The Website For People Who Have Bought A House From Countryside Properties And Now Want It Fixed.
HOME  ::   ABOUT US  ::  REGISTER  ::  LOG IN  ::  FORUM  ::  LEGAL NOTICE  ::  LINKS  ::

Recent email correspondence

 

3-07-07 CP-VFL The tenants pointed out some inaccuracies in your summary of works outstanding - please see section in quotes below. The miscommunication about these issues is at the heart of the problem here. As we have said, poor project management has been a major factor in the delays and mistakes in the work so far. We will go through the entire list ourselves again before
our meeting to check that your understanding of the problems is up to date.
"Just for the record, there are some inaccuracies in VFL’s e-mail:
3.  Smoke detectors have now been inspected and replaced
5.  Cooker Hood is apparently going to be repaired, not replaced by
installer - already scheduled for September
8.  Living area, not a 1st floor bedroom window and the scaffolding was not brought by Prism or Kajima, rather than us not allowing it to be erected. The wrong panel was brought, hence the right equipment had not been provided."

27-07-07 VFL-CP Thank you for your recent email, the contents of which have been duly noted. I have reviewed your customer service record and confirm that the following items, in accordance with the NHBC warranty remain outstanding at your tenanted property.

1. The Garden Lighting – electrical
2. Doorbell light – electrical
3. Smoke detectors not fitted with paper gaskets – electrical
4. Extractor fans to bathrooms not working – electrical
5. Cooker hood to be replaced by the kitchen installers.
6. Lobby ceiling repairs to be undertaken following leak.
7. Yellow shut off valve in metre and boiler cupboard needs a label
putting on it.
8. 1st floor bedroom window to be replaced – unable to address at
the appointment as tenants were not able to allow scaffold to go up
internally.  Another appointment is being arranged.
9. 3RD floor bathroom window – this has been inspected and is
pending a report from Prism as to whether or not it falls within the
industry and NHBC tolerances.  This will be forwarded to you when we
receive it.
There are many other queries and concerns listed on your website.  I would like to arrange a meeting with you, as the legal owner of the property, to discuss these and address them individually.  Would you please advise me of some dates over the next couple of weeks when you can accommodate a meeting.  I can either meet you at your home or you are welcome to come into the office, which ever is easiest.

26-07-07 PM-CB Further to yesterday's work, only the glass in the master bedroom was replaced.  One panel, which could have been for any of the mezzanine level windows in the living area was delivered but without the necessary scaffolding to fit it.  This was instead of the replacement panel in the landing area, which we had been told to expect.  

12-07-07CP-CB and SR
Seems to me, reading this, that you urgently need to employ some different and competent electricians. The relay issue with the fans has been dragging on since it was identified as a problem BEFORE PM and MM moved in. The same is true for the garden lights. Glad progress has been made on other fronts but what about all the other outstanding jobs on our list SR?

12-07-07 PM-CB As for the work that has been carried out here over the past two weeks, the following items can now be removed from the 'to do' list:-
Garden Gate lock
Control panel tile replacement to 1st floor bathroom
Masticking to 1st, rear 2nd and Master bathrooms
Replacement of glass panels (Lockie Glass) to rear 2nd and Master bathrooms
Downlighter amendments
Smoke Alarm check and replacement
The outstanding items from the work that was hoped to be completed during that time remains all the electrical work - Garden Lights, Doorbell light and Fan relays.  One of the electricians did come back briefly this week to amend the garden lights so that they now work manually again, but obviously we would like this to be improved upon and as it only requires access to the garden, can be done even when house access is not possible.
One final point relating to the above work, when the last (unsuccessful) lot of Lockie Glass panels were being fitted, one of the tap fittings to the Master bathroom was damaged accidentally by the plumber.  This will need to be replaced.
It's nice to be able to report that the list is getting shorter!

06-07-07 PM-CB I will send a more detailed e-mail with a list of work that has been completed, or not, after next week, when we are expecting various people to attend both Monday and Tuesday.
However, after making sure we were available for access for three days this week, none of our electrical work has yet been completed satisfactorily.  In particular, our Garden Lights are worse than before, as we were able to at least switch them on and off manually, now they do not work at all.  Is it possible for you to instruct Kajima to make this work a priority, please?  They have never worked properly since we moved into the house in December and as the electricians do not need access to the house to look at these, they could be dealt with at almost any time.  
Please stress that this work should be made the focus of the electrician's schedule on whatever day they attend - it is obviously a major fault and cannot be combined with work at any other property if the desired result is to be achieved. 

07-06-18 PM-SR: Thank you for your letter of 15th June 2007 regarding the above work.  I confirm that the electricians will be able to access the property on 9th and 10th July from 8.30/9am for two full days.  Thank you for scheduling this to coincide with the other  work being done at this time, namely the Smoke Alarm inspection and Lockie Glass replacing the bathroom panels.

07-06-08 PM-SR: Having been ready to complain in the past when we felt the situation warranted it, we felt we should also give praise where due.  We are very grateful to everyone involved in locating and repairing the recent leak in the bathroom and would appreciate it if you would pass on our thanks to those concerned.  Thank you also to you and anyone else at Countryside who made the arrangements for all the workmen to be allocated to the house for the whole week until the work was done.
  (If I may just also use this message to list the new items to be added to the work in July:-  Masticking to the 1st floor bathroom/ Completion of the repair to the lobby ceiling.)

