Why Amazon says it won't pay to fix a power pole its truck destroyed at a family's home

BELLEVIEW, Fla. - FOX 35 is investigating a power line problem that’s putting an Ocala family right in the middle of a dispute.

Amazon confirms one of its drivers hit a Duke Energy power line outside the family’s home. However, Amazon says it won’t pay up for repairs and Duke says it’s not their fault. Now, it’s the family getting stuck with a huge repair bill.

Josh and Chelsea Barr have lived in their mobile home since 2016. They’re frequent Amazon customers, getting deliveries about once a week, and they’ve never had a problem. That is, until now. 

Chelsea Barr says she came outside on December 2nd to see an Amazon delivery driver had successfully made it up her driveway, but that he’d gotten the truck caught in their power line as he tried to back out of the property. 

"I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, you’re kidding me,’" Barr remembers herself thinking when she saw the power pole pulled to the ground.

Duke Energy confirmed they had to shut off power to the area, so they could untangle the electric line from the truck. Then came the bill of $2,500 for repairs. The Barr family had to pay to get the lights back on. The family says this comes at an already tough time.  

"My mother-in-law had a stroke, and she’s recovering like a champ from that and doing really good, but just a few months in from that, we found out she has metastatic breast cancer," said Barr. "We can’t afford to pay out of pocket for an accident that wasn’t caused by us."

Since the Barr family does not feel this is their fault, they filed a claim with Amazon. Amazon’s insurance company told the Barrs that Amazon won’t pay for the damage. 

In an email to the family, the company wrote, "The guideline is for all power lines to be at least 15 ½ feet above the ground measured at their lowest point. None of Amazon’s delivery vehicles exceed the minimum height requirements for power lines."

Duke says the power pole would have been built at 15 and a half feet to meet the code. However the Barr family does not know the exact height of the pole or power lines at the time of the incident with the Amazon truck.  

"There’d been no issues prior to this incident," Barr explained. "We’ve even had freight deliveries for generators and furniture with semi-trucks that have come in here."

 An Amazon representative told FOX 35 in a statement, 

"We’re reached out to the customer to apologize for the inconvenience this has caused and have helped direct them to the power company to file a claim to fix the improperly installed power lines." 

"There was just no care," said Barr. "It was, ‘It’s your problem, not ours. Or, it’s Duke’s problem."

Duke says if the line was low, they are not responsible.  A Duke representative explained, 

"Customers living in mobile homes are responsible for the service pole and for the service line that runs from the service pole attachment to the meter." 

That’s the case with all utility companies, not just Duke, according to Florida statute 723.022 (4).  The basic rule is, if the pole is on your property, you’re the one responsible for the pole and line. There are some exceptions involving rental situations.

"I get upkeep and maintenance of it, but it wasn’t necessary to maintain it until it was on the ground because of the Amazon truck," said Barr.

After FOX 35 talked on the phone with an Amazon representative, the company sent the Barr family a $100 gift card as an apology. The Barrs say that isn’t going to cut it. 

"It was just kind of a slap in the face."

Right now, no one is accepting fault. But the Barrs are still left with the bill. 

"It’s Christmas. Now is definitely not the time to do this to a family," said Barr.

The family is also filing a claim with Duke just in case. If that doesn’t work, they’re thinking about taking Amazon to small claims court.

Duke says to give them a call if you’re worried your power lines are no longer meeting the code. The company says you should understand that, depending on the situation, you may have to pay for repairs yourself.