What can I do if 811 shows up late?

Question

I called 811 to ask them to mark my utility lines on a Monday and told them I'd be doing work that Friday. They didn't show up until the Monday after I planned to work.

What should I do? What recourse do I have?

Answer 1

Boilerplate disclaimer: I Am Not A Lawyer.

I don't think you have any recourse here besides calling to file a complaint (if they even field complaints). "811", which marks utilities for digging projects, is a free service. A week is a longer lead time than you would usually expect, but you're in the height of outdoor project/construction season, so they're probably busier than usual. They can't cater to everyone's schedule - it's just not feasible.

All that being said, they try to make it convenient for people to avoid utilities since it costs less to send someone to mark them than it does to fix a damaged line. So the expectation is that you call and then wait to dig until the lines are marked. In fact, in some states the lines are valid for as long as they're visible, so you can have them marked a decent bit in advance before you actually need to dig and still be fine.

You called, but then didn't wait, so you've more or less broken the unwritten rule of how the service is supposed to work. I don't think you can sue someone you aren't actually paying for providing a service later than you would have liked. It would be like trying to sue the USPS for delivering standard mail later than you wanted to receive it.