News10NBC Investigates: New Business Spends 17+ Hours Trying to Get RG&E to Hook up Gas Line

FAIRPORT, N.Y. – A new business in the Village of Fairport had to delay its grand opening because it can’t get through to RG&E to get an appointment to get its gas line connected. 

Chris and Sara Kolb started making bath bombs and soaps with their kids during the pandemic as a hobby.  They shared pictures of their creations on Facebook, which then triggered a number of requests from family and friends to buy them, “people kept coming back saying they are the best bath bombs they ever had,” Chris recalls.

They decided to start selling their homemade items at markets and fairs last year, but then thought it was time for something more, “after the first of the year, we were like alright, I think it’s time that we open a store,” recalls Chris, “people recognize us, people know who we are, so that’s how we kinda decided we were going to go for a store.”

The Kolbs found a location along Main Street in the Village of Fairport in a building that had just been totally remodeled, “when they did the demolition they had to disconnect the gas lines, so, now they just need to reconnect it, the lines are here and everything is here, the parts are here, they just need to connect it to the building,” Chris says. 

They didn’t think it would be much of a hassle to get an appointment with RG&E to get the gas line re-connected but they were wrong, “17 hours worth of calls, on hold, no communication of any kind, no callbacks, right now we haven’t been able to talk to them so, we need them here to set up our gas line,” Chris says.

Every week that goes by is money out of their pockets, “because we make seasonal products…we gotta make another type of product and so every time it’s a start over,” Sara explains. 

The Kolbs have already had to delay the opening of Fizzy Bombz by a week.  They can’t legally move their products into the building without a certificate of occupancy which they can’t get until the gas line is hooked up. 

The Mayor of the Village of Fairport, Julie Domaratz suggested the Kolbs call News10NBC Investigative Reporter Jennifer Lewke who has been investigating billing and customer service issues at RG&E for months.

On Friday, News10NBC reached out to RG&E and by 3pm, a technician had come to the building to assess the work that needs to be done. He promised the Kolbs that the work would be done by Tuesday of next week.

In an email to News10NBC a spokesman for RG&E says, “We are aware of the request for service, have received the paperwork necessary to process the connection, and will be working with the customer to establish the service.”

Fizzy Bombz is hoping to hold its grand opening, next Saturday, November 12th at 10 a.m.