07-06-06 PM-CP: The leak was coming from the underfloor heating in the 1st floor bathroom: almost certainly a pipe damaged during the re-tiling of the floor a couple of months ago!  The pipes are being replaced and new tiles laid, most of which should be completed this week.
 To give credit where due, Kajima and Countryside have made this work a priority and there has been no shortage of people here to that effect (and the offending tiling was done by a sub-contractor, not Kajima themselves.)

07-06-05 PM-CP: Sadly, the problem is still ongoing.  They have narrowed down the area where the leak is coming from, but as it's a relatively slow one, they need to isolate certain points and check again later, or even tomorrow to see what's happened.  I'm sorry I can't give you any clearer information at this stage, but the plumber is still uncertain himself.  As far as the dripping is concerned, they have had to remove a section of the lobby ceiling in order to check what was going on, so there is no longer anywhere for the water to pool, and it seems to have stopped since that was done.  Obviously they now need to keep looking for the source of that water to ensure it can't happen again.

07-06-04 PM-CP: This morning, we discovered that water was dripping down through the ceiling of the lobby area and called Countryside to request a visit from a plumber as soon as possible.  The plumber came immediately and began to check in the bathroom directly above the area concerned.  Unfortunately he had not located the problem by the time he left, but as another visit has been promised for first thing tomorrow morning, we are hopeful that the matter will soon be resolved.
Unfortunately, the leak has caused a limited amount of damage in the lobby and the investigative/repair work itself will lead to further items needing to be made good, including re-masticking, re-plastering and decoration, and possibly some re-tiling.  Obviously I will send a detailed list of these things once the repairs are completed, but simply wanted to register the fact that extra work may need to be added to that scheduled for 2nd-4th or possibly 9th-10th July.

07-05-29 SR-PM: I confirm that Lockie Glass have been booked to attend your property on Monday 9 July to Wednesday 11 July 2007.
  With regard to the bathroom glass replacement, Lockie Glass have confirmed that they do not need to return to re-measure the panels as the problems experienced from their last visit were due to factory errors.

07-05-25 AB-SR: Thank you for your letter of 17 May.  Taking each of your points in turn:
  re para 2 (that we are damaging 'our investment').  In discussion with other purchasers, we did consider the pros and cons of operating a website, and these were our conclusions:
          PRO        A website is an important tool to enable us to share defects found and solutions, across the Accordia site and also other Countryside developments with which we have made contact.   (Our experience is that Countryside deal with problems reactively, oiling the squeaky wheel and leaving the others unless there is a really serious e.g. H&S problem as with dangerous gas fires, defective alarm systems.)
          PRO   It may also be a good means of organising group actions on particular issues, with each of us taking on specific kinds of issue so we can spot inconsistencies and promote awareness to the wider readership.  
          PRO   Some of us felt an obligation to inform potential purchasers of properties from Countryside, now and in the future, what it is like after purchase.
          PRO/NEUTRAL   Most people felt that the value of getting the properties properly working to specification outweighs the risk of damaging ‘our investment’.  Value is basically about location, size and fundamentals – and broadly these factors are not at issue here, it is the finishing and the service.  The website will focus on this – it will affect new build more than our houses, which of course will all have been debugged by then!
  re para 3 (to beware of slander etc).  You may all rest assured that people feel they will be able to scandalise the website readership without recourse to slander or defamation.  We only need to tell the truth, and between us there is plenty of that to air.
  On matters more specific to our house:
  re para 4 (lack of documentation). Regarding the information required about the house and the systems contained in it, thank you for confirming that it was incomplete and that no action has been taken to remedy this, beyond asking Kajima a couple of times.  (Since Countryside is in dispute with Kajima over a broad range of issues, requesting documentation from them was, surely, never likely to succeed, so asking them for help really amounts to doing nothing at all.)  It is interesting that Countryside as an organisation doesn’t obtain and hold copies of electrical diagrams and underwater heating drawings for the houses it sells.
  On top of the major information defects like wiring diagrams, what we lack is basic information on things like the function of an unterminated wire or a plastic conduit cemented into the floor of the house.  Countryside could provide answers on these points itself if it would only resource the task properly, but it won't.  Hence 10 months after purchase and five months after supplying a detailed list of information requirements, we still have no answers.  (And of course, the recent discovery that the spate of alarm system malfunctions was due to there being too many components connected to the control unit, is a perfect example of why information matters, and perhaps why Countryside is so loath to provide it.)
  re para 6 (defects list).  We are working on compiling a complete and detailed list of problems encountered.  We need to do this anyway for the website, so we’ll share that with you when done, but it is definitely well over the 41 you mention.  We note your intention to bring all outstanding issues ‘to a close during July’.  We no longer believe statements like this, but we do note it.
  Lest this all sound like a personal attack, I would also note that there is some admiration for the way that despite appalling levels of customer dissatisfaction on all sides, you personally seem immune to becoming demoralised.  Unfortunately, your personal buoyancy is no substitute for competently managed and properly resourced customer service.

