MHS is anyone else as frustrated as me?

[High_Expect]

#RANT MODE ON#

I won't bore you all with the details but does anyone else find the company tasked with contract managing repairs to our SFA totally inept?

Following the questionnaire sent out recently by DE it's spurred me into one final double A4 complaint letter about the whole set up / MHS cutting corners and (botching jobs on the cheap) only to have to come back 6months later and do the same all over again.

Here is the penultimate paragraph to give you a feel for my utter distain for the company…. Too strong?!?

“My frustration and sheer disbelief in the quality of service from MHS (not the fitters/workmen who are all doing the best they can with their hands tied behind their backs) knows no bounds. I have utterly lost the will to continue fighting MHS which for someone in my line of work takes some doing. I just hope that whoever signed the contract with MHS didn’t get promoted out of it.”

#RANT MODE OFF# :ugh:
i'm going for a lie down.

[VinRouge]

Dont forget, you get a cash sweetner if MHS no-show for an arranged date.

[High_Expect]

if only.... I can count 7 within the last 11months!

[Green Bottle 2]

HE,

VR is correct - you get cash if they do not show for an appointment within a certain timescale - they don't shout about it. Can't remember how you go about claiming, but you should be able to find out from the DHE Liaison Officer on Stn.

We experienced the same frustrations when we lived in quarters - was one of the reasons we moved out. In the last 2 months before moving out we had no heating and when we moved out it was still not fixed. We moved out in February so heating would have been nice.

I moved into a house that needed some rennovation and had no heating. Within 3 weeks we had sorted out a brand new heating system that keeps us toasty and I haven't had a problem with it in 2 years. In 2 years in the MQ, I had a heating engineer out at least 6 times.

MHS - not exactly a retention positive measure.:hmm:

GB2

[whowhenwhy]

I got £80 out of them in 4 weeks (4 missed appts for the same job). All that you have to do is ring them up, once you've selected your geographic area press #3 and utter the words "I wish to make a complaint!" The guys up at Speke are well used to it. They told me the last time that there's a 2 month waiting list for the vouchers (it isn't cash, you get vouchers that you can spend in certain stores) because they're having to issue so many. But then, the workmen who have come around have said that they used to get scheduled for 5-6 jobs a day, now they get upto 14 which they have no hope of completing. IE they know they're not coming as soon as they issue the day's work roster in the morning!

Happy days!

[nice castle]

I have had nothing but good experiences with them; everything seemed to get fixed pretty quickly with the minimum of fuss and without a single missed appointment. I do realise that I am in a tiny minority, and I know not what has given me this luck, but honestly it has been fine.

Don't know if that will make you feel better (I hope so) or make you feel more angry (I hope not).

[getsometimein]

I put in for a job over a year ago, someone came and looked at it and said they'd send us the cost (it was our fault) before work started.

Never heard anything from them, so are we able to get a lump-sum to make up for it?

Phoned them yesterday due to something else failing and reminded them, but heard nothing yet.

[VinRouge]

Ring DHE after running a local petition to get your quarters re-branded. Get everyone in your local patch to sign it up and send it off.

More importantly, ensure when they do an inspection of the local quarters, make sure they pick standard one and not one that has been recently rennovated.

[minigundiplomat]

About 6 months ago, we came home to a flooded downstairs, ankle deep in water from a burst pipe, still spurting water. Stopcock jammed open, eventually gave with a bit of WD40.
First call to MHS promised to get us a plumber within 6 hours (water still gushing out of the wall). I put my mobile next to the landline and took a few pics, resulting in click after click. When asked by MHS what the clicking was, I informed them they were photos, and they would be emailed to the Sun in one hour if a plumber hadnt arrived.


Plumber pulled up outside in 10 mins, and sorted the problem completely. Have had no problems with MHS since. Learning has taken place!

[30mRad]

I wouldn't say MHS have learnt. 3 houses on our patch have had burst pipes in the last few days. One is occupied - no lagging on the pipes in the roof, one has only just been redecorated ready for the next occupant - no heating left on, and one unoccupied same deal. Family of occupied MQ is in a hotel while MHS sort it all out. They are utter buffoons (MHS not the family!) and have no understanding of looking after property. They are wasting valuable money and properties by a lack of care.

[SirToppamHat]

I agree with the comments about 'compensation', but I would be more impressed if they gave cash instead of bloody tokens. Also, whilst it might seem generous, it's not much compared with the loss of earnings if your other half is, say, a supply teacher and turns down work to stay in for the visitor.

I have to say that, apart from the missed appointments (which seem to come in groups of 3 or 4) they've been pretty good recently.

What always astonishes me is the distance these guys travel to do the work. One electrician came for a routine follow-up appointment (at a secret air base in Bedfordshire) from COVENTRY. He also explained that they'd just changed the rules so they weren't being paid anything for the time travelling between jobs.

Now I must get on with scraping the mould off the bathroom wall, something they won't do anything about (eg fit an extractor fan) as it's not an entitlement (but if we had one, they'd fix it).

