Neighbour Shit: Take 1001
I'm hesitant to even write about this, because those of you who have been following my blog for the past couple of months will think I'm just lying now. So here's a bit of proof.
I've been sleeping on the couch the past few days and leading up to my exams because it's the only way I know I won't get woken up in the middle of the night by my idiotic neighbours thumping over my bedroom. Well anyway, yesterday morning I woke up at around 8am to the sound of water dripping. It was raining but the sound was too close to be outside, and I realized there was water leaking through my ceiling onto my dining table, and also all over my kitchen counter area. I immediately called Tom, the head maintenance engineer for our building who has become my new best friend. Anyway, he said he'd send someone immediately but to go upstairs in the meantime and see if there was leakage upstairs too. So I knocked on their door and the same guy I've had my confrontations with before answered and I told him I had water leaking and to check the area above my dining room, and he said he couldn't because it was his flatmate's room (the girl who's name the lease is in) and she wasn't around and her door was locked. So I called Tom back and he said to tell him that if they didn't track her down by the time the engineers got there (in like half an hour) they'd have to break her door down to assess the damage immediately. Of course when I relayed the message the guy got all pissy and argumentative, as if I was the one who wanted to break the door down. Anyway, I just responded by saying that Tom said for him to stay home and wait for the engineers and I went back down to my flat. 10 minutes later the guy knocks at my door and says he couldn't get through to the girl, and that he wanted to come in to check how bad the leak was himself because he didn't think it was necessary to knock down her door. I didn't let him in and said the engineers were on their way to do that themselves, and said that there was major leaking and they had to stop it immediately. He kept arguing and making it seem like I was exaggerating the leak and finally I just raised my voice and said "Look, I'm just telling you what Tom said. If you have a problem with it, take it up with him when he gets here." And then he argued back and said "As usual, you're overreacting to everything!" and at that point I just shut the door in his face. He started yelling through the door and finally yelled out "Bitch!" and went upstairs.
Anyway, the engineers came over (not Tom) and turns out the girl was on her way home so they didn't have to break the door down. They checked my flat and then went upstairs and I didn't see them again. A few hours later I called Tom to get an update and also told him about the fight and the profanity, and he told me I should call the landlord's management office (who he works for) and tell them everything. He said that, like the boiler situation that happened last week, this was their fault as well. Apparently they burn incense all the time and keep throwing the sticks out the window onto the drainage area and eventually all their trash blocked the opening for the water to go down and that's what caused the flooding. And he said that last week, because they didn't report that the boiler was leaking until it eventually exploded, what would have been a £100 repair turned into a £500 repair. He sounded like he'd had it with them too - he said they're also totally neglecting the flat (pigs). He told me to speak to someone specific (who I've never spoken to before) and tell him everything from my end because he'd already reported everything to him that was maintenance-related. He said that way, if they know my complaints along with the maintenance problems, chances are they won't renew their lease.
So I called the guy this morning but he was in a meeting and I left a message and my mobile number. Let's wait and see.
Previous posts on neighbours:
February 12, 2006
February 16, 2006
February 18, 2006
March 22, 2006
March 25, 2006
March 29, 2006
April 26, 2006
April 29, 2006
I've been sleeping on the couch the past few days and leading up to my exams because it's the only way I know I won't get woken up in the middle of the night by my idiotic neighbours thumping over my bedroom. Well anyway, yesterday morning I woke up at around 8am to the sound of water dripping. It was raining but the sound was too close to be outside, and I realized there was water leaking through my ceiling onto my dining table, and also all over my kitchen counter area. I immediately called Tom, the head maintenance engineer for our building who has become my new best friend. Anyway, he said he'd send someone immediately but to go upstairs in the meantime and see if there was leakage upstairs too. So I knocked on their door and the same guy I've had my confrontations with before answered and I told him I had water leaking and to check the area above my dining room, and he said he couldn't because it was his flatmate's room (the girl who's name the lease is in) and she wasn't around and her door was locked. So I called Tom back and he said to tell him that if they didn't track her down by the time the engineers got there (in like half an hour) they'd have to break her door down to assess the damage immediately. Of course when I relayed the message the guy got all pissy and argumentative, as if I was the one who wanted to break the door down. Anyway, I just responded by saying that Tom said for him to stay home and wait for the engineers and I went back down to my flat. 10 minutes later the guy knocks at my door and says he couldn't get through to the girl, and that he wanted to come in to check how bad the leak was himself because he didn't think it was necessary to knock down her door. I didn't let him in and said the engineers were on their way to do that themselves, and said that there was major leaking and they had to stop it immediately. He kept arguing and making it seem like I was exaggerating the leak and finally I just raised my voice and said "Look, I'm just telling you what Tom said. If you have a problem with it, take it up with him when he gets here." And then he argued back and said "As usual, you're overreacting to everything!" and at that point I just shut the door in his face. He started yelling through the door and finally yelled out "Bitch!" and went upstairs.