07-05-23 SR (copying Jenny Burns, Carly Budge)-PM: I did speak with Alan Blanchett of Kajima late on Friday afternoon regards your property and was very disappointed to hear that the glass panels did not fit and that Lockie Glass had to return on Friday, which was eventful in itself.
  I understand from Alan that he came to see you with regards the mis-match of colours to the glass panels and also the poor fitting of them and that he had arranged with you to return this Thursday.
  However, in the meantime, we have spoken with David Lockie of Lockie Glass and he has agreed to replace all the glass panels to the affected bathrooms on the 2nd and 3rd floors.
  I noted the comments from your email that you did not think it would be practical to replace the glass panels during the remedial works from 2 - 4 July 2007 and that you have kindly suggested the 7 - 9 July for these works to be carried out, therefore can we confirm these dates for Lockie Glass and we will then inform Kajima.
  With regards to the outstanding works at your property, the dates of 2 - 4 July 2007 have already been confirmed with Kajima and the sub-contractors to complete all other outstanding remedial works and we will of course email you a schedule of works and sub contractors nearer the time.
  On the matter of the smoke alarms, please accept my apologies for not writing to you direct to confirm an appointment, which we have done in the past and will ensure that we do so in the future and then copy in Mr Breward and Ms Preston for their information.
  Please accept our sincere apologies for the inconvenience caused to you and your family last week and do appreciate your patience under these frustrating circumstances.

07-05-21 PM-SR: Lockie Glass did arrive on Monday 14th May with the glass panels for the top and rear 2nd floor bathrooms but unfortunately not all of them had been cut accurately.  All the panels which could be fitted, were, but one panel from the top and two from the 2nd floor had to be left off.  Mr Lockie was very apologetic when he left on Monday afternoon and promised that the missing panels would be brought and fitted on Friday.  As it was a mistake on his company's part, I and the Kajima people assumed that rectifying it would be a priority and that we would see them first thing on Friday morning.  As you know, that was not a day we had originally set aside, but we were told it wouldn't take long and, of course, we wanted to see something finally completed.  We had other things to do that day, but agreed, trusting that only a couple of hours would be needed.
  On the day, numerous calls were made by Kajima people with the plumber and others on stand by, but Lockie Glass (not Mr Lockie himself) did not arrive until around 1pm.  Everyone began work immediately so that we could attend to our other appointments, but the replacement panels were not only the wrong colour, they also had not been cut accurately so not all the fittings could be replaced properly.  We had been ready (as had the Kajima, mastic and plumbing people) from 8.30/9am and had no water from that time.  In the event, I asked for the panels to be attached anyway because it will be some time before we can allow access to the house again due to our daughter's exams, but they will have to be replaced.  The reason for replacing all the panels was that a match couldn't be guarranteed otherwise, so it is very likely that this will have to happen again.  I would be grateful if you could let me know how the other work for 2nd-4th July is shaping up.  I think it won't be practical to attempt all that and the glass panels at the same time, so we may need to also use the following week, 9th-11th July.  However, I don't want to commit to two consecutive weeks of disruption until I have some feedback from yourself regarding other work.
  The downlighter inspection took place as arranged last Tuesday, the 15th May, yet even that was not without a hitch.  Your letter of 3.5.07 had asked for access at 8.30/9am but I had to telephone Countryside at 10am because no-one had arrived.  I was told by Jenny that, for some reason, the electricians had been told no access was possible until the afternoon!  They came straight away when informed of the mistake, but told me that they had been sent to another house that morning where no-one was available until the afternoon - ?  The disruption caused by all these checks and repair works is quite bad enough without the repeated problems of timing and/or communication errors.
  Finally, I gather from a brief e-mail sent by Mrs Preston that you have requested access for an inspection of the smoke alarms on May 31st.  I'm afraid that as that will be during the half term week, we will not be available, could you re-schedule this for another week, please?   We have not directly seen a letter or e-mail about this, although we normally receive copies of all communication regarding work and it would save time and potential confusion if this could continue.  If Countryside prefer to send letters directly to the owners, please could you ensure that at least we receive an e-mail copy at the same time?
  Yet again, we feel as though there has been absolutely no progress for a lot of disruption.  If anything, as on other occasions, things are worse than before.  One of the taps in the top bathroom was damaged whilst being removed on Monday; because the heated towel rail in the 2nd floor bathroom cannot yet be re-attached to the system, the boiler pressure has to be checked and rectified almost daily to counteract it dropping; all the plumbing in the two bathrooms in question is usable but we have parts of taps, towel pegs or base plates sitting on shelves because they couldn't be fitted onto the faulty glass.  We do appreciate that this is the fault of an outside contractor and that all the Kajima, plumbing and mastic people were available and extremely helpful at the appointed times, yet it is difficult to remain patient when so much seems to go wrong so often...

07-05-21 MM-CP: We have been on at them since December about this and they continually denied that there was anything wrong but it was obvious that there was. It is the wrong system for the application.
You would have found it hard with your course if you were here. It is virtually impossible to get anything done on the days they are here, they have to be watched all the time and they don’t seem to be able to get on with out constantly referring back.

