WE WERE SHAFTED
Stranded in stalled lift but staff ‘refuse’ call-out due to costs
A GOLD Coast family are furious about a Sunshine Coast holiday nightmare, claiming they were stuck in a cramped elevator but staff wouldn’t call firefighters because of the cost.
Worongary’s Sharlene Hall, who was trapped with her daughter, mother and aunt both aged in their 70s, said she had to call emergency services herself.
The foursome were stranded with three other women and a child but Ms Hall said staff, who were speaking to them through the closed doors, refused to call firies because it “cost too much”.
During their ordeal which lasted more than an hour, Ms Hall said her mother had gone pale and was close to fainting while trying to sit herself down on the floor.
They were also unable to use stairs instead of the lift to get luggage when moving out soon after with staff telling her traumatised mother to take a “deep breath, she’ll be okay”.
LAUGHTER fast turned to desperate cries for “help” as eight people, including a Gold Coast family, an elderly woman and a four-year-old boy, became entrapped in a 15storey Maroochydore hotel’s elevator.
Worongary woman Sharlene Hall, who was on holidays on the Sunshine Coast, said she and the others could speak with an Elouera Tower staff member through the closed doors and begged her to call firefighters last Wednesday morning.
But Ms Hall said she had to make the emergency call herself when the woman refused because it would “cost too much”.
Ms Hall said the staff member assured them a technician would fix the problem, but it was more than an hour before the captives felt the cool rush of air blow into the confined space.
In the meantime Ms Hall, 49, said the experience was “just a nightmare”.
Ms Hall, her daughter, 18, mother and aunt, aged in their 70s, had stepped into the elevator about 10am with plans to visit the Eumundi Markets.
There were already three other women and the child inside, but signage stated the elevator’s maximum capacity was 16 people and 1088kg.
They only had to travel down one floor, but the trip became an emergency when the doors didn’t open.
Ms Hall said once emergency services arrived, paramedics and firefighters communicated with them through the doors and determined the technician would work to free them.
By this stage Ms Hall said she, her mother and another elderly woman had fallen ill and were lying on the ground, fanning themselves and each other, pleading to be released.
“We had to make room for my poor mum to get down to the floor … there was no railing or anything to hold on to,” Ms Hall said. “She’s had knee reconstructions, so here she is trying to get herself on the floor. She just went white and pale and she’s sweating. She said, ‘this is just ridiculous’.”
Ms Hall said when the technician cut the power the fan died, and about five minutes later the elevator dropped. The doors opened with a halfmetre step down to the foyer.
Ms Hall said it was hours before paramedics gave her mother the all-clear. The family found alternative accommodation for their last night as Ms Hall’s mother was too “traumatised” to get back into the elevator.
But Ms Hall said when they asked to access the fire stairs to retrieve their luggage, she was advised there was no key.
“The (employee) commented and said if (my mother) takes a big deep breath she will be okay,” Ms Hall said.
The disappointed visitor said with the added expense of paying for an alternative Noosa accommodation, travel, food and entertainment she was out of pocket about $1000 by the time she and the family returned to the Gold Coast.
Elouera Tower was contacted for comment.