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A tale of two ‘pesky customers’
It was the best of outcomes, it was the worst of outcomes. Ann Harris and Sally Trueman relate a tale of how two different customers’ complaints were perceived
Since the Grenfell Tower fire, some members of the original National Tenants Voice have worked with government officials to set up a number of meetings between ministers and tenants around the country.
The brief for these meetings was to listen and record the concerns of the tenants.
During these conversations we heard many heartbreaking stories.
The first tale is the story of a young single mum who we will call Tracey, who has three children.
She is a vulnerable recovering alcoholic and her children have been in care for the past eight months, while Tracey was proving that she could deal with her addiction.
She was really happy when her social worker had helped her get a social housing accommodation.
This meant she would able to make a home for herself and her children.
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Two days later, the social worker called and found the middle and youngest children playing with dirty underwear that they had found under a loose floorboard in the lounge, a further investigation also revealed a needle, more dirty underwear and used condoms.
A number of loose floorboards had nails sticking up above the floor level. These problems prompted the social worker to tell Tracey that she had to do something about these problems within two days or the children would be taken back into care.
“These unplanned purchases played havoc with Tracey’s finances and she started to fall behind with her rent payments. Now the landlord began to take notice and to write letters making demands regarding the unpaid rent”
After calling her landlord and being told a repairs inspector would come to the house in four days time, Tracey went into panic mode. Her answer was a trip to the hire purchase shop Bright House, where she bought items, including carpets, to help make the home more presentable.
These unplanned purchases played havoc with Tracey’s finances and she started to fall behind with her rent payments.
The landlord began to take notice and wrote letters making demands regarding the unpaid rent. Then came the letter that contains the threat of court action which could end with Tracey losing her home.
Under all of this pressure, Tracey turned to alcohol and when she was full of dutch courage she phoned the landlord and was very abusive.
This behaviour unfortunately fuels the landlord staff prejudices about ‘pesky customers’, but who is to blame for the situation that Tracey found herself in?
If the landlord had applied the Housing Act 2004 and made sure this house met the second of the basic lettings standards which reads “it must be in a reasonable state of repair”, Tracey would not have loose floorboards. Yet they, and indeed many other landlords across the country, appear to be ignoring this law with impunity.
What could have been done differently? If this landlord had a tenancy support officer, surely more help could have been available to Tracey. Not everything needed to come from the landlord, but some judicious signposting to the local agencies could have made all the difference.
“They, and indeed many other landlords across the country, appear to be ignoring this law with impunity”
Looking at this from a purely financial angle, things could have been better managed. For a fraction of the cost of a court case and returning the children into the care system, the money could have been used to provide Tracey with the basic needs of family life. There are many charities that will fund this kind thing.
The outcome could have been so different if only someone had seen Tracey as a woman who was trying against colossal odds to return to a functioning family unit rather than viewing her as the archetypal ‘pesky customer’.
Now here is a different tale, overheard on a train. We were sitting opposite two very confident and capable women – one them relayed her experience of recent skiing holiday.
This holiday involved a number of problems: a delayed flight, a closed restaurant, a lack of family sized bedrooms, out of action ski lifts, problems with checking in and the restaurant not providing for dietary needs.
The parents kept a detailed log of every complaint and where possible captured photographic evidence to support their eventual compensation claim. When they returned from the holiday, Mum used her log and photos to illustrate the complaint forms and gave her insurance company chapter and verse of all the problems.
“Society is much more likely to empathise with the successful ski-trip family than Tracey’s plight.
But this is how the wider world, the media and the power within the land find it easy to air their prejudices, which leaves the wider tenant body feeling stigmatised”
Then she went on the website of the holiday company and left a very uncomplimentary review about the service her family had received. Next was social media to spread the word about the less-than-perfect holiday on the ski slopes.
Mum’s concerted approach resulted in adequate compensation from the holiday company and the insurance company met its commitments. This lady gave everyone a hard time but only because she stood up for her rights. Does this make her a ‘pesky customer’ or a ‘warrior for good service’?
Society is much more likely to empathise with the successful ski-trip family than Tracey’s plight.
But this is how the wider world, the media and the power within the land find it easy to air their prejudices, which leaves the wider tenant body feeling stigmatised.
Ann Harris and Sally Trueman, members, A Voice for Tenants Steering Group