Rumour of nepotism

Well it's no surprise that we've confirmed that the main selling agent of Upper Eastside (UES) purchased a flat there for the sale price of R756 370 and the average selling price of units in the building is close to R1 million.

And we forgot to mention that he has a rent free lease on a downstairs retail space for his personal snap shot collection.

Win for Swish Properties employees, the benefits package seems amazing!

Resident Parking bays are not for the Hotel!

We have received numerous email enquiries as to the correct status of the Hotel being able to use the parking bays that the residents pay for when they have events.

The correct answer, as per your lease, is NO. The only person that has access to your parking bay is YOU.

Should anyone be parking in your designated bay, you have every right to call the building manager and have the car booted.

Should this problem persist, we must seek resolution as a group. The main gripe is that it's highly inconvenient to have to elsewhere when you pay for a parking bay, and it really rubs salt in wounds when the event carries on late into the evening and causes huge noise disturbances.

Good luck to all residents!

Letter to residents still stuck at UES

Hello world, I still get a lot of emails from residents telling me their unique situations anonymously, asking for help, and fearful of what big, bad Grid Co will try to do to them as they have threatened other residents with legal action (to say the least).

Residents of UES must stand together and rely on each other for help. You must not lose faith as this is bigger than just some crappily built flat that's hardly up to code erected by some joke of a builder and dishonestly marketed by insanely ignorant wanna-be estate agents.

This sort of service delivery and unethical business practices should NOT be tolerated in South Africa.

Don't forget there are additional resident-run assistance groups that have risen out of the ashes of this scorched Earth dumping ground of a living premises. Keep emailing in your problems and WE HAVE PEOPLE READY TO HELP YOU!

Stay strong residents,
UES Residents' Activist Team

Hotel torturing residents, Body Corporate does nothing

Hi all,

Yet again midnight on Tuesday, 07 December 2010:

I live in the west block, on the 3rd floor seaside and the music of the vent is loud, this being a disturbance which seems will never end as long as the Hotel exists.

On Friday night 03 December 2010, I went to speak to the hotel management about the excessive loud noise which is keeping me from peace and rest in my place, but ended up speaking to a lady, which happens to be on the body corporate as well as part of the hotel and redefine group if remember correct from a meeting we had few months ago.

On 14 September I send a letter of complaint to the body corporate about the manner in which they host the events, which is a disturbance and nuisance to residents.

Very little has changed although they have replied and said the hotel will not cause any further disturbances.

Well the lady whom happened to have interest in both the body corporate and the hotel, told me they are allowed to make noise till 12, although according to the conduct rules they are breaking all the rules as I clearly reminded them in my letter below, dated 14 September 2010.

This has to end immediately, this my home and I will not adjust my life and priorities according to the Hotel events.

They should surely sound proof and redesign the structure as it was never design to host events/temporary night clubs with this level of noise.

Are there any other residents having the same issues?

Please speak up.

Thank you

:::Below, the letter sent from the resident to the Body Corporate:::


TO:

The Chairman
Body Corporate
Upper East Side Development, Woodstock, Cape Town

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

NOISE DISTURBANCE AND PARKING NUISANCE – UES HOTEL

References:

Discussion between Emmanuel Spamer (Resident, Upper East Side) and Roger King (Executive Housekeeper, Upper East Side Hotel) – dated, 09 Sept 2010.
Conduct rules – Use of section and common property - p.39
Conduct rules – Behavior of owners, occupiers, guests, etc - p.41
Conduct rules – Parking - p.43
Conduct rules – Commercial units - p.47

AIM

1. This letter is submitted to notify of disturbance and nuisance caused by the Hotel events.

1.1. Resident’s concern based upon information provided in Reference A.

1.2. A formal response from the Body Corporate with regards to issues and rules.

BACKGROUND

At reference D, the rules state guests are only to use visitor parking bays.

On Thursday, 09 September 2010, 8.30pm, I arrived at UES to find my parking has been taken by a guest (attending the UES Hotel function), which left me nowhere to park as the rest of the underground parking areas were full.

At reference B, the rules state no noisy, injurious or objectionable trade or business and no nuisance or annoyance to be caused to any Owner, occupier or surrounding neighbours.

