19 Troubleshooters gets Willoughby man reimbursed for sewer line issues

WILLOUGHBY, Ohio (WOIO) - Imagine spending more than a thousand dollars trying to fix your sewer line, only to realize a gas line had smashed through it years ago.

That was the reality for a man in Willoughby, fighting to get all that money back.

“It’s been 10 years of me beating my brains out trying to unclog this sewer line, arguing and fighting with my daughter,” said Mike Suchetka, a resident in Willoughby.

Suchetka is tired and frustrated.

He spent years trying to fix his sewer line that kept getting backed up, spending more than $1,300 renting snakes to clear things out.

He finally had the city come out and run a camera through the sewer line, and that’s when they discovered a Northeast Ohio Natural Gas line drilled right through his sewer line.

It’s called a cross bore, and in 2016, experts said it caused a house to blow up near Cincinnati.

In this case, Northeast Ohio Natural Gas hired a sewer company to fix the issue, moving the sewer line underneath the gas line using curved pipes.

But Suchetka was still down all that time and money, and he said Northeast Ohio Natural Gas wouldn’t budge on reimbursing him.

“They said they weren’t the ones who put the gas line in and therefore they are not responsible,” said Suchetka.

But then the 19 Troubleshooters stopped by their Mentor office and made a few calls.

Less than an hour later, they called Suchetka back agreeing to reimburse him.

He credits the 19 Troubleshooters for their sudden change of heart.

“You guys are amazing,” said Suchetka. “Thank you.”

Suchetka also had some concerns about how his sewer line was moved, but the Willoughby Sewer Department said it passed multiple tests.

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