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Management is a cunt
Mar. 29th, 2005 03:18 amWe had our "annual apartment inspection" today and, like all things annual, it was a delight. The latest in a host of maintenance guys (third or fourth in 9 months; I can't remember) seems really nice... except for the language barrier. I had an idea there would be a problem when I couldn't understand a word of the message he left this morning, even after listening to it 6 times.
We have a ton of irritating little problems in our apartment. It's nothing that can't be worked around, but on the same token, for what we're paying, I'd like them to be fixed. We prepared a list, so that when Senor Unintelligble arrived, we could just fork over this list and be done. Oh, if only it had worked that easily...
To start with, our thermostat has died. I can't regulate the temperature without opening and closing the door or window, depending on the room. It's, on average, between 80 and 85 in here without the door open. So, Senor U. turns it up, checks the radiator, and tells me there's no problem with the heat. I try and explain that the thermostat is broken and we can't turn off the heat. Later, rinse, repeat. Finally, he takes off the cover to show me how to turn on the heat, sees that it is broken, and says to me "Oh, I see the problem. Your thermostat is broken. You can't turn off the heat."
Well, no shit, Sherlock! What clued you, ring around the bathtub? Maybe that I said three times that it was broken?
This problem was repeated with everything else on the damned list. I got frustrated and left Steven to deal with him. That was all well and good until he started discussing coming back to fix the bigger problems. He tells Steven he'll come sometime during the day tomorrow. That's a big no, right there. I'm home all day and, because of the combo of things I'm taking for my knee, I sleep the sleep of the dead. I don't hear the phone, the buzzer, knocking at the door, and so forth. That means I wouldn't hear maintenance, which would make them think no one was home, and they'd just come right in, which is unacceptable. The only people I want here while I am asleep are people I know... not Senor U.
Steven told him tomorrow was not good for us, which made him get rather uppity. "Well," he tells us. "I'm not used to making appointments. I don't have time for that. I don't have time for that." Sorry, buddy, making time for reasonable accomodation to do maintenance is what you're paid for. It's not like Steven's asking him to come and work at like 8:30 at night or something. He's home by 3pm at the latest.
Then, Senor U. informs us that maintenance has the right to enter the apartment any time they want to fix problems-- with or without notice!
I've read my lease and I've also checked up on the Mass General Laws. Tenants have every right to be present for routine maintenance, if they want, and the landlord cannot randomly show up and enter, excepting an emergency, without proper notice and making reasonable accomodations for the tenant to be present. I'm personally not comfortable with maintenance randomly showing up without notice or if someone's not home. We have too many stealable things. Yes, it's paranoid, but I'd rather be safe than sorry, not to mention I have no love for the new building super.
We finally convinced him to set a date, but we have to call and remind him to come by Monday. Promptly after that, Steven called the super's office and bitched them out, as well as insisted that there be a note put on our file that, unless it's a dire emergency, maintenance will call first and one of us will need to be present. At least, we got the reasonable part time super, today, instead of the other woman who doesn't know her ass from her elbow.
This really reinforced our interest in moving to another place as soon as it's feasible. Unfortunately, that probably means next June, once Steven gets a full time job. We may consider renting a house, depending on how close the rent works out. I wish we could just buy. I hate apartment living.
That's it for my bitch fest. I finally started the photo tour of our place, which you can view here.
We have a ton of irritating little problems in our apartment. It's nothing that can't be worked around, but on the same token, for what we're paying, I'd like them to be fixed. We prepared a list, so that when Senor Unintelligble arrived, we could just fork over this list and be done. Oh, if only it had worked that easily...
To start with, our thermostat has died. I can't regulate the temperature without opening and closing the door or window, depending on the room. It's, on average, between 80 and 85 in here without the door open. So, Senor U. turns it up, checks the radiator, and tells me there's no problem with the heat. I try and explain that the thermostat is broken and we can't turn off the heat. Later, rinse, repeat. Finally, he takes off the cover to show me how to turn on the heat, sees that it is broken, and says to me "Oh, I see the problem. Your thermostat is broken. You can't turn off the heat."
Well, no shit, Sherlock! What clued you, ring around the bathtub? Maybe that I said three times that it was broken?
This problem was repeated with everything else on the damned list. I got frustrated and left Steven to deal with him. That was all well and good until he started discussing coming back to fix the bigger problems. He tells Steven he'll come sometime during the day tomorrow. That's a big no, right there. I'm home all day and, because of the combo of things I'm taking for my knee, I sleep the sleep of the dead. I don't hear the phone, the buzzer, knocking at the door, and so forth. That means I wouldn't hear maintenance, which would make them think no one was home, and they'd just come right in, which is unacceptable. The only people I want here while I am asleep are people I know... not Senor U.
Steven told him tomorrow was not good for us, which made him get rather uppity. "Well," he tells us. "I'm not used to making appointments. I don't have time for that. I don't have time for that." Sorry, buddy, making time for reasonable accomodation to do maintenance is what you're paid for. It's not like Steven's asking him to come and work at like 8:30 at night or something. He's home by 3pm at the latest.
Then, Senor U. informs us that maintenance has the right to enter the apartment any time they want to fix problems-- with or without notice!
I've read my lease and I've also checked up on the Mass General Laws. Tenants have every right to be present for routine maintenance, if they want, and the landlord cannot randomly show up and enter, excepting an emergency, without proper notice and making reasonable accomodations for the tenant to be present. I'm personally not comfortable with maintenance randomly showing up without notice or if someone's not home. We have too many stealable things. Yes, it's paranoid, but I'd rather be safe than sorry, not to mention I have no love for the new building super.
We finally convinced him to set a date, but we have to call and remind him to come by Monday. Promptly after that, Steven called the super's office and bitched them out, as well as insisted that there be a note put on our file that, unless it's a dire emergency, maintenance will call first and one of us will need to be present. At least, we got the reasonable part time super, today, instead of the other woman who doesn't know her ass from her elbow.
This really reinforced our interest in moving to another place as soon as it's feasible. Unfortunately, that probably means next June, once Steven gets a full time job. We may consider renting a house, depending on how close the rent works out. I wish we could just buy. I hate apartment living.
That's it for my bitch fest. I finally started the photo tour of our place, which you can view here.
