Faulty lifts a letdown in 38-floor condo

 

Residents of Five Stones Condominium say they feel short-changed by poor service despite the management fee they pay. (Facebook pic)

PETALING JAYA: A few years ago, on a Sunday evening, KK Foong and his family were in a lift at his 38-storey apartment block when it suddenly shuddered and came to a halt.

The lift was stuck between two levels. The 45-minute ordeal traumatised his child, who was then only seven.

“Now, my son has developed a phobia of getting into lifts,” Foong told FMT, adding that they eventually climbed out of the lift after engineers pried the doors open.

The next morning, Foong was trapped in the lift again, though this time it was only for 15 minutes.

He said breakdowns involving the lifts at the Five Stones Condominium here – there are three in his block, comprising two passenger lifts and one emergency lift – are frequent, sometimes “more than four times a week”.

This is frustrating, he said, considering he pays RM840 in management fee and a sinking fund every month.

“The lifts breaking down is one thing, but the uptime sometimes takes another few days,” he said, referring to when the lifts become operational again.

“Even when they resume working, they will break down again,” he said, adding that in the past five years he has stayed there, he only heard excuses, with no action taken.

Businessman Darren Chang, who also moved in some five years ago, said the lifts would malfunction every time it rains.

Chang, who stays on one of the higher floors, had to walk up a flight of stairs with his wife and four children after one of the lifts broke down. And very often, he said, only one of the three lifts would be working.

Residents said the lifts are old models and poorly maintained. They feel “short-changed” with the quality of service, especially when they have to pay a hefty management fee, he said.

“For the amount we pay, we expect the basic necessities to work and our problems sorted out, especially the lifts which we use on a daily basis.”

Jolene Tan, who stays in Block E, said there were times that the lift doors would “slam” into the users as they step in.

After she complained to the committee, she was told the lifts were not serviced. When she sent an email to the management, she received no response, which left her “seething”.

“The problems with the lifts also created bad blood among the residents, some of whom are part of the committee,” she said.

Rowena Baker said she had grown “sick and tired” of the lift breakdowns, which she said have been going on since 2014.

It also left her red-faced on several occasions when some of her guests were stuck in the lifts.

“In their brochure, they promised state-of-the-art facilities, but what we got was vintage,” she said.

The developer, Selangor Dredging Bhd, said Phase One of Five Stones was completed in 2009, followed by Phase Two in 2010.

Its spokesman said the project was handed over on May 1, 2016 to be managed by property management agent Knight Frank, which was appointed by the management committee.

“We ensured everything was in good working condition when we handed it over,” the spokesman said. - FMT