Several residents sent a letter of complaint to the president of “Bolesławianka”, describing their problems resulting from the faulty lift. In the letter, the building’s residents ask how it is possible that a lift manufactured in September 2019 has been undergoing constant repairs practically since the very beginning of its use and is consequently out of service?

“They have been stringing us along with this lift from the beginning,” says one of the residents. “At least once a month, the lift is out of service for a week or longer. They come, repair it, it works for a week and then breaks down again. Now it’s madness! I’ve had thyroid surgery and can barely breathe normally, let alone while wearing a mask, when I have to walk down from the seventh floor with the rubbish. And shopping? That’s madness too. I ordered water, the courier brought it, and I paid for delivery of the water to my door with access by lift, but the lift was broken. The courier left the water with a neighbour on the ground floor, and I had to go down and carry it from the ground floor to the basement. The same thing happened a second time! I have iodine-enriched water, but it’s in the basement. When I think that I have to go down for it, I lose all desire to do so. But I’m not the only one with problems. On the ground floor lives a woman with a small, three-week-old child whose mother or mother-in-law lives on the eighth floor. On the fourth floor, a woman with a pram has to use the stairs; on the fifth floor there is a man who can barely walk, a woman around seventy who takes her dog out four times a day, and another neighbour from the fifth floor with a dog who is awaiting spinal surgery while her husband is ill. The sixth floor is no better. On the tenth floor, there are two women around seventy”—the woman lists the residents whose lives are made more difficult by the broken lift.

There are 33 flats in the staircase at 6a Staroszkolna Street, and elderly people, often recovering from surgery, live in 25 of them. The cooperative suggests that residents use the lift in the other staircase and cross through the building’s attic. The residents are not satisfied with this solution. It may be suitable for a few people from the tenth or ninth floor, but not for those living on lower floors. To use the other lift, they would still have to climb or descend several floors.

Disappointed by the cooperative’s approach to the problem, the residents suggested that members of the cooperative’s management create a group of volunteers and take seniors’ rubbish out, do their shopping and walk their dogs until the lift is repaired.

The housing cooperative apologises for the inconvenience. President Beata Ślęzak explains that the extended repair time is not due to negligence or ill will. The availability of employees of the company servicing the lifts is limited because of the coronavirus pandemic. She also adds that residents will receive an appropriate reduction in their charges for the period during which the lift was out of service.

Below is the full text of the letter from the President of the Management Board, Beata Ślęzak:

On 14 October 2020, as a result of a power failure, the inverter of the lift’s main drive was damaged despite the existing safeguards. It was replaced on 22 October of this year. For the same reason, but with a delay, the cabin controller and the dispatch communication board were damaged on 31 October; these components were replaced on 3 November of this year. Despite the replacement of these components, the lift remains out of service, and an attempt to start it made by the company servicing the lifts on 3 November unfortunately did not produce the expected result. According to information obtained from the lift servicing company, the repair is to be carried out by representatives of the manufacturer on Friday, 6 November, in the afternoon or, at the latest, on 7 November. The extended repair time is not due to negligence or ill will. The availability of employees of the company servicing the lifts is limited because of the coronavirus pandemic. Residents will receive an appropriate reduction in their charges for the period during which the lift was out of service.

Regards
Beata Ślęzak
President of the Management Board