Left in the dark as I tried to get help with the lift
WELL, of all the things that I thought I was going to write about this week, a broken lift in the block where I stay in London was not one of them.
When it has broken before, it has usually been fixed pretty quickly and in case of late at night I probably have only had to wait about two hours.
The light has not been working in it this week, but I got back late last night (after working a 16-hour day) to find a notice on the lift to say that as the light wasn’t working they were waiting for a spare part and it was out of service. They have never put a sign on there before.
The management company who are in charge of the upkeep of the flats and the lift company were not answering their out-of -office phone numbers. Hence quite a lot of frustration and angry tweeting about why they were not answering the phone.
I decided that they were not going to come out, and I didn’t fancy sleeping in the entrance hall, so I decided to see if I could get a hotel.
The added complication was that as it was now past midnight getting a hotel at that time of night is not easy.
There didn’t appear to be any rooms in quite a large geographical area, but this is when social media came to the rescue.
Many people offered lots of help but someone I worked with many years ago sent me a message to say they had a sofa I could sleep on and they were not that far from where I was.
Ten minutes later, I was at their place, duvets and blankets provided and also a spare toothbrush (I was very impressed with this) and all was OK. It was beyond kind that they offered to do this but without it I don’t know what I would have done.
I wasn’t so angry that the lift was not working, but that no one seemed to answer what is the emergency contact number. If it had been an emergency I could have called the police, and someone suggested I call the fire brigade, but I don’t think it is part of their job description to carry me in to a building.
I am now waiting for a phone call or a response to my emails that I sent at midnight. Nothing so far, but in the end I was warm and safe. Others might not have had someone they knew around the corner. I think a thank-you present will be on its way.
I didn’t fancy sleeping in the entrance hall, so I decided to see if
I could get a hotel