Anyway, the engineers came over (not Tom) and turns out the girl was on her way home so they didn't have to break the door down. They checked my flat and then went upstairs and I didn't see them again. A few hours later I called Tom to get an update and also told him about the fight and the profanity, and he told me I should call the landlord's management office (who he works for) and tell them everything. He said that, like the boiler situation that happened last week, this was their fault as well. Apparently they burn incense all the time and keep throwing the sticks out the window onto the drainage area and eventually all their trash blocked the opening for the water to go down and that's what caused the flooding. And he said that last week, because they didn't report that the boiler was leaking until it eventually exploded, what would have been a £100 repair turned into a £500 repair. He sounded like he'd had it with them too - he said they're also totally neglecting the flat (pigs). He told me to speak to someone specific (who I've never spoken to before) and tell him everything from my end because he'd already reported everything to him that was maintenance-related. He said that way, if they know my complaints along with the maintenance problems, chances are they won't renew their lease.
So I called the guy this morning but he was in a meeting and I left a message and my mobile number. Let's wait and see.
Previous posts on neighbours:
February 12, 2006
February 16, 2006
February 18, 2006
March 22, 2006
March 25, 2006
March 29, 2006
April 26, 2006
April 29, 2006
posted by Kleio at
2:39 am
6 Comments:
There is that old saying:
"You throw water on me, I throw fire on you"
By
nibaq, at 5/09/2006 7:33 pm
nibaq: There are like 4 pubs on my street and, since it's a small side street, late at night guys always feel the urge to do their business in every nook and cranny they can find. Well, I think from now on whenever I spot a guy unzipping, I'm gonna invite him into the building to pee on the door to flat 3 upstairs. Bet they wouldn't even notice.
trevelyana: I don't know what he was thinking - he is the biggest jerk I've ever met. Btw...off topic, does "trevelyana" refer to George Macaulay Trevelyan, the historian? Among everything else he's known for, he once wrote an essay entitled "Clio: A Muse" - Clio being the same as Kleio - the muse of history in Greek mythology. :)
By
Kleio, at 5/10/2006 4:33 am
Kleio, I am so glad that you blog about this. Not only does it help us keep in touch with how you are doing, BUT it's also a great LOG for when you may have to file a report to the building owners / maintenence people / police. It's handy to have this on file so you won't have to rack your memory about it. You can always make a complete report.
That being said, I think your neighbors are @$$holes. They need to realize that they are infringing on YOUR life, and that is why THEY are in the wrong.
By
Caffeinated, at 5/10/2006 6:49 am
did your neighbour think you might be imagining the leak or something? 'overreacting'? i've seen you overreact, and THAT was not it!
did you find out when their lease would be up for renewal? how long would you have to put up with their crap?
in any case, take care. seems that he's getting a bit aggressive.
By
Anonymous, at 5/10/2006 3:42 pm
When is their lease up? I can't believe the building hasn't kicked out these people yet! I'm sorry once again that you keep having to go through this. I've had my share of bad neighbors but thankfully it always got resolved quickly. It's ridiculous that you keep having to deal with their BS. They have to be evicted!
By
Tooomz, at 5/10/2006 5:12 pm
trevelyana: Was the novel based on a real Trevelyan? There was a whole slew of them - most (I think) had been colonial civil servants in India at some point.
Caff: They don't give a shit. And what's worse, I don't think my landlord does either. It's been three days and they still haven't called me back.
Edo Rex: LOL! Oh believe me, they have yet to experience MY temper! I'm just waiting for the right moment. Like I told you and G, one swift kick with my Doc Martens and my Kuwaiti temper and he'll go flying back to China.
Tooomz: Getting them evicted has become my mission in life. I might start spending more time on accomplishing that than on my degree.
By
Kleio, at 5/12/2006 5:27 am
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