No Refuse Disposal for Phase 2, no worries, we live in a dump!

"Morning Neighbour
i need help, where do i dispose rubbish at phase 2."

Unfortunately you cannot dispose of any Rubbish in Phase 2, nevermind recycle anything! Although Faircape has issued multiple warnings to residents here of issuing fines, they have yet to provide proper, nay, ANY Waste facilities for Residents in Phase 2. Many residents still leave their trash in the hall ways in protest. In the spirit of Khayelitsha, we could just dump our trash out the windows, they are already filthy and a total dump outside of our flats. Did you know that the developer's representative told a member of the UES Help Desk that they are also supposed to be providing window washing services? None of our windows have ever been washed and are opaque with construction grime! But in all seriousness Resident, I regretfully have no solution for you as there are NO Waste Facilities in Phase 2. I've heard that some residents sneak over to the hotel and dump their trash there in the hall ways, I have been taking my trash to work. Since we have no solution for this one due to the lack of facilities from UES, this has officially been lodged with the Body Corporate and the developer and we hope to hear some results soon. Don't hold your breath!

Construction Workers sitting ON MY CAR, seriously? Broken lift, still?!

"Yesterday morning I came down to the parking and I walked to my car which had 2 construction workers sitting on my rear bumper. My car is not a bakkie and should not be sat on like one, and why are they so unsupervised that they are able to do that? I agree, this developer is so unprofessional as they cannot even manage their employees. I should not have to live in fear of my car being damaged by the developer's workers, as if the developer would pay for any of my damages.

Many thanks for starting this blog, it's time we had a voice as no one at Upper East Side gives a second thought to their residents."

Of course Resident, I'm sorry you've had to deal with that, it's totally inexcusable. This has actually happened to me once before as well, they were leaning on my car and sitting around a pail playing checkers. Seems they are never working, this explains why we've been FORCED to live in a construction site for 2 months! If I see that, I get back into the lift, if it's working of course, as the lift has been out for almost a week now, "Routine Inspection" my a**, filthy lying developer. Then I go to the next level and trigger my alarm, it generally scares em off because the noise is so loud. We should NOT have to be patrolling UES as well, the security guards are too busy in the lobby watching TV, I saw 6 of them gathered there chillin last week!

And where is that darned Car Wash Bay?

"Could anybody please indicate to me where the designated taps is from
the stormwater supply to wash our vehicles as per terms and conditions
5.4? I'd asked around and to security but they also do not know of
such taps.

Anybody feedback?"

Great point Resident, it's important to use storm water taps for vehicle washing. Especially since we are wasting water like it's going out of style in Upper East Side.

I've not even attempted to wash my car there, you might be able to ask all the construction workers that shower in the parking lot, I mean, they get totally naked sometimes so it might be a bit awkward, but the obviously know the water sources in the parking lots. I will pose this to the Body Corporate, who's email we presently have not verified posting permission as of yet (though they never respond to anything), to see if we can figure anything out.

Does anyone else out there know what to do? They have not provided us with a hose that's for sure, so I think we would have to buy one to actually be able to use it, another example of poor Body Corporate management.

We'll get back to you ASAP with some feedback though, fear not!

Banging, Buck Passing, and Bad Smelling!

Email submission from a resident:

"Thanks! We were so happy to see a blog on this subject.

We have got exactly the same problems as everyone else on this blog. We still do not understand that why during the week, we seldom hear the noise of jack hammers. On Saturday mornings however, it sounds as if every jack hammer that is available in Cape Town, is operating at UES. No one on the building management team are then available. We still don't understand what is the use of the manual that was handed over with all the contact details. No one is ever available. We did a visit to the site offices on Saturday. Once again, everyone just passes the blame. During the week, Swish Properties are always apologetic, but they do not solve any problems or complaints.

We have also got a terrible smell coming from the drainage systems in our flat. It is as unbearable as the noise on Saturdays.

Maybe we should all get together and throw a big party to show THEM what noise is all about.

They can clean up the mess and smell.

Thanks again for this blog!
Regards

Thanks resident for your submission!

We all agree the jack hammering has to stop. It's absurd for a weekend unless there is some sort of emergency, i.e. leaking pipe, etc. And the building should be telling us when they will be doing that anyway so we can plan our lives accordingly.