07-05-21 CP-PM: I got a letter from Sarah today re the smoke detectors. She is asking that they have an appointment for May 31st at 9am to check the smoke detectors. They are admitting that there is a problem and that they all need checking. Apparently they should be fitted in groups no more than 12 and yet there are 14 in our properties so there has been an installation issue all along. They are saying two electricians will take one day to complete the works. Al and I meanwhile are continuing to put pressure via the website. We got a letter on that recently too

07-05-21 MM-CP: Last week didn’t go at all well. They turned the water off first thing Monday to fit the glass in the bathroom. By four o’clock all we had were two dismantled bathrooms and three sheets of glass that didn’t fit. We had all the lights checked on Tuesday and they will need to do further work on them, they will get back to us with dates.
  They came back on Friday and we had no water all day and guess what, the new glass doesn’t fit and it is the wrong colour. The glass man said the paint was out of the same tin and it would dry lighter. It won’t and so they will have to come back again.
  A senior Kajima person was at the Shepreth office on Friday and because of the number of calls Vince had to make he decided to come over and see for himself. Pamela and I went through every single item with him in detail, he spent at least two hours here and he will be overseeing all work on the house until it is completed.. He his the senior post building faults manager for the UK.
  There are problems with the lights and the smoke detectors. They had a fire last week in one of the flats.

07-05-11 MM-CP: I think that your house, and possibly the entire row except for Antra next door, has faired better than many of the other ones, certainly Gilmour ? Road sounds really bad.

07-05-09 CP emailed SR to give URL reserved and that work on website proceeding:
  We are writing to let you know that following earlier deliberations about how most effectively to get the message across that we do need all issues resolved properly and promptly (given that well over six months have passed since we bought our house) we have now registered a domain name www.countrysidepropertiessucks.co.uk, which might be useful in communicating to others the difficulties we and others are suffering from, after having bought from Countryside.
  We haven't yet got our website going, but we do expect to have someone working on it soon and will be speaking to other Countryside purchasers to make them aware of this service to other potential purchasers, so they can post their own experiences if they wish to.
  Having obtained legal advice, we plan to offer an unmoderated service with a clear 'terms of use' policy prohibiting unjustified statements (luckily that leaves plenty of room for manoeuvre!), and a 'notice and take down' policy so that Countryside have a route to object to anything specific.  The legal advice we've obtained makes us pretty comfortable that provided we stick to the truth or to fair comment (basically, statements clearly of opinion which can be justified) then we are completely entitled to take this path.  The dispute resolution processes for web domains have long accepted that 'sucks' websites are legitimate and non-infringing of trademark rights. 
  We will be taking other actions in line with the list we gave you earlier, but wanted you to be aware of this one because - as always - the object is actually to get something done about our house rather than to spend our time like this.  But we will do what is necessary.  You will appreciate that publicity, once out, cannot easily be bottled.
  On one specific, we though we would give you an opportunity to contradict what we believe to be the case.  In relation to the list of questions Alastair supplied you in early December, I believe that the sole response we have had from Countryside was in early February as follows:
"All information that was supplied by Kajima Construction/Countryside Properties in completion box".
  I think you know that this is not really an answer at all.  The content of the completion box was simply an utterly disorganised, unindexed bundle of documentation supplied by underlying component manufacturers, of some but very limited usefulness, and completely uncustomised. Issues like plumbing and wiring layouts were not covered at all – and most of Alastair's questions relate to that kind of thing.  If contrary to our understanding you have taken any steps at all to provide answers to the questions on that list, please let us know urgently.  We don't have any desire to misrepresent the position.
  As to defects, having reviewed various copies of the defects list we have maintained over the months, I note we had up until March 7th raised 75 issues with you (some of them covering multiple points).  Of these, I find that 29 have been conclusively resolved.  For many of the others, some progress has been made and in some cases all that remains is for us to check it's resolved, but there are at least 20 where there is currently no essential disagreement about what needs doing (it is just not getting done).  We will be meeting with our tenants and updating the defects list to ensure it is completely accurate before distribution, at which point we will send you a copy of course.  In the mean time I think you have plenty to be getting on with.
  Finally, as you know directly, our tenants have become increasingly unhappy with the situation.  We have continued to discount their rent.
  Please ensure that Countryside's record in disturbing them to get these jobs done improves dramatically - if they decide to leave, it will be hard to replace them and the loss to us would be well above the level at which litigation to recover it was justified.

07-05-08 PM-SR: Thank you for your letter of 3rd May.  Naturally it is somewhat alarming to discover that the 'down lighters' (does this simply mean all the inset spot lights?) need inspection in view of a possible fault and subsequent modification.  We do appreciate however, the fact that the all-day inspection has been arranged for Tuesday 15th May, a day already set aside for access to the property, and of course we will be available for this to take place.