Opening the door to my apartment I was overwhelmed by the excessive loud music and noise made by the guests coming from the Hotel function held in lobby on the ground level.
As per reference A, I explained the issue with parking and noise disturbance to Mr. Roger King, where after he informed me these promotional functions will continue for the next couple of months, and I should have been informed about it the event.

Mr. Roger King, managed to arrange me a temporary parking bay for the night, however he could only apologize for the loud music and noise disturbance caused.

At references C & E, the rules state; No nuisances are to be caused especially in the form of loud music or irritable audible noisome sound and commercial units shall have due regard to the rights of occupiers of residential units, to privacy and peace and noise levels shall not exceed prescribed guidelines.

The music and noise disturbance from guests shouting and screaming continued till the early morning hours of Friday 10 September 2010, disrupting sleep and my intensive studies.

NOTIFICATION

As it is not the first time, I am seriously concerned with the Hotel turned into an occasional night club, for whatever promotion or function. Regardless of whether residents have been informed about these functions or not, the fashion in which they host the events are totally unacceptable and does not entitle them to cause any inconvenience or disturbance of any nature to the residents, in which case the hotel should control the parking, guest behavior and the sound levels.

As I live on the 3rd floor in the West block, it is proven the building is not designed to keep airborne sounds from travelling to the residential side of the development.

I trust these issues will be address immediately and no further nuisance or disturbances will caused by the UES Hotel hosting events.

Are your electricity bills still Jacked up?

Hi all UES residents,

I live on the 3rd floor in the west block.
In the first two months (June July) my electrical account was relatively high. I read on the blog, mistakes were made with rates and eventually were refunded what I was over charged.

In last two months, I received even higher bills than in the beginning, does anybody know what is going on, is it just me that have used more than double the electricity than before or is there others that experienced the same?

Terrible Internet, Never-Ending Noise, never-ending unhappiness

Morning,

I have a few complaints and queries regarding the balls up that is the UES block!

These events that they are holding on Thursdays… What is the cut off time for excessive noise (when it becomes noise pollution).
The Cosmo fashion show, the event last night (as nice as it is to hold a charity event), the fact that the base comes flying up from the foyer into the apartments on the mountain facing side, one being mine, is unbearable.
I cannot understand how they did not sound proof the foyer, if they were planning to hold events there. To my knowledge that is illegal in a residential area??

And also a massive issue with internet. I have been in contact with Swish for over a year, trying to sort out internet in the apartment, as I refuse to use VGS who are heavily overpriced.
I have been told that a wireless network is being tested, but nothing has come from that, and I have been told I am unable to connect a Telkom line in the apartment.
Below is an email sent by me to Justin Betts, Michel Lanfranchi (developer), and Mariaan du Plessis from Swish:

…Even if you had a monthly line rental of R131 with Telkom, plus one Gig bandwidth with Axxess DSL… It comes to a total of R150 per month.

With VGS it is a monthly 1 Gig cost of R199. Now that is not a massive difference, R49, and quite acceptable.

BUT…

What if there is a need to use more than 1 Gig, which to be honest is extremely easy, and a probability. What if we use 5 Gigs in a month…

Now for those 5 Gigs, VGS will charge R382.

While Axess DSL stays at R19 per extra gig. A MERE R95 FOR 5 GIGABYTES.

Add that to the Telkom line rental, it is R226!!!!
With that difference of R156 we could get an EXTRA 8 GIGS FROM AXXESS.

A WHOPPING TOTAL OF 13 GIGABYTES IN COMPARISON TO VGS'S MEASLY 5 GIGS FOR THAT SAME PRICE!

Therefore still substantially cheaper than VGS.

And in reference to the line speeds etc, it is a poor reason/excuse to use VGS due to the fact that Axxess lines are just as fast and reliable.
That is no reason whatsoever for VGS to have such high prices, especially in our modern times when internet costs are down, and still coming down everywhere in the world except for them it seems!
I find it quite hard to believe that in such a “modern” block, that we are actually FORCED to utilize a single provider if we want to connect, without any cheaper options… As almost every other provider IS cheaper than VGS!!
It would be the same comparison as if I went to open up a new cell phone account with Cell C, and upon signing the contract the only phone available to me would be a Nokia 5110 from the year 1998… Outdated!

