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Permalink Reply by Maria Elizabeth Prior on July 12, 2011 at 1:59

Hi Lucy,

I am so sorry to hear about your awful experience.  It is a disgrace!  Fairly recently, I put up a post about the shed situation, and expressed a lot of concern that a retired ex porter was totally in charge of the shed allocation system, and was sending out pp signed letters to residents about who owed money for the shed rental, etc! 

I am not being personal here against anyone, but it is clear that only the Senior Estate Officer, or Estate Manager, is in a position to send letters, and decide who has what shed, or, who owes what, and the allocations process! 

I have been sent a letter pp by the retired porter, that I owe money for a shed I don't have!  What has happened to you is not good enough.  The 'buck' must stop with Bob Jacks, the Area Manager.  You are entitled to an apology and compensation. 

Which block is your shed in?  Let me know if I can help, as am most unhappy with this shed situation!

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Permalink Reply by James B on July 15, 2011 at 11:47

This makes me feel sick, sorry to hear about your loss. I hope that they have a storage facility so you may be able to reclaim your stuff. Why though is the whole thing a shambles? Who is actually in charge of the sheds?

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Permalink Reply by Maria Elizabeth Prior on July 15, 2011 at 12:19

Hi James

Our retired ex porter is in charge, believe it or not!  No disrespect to him, but this should be a management responsibility.  If you check out my comments on a similar discussion, you will see what I mean! 

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Permalink Reply by James B on July 15, 2011 at 12:23

OK. How do I go about contacting him then. Ian should be dealing with this surely?

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Permalink Reply by Maria Elizabeth Prior on July 15, 2011 at 12:28

Hi James.

I agree that Ian should be handling this, at least.  After all, for example, only the Senior Estate Officer, or Estate Manager have the power to send out letters, but many people, including myself, have received pp signed letters from our retired porter, demanding shed payment, and sometimes for sheds we don't have! 

He is often in the Estate office, but this issue should be taken up with senior management, perhaps.  That would be Bob Jacks. 

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Permalink Reply by Lucy Johnston on July 22, 2011 at 21:11

I just wanted to say thank you for your support guys. I'm still in shock about it all. I've spoken to Bob Jacks about it and the estate office - I've even emailed the Corporation and yet still I've heard no explanation as to why, when I followed the correct procedure, my things (which were also clearly in good condition and regularly being accessed) have disappeared. From what I gather and the lack of assurances, my things are permanently gone. The very thought makes me feel sick. And to make things worse, I haven't even been offered so much as an apology or even an explanation.

 

This failing 'system' has clearly been built on faulty foundations (why else did we have to report our allocated sheds in the first place?!) and I see no safety net for residents with this current poor management of the situation. Also, I can't help but think, if they were clearing sheds that had belongings in them, a further notice should have been sent with a list of 'unallocated' sheds, which if anything would have at least reduced the chance of such massive errors on their part. I simply can't believe that I'm the only person who has done everything right, yet still been let down by this shoddy process. If the same thing nearly happened to Jane, whilst Maria is also getting billed for the wrong sheds (as well as my sister and brother in law who also received incorrect invoices), then I can imagine that this terrible damaging of people's property will happen again.

I also worry for the older residents who might not have regular access to their sheds and aren't in contact with the estate office.

If anyone hears of anything else in regards to this subject, please contact me.

Thanks again for the support - it is greatly appreciated.

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Permalink Reply by Maria Elizabeth Prior on July 22, 2011 at 22:47

Hi Lucy.

I am so sorry to hear that, again, you have still not had an explanation, apology, or details of where your property has gone.  This is simply not good enough.  You say you spoke to Bob Jacks.  What was his response Lucy?  Did he claim to know nothing?  That would not surprise me if he did!  The fact that this issue has been failed to be dealt with, I think leaves you with no alternative other than to report this to the Police as theft, which it is!  You could only be given the key to the shed by someone in the Estate office, in the first place, so it is their responsibility to make sure your name is properly recorded with that shed, which they have failed to do.  Also, there must be some record somewhere as to who authorised the locks to be changed on your shed, and some record as to who emptied the contents, and supposedly disposed of them. That is something the Police should investigate, because, knowing the Corporation, they'll make out they don't know anything, which is totally unacceptable.  You have been a victim of theft, simple as that! 

When I had a query about the billing of mine, I contacted the number given on the invoice, only to be told that it was the Estate Office who had supplied them with all the information, so would need to contact them.  Unfortunately, as I had earlier said, the responsibility for the sheds allocation system, etc, had been given to a retired porter, which, no disprespect to that person, is unacceptable, as this should be a management responsibility only. 

Let us know how you get on Lucy, as what has happened to you is a disgrace. 

 

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Permalink Reply by nathan on December 3, 2011 at 11:21

I have lived here for over 10 years, i was given a key for a shed with a busted lock by a member of staff at the estate office,this was recorded by him in a big a4 black book, lol. The  sheds were there for the use of residents for free due to the lack of space in the flats. I was surprised by the state of the basement, usually flooded for half of the year, due to the lack of maintenance of the flats stopcocks which are located in the basement and the plumbing of the flats above, and due to the lack of cleaning of the entrances they reek of rancid urine, and sometimes have feces on the floor next to the doors, due to some visitors being caught short using them as open air toilets, the smell would take your breath away in summer, there is usually empty marijuana bags left by some office workers having their lunch time or evening spliff on the estate, lol.  I was also told by a member of staff not to store anything of value in the basement as there was no clear or comprehensible record of who had or was given keys to sheds, and speaking to neighbours who said their belongings had been damaged by contractors breaking and entering and showing no care or attention for the property contained in them, probably due to not being able to acquire a key or not bothering at all.

I received a letter from the estate staff demanding rent and threatening to break and enter the shed change the lock and dispose of the property contained within if payment was not received by a deadline, I think this was last january. On the invoice it said payment could be made online. I rang the estate office and spoke to the person responsible, he told me I could pay online, but as he had no access to these records and was not willing to check these records, saying if he checked the records he would spend everyday all day on the telephone, therefore he would  carry on with the threatened action and have the lock  busted, and have my property disposed of, and if I wanted to have any piece of mind I would have to go the bank and get the cash and deliver this personally to him, which I promptly did. He spoke to me with relish , and gave left me with the impression he was getting maximum satisfaction wielding his newly granted  managerial responsibilities. 

    You have all my sympathy, but all I can say after over ten years living here, you will have a very long frustrating process of getting anyone to admit any responsibility if any, never mind compensation. I would be interested to hear if I am wrong

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