Wednesday, May 9, 2012

May 2012

This are the deets for May. Get the gist at Yelp.

May 30

I just had to email the text in between the first pair of asterisks to the on-site property management office:

*****

Dear Management,

One of your maintenance workers was knocking on my door a few minutes ago (a little after 9 o'clock). I asked who it was, he said he was maintenance. Since I haven't asked for any work to be done in my apartment, I asked what the maintenance worker wanted through my front door without opening it. He didn't want to tell me why he was at my door until I opened it, so there was a quick back and forth (even telling me "...ma'am, just open the door...", which I didn't do).

When he realized that I wasn't going to open my front door - even when commanded - he told me why he'd stopped by: to find out if one of the cars in the parking lot was mine.

Yes, I'm blogging this too.

*****

As a writer, I like be as specific as possible, so I'm a little disappointed in not spelling out the stupidity of what got me so agitated. But I'll give the rest of you a hint:

SAFETY FIRST

But, after thinking about it, I did decide to shoot this one off as a forward to the manager's email address, since I accidentally left the manager's email address off the first email I pasted above (I usually like to send my emails to the three different addresses just in case):

*****

Dear Management,

I left an email address off of the email I sent a few minutes ago. So, I'm sending it as a forward.

Although I explained the situation in the email below, I didn't go into why I believe what your maintenance worker did was rude. Since so many of your staff and third-party vendors have been rude to me for no reason at all, I understand that you may not be able to understand why I have such a problem with the exchange I had with your maintenance worker because you might think my complaint has no value; so, if this is the case - if you can't wrap your head around the reason why I'm not going to answer the door for a man who's telling me he's a maintenance worker but not willing to explain why he's at my door unless I open it for him when I haven't asked for any work to be done in my apartment - feel free to ask for a clarification.

*****

May 16: And They're Using "Saftey First" as a Property Management Company T-shirt Motto?

So yesterday my new gas company came out to light the pilot lights in my hot water heater and furnace. Before he left, the technician asked me to sign a document stating that the reason why he didn't light my furnace was because it wasn't up to code.

The consequences of keeping the furnace lit (aside from wasting money), and the date that the building code rules were changed? I didn't ask. The furnace pilot light had been lit since the first week I moved in 5304 back in August of 2009, and nothing life threatening happened; having it off only makes things that much safer. Summer's also approaching, so having a lit furnace won't be necessary anyway. Lastly, we're leaving in six weeks, so my indifference towards this housing situation is going to be almost at the same level as the property management company/companies who's/who've been all too happy take my money as the leasee of 5304.

However, because we're talking about fire, and because the furnace sits a few feet across from the bedroom where my child's been sleeping since August of 2009, you know I've gotta blog about it.


May 14

I just had to send the following email to the on-site management office (and we're only in the 9 o'clock hour on Monday morning):

One of your workers had the electrical cord of one of their pieces of equipment in my electrical outlet without my permission, had the audacity to get snippy with me because I was screaming at him because I didn't want a stranger trying to steal my electricity for the umpteenth time, and didn't bother apologizing....and yes, I'm blogging it.


ADDENDUM (for May 14): It's midday, May 15, 2012, and no one from the on-site management office has contacted me in response to the email above (which I sent to three different email addresses)...and yet, they made sure to contact me twice within six business days about responding to their lease renewal offer. Right. I know.


ADDENDUM 2 (for May 14): It's late afternoon on May 15, 2012, and 10 minutes ago I received an apology from the on-site management office in response to the email above. As usual, a misunderstanding was cited as the cause of the issue, which, to be clear in this particular case, I've witnessed happening and reported three times since March 5, 2012. Okay. Whatevs.


May 9: Yep, another post.

While sitting in my livingroom this morning at around 11-ish, working with my homeschooled teen a couple of yards away, we both heard our front doorknob turn. Then, we heard footsteps walk near our open windows, accompanied by white noise and voices from a walkie-talkie, followed by an exchange between at least two people, one of which was standing by our unit.

Since I was tied to my computer working on a project that was due within the hour, I chose not to open the door (or pay attention to what was being said). However, I did call the on-site office for an explanation.

I got Allison, who put me on hold to find out why workers had tried to enter my unit. When she came back, she told me that the workers had the wrong unit, and apologized on their behalf.

Okay, but still....No one rang the doorbell or knocked - BEFORE OR AFTER THE DOORKNOB WAS TURNED - and I've communicated to the office in writing more than once that I didn't want anyone in my unit without my permission (i.e., when I'm not home). Lame.




Dear Management,

When you're leasing to a writer who's only mistake was moving to a county where tenant rights clearly don't exist (forcing them to do nothing less than fight with the pen keyboard), you still might want to consider flagging said writer's apt number somewhere in your workspace(s) to prevent fueling the flames.

Afterall, it's your rep on the line, not mine.




Sincerely,
5304