Be part of the change you want to see
Julia
Management Company that I am delighted to see so much interest in the
running of this company for the first time in nearly 4 years!!!
As a resident I share all your frustrations about the inflated costs,
length of time it’s taken to fix certain issues, the standard of
repairs of the gates etc. I am also hugely disappointed that:
a) It has taken this issue for any of you to put this amount of time
into the company
b) That you see the be all and end all of this problem to be Scanlans.
Who whilst by their own admission have not been the most prompt at
resolving issues, have actually many good points, which if any of you
had paid any interest until now would know about and be able to
develop a more informed view about. It’s so easy to complain about
what you can see without seeing the big picture and context of all
that you cannot.
I would strongly urge all residents to put in the time and energy that
I have had to into understanding your rights and responsibilities as
owners and the pitfalls that can happen. I have put a huge amount of
time into this company and even I did not pick up the lack of
electricity bills coming through. See it through my eyes and I think
you’ll come closer to understanding where we are and how we got here.
Scanlans or any other letting agent will all have their issues and on
the whole will only ever be as good as the time and energy put into
them by the directors. Now consider that director has a very busy and
stressful full time job just like you, a busy home life just like you
and on top of that has had to deal with getting to grips with running
a company, being a director, getting the best insurance deal (because
if I make a bad decision I personally am liable!) trying to keep on
top of and signing off the accounts & ongoing spend, waiting in and
being a point of contact during the week for countless contractors to
come and fix stuff, picking best quotes for jobs, approving requests
from residents vs. the budget, cash flow forecasts so we don’t go
overdrawn, requests about vandals messing with the fire alarms, court
cases for and chasing of the repairs for fixing damaged gates, keeping
on top of legal obligations relation to health and fire safety,
managing and chasing outstanding works by the agent, liaising with the
new landlord about who they want to use for buildings insurance... to
name but a few of the things that need doing and overseeing.
Yes Scanlans have made mistakes, and frankly so have I. Nobody is
perfect & not one of you can say if you were in my shoes the same
would not have happened. For everyone’s sake please use the energy you
are putting into complaining into resolving these issues cooperatively
together. Imagine how much more we could then achieve?! A meeting
will be held for owners on the 14th Jan. (Details to follow in
writing) this is your opportunity to be a part of the change you
obviously want to see.
James
You have obviously put in a lot of time, which is admirable but at the
end of the day, Scanlans were right about to take an extra £60 a month
out of my pocket and until people questionned this, they did not
realise/admit they had made a mistake, so in my opinion, it was worth
doing without doubt.
Also, a job has been undertaken today that has been waiting in the
wings for about 18 months (hallway heater), which maybe is a
coincidence but I doubt it.
So whilst I appreciate your comments and efforts to date, I assure you
that is in no way a slant on you, rather the slack job performed by
Scanlans.
Sometimes if you don't ask you don't get and in this case, through
questioning their decisions, we seem to have made progress, which will
save us all a substantial amount of money.
Regards,
James
Julia
gone out and would have come out in the process of pulling together
accounts as all invoice issues are every year. The electricity issue
would have resolved itself without doing what you have done.
I agree and have already said that Scanlans contractors have been
slow. They have responded today by being fronted with your complaints
and fixed the heater. No coincidence.
How can you say there is no slant on me. Maybe you should post your
communications to Scanlans where you have made reference to my
abilities alongside their replies and see if the reset of the
residents agree you have not challenged me?
I have no issue with what you are trying to acheive, my issue is the
way you are going about it
Julia
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James
They should have been more careful before sending out the increased
bill, which necessitated a 1st payment of £400 only a few wks ahead.
Why didn't it 'resolve itself' before they sent it out? I have zero
confidence that it would have - what would have changed? I could not
take that chance anyway.
You also instructed them to send the bill out and all I challenged was
the fact that 1 person has the authority to increase everyones service
charge without them knowing a jot about it, there should be more
visibility/communication, that is my point here.
According to Scanlans the role of the director should compramise:
• determine what work needs to be done on the estate, in
conjunction with the Managing Agent monitor the standard of
maintenance and decide on the specification of contractors (work
hasn't been getting done, I have even taken photos previously to try
and help out with this)
• set the budget and the level of service charge (through
complaining we have found serious holes in this)
• supervise the Managing Agent Stevens Scanlan (peoples
frustration speaks for itself Julia)
• review and sign off the annual accounts (where are they? - we
should receive them)
Again, this is nothing at all in the slightest against you, as I keep
saying and saying and saying.
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Charlotte Munt
Please stop taking all this personally honey. Nothing is a slight on
u, its Scanlans all the way! I know it seems bad that its taken all
this for the rest of us to pay any attention but a proposed 82%
increase in monthly bills does have that effect on people!!
I know that u've done loads with them which is absolutely fantastic
but i'd hate to see u getting so stressed and bogged down with it when
ur an unpaid Director purely because someone needed to be. And lets be
honest - would u have been so keen to be a director if u hadn't wanted
ur french doors doing?!! I know i wouldn't because it seems like a
hell of a thankless task and u do seem to get landed with crap that
i'm sure they should be dealing with. (Like why was it down to u to
sort everything out when the milk float got driven into us? Thats
their job surely? Otherwise what on earth are we paying them for?)
Quite frankly, I'm surprised that they are putting so much onus on you
when your not paid - i'd be asking for some kind of payment from them
for everything u seem to be doing. Either that or tell them to sod
off because they're the paid management company - paid to manage the
property. You've been doing the Director role for a year and it seems
to me that they're taking the mick out of ur good nature by letting u
deal with a lot of crap that u shouldn't be dealing with.
We've all lived there now for 3 and a bit years and i love the fact
that we all get on so well with each other! It is a nice place to live
and its because we're proud of it that we want to make sure that its
maintained properly! We all want to ensure that we're getting value
for money which is only natural.
Please please stop taking it all personally as we all love u and now
that we all realise just how much they're asking you to do, i'm sure
we've all got a lot more respect for u too! You really should either
be paid or not do as much as u seem to be doing as in my eyes its them
taking advantage of you.
xx