And lastly, what kind of fool has the same entrance for visitors and residents (Pickwick street)… It may seem petty, but the amount of times I have sat behind a row of cars filling out the sign in sheet is pathetic. And then the security guards will still somehow direct them into my private bay, (marked), just up from the booms.

There seemed to be absolutely no planning involved when it came to constructing UES!

Kind regards,

Western Province Property Custodians

Hi Neighbour,


Do you perhaps have any contact details for the Managing Agency Western
Province Property Custodians? This company 'manages' the apartment I am
renting and I cannot get into contact with them via email, text messaging
or cel. Please help!


Kind Regards,
Totally Lost

Redefine gets involved! Residency @ UES Redefined!

Dear Residents, we have been given this document from Redefine Property Developers. Since this blog's inception we have gotten a HUGE amount of response to our problems. Although Faircape, Swish Properties, and most specifically Grid Co (Grid Internal Systems) have only tried to infuriate the problems with resident abuse and intimidation tactics we have had Redefine, the actual developers of the building, swoop in and show a huge amount of desire resolution.
Here is their official response with our notes, we advise the jokers at the other companies (SWISH, FAIRCAPE, GRID CO, etc.) to reference this as it's a lesson in client management that Redefine should teach their joint venture partners.

NOTICE TO RESIDENTS
We write in response to a number of complaints received from Upper Eastside residents recently. Upper Eastside management is taking these issues extremely seriously and regrets any inconvenience caused. We held a special meeting last week to discuss the issues raised and have developed a comprehensive action plan to address them swiftly Below is a summary of what was discussed and, where appropriate, an outline of our proposed solutions.

Wow, that's fantastic, they regret any inconvenience, I believe this is perhaps the first and only apology we've gotten from anyone. Thanks for not trying to tell me that your problems are "open for interpretation".

1. Recycling Facilities: - the ‘Refuse Room’ for West Block has just been complete and the City Council has delivered the ‘normal waste bins’ on Friday 30th July. This means that your daily rubbish can be left in the bins from now on.
Our recycling supplier, Waste plan, has not yet delivered the recycling bins for West Tower. They have communicated that this could take a few weeks and we will let you know as soon as they have been delivered. For the time being, please continue to deposit your recyclable waste in the ‘Refuse Room’ of North Block. The refuse room in north tower is situated adjacent to the car park at the Pickwick Street end.
We will keep you updated on an exact delivery date when the recycled bins will be available in the “refuse room at West Block

A UES Help Desk member made the Waste bins appear through the city council which is fine and well, we must work together sometimes because Redefine was not aware of the lack of service from the Body Corporate Managing agency FAIRCAPE. We will get confirmation of the exact route of our recyclable waste tonight at the resident meeting because SWISH PROPERTIES told us all from Day 1 that this was a Green building and there would be recycling.

2. Construction Work: - The construction works adjacent to residential areas has been limited to Monday to Friday from 8am to 5pm. No contractor is allowed on site outside these hours, except to complete works on the retail areas. There is a security guard posted at these residential works areas to monitor the situation outside the designated hours and anyone caught there will be dealt with as a trespasser and will immediately be removed from site.
3. Construction Workers: All should be complete by the 1st week in September and all Grido Co contractors are easily identifiable the other smaller sub-contractors e.g. Whiteheads – paint contractor have been removed from using the store room’s on the parking levels and are only allowed to enter the site from the Pickwick Street entrance and are to use the open land opposite the development as their parking area and their ‘break away’ area. Please report any unusual activity / sightings to Mr Allie – Building Manager.

