Christ on a cracker...

danax6 · #1 03-02-2007, 01:50 PM

Above my store are a couple of apartments and a few weeks ago one of them had a leak in the kitchen and it seeped through leaking on our ceiling (there's a space between the concrete and our actual ceiling, which is where all the electric stuff for the lights and music is). It was only minor, and though we did have a few spots on our ceiling, it was managable. I had been in contact with the housing agency who the apartments belong to and that was that. Or so I thought. A week later it I discovered new spots on the ceiling and had to call them again. Once again they assured me it was fixed until I again saw fresh spots on the ceiling a few days after that. Now I was pissed! I demanded to speak to the guy who actually owns the apartments instead of someone on his staff and demanded he come look at it himself. He did, and he spent about a thousand bucks on repairs. I got his personal word that it was completely fixed this time.

So I walk into the store yesterday and to my horror I discover that a couple of those spots had started to sag. Not only were there a few spots now, it was one big spot, right above all my expensive dvd's. I called them immediately and started swearing till my face was blue. They came over to inspect a ****ing 4 hours later and said they couldn't do anything, the owner had to stop by himself first. He said they would turn this into an urgent job. No kidding! Now it's 26 hours later and he still hasn't stopped by. And guess what, about an hour ago part of the ****ing ceiling came down.

The largest piece fell about 2 feet away from where a customer stood.

Plus, there's a BIG tear in the concrete that goes from side of the store to the other and all there's water falling on top of the lights and the speakers.

Ofcourse, now it's Friday night and I can't reach anyone at the office there. I just spent an hour cleaning everything up, but there's a pool on the floor and I can't do anything to stop it, short of putting buckets underneath it, which is impossible since it's right where everyone walks. People are actually getting wet walking around the store. Gah, I'm so pissed right now. I'll wring that guy's neck as soon as I see him.

Thanks for letting me vent.

paleshadow · #2 03-02-2007, 04:18 PM

That stinks. I have to say though, it seems like the property owners are doing a lot to try and fix the problem. Sometimes you do everything you can to fix what you think is wrong, and something else happens.

I will say this, put the buckets down and re-route where the customers walk. No matter who's responsability the leak is, until it's fixed, you don't want anyone to get hurt in your store. I'd move the merchandise and rope off the area. Keep track of any lost business you may be experiencing because you may be able to get the owner of the property to compensate you for that, as well as any damages to your shop. Take pictures too, lots of them. Also, take down any of the wet ceiling tiles. You don't want to wait until they fall down themselves.

Try to stay calm though. Like I said, I've delt with many people who wouldn't have even shown up yet. From what you said, it does seem like they are at least responsive and are trying to get it taken care of.

danax6 · #3 03-02-2007, 04:25 PM

^^
I did that. There are now three buckets catching the water drops and I took out ALL of the wet ceiling tiles (that took another hour).

But see, I don't think they've done everything they've could. I've told them all 4 times they've been here now that the concrete is tearing and that the tear doesn't match up with where the kitchen is in the upstairs apartment (where they said the leak originated). It's obvious that it's the area just outside of the apartments and they've done some construction there about a month ago, and now every time it rains heavily, it starts leaking. Yet, they still insist it's coming from the kitchen.

And I called them yesterday afternoon at 1, it's now 10.30 pm the next day and I still haven't heard anything. If they had fixed it yesterday, the ceiling wouldn't have fallen down.

I think I can be glad that this isn't sue happy America, the guy that almost got hit on the head didn't look particularly happy.

BTFLCHLD · #4 03-02-2007, 05:31 PM

maybe you should call the housing authorities if this isn't taken care of over the weekend...Monday latest.

AliceLover · #5 03-02-2007, 06:55 PM

Vanessa, thats so awful. I'd be SOOO pissed if I were you. I think if you mention to whomever that one of your customers almost got hit on the head, they will take some more action. Just keep being A PAIN IN THEIR ASS!

I know you can do it!

danax6 · #6 03-02-2007, 07:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AliceLover

Just keep being A PAIN IN THEIR ASS!

I know you can do it!

Gee, thanks

Tomorrow I will track down the guy's home number if that what it takes. I've left a lot of buckets and towels on the floor, but still I'm scared of what I will walk into tomorrow afternoon.

DrummerDeanna · #7 03-02-2007, 07:30 PM

Christ on a cracker!!!

Seriously though...your situation sucks

paleshadow · #8 03-02-2007, 08:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrummerDeanna

Christ on a cracker!!!

Seriously though...your situation sucks

: Would that be Cheeseus Christ??

DrummerDeanna · #9 03-02-2007, 08:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by paleshadow

: Would that be Cheeseus Christ??

It sure would!!

BlackWidow · #10 03-02-2007, 09:11 PM

That SUCKS!!

Sorcerer386 · #11 03-02-2007, 11:57 PM

We had a similar problem in my store. Okay, I don't OWN the store. I'm not even the store manager, just an assistant manager. However, the company just spent millions of dollars redoing our store, including a one million dollar wood laminate floor. I walked into the store about two weeks ago (I was the opening manager), and the leak was so bad that the ceiling tile was soaked, so soaked that water was dripping off of it in numerous places. There was a puddle on the floor which warped the new wood, and the ceiling tile was so waterlogged that when a maintenance guy took it down and turned it sideways, literally a stream of water was pouring off of it. The mall we are in is notorious for having a bad roof...that day there were water buckets EVERYWHERE you looked in the mall. So, my store manager had to basically bother the hell out of mall management to do something about it. I still don't think they fixed the roof, although they claimed to have had workers on the roof trying to fix it. Building owners can really suck sometimes...

EDIT: No offense to any building owners here!

danax6 · #12 03-03-2007, 05:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrummerDeanna

Christ on a cracker!!!

Seriously though, I never even heard of this...expression until someone used it a few months ago and now I use it all the time. It amuses me.

strandinthewind · #13 03-03-2007, 06:16 AM

Where the water marks are on your ceiling is not dispositive of the location of the leak because water finds the lowest spot, shich could be far from the source of the leak. So, the owners need to make sure they get all the leaks and not just the one located by the spot.

Also, if you have insurance, check with them to see if you are due any compensation for lost sales, inconvenience, etc.

Other than those "nuts and bolts" -- I am sorry to hear about this

danax6 · #14 03-03-2007, 08:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by strandinthewind

Where the water marks are on your ceiling is not dispositive of the location of the leak because water finds the lowest spot, shich could be far from the source of the leak. So, the owners need to make sure they get all the leaks and not just the one located by the spot.

That's very true. I just know it's not caused by the leak in the upstairs kitchen, because it only starts leaking whenever it rains (and we're experiencing some big showers right now) so it's definitely something coming from outside. The tear in the concrete ceiling started out being about 2 feet long, it is now almost 8 feet long.

And the more water that keeps seeping through, the longer the tear gets. It's scary looking up there, I feel like the whole upstairs floor will come down any second.

Ofcourse, I still can't reach anyone.

danax6 · #15 03-03-2007, 08:10 AM

You know, this is all rather embarassing, because we have a top of the line videostore, expensive stuff everywhere, expensive furniture, expensive electronics...and now there is a hole in the ceiling and buckets on the floor catching water. I see the expression on the customers' faces when they get in..."what a dump!".