I'll give you some context and then I'll be sharing my, and the boyf's, communication with this stupid company. So, we rent a flat through an agency based in Shoreditch but the building we live in is owned or managed by the Fuckston, I mean, Buxton Group.
The boyf and I had been living in our one bedroom flat for 6 months before deciding to buy a sofabed so friends could stay. This meant we had to store the current sofa somewhere. We decided that it wouldn't hurt to put the sofa outside in our hallway in the meantime as there had been chairs sitting there since the day we moved in and it hadn't been a problem.
One day, I was leaving the flat to go to work and there was a man dismantling our sofa. I asked who he was and he claimed that he worked for the Buxton Group, that the sofa was a fire hazard and he had to take it away. I told him that it belonged to our landlord and that I'd need to inform the agency we rent the flat through. He said he'd get in touch with them himself. Anyway, I left and emailed my agency that day explaining what happened. But when I got home, this is what I found....
As if that's NOT a fire hazard now!! Before the sofa was pressed against the wall on the right, out of the way of the window. I was fucking fuming! So I wrote the following email....
Dear Scott,
My name is Amy Gentles-McKie and I am a current tenant of 15 Turin Street, E2 6NJ.
I'm forwarding an email I sent to a general information email address for Buxton Properties as though I was told the building is serviced or managed by the Buxton Group, I needed to report an incident I experienced last Monday.
As I rent my flat through an agency I had no means to confirm your company details except for the Cleaning Attendance signing sheet we have taped up in our hallway. Our agency was kind enough to pass on your email address but only after I sent the original email.
I do hope you can help as I'm slightly concerned that what I experienced may have potentially been a burglary in action.
I hope to hear from you soon.
Fwd: To whom this may concern,
On Monday morning when I was leaving my flat for work at about 8.55am, I came across a man who said he worked for your company, dismantling a sofa that was being stored at the end of our landing. The sofa belongs to the flat I live in and we rent it through Bridge Estate Agents.
This person said that it had to be removed immediately because it caused a fire hazard, even though it was neatly positioned out of the way, not obstructing any exits. We had already spoken to our neighbours that share the floor about storing the furniture out there and they had confirmed previous tenants had used that space to store items. My partner and I had just bought a new sofa and were making plans to put the old one into storage at the weekend anyway.
I was a bit concerned that we were given no warning of it having to be moved, therefore not giving us a chance to arrange our own removal seeing as it is not our property but that of our landlord. I immediately contacted our agency, who were also unaware of this happening.
When I returned home that evening I was met with the sofa partially dismantled and more of an obstruction than it had initially been thought - see attachment. We have now had to move the remainder of the sofa, as the legs and arms are now missing, back into our flat for safe keeping.
This person said they would report to our agency as I had clearly said the property was that of the landlord and therefore managed by Bridge, but the agency have not heard anything as yet. This is the reason I am now contacting you.
I am deeply concerned especially now I have realised parts of the original sofa have been taken which could result in a cost to us through no fault of our own.
I have also attached a photograph of the signed sheet for cleaning attendance that is currently taped to the wall of our main entrance hallway - please be aware that no name was signed on Monday this week.
I would like to contacted, or at least my agency contacted, with an explanation and a time for the legs and arms of the sofa to be returned. My contact at the agency is Michael Murphy, whom I have cc'd in this email.
Regards,
This email bounced and so I went searching online to find another email address or telephone number. I finally found another email address and sent the above to them, followed up with several calls that never got answered. By this point I'd had enough so the boyf's took over - he has more patience.
He finally got through to someone five days ago. The person on the phone wouldn't help - yes I said WOULDN'T HELP - but gave yet another email address to contact. The boyf sent this:
I've just been given this address following a telephone conversation with one of your colleagues. She mentioned that you are out of the office today but would be contactable via email.
I'm a resident at 15 Turin Street, Bethnal Green. Last month, my girlfriend and I purchased a new sofa and had placed our old sofa out in the hallway ready to be put in to storage. As my girlfriend was leaving for work one day, she found a man dismantling the sofa, saying that he worked for the Buxton Group and was removing it as it was a fire hazard - it was not blocking any stairwells and was placed where two large chairs had been situated since we moved in to the property. My girlfriend explained the situation, before heading off to work. We arrived home to find half of the sofa gone. We brought the remaining parts of the sofa back in to our flat and contacted Bridge Estate Agents and a Buxton Group representative about getting the rest of our sofa back. We have not received any correspondence from anyone at your company and Bridge only direct us to you.
Obviously we would like the original sofa back or a suitable replacement, as we will be liable to pay for the sofa at the completion of our lease.
Please advise on how we should proceed.
Many thanks
No response. RAGE! So he called again yesterday and then sent me a text saying:
"Just spoke to a woman from the Buxton Group, so dismissive. I remained polite, but put the phone down and called her a f*****g w***e".
She must have been a bitch if he got angry because he is such an easy-going guy. The agency contacted the landlord who called the Buxton Group; end result? They said it's OUR fault for leaving it out there. OUR FAULT.
I'm now going to contact the local police and seek advice as, as far as I'm concerned, that sofa was stolen and the Buxton Group are not taking responsibility for their dodgy employees.
So a word of warning to all those looking for a flat/apartment to live, renting or buying; double check who owns your building because the Buxton Group looks after number one!
My rant is over!
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