This is great, tonight we will be proposing a name tag system that can be used to identify people during the day as well. Unfortunately the security guards sometime grant the access to residential floors by swiping their card for every Tom, Dick, and Harry. But I have a feeling Redefine won't be letting this happen anymore. Also, it needs to be dealt with that when Mr. Allie decides to take leave that FAIRCAPE actually has someone else there, the building was left completely unmanaged last week when he was gone, shame, no one to post more hate notes from FAIRCAPE.
Residents, you are also advised to continue to report unusual activity to UES Help Desk as well so we can get to the bottom of this and you won't have to face rudeness from GRIDCO whom will probably talk down to you and think they are part of some old boys' network. :::cough cough::: attempted nepotism :::cough cough:::

4. Storm Water: - The storm water pipes that collect the rain water are situated just in front of the North Block refuse room- a 1000 litre tank has been ordered and will be delivered shortly – we will inform you of an exact date once the supplier confirms. We just want eveyone to be clear that it will not be a high pressure
hose area- you will have to wash your vehicle by hand with a bucket. Also an important point to note is that if there is no rain there will be no water. Vehicle cleaning ‘equipment’ will be left with the building manager for your usage.

This is all fine and well, however, please tell SWISH this, as they have agents selling something different to people, the game and bill of goods they sold us would have made us believe you'd have a valet car wash for residents!

5. Cleaning of Windows: - As the developer we are responsible for the cleaning of the windows –but as there is still a few more weeks of construction work we wanted to wait until that was complete we have engaged the services of Window-o-Wash and they will be on site from mid September to carry out a full window clean of both North / West Block. In addition the ‘blue’ band on the North Block r will be repainted.

Again, tell SWISH that, their representative claiming to represent the developer said we'd have our windows washed. They should have also told us that it would be a construction site till 1 September rather than 1 June.

6. Drain Smells: We will be making an appointment to come to each apartment and will be ‘blocking off the outlet that is causing the ‘smell’ with a special attachment. You will be able to connect your washing machine or dishwasher to this attachment.

Also go to Grid co and Swish and Faircape and check their drains too, because they think their s*** don't stink!

7. Hot Water: - The West Block has been fitted with a central hot water system that services the hotel and residential side of the development. The developer opted to go this route as they felt it was an eco conscious decision. The fact that we have eliminated 90 geysers from the development means that the peak demand load on Eskom has been considerably reduced. In addition, a normal geyser turns itself on
and off, a few hours a day and this uses unnecessary energy, whereas the central heating system is more energy efficient. With residents taking occupation, the system has been put through its paces and there are problems, which we are acutely aware of and have been working to sort out. The first plan to resolve this has already been actioned. The hot water in the system is circulated via a pump that was servicing the entire development. An additional pump has been now been installed in order to have dedicated hot water circulation to the residential block only. This was activated on Wednesday evening, but has not totally resolved the problem. Additional works will need to be undertaken on the system and this is scheduled for Tuesday the
3rd between 9am and 4pm This mean‘s that there will be no water in your apartment during this time. We would appreciate your feedback after this has been done to see if the corrective measures are effective.

FINALLY!! We think your hot water has been sorted, come tonight to give your feedback, because we need to get to the bottom of this. It should have been handled before any of us took occupation but let's get it sorted now and we will also be asking about water bills being subsidized by whoever's fault this was.

8. Security: - You may or may not be aware of the burglary incident which occurred on the weekend of the 16th – 18th July. We are still awaiting the complete police report but the outline of the case is as follows. The suspect found a lost bunch of keys, including branded Upper Eastside access card, a post box key and front door key, and used this to gain access to the apartment in North Tower. The apartments that were broken into have had their locks changed and all resident access cards have been re-programmed. The Upper Eastside trustees / body corporate and security company are reviewing the current security procedure and a new set of guidelines will be issued this week (August 2 – 6).

Finally, someone involved admitting what's been going on. SWISH and FAIRCAPE tried to deny it and remove our resident notices which advised residents of a break in security, they prefer their clients to be left taking a cold shower in the dark, but Redefine is actually stating what's been going on as to keep their residents aware of the crime element that can occur so we can be more alert and safe. Thank you, Redefine!

