Is this letter to my apartment over the top? *TINY UPDATE*

[kduncan5]

Water balloon!!!😛




Maybe have some plants on your balcony.......and miss alot while watering them!😀 -kd5-

 

[Loggerman]

Try this Skoorb.
Write a letter stating what your problem is.

Barbaques being used on balconies,against lease and fire reg. rules.

Let them know that you have fowarded a copy the Main office/ Fire marshall/ your insurance com. and if you can get the adress for the complex's insurane com.

In many cases,once the problem has been brought forward and nothing is done.Then the person/company that has failed to ratify the problem is totally responsable for any kind of accident/fire or whatever.

Thier insurance company may have a few words to say ,about what must been done,if they wish to keep thier coverage.

Good Luck!

 

[Aves]

Well are you gonna turn it in or what?

 

[GoingUp]

You should live above a Korean resturant like I do. They smoke us out literally. Some nights is so bad you cant see from one room into the next. Our landlord still hasnt done anything about it and it reeks like fried dog everynight.

 

[StageLeft]

Originally posted by: d33pt
don't be a spoilsport..just close your damn balcony door when he's cooking. a man just wants some grilled steak. that's one of the best smells in the world anyway.

With all windows shut it smokes our entire place out.

TrinitronThanks for the advice. The previous letter was not sarcastic at all, but I thought I'd try a new route. Given that you think there is a chance it was thrown out I will follow up today over the phone and ask them what course of action they are now going to take.

aves2kI turned it in last night. I will call the sluts this afternoon!

 

[Nitemare]

fire extinguisher?

 

[MomAndSkoorbaby]

Clarification

IF it smelled like a nice steak, the issue would not be the same. The fact is, I have no idea what he is BBQing but I can tell you that our eyes water with the smoke and it smells like a rotting animal. With all windows CLOSED, the place is smoked out. Usually I don't mind this stuff, but this is just silly. Our place smells like burnt rotting animal pretty much all the time because of this guy....

 

[Blieb]

You have 2 choices ...

A) go down and steal the food.
B) Contact the fire marshall. DO NOT CC THE MARSHALL. Contact them outside of any letters ... this will get the complex a fine, and then if it continues, send the letter.

my .02

 

[propellerhead]

Originally posted by: pcman2002b
Have you tried talking to your neighbors below.

All the apartments I've been in specifically prohibit this, especially when it comes to noise complaints. The apartment does not want tennants getting into a fights and getting hurt then filing lawsuits against the apartment.

 

[Mill]

Damn. I didn't even know that this was happening to you. At least you are not in between the people with 50 subwoofers and the 800 lb guy on the third floor. That crap sucked ass.

 

[AlienCraft]

Originally posted by: Skoorb

Originally posted by: d33pt
don't be a spoilsport..just close your damn balcony door when he's cooking. a man just wants some grilled steak. that's one of the best smells in the world anyway.

With all windows shut it smokes our entire place out.

TrinitronThanks for the advice. The previous letter was not sarcastic at all, but I thought I'd try a new route. Given that you think there is a chance it was thrown out I will follow up today over the phone and ask them what course of action they are now going to take.

aves2kI turned it in last night. I will call the sluts this afternoon!

Skoorb, that sux.... I have the same rules here in my condo land and there is always some n00b that wants burgers during the summer, "duuuude that's what the rec. hall is for"....
Keep a log of phone calls. A regular phone log with date , time and topic can be evidence.
As always, PICS! Nothing like a little video or slide show showing the BBQ in progress.
Send at least one letter with delivery confirmation.
Get the name of the Insurance Company and Owner. Send them a copy of the letter , delivery confirmed.
Then, if nothing happens, you have a framework for breaking the lease if you decide to move.
Good luck....

 

[olds]

Originally posted by: pcman2002b
If you try asking, and the letters don't work. Try calling fire department, a lot of times they will send a whole fire truck to put out things like that.

Next time he BBQs call the non emergency for the FD and turn him in.

 

[jemcam]

Send it certified with a signature as proof of delivery. You may need this if it ends up in court if you want to break your lease and move.

 

[fluxquantum]

LOL, funny you mentioned this incident. we lived in a 3 story apartment building. we lived on the third floor and the people who barbequed lived on the first floor. every time they would fire up the grill it would stink up our apartment. we reported the incident to management several times and they never did anything about it. finally management found out it was a charcoal grill and those are not allowed per the lease rules. so basically the first floor folks had their grill confiscated...LMAO. eventually they had to move because the guy (they were g/f and b/f) lost his job. his car was even repossessed. they were mean people anyways so i had no sympathy for them.