07-05-02 SR-PM:Kajima have contacted me today to inform me that the electrician will not be available week commencing 14  May.  We are able to confirm that the other contractors are able to attend on 14 May to 16 May 2007 but wanted to confirm with yourselves on how you would like to proceed, as we do not want to inconvenience you anymore that you already have been and thought you may want to reschedule to another 3 days that would be convenient with you.
  Whilst writing, Prism have also contacted us today to inform that only one piece of glass will be delivered next week, the manufacturer was not able to produce the second piece of glass for the master bedroom in time and we are anticipating a June delivery.  Again, we wanted to ask whether you want to go ahead with the appointment for 14 May or whether you would prefer to wait until the second piece can be delivered and have both replacements at the same time.

07-04-29 MS-AB: I do find it extraordinary how poorly organised they have been, and how bad the communication has been at times.

07-04-23 MM-CP: Lots of builders rubble under the surface when I was aerating the soil, unlikely to have been prepared properly.

07-04-20 MM-CP: One person’s kitchen stopped working and they were given a weeks worth of voucher’s for Frankie and Benny’s, over by the bowling alley, as if they didn’t have enough to contend with!

07-04-20 MM-CP: A number of residents have successfully obtained compensation although we do not know the numbers involved

07-04-19 MM-CP: I think the problem Countryside has is that Kajima are under resourced, they drive around in a rented transit van! Sarah seems to be trying quite hard and we have involved the next layer of Kajima now.

07-04-18 SR-PM: I have spoken with Sadie my administrator and asked her to arrange for the electrician, Lockie Glass and other sub contractors to be booked in from Monday 14 May 2007 to Wednesday 16 May 2007 as per the dates suggested in your email.
  We are still waiting for confirmation from Prism regards the delivery date of the two pieces of glass.  Regards the requirement for scaffolding, I will of course need to speak to Prism on this matter and will then come back to you.
  A full schedule incorporating the name of the sub contractor, commencement times and estimated duration will be provided once all the relevant sub contractors have been confirmed by Kajima.
  There is no need to apologise for only being able to offer one definite week, these works should have been completed at the end of March, a full explanantion of why this did not happen is still to be provided to me and fully understand that you have other committments.
Regards the matter of the full re-decoration, I will need to speak with the Area Manager of Kajima in the first instance and will respond back to your request for this to take place after you vacate in December.
  Finally, please accept my sincere apologies for Lockie Glass arriving at your property yesterday.  We do not understand why he turned up yesterday as you said in your email it was not even one of the dates suggested for access.  We had been trying to contact him unsuccessfully on another matter and had we managed to speak with him we would have stopped him.
  I will be in touch again shortly to confirm the appointments for May and provide you with a full schedule.

07-04-17 MM-SR: I'm sorry to labour the point but we would want to see the full schedule of work, who is due to attend, commencement times and estimated duration before allowing access.  Obviously in order to avoid a repetition of previous events, we wouldn't expect anyone working on this property to be booked in to work elsewhere until all the work here was completed, and also, to have ensured that they know what they are coming to do and have the full equipment required beforehand.  If any of this requires a brief visit in advance to the house to check, that would be fine, and could be done on an ad hoc basis.
  I apologise that I have only been able to offer one definite week for the work, but hope that as it is still some way off, things can be arranged for then.  If not, then I'm afraid that it will be some while before the exams are over (late June) and access will be possible again.  Furthermore, as our children have already had to contend with a considerable amount of disruption due to the repeated or unsuccessful attempts to complete the snagging work, I'd prefer it all to be out of the way before the summer holidays begin - mid July.
So, to sum up, if the work can't be done during the week beginning Mon.14th May then the best remaining three-day periods would be:- 2nd July - 4th July or 9th July - 11th July.
 The outstanding items are as follows:-
Doorbell light
Garden lights
Fan relays to 2 bathrooms (2nd floor)
Plastering to bedrooms adjoining above bathrooms
Bathroom glass replacement to 2 bathrooms (rear, 2nd floor; master bathroom)
Check grouting to new tile in 1st floor shower as it doesn't match existing grouting
Mastic replacement where necessary re. above
Provision of Smoke Alarm manufacturer's details and instructions for use
External glass to be replaced to master bedroom
External glass to be replaced to 1st floor landing area*
  *Please could you check and inform us if this glazing requires scaffolding to be erected.  If so, then we would probably wish that to be delayed, in case of further complications - we will contact you separately about this should your reply be in the affirmative.
  Finally, to the matter of re-decoration once all this work is finally completed.  Due to the invasive work to install the fan relays, this now includes two occupied bedrooms, not just hallways or landings, and we feel this should be deferred until the period between us moving out of the property and the owners, Mr Breward and Ms Preston, moving in (mid December.)  We do not really want this level of disruption and it only seems fair that the purchasers should have the benefit of a newly decorated home, after all the worry and inconvenience caused to them by this catalogue of work that should have been done before the sale of the house was even completed.  In Countryside's place, I should be considering offering a full internal re-decoration as part of customer relations policy.