9. Intercom: - In order to activate the free intercom system, VGS will be required to install a router device at your telephone/data point. This module will allocate your unit onto the system and allow the free calls between units and security and also enable you to sign up with the other VGS services offered as per attached brochure. The consultants are Tanya Elario or Bernice Santos 021 5287542 the call centre is open until 21:00 during the week and service technicians are available until 19:00 during the week to do these activations. On Saturday technicians are available from 9:00 until 15:00
10. Lift’s – West Tower – the 2nd lift has been out of order since Sunday. Schindler we’re waiting for replacement parts which arrived today – Monday and the lift should be fully operational.

Yes the lift was out from Sunday 25 July and came back to life last night, no doubt because of our frustrations relayed to Redefine whom have gotten it sorted. We believe it was either FAIRCAPE or SWISH whom posted those lies of "Routine Maintenance", liar, liar pants on fire, hanging from your broken lift wires!

11. The Retail: - The following retail tenants will be moving to Upper East Side.
a. Vida e Caffe- shop fitting commenced -2nd august. They are going to work very hard to be up and running by the end of August
b. Scar Hair Salon- They will commence their shop fit out week starting 9th August and should be complete by the end of August
c. Galley – “wood for the trees - - the shop fitting for the gallery has also commenced and again the galley should be complete by the end of August.
d. “Healing Hands”- express massage etc- shop fitting has commenced and again should be ready for business at the end of August. We are in negotiation with other retailers and will notify all residents once we have them confirmed.
Faircape are our property management company and all communication etc should be directed to to
melissam@faircape.co.za./ your query will then be directed the relevant person(s). Allie Moos (Building
Manager) can be contacted at ues@isgs.co.za.

This is actually the first time we've been given permission to post their contact details, previously the individual from FAIRCAPE made it clear to not dare post her contact details because she did not want to be contacted, ironic, huh.
Also, this is still problematic because you have SWISH agents still going around town telling people there is CURRENTLY retail in the building, lies, and SWISH agents also told us ALL RETAIL WOULD BE UP BY JULY 1st, there is a huge different between being open on 1 July and starting construction on 2nd August, get with your false advertisers at SWISH asap, they are going to keep getting you nailed up against the wall.

So all, Progress is being made. I know many of you are still angry, I am as well. I'm tired of the lies, the blame shifting, the empty promises, etc. I'm even tired of having to do this myself as a tenant, but I digress. This is a lesson. A lesson to SWISH PROPERTIES, FAIRCAPE, and GRID CO that we live in the new South Africa and there is such a thing as accountability. I'm just sorry that Redefine gets caught in the crossfire because they have been a god-send so far in all of this. Will they also be showing you how to wipe your... you get it.

RESIDENT ACTION = RESIDENT RESULTS
Therefore RESIDENCY REDEFINED!

See you all at the meeting! Don't forget to sign in so we can assist those that are involved!

Building Manager abandons building with no one to work in his absence.

This one perhaps takes the cake. One of our residents discovered via the total cluster of confusion amongst security guards that the Building Manager had GONE ON LEAVE since last week and there was NO ONE APPOINTED IN HIS STEAD!
Now, generally when the secretary goes on leave in my office, we get a temp in. Because when the phone rings and no one answers, that's a lost client and an unhappy customer. Hey Faircape, before you go trying to give your residents a tongue lashing about it being our fault for not being able to reach this Allie Moos phantom building manager, maybe make sure he's even there!!

It would have been a good move to appoint someone else while he was sipping Pina Coladas and we're sitting around with a broken lift and a zillion other problems caused by Faircape Property Management.

Unbelievable, but not unexpected.

Refuse Disposal Update from WP Premier channels

GREAT SUCCESS!
We've made some awesome progress, everyone! Good Job UES Help Desk!

Today one of the members of UES Help Desk got a call from Woodstock City Council on behalf of our letter to the Premier's office stating that 20 Refuse Bins were delivered to our address on Friday. Now, where did they go? We don't know, but surely they need to be put in our Phase since single-handedly we were the ones that made them appear!!

Bring us our bins, we got them for us! The Woodstock Refuse Removal Service has also been instructed to call Redefine to be pointed in the right direction to confirm delivery and utilization of these bins.

Great job everyone!

