ROYAL OAK, Mich. – Anytime you smell gas inside or outside your home you might get a little nervous and want to call someone for help.
That's exactly what happened to Ann Stemas, of Royal Oak, when she pulled into her driveway one night in December.
"Came home after work and I smelled the strong odor of gas," she told Help Me Hank more than a month later.
That's why she called the consumer unit. She says she was concerned about the leak and couldn't get specific updates from Consumers Energy about when the leak would be fixed.
She reported the leak on Dec. 1. Consumers Energy told her to leave her home and responded within 60 minutes. Stemas said she was told repairs would take place the next day, but that didn't happen.
Memories of deadly explosion
Like many people in Royal Oak, Stemas is on high alert for gas leaks after a deadly explosion that killed a man in 2013. We later learned a work crew was there before the blast, but left before a complete repair was done. With memories of that explosion in mind, Stemas admits she asked a lot of questions about when the repair in her neighborhood would take place.
"The gentleman came out from Consumers and said stop calling. And I said I'm sorry?! He said every time you call that it starts the ticket all over again that delays the repair. That didn't make any sense to me," said Stemas.
Consumers Energy insists repeated calls do not slow repairs, and they want to hear from consumers who are concerned about any gas leak.
"That's not the typical discussion with the customer. That shouldn't happen. We did hear about that. We will be reviewing that with employees that responded to this and others." said Bill Guzynski, manager of Gas Distribution Southeast for Consumers Energy.
Investigating and classifying gas Leak repairs
He also says that all gas leaks are immediately investigated and classified based on several issues.
"The two main things we look at is how close it is to a building and what percent the gas leak," said Guzynski.
Consumers Energy has a detailed formula to determine which repairs are the most urgent. Depending on the company's calculations repairs can be made immediately, or could be scheduled for a future date in one, four, or even 12 months. During that time, Consumers Energy says it will sent crews out monthly to make sure the problem is not getting worse.
Stemas says she was originally reassured that the leak in her neighborhood was low-risk, but was frustrated that she couldn't get any updates on when the actual repairs would be made.
"I was trying to be patient from the 30 days that he had said. And, I was afraid to call because I was basically told not to call again," said Ann.
Stemas did call Help Me Hank and the consumer unit started making some calls. Consumers Energy responded quickly sending crews to the scene on Starr Road on Jan. 6.
For any consumer concerned about a gas leak, the company has this message. "We cant you to call, you know, whether it's a holiday, a weekend, evening, during the day, we want you to call. We'll come out and check it," said Guzynski.
Stemas is now resting easier, "Thank you Help Me Hank for getting the job done!"
If you have a consumer problem you think Help Me Hank should investigate, send an email to helpmehank@clickondetroit.com or leave a message for 313-298-WDIV.