The Water Feature in My Kitchen: A Letter of Complaint

By Katie McShane

Dear Elms Staff,
Thank you for all that you do, regarding student events and such. However, I would prefer the leak in my kitchen to be fixed. This is just one of numerous problems I, and many other students on campus, have faced. It seems every day I hear at least one complaint about student accommodation, from the pricing to the people to the appliances.
So, I decided to write to you about these issues, the constant appliance and structural issues found in the accommodation, the lack of support following reports, and the hypocrisy surrounding the problems.

I first noticed the leak properly about a month ago, after you very kindly (following a maintenance request) placed two recycling bins to catch the water. This was a very exciting development as now the floor wasn’t getting wet and stained (as it was when I moved in). However, this joy didn’t last long as following a second request our bins were unfortunately taken away. I’m sure this was not done without good reason! It was an excellent lesson in quick thinking and resilience as we placed our mop bucket in the offending spot instead. Luckily for my flat, this was a common enough experience amongst our peers, so it was easy to find support. This would have been a very isolated experience had I not met others who had broken fridges or radiators. The first week we were here our oven was even broken! We made great friendships bonding over these issues. And so, the issue wasn’t as upsetting as it was inconvenient.

When reaching out to people, however, I found that maintenance issues were not the only ones reported. Assaults from drunken students in the flats and frequently stolen dishes also went almost unnoticed. This was the point where I knew I needed to reach out. Unfortunately, the underlying theme in these complaints was a lack of support following the report. If I may return to the leak in my kitchen – I have now finished my first semester and I’m still yet to be helped. This is particularly frustrating as on numerous occasions I have woken up to men cutting branches or cleaning the drainpipes staring in my third-floor window. As unsettling as this sight is at 10 in the morning, I wouldn’t mind as much if they were up there fixing the roof.

Finally, I must reach out to explain why this is so offensive to me. I could live with the leak, the prices, the tree cutting, but when I woke up one day to an email asking me to vote Elms in the accommodation awards and urging me to complete a survey on my student satisfaction was truly the straw that broke the camel’s back and led to me composing this letter to you. Maybe this caught me on a bad morning, or maybe I was overreacting, but why would I vote for you the same day you rejected my maintenance request for the FOURTH TIME. You come campaigning to my door and I’m standing in the kitchen ankle-deep in water, metaphorically of course.

To sum everything up, I get it, I really do. All we want is a bit of transparency, I’m asking you to open the barriers to communication. I love living here, truly, the people are great, the events are fun – it’s a great community. Just… where do we stand on the whole leak issue??

Sincerely,
A concerned (yet hanging on!) Elms student.