07-04-11 SR-PM: We have asked the Area Manager from Kajima for a full explanantion as to why the remedial works to the extractor fan, garden lights, doorbell and labelling were not completed during 29 and 30 March as agreed by them.
  A full schedule of work along with start times and estimated duration has been requested by us from Kajima and we are waiting for them to supply these details and as soon as we receive the information we will then be in a position to write to you and then arrange dates for the outstanding items to be completed.
  Regards Prism and the replacement of the two pieces of glass, the cracked glass to the top floor was measured on 30 March 2007 and we are waiting for Prism to confirm a delivery date for both pieces of glass so only one appointment is required, as soon as Prism provide us with a date we can then also arrange for Lockie Glass to visit to replace the glass panels to the bathrooms as mentioned in our previous correspondance.

07-04-06 MM-SR: It is impossible to convey our sense of disappointment and dismay at the pathetic progress made on the 29th and 30th of March. I have highlighted the completed items in blue**, which flatters to deceive because on closer inspection the major progress was made in the garden with the provision of slate chips and some lavender plants and a new gate lock!
  The bathroom has been tiled and done well with the exception of the shower tile, which needs re-grouted and the mastic man needs to complete the sealing of the shower cubicle, which was missed out when he did the bathroom.
  The kitchen glass was fixed on the 4th, a good job in itself, although the glass has left scratches in the paint of the overhead hood. Unfortunately, the most complex and disruptive work is still to be completed.  A start was made on the fan relay, which involved far more invasive work than we had been advised, so the house looks in far worse condition than it did before this began.  As the electricians were not actually available for our jobs for a sensible period on either day, nothing was completed.  So, apart from a few cosmetic things in the garden, the bathroom floor and the glass panel in the kitchen, we are no further forward.
  We put three full days aside for the attached list to be completed and allowed full access to every part of the house. On the 27th we were told that the bathroom glass could not be done but that still left a significant amount of work to be carried out. We had emphasised that the electrical jobs alone would take two full days assuming an 8.30 am start. We knew by Thursday lunchtime that we were spitting into the wind when no one turned up until 11.00 am, with the exception of the Tiler and the Gardener, who arrived at 8.30 am. And Tim had also replaced the gate lock by 9.00 am.
  So there you have it; the major work is still to be done and it is starting to wear very thin. The big problem is that there are not enough people to go around and they do not seem to have all the parts that are needed. What is the point of putting aside three days, which we assumed would be 24 working hours, when no one turns up until late morning and then they are on their way again by 3.30pm. That might still be enough, but they are continually dragged off their jobs here and taken to God knows how many other houses at regular intervals, no doubt in an attempt to placate other unfortunate residents.
  In view of how much of our time has been wasted already, we would like all further work to be grouped together and scheduled over a two or three day period (Mon-Wed or Tues-Thurs.)  Furthermore, before any access is allowed, we need to see a full schedule of work to be done; starting times and estimated duration of work, so that we have some idea of what to expect and can see immediately if it is a realistic timetable.  It is with great regret that we are having to make these conditions, having tried to be as flexible and accommodating as possible in the past, but we have no confidence left in the scheduling as it currently operates.
  I want an email, followed by a letter by Wednesday afternoon, setting out how you intend to take this forward and complete all the outstanding work.  A good starting point would be for Countryside and Kajima to communicate effectively and for either, or both, to fund the project at the correct level in order to provide additional resources and staff, otherwise you could be stuck with an escalating situation for years to come.  Please don’t bother to explain how this failure of communication arises, or how the funding is arranged: it is not our concern how or why neither party appears to be able to draw up a viable work schedule and then ensure it is adhered to.  We simply want this appalling lack of organisation to be corrected once and for all.

(**SR letter as follows - blue added by MM showing progress): We write to confirm that we will be attending your property on Thursday 29 March and Friday 29 March 2007, as agreed with yourselves to carry out the following outstanding issues at your property:-

1. Floor tiles to be replaced to 1st floor bathroom
2. Fan relay to be replaced to 2nd floor bedroom
3. Slate chips required for 1m of flower bed – to be carried out by Countryside Properties landscaping department
4. Replace dead lavenders – to be carried out by Countryside Properties landscaping department
5. Garden lights not working
6. Doorbell light needs replacing
7. Patch panel plan required
8. Garden gate broken
9. Glass panel to 2nd and 3rd floor bathrooms to be replaced – Lockie Glass
10. Door to shower not closing properly – Lockie Glass
11. Labelling of the gas shut off to boiler to main house and annexe
12. Labelling of mains water tap in meter cupboard

Kajima have notified us that the floor tiles have been ordered, and the supplier has informed us that they are due to be delivered week commencing 26 March 2007, but could not at this point, be more specific, on an actual date but will naturally keep you informed if they do not arrive.
Regards the final decoration to the property, as previously discussed we may need to confirm another date to complete this as we need to ensure that all remedial works are completed next week.  We also understand that Colin Green has discussed and explained this to you.
We are still waiting for a delivery and fitting date from Prism, which we are currently following up, and can confirm the glass panel to the kitchen will be replaced by Johnson & Johnson on Wednesday 4th April at 9am. )

07-03-28 MM-SR: We would strongly prefer two consecutive dates of Monday/Tuesday or Tuesday/Wednesday for this because of the repeated problems we experienced the last time any major plumbing work had to be carried out on the top floor.  If similar problems arise this time it would be preferable to have a further two or three days of the week for it to be solved, rather than the weekend.  I'm sure Countryside has no wish to have to employ an emergency plumber again, either.  I realise that this occasion should only involve removing and then replacing the plumbing fixtures, but experience prevails over hope.  Whilst on this subject, please can someone double-check that the plumbers have the correct size of wrench with them:  this was one of the big issues last time, until Alan from Coulsons actually went off and bought one specially.

