Wifely Steps

I have a question to the Rockwell Land people. Isn’t it proper to take care of your residents? My best friend has been complaining about terrible service the past year. At first I was like, “Be patient. Rockwell pa. They’ll take care of you.” Ngerk, I was wrong. Rockwell Joya: Please give my friend back her sleep. Please give her the proper care she deserves as a Joya resident.

This started July 2009. My friend started complaining about her noisy upstairs neighbor. Footsteps were loud, the moving of furniture grating to the ear. “Baka naman super bigat ng neighbors mo,” we would joke her. It was funny at first, but the noise didn’t cease.

In August 2009, she got in touch with the President. She said his first reaction to her complaint was “Impossible! We’ve never had this problem.” Well, she proved him wrong. He visited her unit, with one of the staff visiting the upstairs unit. Yup, he heard the heavy footsteps. “Iha, I didn’t tell you to jump,” he told the staff member over the phone. “Sir naglalakad lang po ako,” was the other’s reply. Aghast, the president apologized to my best friend and said she would get her sleep back. It was a construction error, a structural defect, if that’s what you call it.

The Joya administration took some steps to fix this. For one week, they moved my best friend to another unit while they began work on the upstairs unit. Then my best friend was back in her own unit while construction carried on upstairs. To manage noise, they did construction work during the daytime when my best friend was out for work. Insulation was altered. I believed the floorboards were fixed and all that jazz. She was very patient with the whole waiting game. The upstairs owners were on vacation if I’m not mistaken.

In February 2010, they said the construction was complete. SIX MONTHS, YOU GUYS. The owners were back in town, and my best friend was hoping she could sleep in peace.

No dice. She could hear the upstairs’ neighbor’s toddler walking. A toddler’s FOOTSTEPS. How heavy can that be? Then the grating furniture. Then other people walking. What the heck? The noise was still there. What the hell kind of construction went on for six months?

Believe me when I say my best friend has been in touch with the Joya administration day and night. Believe me when I say my best friend has tried getting in touch again with the President. She’s the smartest and most charismatic person I know on this planet, so she’s gone through the logical process of this properly. There’s a lawyer in the picture, a pile of dated documents showing the timelines of this situation, nasty letters of complaint, etc.

Here’s the reply she got from the Joya people on May 29, 2010: “Wala na po kaming magagawa.”

What the heck? I think when someone invests in your real estate brand you do your best to take care of that relationship. You nurture it. If it was a construction flaw, you deal with it until it is resolved. You find ways. You just don’t give up, especially if it’s your place that your customer calls home.

I’m writing about this because it makes me wonder – why can’t a premium real estate brand take care of its residents well? My best friend has lost a lot of weight due to lack of sleep. She’s lost some vigor as this complaint consumes most of her days – trying to get in touch with the Rockwell people, trying to get an answer.

You know what she heard last night? Toilet flushing. Many, many times. Isn’t that terrible? One, it’s gross. Two, it sucks away all the good energy you have. If you hear a toilet within your own home being flushed, that’s fine. If you hear your neighbor’s toilet flushing, that’s not fine at all. For a brand as prestigious as Rockwell’s, I’d expect more. Much, much more.

She’s been calling the administration and yes, the president again. Her calls are being ignored. She left many messages, one being “You can call me anytime!” – a plea for help, a plea that indicates how extreme the problem is already. Not a single return call, not a single acknowledgment.

I’m pissed for my best friend. I really am. It’s annoying when you see your dearest friend with dark circles under her eyes, her shirt getting looser and your coffee conversations peppered (and salted and spiced and you know what I mean) with complaints about her home. This has got to stop.

“Wala na po kaming magagawa.” Er, how about offering to sound proof my best friend’s place? What about offering her another unit? It’s not her fault she landed in a unit that’s close to a construction flaw. Heck, you shouldn’t have those flaws in the first place.

“Wala na po kaming magagawa.” Isn’t that line so irritating? I go back to that line again and again because of all my best friend’s stories about this situation, this line really annoys me most. Are you sure Joya? Are you sure wala na kayong magagawa? I doubt it. You seem pretty darn sure though. Way to take care of your residents who invested in you. Way to make them feel at home.

If this is an isolated case, it still should be addressed. Frankly, my husband and I considered investing in a home in the same area. After all the crap my best friend has been going through, I think I’ll consider other brands instead.

I write this because I sympathize with my best friend. I write this as a call for help.

Have you encountered similar experiences? Have you dealt with Rockwell on terrible customer service? I really want to help my best friend.

Aside from a structural defect concern, this is a battle of principles. Prinsipyo na ‘to! Ano ba! Rockwell, sigurado ba kayong wala na talagang magagawa?

Image credit: cloud nine c/o Flickr