aggravatedLong story short, I live in a flat, the local council is my landlord, even before I moved in they -knew- there was a long standing condensation issue. (They had to replaster the wall in the bathroom prior to this) I moved into the place in September 2003 I believe.
The condensation problem was soon noticed and I contact them and requested that vents be added to my windows, the then area surveyor came out and told me:
My windows are double glazed (They're actually singly glazed).
That it is my fault, apparently it's my lifestyle causing it.
That the problem would go away if I simply left my windows open.
Let's recap, they wanted a single disabled woman living in a ground floor flat with unlatchable windows in an area where there have been several rapes, a murder not 200 yards away and a woman attacked just across the road to leave her windows open all the time?
Yeah, I'm so going to do that.
Anyway, this drags on and it gets worse, each complaint to the landlord? Gets me another leaflet on condensation, I could probably paper my room with them.
At one point the problem was so bad? Two rooms had mould all over their walls and there were insects everywhere. I had to bleach the walls, so little me who walks with a cane had to totter up a ladder and bleach walls to kill the mould and the bugs.
Time goes on, problem is still pretty bad, finally after about 3 in person visits to the local office to protest, they send out the new area supervisor. That was in early November 06.
He is shown the windows, he is shown the now plasterless wall in the bathroom, he is shown the corner where a missing vent cover outside has caused cold bridging to form resulting in mouldy wallpaper and the same missing vent cover letting in water has shorted out the nearby electrical sockets and rendered them dangerous.
He agrees to put the jobs in to be done.
Early January 06, the vents are finally fitted, They're not only skew wiff (did the guy who fitted them even know what a level is?) but gaps large enough to put a screw driver through are left between them and the window frame. I phone up and am patronisingly told that of course vents means there will be holes in the windows as if I don't know the difference between the vent holes themselves and gaps caused by bad fitting. I give them frequent calls and the guy finally comes back the next day and fills the holes. Amazingly within days the window condensation problem that was "caused by the lifestyle of the tenant" entirely vanishes.
The vent cover has still not been fixed nor have the sockets that cannot be touched or they give electrical shocks.
I ring up, play pass the parcel, am finally told that the surveyor will come and see me monday afternoon. He shows up Monday at 9:30am. I am disabled, I need warning to be ready at that time of the morning, I was in my pyjamas. I explain to him that the job has still not been done. He swears to me that someone will fit that vent cover that day and askes me to make another appointment to address my concerns.
I ring up and ask for another appointment, tusday I receive a hand delivered letter on council note paper informing me that the surveyor will be visiting Wednesday morning. I get up early Wednesday, and wait, and wait and wait. He never shows, I contact the department again, they have no idea of what is going on, I play pass the pass with various departments and am finally told that the reason the vent cover wasn't done when it was originally reported? Is that it's down in the system as having been done.
Today I ring back, apparently no such appointment was made for yesterday (so I must be either lying or imagining the letter) not only that but they can't tell me why everything has gone wrong. Plus they claim that they keep ringing me and getting no answer (I sit by the phone pretty much 24/7). They finally send someone out to fit a temporary "cover" since they say they don't have a cover in stock and have to wait for it to come in. It's a bit of untreated split plywood just screwed over the hole. They fit it today when it's pouring with rain. Untreated plywood is bad enough, that it's split? I give it an hour before the water penetrates.
The surveyor is apparently now coming out next tuesday to discuss the matter but in the mean time; I'm stuck with an unplastered bathroom window, faulty dangerous electrics, a bedroom light that doesn't work properly, and mouldy wallpaper.
I've had no carpets for all this time because they would have only gone mouldy so my heating bills have been higher.
I've gone through several lightbulbs including expensive energy saving ones due to the faulty electrics.
Cleaning supplies have cost me a fair bit and I have had numerous possessions ruined, plus none of my friends will visit because my home sets off their asthma and my flatmate and I keep suffering from respitory ailments and he has eczema most likely caused by the mould spores.
All I want them to do is to do basic repairs and to stop bloody patronising me.
Edit: Contacted the newspapers, going to go speak to CAB, my MP and whoever else I can find today, hopefully I can get this blimmin sorted and maybe I can get them adapt my kitchen.
They'll "adapt" my bathroom but not my kitchen. My bathroom is fine but they want to put in a shower for me and take away my bath, since my disability includes masses of pain, a long hot bath does more good than a shower especially since I'm not real good at standing up. Yet my kitchen has blind spots I can't reach into, they built the place for the washing machine? Too small to take any washing machine on the market. The cupboards are too high for me to clean/reach into without a stepladder in some cases. Basically it's a nightmare for me to use.
So they'll waste thousands on unneeded adaptions to the bathroom (they'd have to move the sink to put in the shower because of how the bath is set, and retile the entire room) but won't spend a couple of hundred to adapt my kitchen so I can actually use the bloody thing comfortably. Brilliant aren't they?