As we all know, things can break, fail, and stop working for various reasons. This is part of life. As a resident of GreenSquareAccord, I and my forty-plus neighbours pay a service charge to GreenSquareAccord, who we contact when things fail. In exchange for paying a service charge, GreenSquareAccord is supposed to come out and fix the broken things. However, this seemingly simple business transaction often turns out to be far from simple.

On April 5th, the forty-plus residents of our building in Oxford realised that the intercom system was faulty, and visitors were unable to reach the residents. We promptly called GreenSquareAccord on April 6th, and they raised a job. However, they assumed that only one flat was affected and considered it non-emergency.

They did inform their third-party contractor, who was supposed to attend to it at some point in the near future.  However, there were two major hurdles that impeded progress. First, since GreenSquareAccord became a larger association due to numerous mergers that only benefited greedy CEOs, they no longer have a physical presence in Oxford. Thus, they could not easily visit the site to assess the problem and fix it. Second, the customer service agent incorrectly noted that only one flat was affected, rather than all forty-three flats.

No further action was taken until April 13th (the exact date remains unclear, as GreenSquareAccord has provided conflicting information). The contractor did visit the property however was unable to gain access as GreenSquareAccord had failed to meet the contractor on site, or provide them with a contact number of a resident who could allowed entry into the block of flats, and of course the contractor was unable to use the intercom system as it was 9as we know) out of order! So the contractor left and the intercom remained broken.

On the 15th, I sent an email reporting the issue again, attaching photos of the faulty intercom to illustrate the problem. On the 17th, the customer service team informed me that GreenSquareAccord had not provided the third-party contractor with the flat number or phone number, and the contractor had left rather than contacting GreenSquareAccord to seek support.

GreenSquareAccord would eventually provide my wife's phone number to the contractor without seeking her permission or verifying if she was home. Consequently, my wife and other residents started receiving unsolicited calls and texts from the contractor.

GreenSquareAccord then started telling lies, accusing residents of not allowing access to the contractor, despite the fact that the contractor did not have a phone number or a working intercom. On the 19th, our Home Ownership Office wrote a letter suggesting that only two flats were affected, rather than the entire block, and reminding the two residents in writing that GreenSquareAccord and their contractors have the right to enter our flats to resolve issues.

As a reminder we wanted the contractors to come in and fix the intercom system, but GreenSquareAccord failed to provide contact details until after the contractor had made a wasted journey, and then they shared numbers without seeking consent. None of this is the fault of the residents! A people centric housing provider with its residents at the heart of everything they do would surely already know this, and as such would not seek to pass the blame for their own failings.

Meanwhile, I had been actively giving GreenSquareAccord permission to share my number, explaining that it wasn't just two flats but the entire block, and sending pictures of the fault. However, GreenSquareAccord didn't take advantage of the opportunity to use this information because they still insisted on using a communication plan. More on that next time.

Find it too ridiculous to be true? Drop me a message and I’ll share emails, voicemails, and copies of letters. Are you able to help? Please let us know if you are.