 

[StageLeft]

You know discussing it with mrsskoorb I'm not even sure the guy below me has been told once. If I was in his position I might BBQ and not even realize that people above me would get stunk up. I can't see him being such a total prick that after 4 warnings he's still BBQing, so I must conclude that it's very likely he hasn't been told. Or maybe he was told once but wasn't told the reason why. I was initially told to report to the courtesy officer when he does it so that the officer can catch him in the act but I don't resent the guy below us, so I didn't want to spoil his party, so I generally alert them after the fact.

 

[BooGiMaN]

Sending a sarcastic and humorous letter like this assumes the people who read it will have some reasonable degree of intelligence.

If anything, your status as a Lifer implies you have been reading the majority of the posts on this board, which would lead to the logical conclusion that most people in the position to remedy your problem are lacking in intelligence...if you think i am wrong do a search for 'rant' and reread the threads....

I would suggest that you keep the letter straight and to the point as has been suggested, maybe add pictures just in case the management of the intended recipients of your letter are of the chimp or ape like variety of the human species.... 😛😉

 

[AlienCraft]

Originally posted by: Skoorb
You know discussing it with mrsskoorb I'm not even sure the guy below me has been told once. If I was in his position I might BBQ and not even realize that people above me would get stunk up. I can't see him being such a total prick that after 4 warnings he's still BBQing, so I must conclude that it's very likely he hasn't been told. Or maybe he was told once but wasn't told the reason why. I was initially told to report to the courtesy officer when he does it so that the officer can catch him in the act but I don't resent the guy below us, so I didn't want to spoil his party, so I generally alert them after the fact.

Dude, don't go Passive /Aggressive on us.....
If you think he hasn't been told, tell him. Copy the section of the Regs that sez NO BBQ's and make sure he gets a copy.
But above all , if it's coming in the house, go down and tell him to move the blankety blank thing.... Spoil the Party? How about your drapes???
Especially if it's stinky meat like Mrs.Skoorb sez....

I'ld like to be able to smoke the salmon I catch , but I can't do that here at home..... EVERYONE would be hitting me up for samples.... 😀

 

[FuzzyBee]

You could always just wait until he has the grill lit up and call the FD. Tell them that there is a fire downstairs from you. It couldn't be a grill, since they're against regulations.

BTW, you don't BBQ a steak - you BBQ a hunk o' pork or a chicken or beef ribs. Just an FYI 😉

 

[fonzinator]

Originally posted by: Trinitron
Well having been in management before I can tell you being sarcastic isn't the way to get things done. The manager will toss this letter in the trash. Now I didn't have to say you have to be nice either.

In a letter like this you must be direct, state the problem in the first sentence. The problem: "The tenant below me is using a bbq grill. This violates fire codes, the apartment lease contract and creates a dangerous environment in my apartment for HEALTH REASONS." The second sentence should be how many times you have observed the BBQ grill being used and the dates. Paragraph number two should be what you expect to be done. You need to tell them what you expect, don't ask for anything to be done, tell them - but don't be an ass either. "I expect this problem to be resolved within the week to prevent an unhealthy environment in my apartment and to relinquish the fire hazard being causes by the BBQ grill." Paragraph 3 is the closing, thank them for their time and tell them you will be looking to see the problem solved. " Thank you very much for your time, I look forward to seeing this matter resolved immediately."

I know it feels good to be a wise-acre in a complaint letter, but trust me - those types of letters get thrown in the trash. I have throw letters away like yours without reading past the first line. The manager has probably ten letters to read the same day he reads yours and doesn?t want to be humored.

Be direct; don?t ask for help, tell them what needs to be done. Thank them.

I hope I have been of help!

Wise advice Trinitron. I've been in a similar situation where I wrote a letter to complain that used sarcasm. It backfired worse than I could have ever imagined and was an awful experience. Unfortunately, 99.9% of all people cannot read sarcasm within a complaint.

 

[StageLeft]

Originally posted by: fonzinator

Wise advice Trinitron. I've been in a similar situation where I wrote a letter to complain that used sarcasm. It backfired worse than I could have ever imagined and was an awful experience. Unfortunately, 99.9% of all people cannot read sarcasm within a complaint.

What happened?

 

[ElFenix]

the complex's insurance company would love to know about it

 

[sciencetoy]

Another vote for calling the FD next time it happens, tell them you smell smoke. That was my first reaction to the whole thing. Go around banging on doors and yelling and make sure everybody is aware of the smoke. Be kind, helpful, and fussy - think boy scout. Go for that merit badge.

Letters: no sarcasm. State facts. Keep records. Be intensely polite.

Withholding rent: if you ever do that, put the rent money into a separate bank account clearly marked "rent". This proves to the court that you weren't just short that month, or something.