07-03-28 SR-PM: We were informed by Kajima that Lockie Glass were uanble to attend tomorrow due to the procurement of the glass and that Colin Green visited you to explain and apologise for the late cancellation.
  We will let Kajima know that 4 April 2007 is not convenient.  Regards re-arranging the appointment, Prism have now confirmed a date for 19 April 2007 but for only one piece of glass as the newly reported glass defect to the top floor has not been measured.  We have requested that Prism measure on Thursday or Friday of this week and confirm if this piece can be produced and supplied for 19 April.  Therefore, I would like to hold confirming this date until we receive further details from Kajima.
  Regards the mastic man attending on 5th April, it should take approximately 30 minutes to mastic the glass panels and he will be on site from 8am, could you please confirm a convenient time from 8am.
  We can only apologise again for this delay and your disappointment which we are also feeling.

***** everything below here reflected on main list.

07-03-28 MM-CP: As expected they have managed to wriggle out of some of it and the kitchen is a bigger job than we expected and they need to come back on the fifth to finish that! And of course it involves having to have the electrician, Darren to come along and disconnect and remove all the electric sockets and then hopefully come back when they have finished put them back again. Then the mastic man has to come over the next day to seal it all.
The bathrooms can’t be done this week because the glass needs time to set or something, which will hopefully prevent it from cracking. Anyway they are replacing all the glass in Heloise and our bathrooms**, which will involve taking off the sinks and the loo and any other things that are attached to the walls. They did want to do that next week but we are going away and in view of the fact that the last time they took the loo off we had leaks down into Heloise’s bathroom and it took three weeks for them to re-attach it properly and seal the pipe, we have said that it will have to wait until after Easter. So the following is what they have said they will do this week:
1/ Re-tile the first floor bathroom and replace the wall tile, again;
2/ Replace/install the fan relay to Heloise’s bathroom;
3/ Slate Chips for Flower Bed;
4/ Garden Lights;
5/ Doorbell Light;
6/ Patch Panel Plan;
7/ Labelling of gas shut off tap to boiler for main house and annexe;
8/ Labelling of mains water tap in meter cupboard.
We will endeavour to get the rest done immediately after Easter. Sarah and Colin are aware of the full list including the bathroom window and the scratched glass and cracked glass in the main bedroom.

(**Explanation from PM: .. all the glass needs replaced because one panel in each of the top bathroom and the larger 2nd floor bathroom were cracked during the course of other work.  Unfortunately, the glass cannot be exactly replicated so that only those panels can be replaced, therefore the entire bathrooms need done!  Unbelievable, isn't it?  We can only wait to see if more panels are cracked during the replacement, and the mind boggles over how long this could go on.)

07-03-27 PM-SR: We understand that Lockie Glass (bathrooms) will not be able to attend to the bathrooms on the days originally set aside (29th & 30th March)
Can I also just check that the schedule now stands as follows:
Thursday 29th March and Friday 30th March - All remedial work, except Lockie Glass (bathrooms), Johnson & Johnson (kitchen glass), external glazing, re-decoration.
Wednesday 4th April - Johnson & Johnson (kitchen glass)
I believe a follow-up visit for mastic replacement is needed after the kitchen work - is this scheduled for Thursday 5th April?  If so, at what time and how long should it take?

07-03-26 PM-SR: I’m afraid that I am going to return to the subject of Smoke Alarms: It is difficult to understand why it is taking so long to pass on the simple piece of information requested, but whilst you are tracking down the contact details I would also like you to provide a manufacturer’s User Instruction Manual for the system.  As instruction manuals are provided for many other pieces of equipment in the property, including kitchen appliances, gas fire, and intruder alarm, it seems odd that something so vital does not have one.  I am grateful for your detailed letter covering smoke alarm regulations and how the system should work, but would still like to see these details covered in a booklet provided by the manufacturer themselves.
  When replacing all the batteries throughout the property, we noticed that many of the units did not have the paper gaskets deemed essential for correct working (we created some ourselves using existing ones as a template but can this be satisfactory?), the kitchen unit is of an entirely different kind to the others, many units are missing the screws that should fix them in place and each unit had a different brand of battery inside, none of them brands we had heard of before.  All this suggests a worryingly haphazard installation and therefore, we would like to see some kind of official paperwork showing who made and installed the system and could help with more detailed queries or problems.  I cannot stress enough how important we regard this information.