As for the drains, I've found the best solution is to throw some baking soda and a bit of vinegar down the drain. I don't use harsh chemicals because it's damaging to the water supply in the city but if it's out of control I guess you have to. There's a really good cleaner available at the Wellness Warehouse, called Mrs. Meyer's, they make good stuff and I believe have a powerful eco-friendly drain cleaner. Gee, I really wish UES would at least sponsor eco-friendly cleaner to their residents so we can clean up their mess!

What ticks me off is that it's not even the water traps which is what traditionally would be causing the smell, I think the problem lies much deeper because I'm hardly using my kitchen sink and it smells like a dog crawled in the septic tank and died and has been decomposing in the pipes for ages.
It has a lot to do with mold as well I believe based on the type of smell it is. This cannot be fixed on our end but if kept down won't be such a hazard to your health as mold particles can be quite damaging to your respiratory system. Another way UES is killing us. So please be careful!

As for the party, there is talk of organizing community get-together's, not that the building would want us all uniting as one, I think part of that is to 'divide and conquer'. Because we certainly were not ever invited to these little self-congratulatory cocktail parties they have patting each other on the back on how cool they think they are. Yeah we were stuck in our crummy flats taking freezing showers and smelling moldy pipes. Fun stuff!

Good Luck Resident, thanks for the submission, any other ideas for get-together's? Keep them coming, gang!

Burglars make themselves at home here at Upper East Side

Gee, glad the criminals feel so welcome, apparently he even slept in the unit's bed and ate the resident's food. Classic.

"Sergeant Hilton Malila, of the Woodstock police station, said they believed the 34-year-old suspect had entered the complex with a set of keys for three flats and also carried an access pass."

Read the full article here

We made the front page of the Cape Argus, this is a call to action for residents, protect yourself and your possessions as it is not safe here. Neighbours, let's look out for each other, who thinks we should start a neighborhood watch?

Thank you to the resident whom submitted this to us, I would have never known, it might have been prudent for the building to just send a note to residents advising them of a breach in security and to keep alert. We're on our own out here, we have to look out for each other because UES certainly isn't.

I love the sound of jackhammers at 9am on a Sunday morning!

Don't you?

It's so invigorating and exciting, really knows how to throw you out of bed!

Seems like Upper East Side is more concerned with completing the construction of this development than the quality of life of it's residents. Why, we have to ask, does the Body Corporate allow this? Are they powerless to the developers? It clearly states in the Body Corporate Rules that noise and disturbances (though it's a jackhammer, and really I think those terms are understatements) are not permitted beyond business hours. Unless of course they have been given special permission by the Body Corporate, which makes me think that this is the case. I personally think that in order for the Body Corporate to get the bid to manage this building they had to do the whole "wink/nod", and have allowed this sort of stuff to carry since I've moved in.

There hasn't been a weekend I've lived here where the pounding and construction doesn't go far into the evening and on weekends as well. Plus, these units are so poorly insulated that you can hear everything, even the construction workers conversing with each other.

Maybe in the move in Welcome Basket they should have included some industrial strength ear plugs. Oh wait, there was no welcome basket. All UES has given me is a bunch of notices posted to all residents telling us more of their ridiculous rules that only seem to apply to residents and no one else, i.e. developer, construction employees.

A lot needs to change here to make this place bearable. We've been so patient and understanding, but 2 months of still living in a terrible construction site when we were promised a "COMPLETED PHASE" is absurd. More mis-representation, more agent tactics to pad their wallets, more evidence of South Africans being forced to live in an anti-consumer driven economy. Don't we all get sick of having to cater to service providers? Shouldn't they be the one trying to compete for our business? Stand up, South Africa! Don't take this anymore! Forward this blog to people you know, we've gotten a great amount of traffic so far. We are basing this blog on identifying problems at UES but perhaps the need for a broader site for consumer protection is there. Keep sending us your encouragement at our email address UESHelpDesk@gmail.com. More importantly, pass this along, don't let your friends make the same mistake we did, don't ever go near Upper East Side!

So keep pounding away, it was actually an evening I was sick and all I wanted to do was sleep that prompted me to start this blog by the suggestion of my neighbors. Finally, I had had enough of it, clearly Upper East Side does care about it's residents. If they did, they would never have let it get this bad.

They won't tell you but they billed you wrong!

Yes, it's true.

Residents that are living in Phase 2 have been issued a utilities bill by the metering company at an incorrect rate! Sources tell us it was at a commercial rate which includes other fees that residential units should not be paying. But will anyone tell you? Of course not! This is UES, they're not interested.

