service. She said they started working one day in late October, and promised to return to bury the cable.

"They left it right here on this white concrete," she said.

When her husband explained her children play on the patio, Farragher said, "They said just leave it there, and they'll be back in two days."

But they never came back. Farragher kept calling, begging them to bury the cable.

"They pretty much told me how silly could I be? that I live in Chicago, that I must know that they can't bury wires in the winter, and that they don't even hire people for that until April, and to call back in April," she said.

So she asked them to send a crew to hang the wire so it was safely away from the patio, "but they said nothing till April."

"I even said on the phone, I said, 'I guess I'll just have to hang up and call 911, because someone's gonna get hurt. And the guy said, 'You do what you gotta do,'" Farragher said.

A Comcast spokeswoman promised to look into the complaint. In a statement Tuesday afternoon, the company said, "We sincerely apologize to the customer for the inconvenience, and already have contacted them to make arrangements to come out and bury the line."

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