Grid Internal Systems Builders are main culprit in lift

Read more about it here: http://uppereastsidecapetown.blogspot.com/p/builders-in-lift.html

Things to consider:
1.) There is a R1000 fine for builders/construction workers in the lift, who is issuing this and why are they not doing so because it's a recurring problem.
2.) If there are indeed construction workers living in the building as residents, must we afford them the same courtesy to use the lift then? Is that perhaps why we see them?
3.) Why are they granted access keys to operate the lift however they like, shouldn't they wait like the rest of us for their turn? It's unfair that they have keys to control the lift and jet past the other floors while we sit there banging on the doors.
4.) Why does security scan their access card for the builders that don't have them?
5.) Why can you not open stairwell access for the residents at least so we are not stuck waiting for the lift that these Grid Co Workers are jamming?

Hope this is food for thought.

Redefine hosts Open Forum/Happy Hour this Wednesday @ 6pm, be heard!

Submitted yesterday:

My Fellow Residents,

I have received contact from the various parties over the weekend and today. For the sake of brevity, I will keep this short, but the following has occurred...

1.) I have filed with the Rentals Tribunal for a laundry list of problems with my documented attempts of resolution.

2.) I have been contacted by the Body Corporate and builder (someone named Miguel/Michael?) from what he says is the company that is the developer, etc. but they basically contact me to argue with me. I can provide more details of these conversations/emails if anyone would like.

3.) The owner of the unit I am in, won't amicably release me from my lease obligations and I've already filed for various formal complaints and Health Hazards that occur in the unit. Simultaneously this Miguel guy said I must go ahead with the Rentals Tribunal. Seems like they really want a full throttle event.

4.) Most all of my communication with any person representing Upper East Side has been confrontational, argumentative, and overall rude. Which I think is uncalled for and just shocking considering they are completely at fault in all of these matters and grievances we have brought to their attention. I advised this Miguel/Michael that if he wanted to get to the bottom of this he must host an Open Forum for the residents to air their grievances. He rudely INSISTED that he meet with only me, as to suggest that somehow I am more important than the other residents because I have been making the noise. As a member of UES Help Desk, I will not just be taking a kick back in trade for silence. All Residents must have the opportunity to be sorted.
----
So even after I have been told by UES to go ahead and take it to the Tribunal, as if they have no fear of South African Democratic Process, showing a lack in our Provincial Government. And after I have been told by UES that they have no interest in hosting an open forum for residents to air grievances, because "Why would we go looking for problems?" and all of our problems are "Open for Interpretation". And after all parties involved have missed deadlines repeatedly, (I know, it seems to never end) we have been contacted by a representative of Redefine. It appears amidst the fog of poor manners and unprofessional behaviour there is hope. She has said, on behalf of Redefine that they would like to host an Open Forum.

This Resident Open Forum will provide Redefine an opportunity to hear Resident Grievances and be provided an opportunity to, if you are interested, offer an explanation. Most importantly, we must be bringing a list of problems and if we can think of solutions those as well. i.e. My apartment is filthy because of the construction dust and damp here, please provide us with (as another Resident I see here suggested) a basket of eco-friendly cleaning supplies to offset my time and hassle.

Things to note: it appears this is going to be the opportunity to best utilize the purpose of UES Help Desk. In my experience we need to be forthright about what we want and how we want it done so that should anyone take their grievances further we can show for the record how we have tried to mediate the situation ourselves. Allow them to dig their hole with their rudeness and apathy should they choose to continue to behave this way.

My contact from Redefine has said that many of the issues we have blogged about have been mostly attended to and are being attended to early this week in completion and since she's been the only polite one in the bunch I tend to give her the benefit of the doubt. Therefore, I know many of you will not have a need to attend if your issues are sorted. However please note that if you do not attend you will not be considered part of the group bargaining collective and any sort of agreements we reach will only be afforded to Residents that participate. If you are unable to attend but would like your list to be attended to, you must submit your list to UESHelpDesk@gmail.com by Wednesday at 4pm.

The meeting is scheduled for Wednesday at 6pm, the location will on-site at UES, we shall meet downstairs in the lobby, there will be FREE drinks courtesy Redefine, we hope to settle all of this over a glass of wine among friends.

Well Done UES Help Desk Team, this is how we make a difference!

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