Residents MUST send an email to Janineda@pecgroup.co.za, whom is one of the administrators and they will be able to officially sort you out, but they will NOT just correct the charges.

Some of us only discovered this by putting the pieces together when we had our first little meeting with other residents in the building. I had to call PEC, solicit the proper numbers myself and have them sent to me after my own personal enquiry. Another resident had to have their landlord sort it out for them, what kind of resident service delivery do we have here? Gee, wouldn't it have been nice if UES told their residents without us having to dig it out of them?

Just a sample of the correspondence we have to have on a regular basis with this place

"An update on the rest of the building this week:
-the bathroom light completely blew out finally after much flickering, that's why I said in my snag list that it was flickering, hoping Upper East Side would fix it.
-The lift was in-operational last night and many of the tenants were yelling at each other banging on the steel doors to 'stop jamming the lift', it was kind of like a prison movie with people on several levels yelling and banging on the steel. I figured that it had to be construction workers, whom still bang on things past 5pm (despite the Body Corporate Rules), because it was on the 6th floor for over 15 minutes (this was the only operational lift) and the stairs were closed off. Then the lift zoomed down to the -1 floor without stopping anywhere else which I've discovered that you can only do with a builder key. It was strange though because it was at about 630pm and they should be cleared out the building each night at 5pm, but I think some of them live here now because they often are here way past hours.
-Though I'm all for getting along with all walks of life, it's kind of a nuisance when the construction workers try to pick you up in the mornings and in the evenings while they shower with the door open and strip down to their underwear in plain sight, and I'm really hoping the developer will perhaps tell them it's inappropriate to say 'Hey mommie' and 'hey girl' to residents, not to mention running around past my car while I'm unlocking the doors. So I've been parking in a different spot because it's actually quite scary as this is how I was hijacked once upon a time.
-Also, the lake that floods the parking lot every day is still a problem, but I have a SUV so I'm okay, but I'm surprised the developer hasn't sorted it out yet, it's kind of funny the residents here affectionately refer to as "Lake Victoria East", and then when it rains it's "Upper Victoria Falls", because it seriously comes down from the ceilings in the garage.
-There's still no recycling in the building, even though it was advertised as a Green Building but I don't think much goes to waste as on trash days there are many homeless people milling around the building going through the trash, so I guess it's recycling in it's own way.
-The new entrance finally opened up last week and it's nice because you don't need any card to get into that one because every time I've used it there's been no security and the boom is always up so I'm not stuck waiting 20 minutes waiting for a security guard to let me out like what happened before, when I literally had a plane to catch.
-I do worry that the hot water still takes a long time to come on because I think I'm being quite wasteful running it till it gets hot. The pressure in the shower head is also really bad so with your permission I'd like to take the restrictor off and maybe that will fix it. The drain is getting a little worse in the shower but I'm going to get the right tools this week and I'll see if I can fix it on my own.
-Also, I cleaned the heck out of this place the past few days and somehow underneath the sink it still smells like mold. It's actually where the dishwasher space is in the cabinetry, so I've blocked off the open holes for the ports with some plastic and I'll see if that isolates the smell and then we'll know if it's from this kitchen sink or from the plumbing behind the drywall which I think it might be.
-Additionally, there was a strange puddle in the corner by the sliding glass door of water, I checked where it might have come in and the whole window door frame was damp but since I got home after it had been raining I couldn't tell it's point of origination, so just an FYI I'll be investigating this more and connecting with the maintenance people here to have them fix the damp issues, which are plentiful in this building."

And still many of these issues are a problem. This correspondence was from the end of June, 2010.

Hot Water, anyone?

I've served 52 days here at UES and I've still got minimal hot water, it takes about 10 minutes sometimes to get a hot shower going and full hot water blast, thereby wasting an insane amount of water that I of course have to pay for because UES couldn't be bothered. Anyone else out there have hot water? Can I please come and shower?

And I love that this problem has been occurring, since oh look: 2008!

Check out this other awesome Cape Town blog and their user comments...
http://www.urbansprout.co.za/a_green_upper_east_side_for_ct the banter from the agent is pretty entertaining as well, nice how it took her over a year to find it.

We not have added a page for the water specifically to here, if you're looking to find out the water temperature, you can click here for "The Water is..." and you can fill in the blanks, which I can tell you will more often than not be "Not Hot," enjoy!

Building Manager

I've heard he's never here, but just in case, we should all be reverting our problems to him as well.

Allie Moos
Building Manager
Upper East Side

074 489 0752