07-03-15 SR-PM: Regards the visit by Johnson & Johnson today, they informed us later Tuesday afternoon and only confirmed times that they wanted to visit your property yesterday morning.  The appointment was for them to confirm the measurements taken for the replacement of the glass and this should have been explained in the email that Sadie sent through to Mr McCarthy.
  The email should have also explained that the replacement of the glass panels has been delayed by a week due to a delay in the procurement and whilst we appreciate that the 4 April is in the Easter Holidays that we may be able to access your property but would delay if it was not convenient to a date that was convenient with yourselves. 
  We can only apologise for any inconvenience caused to you this morning and if the email sent to you by Sadie was not clear.
  On the matter of the schedule of works, we are waiting for Kajima to finalise a couple of details which will then mean we are able to confirm in writing exactly who will be attending on 29 & 30 March and what works they will be carrying out and as soon as we receive the response from Kajima a schedule will be sent by post and email.
  Finally, we have requested the contact details of the smoke alarm manufacturers from Kajima as we do not hold a record of these and as soon as we receive will forward onto you.  We will of course keep following this up as a matter of urgency.

07-03-15 CP-AB: Have forwarded this to Robin Williamson who is supposed to be checking that Sarah is doing her job properly. Very poor isn't it. Looks like we may have to put up our website.

07-03-15 PM-SR: I was surprised this morning to receive a visit from Johnson & Johnson to measure the kitchen glass panels, when we had been given no notification to expect them.  I understood from you that all outstanding work, except external glass and decoration, was to be completed solely on March 29th and 30th.  However. Colin Green from Kajima, who accompanied Johnson & Johnson had a print-out from Countryside confirming that the work should be done here today, and that they were expected.
  Martin received an e-mail yesterday asking for access to the property on April 4th for glass fitting, although I understand that in fact a second day is required for the mastic to be replaced.  For the moment, I have confirmed with Mr Green that we will be available for this, but as it will be the school Easter holiday I may have to get back to him to re-arrange.
  This is the second time in as many weeks that Countryside have failed to communicate successfully with Kajima, and this is extremely inconvenient for us.  We rearranged plans so as to be available last week, but Kajima had not had the appointments confirmed by your team, so didn't expect to work here.  This time, work has been booked in without our knowledge and it was pure chance that I was at home and it could be carried out.
  I have already asked you to confirm in writing the schedule of outstanding work for 2 Moreland Terrace, as discussed by telephone last week.  I expect, given today's events, that you will get this to us immediately, allowing for the alterations mentioned above.  Whilst writing with this, please also answer my long-standing request for the smoke alarm manufacturer's contact details.

07-03-13 CP to various at CPPLC: We have therefore taken preliminary steps to ensure that if by April all outstanding issues have not been resolved to our and our tenants' satisfaction and that will still have no date when the Prism glass problems will be resolved, we will be ready to start on our programme of further actions as outlined in our emails in January and March.

07-03-12 MM-CP:  According to Sarah, if one of the batteries runs down then the entire system goes off, you then have to walk round looking for one with a flashing red light before your ear drums burst. It seems an odd way to wire such a thing up, and the red lights seem to flash regardless of whether it is a new or old battery, because the ones we thought were the culprits still flash red with new batteries installed.  Now that Sarah has confirmed how the detectors are meant to work, although it does sound ridiculous, we are today replacing all the batteries including the ones we have already replaced and hope that they do not go off again. Sarah said that if one battery goes it is better to replace all of them at the same time, each time.

07-03-12 MM-CP:  According to Kajima it is not the first time she has rashly sent off letters with appointment dates they had not discussed, though it is probably best not to mention we know this in case it makes matters worse between Kajim and Countryside.

07-03-12 MM-CP:  The heating was commissioned this morning, which Pamela said involved going round to check that each floor had the flow level set to a reasonable level for the size of the floor, which is what I had already done and which they said was correct! When the time comes for you to move in I will give you detailed run through of all the controls and how they work the month before. Some of the people at the meetings seem to know how to strip down and rebuild the entire house by now.

07-03-11 PM-SR: You explain that ‘if the alarms go off you will need to check all the smoke alarms and those that still have a green light can be reset and the alarm with the red light indicates the battery needs to be changed’. In our experience, once the alarm has gone off, all the detectors have both green and flashing red lights, and we would now like to speak to the manufacturer directly to clear this matter up.

07-03-09 CP-MM: were the actuator heads in the Studio checked as part of the recommissioning?

07-03-09 SR (in reply to CP question ‘will all outstanding 24 items be completed in 2 days??’): I can confirm that 29 & 30 March have been booked for the completion of outstanding remedial works with the exception of the replacement window glass and decoration

07-03-09 SR-PM: we have agreed dates of 29 & 30 March 2007 for completion of outstanding remedial works except for the replacement window glass as I am waiting for Prism to confirm a delivery date from the manufacturer.  I can confirm that the glass has been ordered. One further date will be required to carry out decoration.

07-03-07 MM-SR: The 1st floor bathroom is virtually unusable and needs a new wall tile and the entire floor re-tiled. And then there is the smoke detectors and dozens of other jobs that my landlords are still waiting to get fixed.

07-03-07 MM list (i.e. priority issues for tenants, these already all ought to be on main list):

1. Doorbell light
2. Fan in 2nd floor bathroom
3. Floor tile in 1st floor bathroom
4. Garden lights
5. Glass panels in two bathrooms
6. Sealant around above panels
7. Garden gate (NB.  This item, but no others, was resolved by time of a further list, 2007-03-11)
8. Smoke detectors
9. Damage from leaks
10. Window in master bedroom