Tuesday, April 23, 2019

The Mary Ellen Carter

If you live in a rental unit, you will immediately understand this post. If you own the home and spent years puttering it into your scheme of efficiency, or even just started, cast your mind back a few decades. You'll remember.

This adventure started last December. I went to the rental office to inquire into the availability of a one bedroom unit. "Oh, no problem, honey!" from Theresa, the site manager.  I had my heart set on a single bedroom unit like the two examples on the street behind me.





I was so excited! Could I have the bedroom door into the bathroom. Could I have a walk in shower. "Oh, sure honey." The cat could have his own room, the 14 foot square living room could hold all my weaving on one wall, with plenty of room left.

In one of my several stops in the office I learned "management" could and would put a two bedroom unit on that lot. I could chose one of the two plans and still have a walk in shower.

It was becoming an uphill battle.The rent is two hundred dollars a month higher than the one bedroom, but still two hundred dollars a month less than the current three bedroom unit.

I still felt a bit like one of my favorite folk songs, that Stan Rogers classic, The Mary Ellen Carter.

I picked a unit. They chose the other one, the cheapest unit.




It was delivered a week or so ago, and blocked the access road, to the annoyance of my neighbors. But eventually it was sited.



Dan, the maintenance man has been in, and says there is a walk in shower. He was pretty grumpy about the whole interior layout. I believe all I care about is the walk in shower. We'll see. And yes, our rent increased effective May 1st, even on this virgin unit. We must all be on the same page, you know. Honey.

I must keep my eye on the progress to be sure I get a ramp access to the door. That is the front door. With smiling bastards lying to you everywhere you go, as Stan Rogers sang, who knows what will transpire. Dan tells me there's not enough room for a ramp. Bet me!




43 comments:

  1. Well, I'm going to be angry for you. A walk-in shower may be the thing you wanted the most but what you are getting is NOT what they agreed you would be getting. This makes me sad. I wanted you to have that porch so badly.

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  2. Hari om
    A case of the Henry Ford going on here... you can have any colour as long as it's black... YAM xx

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  3. That all sounds very frustrating. May you get your ramp!

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  4. I don't know why they promise these things and then don't deliver. Like to get you in there or keep you there when they have no intent on delivering what they promised or said you could have. Here's hoping the ramp will be able to be built with minimal problems.

    betty

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  5. I am not sure if Mary Ellen Carter is going down or rising again in this post. 😸

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  6. As soon as I saw "oh, no problem, honey" I knew a problem or three or six would arise.

    Love,
    Janie

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  7. That looks awfully long for a two-bedroom unit. It's amazing how quick they are with a promise and how quick they are to break the promise.

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    1. My neighbor took that picture with her IPhone. I think she used stretch mode. It actually is 56 feet long.

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  8. It must be frustrating for sure. One thing I hate most is a lying person and there seems to be many. I hope you will get that ramp and you will be happy in your new unit despite the lies you've been given

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  9. Frustrating and very upsetting...If they had told you the truth from the beginning, it would not have been so, but probably the woman who lied to you didn't actually know the truth.
    There must be a law requiring a ramp if you need one....

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  10. It looks like they did the absolute minimum to meet your wishes - SHAME on them. I hope that walk-in shower is adequate for your needs, with no edges sticking up. Have a good look as soon as you are able. Crossing my fingers you get your ramp. As Thickethouse says above, is the onus on the landlord to provide a ramp if it's medically needed?

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  11. "Rise again, rise again!" I hope it all turns out acceptably okay for you. "The Mary Ellen Carter" is one of my favourite songs too.

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  12. Maybe Dan is thinking that a ramp can only go straight out the door. Your ramp may have to be configured differently. I hope they don't try to make it too steep.

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  13. I hope everything will work out in the end.

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  14. Looks to me like there is plenty of room for a ramp, even if it has to start parallel to the unit and curve towards the door. An extra $200 for a bedroom seems a bit steep.

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  15. I'm surprised a ramp isn't standard. Apart from that, your meeting sounds typical of all discussions in rental offices, 25% fairy tales!
    Persevere… you're a valued tenant, they'll want to keep you.

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  16. I have no patience for lies. If you say you are going to do something, do it. End of story. I am sorry for your situation, Joanne. Do you sign a yearly contract? I'd be shopping for a place elsewhere. -Jenn

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  17. Everything keeps going up while our pensions stay the same.

    I hope the unit works well for you Joanne.

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  18. Oh my, how disappointing and maddening. We live in a world where one can never trust and never believe anybody or anything. You would think that they would have to make it right for you, but I guess that is no longer what one should expect. I am so sorry, Joanne. I hope you at least get the ramp.

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  19. Sounds like standard customer service in today's world - agree to everything the customer asks for (yes dear, yes dear) and give them something else entirely.

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  20. I am so frustrated for you. I hate lying thieving bastards. Especially the smiley ones because I desperately want to believe in spite of all the evidence. The first one looks so great and the second, well not so much, not the kind of space you want and deserve.

    Effity eff.

    XO
    WWW

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  21. What a pain in the arse. I hope you get your ramp!

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  22. OMG... how difficult could it be to deliver what they promised??? Guess we've come to expect that they won't and they delver on that!

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  23. This is just rotten. I hope you get a good look at the shower arrangement before you sign anything. And it seems like the ramp should be non-negotiable. How can it take more room than stairs, if it's parallel to the unit?
    Good luck! and keep breathing!

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  24. I've never lived in that kind of rental unit, but I have had property owners respond in much the same way. Yes, fight for the ramp. Yes, there is plenty of room. Jeeze Louise.....

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  25. Having a current antagonistic relationship with my present landlord over his repeated incompetence, I can honestly say I don't trust landlords with anything.

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  26. Are they not required to provide a ramp? Are there government agencies that help people get ramps for their homes?

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    1. They are required to permit the modification, not provide. That's like playing my sledge hammer card. I hate it to come down to a my atty/your atty kind of thing; I can't afford to defeat a NJ atty.

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  27. I do remember, vividly. There are many rentals in my past, and ALL of them required dealing with difficult people.

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  28. No ramp? Are you supposed to Pole Vault?

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  29. Wow, it's big! I'm sure with your persistence you'll get the ramp, whatever excuses they trot out. As Cro says, are you supposed to pole vault?

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  30. What the heck is their problem that they can't bring themselves to get you what you want?

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  31. Your new unit looks huge. It is very rare for people to live in them here in the UK. But I can definitely see the attraction.

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  32. Joanne, the picture and floorplan of the unit with the porch looks perfect for you. Can you not ask that they order you THAT ONE? And if not, could you possibly have a porch put on later?

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  33. I think most of all, it amuses me. I now know what it is to live in a trailer park, and my neighbor and I laugh about it often.

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  34. That's a bummer. I am sorry to hear that you didn't want you wanted. It really sucks because they said you would.

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  35. Hate Wisconsin they beat my beloved Golden Gopher in football 17 time in a row...till this fall.
    Love the damn cheese head. They make the best beer in the world in Chippewa Fall. Leinenkugles Honey Weisse.

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