Oh and did I tell you about the time DHE installed a fireplace hearth on top of the living-room carpet?

STH

[whowhenwhy]

STH stop hogging the decent workers at your end of the road will ya? The ones at my end of the road are rubbish!!!! Know what you mean about distances though, they wanted to send a chap down to us from Marham (ETA 2300) for an emergency job in the middle of the freezing fog, icy roads etc that preceded December's alpine extravaganza. Told the poor lad to stay at home and not to risk his neck!

[Hugh Been'ad]

It is a very sorry situation that far too many of us have to deal with when we shouldn't. A needless waste of resources both theirs and ours with little tangible signs of improvement. It is clear that the feedback they receive is not making the difference it should as the same people suffer over and over again.

Details of the complaints system can be found here:
Complaints, Comments and Compliments (http://www.modernhousingsolutions.com/customer/customer_complaints.asp)

Stage 1 Complaint
You can telephone, write, or e-mail the MHS Helpdesk to complain about an existing job or a job already carried out. If you choose to write or e-mail, your complaint will be acknowledged in writing by return.
0800 707 6000 (Option 3)

In order to claim compensation see:
Compensation (http://www.modernhousingsolutions.com/customer/customer_compensation.asp)

A couple of key points:

Significant Defects
If a property experiences a significant defect (s) within 14 days of the occupant moving in, then the occupant is entitled to receive £50 compensation in the form of a voucher. This is a one-off payment that is payable per property and not per significant defect. A significant defect is categorised as a defect of plumbing, heating, or cooking facilities. A request for a major clean (to all or part of the property) is also considered to be a significant defect.

Missed Appointments
If an occupant has a verified missed appointment for a reactive or planned visit requiring internal access to the property, then they are entitled to receive £20 compensation in the form of a voucher for each and every missed appointment.
Note: A workman who is not qualified to do the job, fails to pitch up with the right tools/spares or who arrives with not enough time to reasonably finish the job also counts for a missed appointment.

The vouchers are not going to change your life, but they do help to offset some of the inconvenience of a failed system.

[Standby!]

These were the words from a 4* a few years back. There has been little improvement since. I had need (again - around 50 calls to MHS in 2009 and no over exageration) to get a broken door handle and window handle fixed. I was given Tuesday as the date for the door and Wednesday for the window. I suggested that as both jobs were minor and from experience, would be carried-out by the same bloke, that they should be combined to save me time and MHS money. The lovely scouse lass told me to mind my own business and not to tell her how to do her job. Needless to say, the phone was put down pretty rapidly from my end. Did I complain? No, as this doesn't (from experience) get you anywhere or improve the service. However, the chap turned up on Tuesday to fix the door, and after questioning, told me it would be him coming on Wed, so he fixed both there and then. As High-Expect noted, it is not the workmen (who do a pretty good good job with the 'tools' (pardon the pun) they have to work with), it is the people at Speke. I had a heating engineer to come and fix my toilet the other day!! This is not the first time this has happened either.

And another thing; missed appointments. My boiler packed-up before Christmas (and was subsequently condemned). Initially, it was an AM appt which they changed (with my agreement) to a PM (here by 1630). 1630 rolled around with no visit or phone call. So I called Speke and was told that he had been called to an 'emergency' and did I want to book another appt? "When" I asked? "Oh, a couple of weeks!" was the response. I waited in. 1945 the bloke turned-up and he fixed the CH. When I complained (not about the workman as he was given 16 jobs in 12 hrs across 3 counties) I was told that he hadn't missed the appt. A lengthy discussion ensued and I managed to convince them that, as he hadn't attended by 1630, he had missed the appt. The lassie agreed and submitted a 'missed appt' complain. I received an official letter in response to my complaint denying that he had missed the appt! At that point I gave up. I now cannot be arsed to take yet more days off work (fortunately I am in this position: I wonder how many other Service persons' spouses have to take time off work?) and the dive I live in now can continue to rot. Oh, and the CH that was broken is now being replaced during one of the coldest weeks of the winter. We have no heating and the bloke won't attend in case he gets stuck in snow. I wonder if MHS are going to pay my massive elec bill........ At least my patches of mold are getting bigger in the cold and damp! I cannot wait to get out of these excuses for housing.

[minigundiplomat]

Oi Standby,


Oh, and the CH that was broken is now being replaced during one of the coldest weeks of the winter. We have no heating and the bloke won't attend in case he gets stuck in snow. I wonder if MHS are going to pay my massive elec bill........ At least my patches of mold are getting bigger in the cold and damp!


What are you doing in my quarter?

[High_Expect]

Just to give you and idea of one of our problems. Or assigned married quarter had been unoccupied for approximately 3 ½ years prior to our move in. It had also been used as the hangar queen (robbed for spares) resulting in the boiler being removed and the system drained for 2years +. Allowing this hour had been uninhabited for such along period you would have thought they would have given it more than the usual 1 week to start the repairs! Unfortunately on move in I still wasn’t able to turn the heating on for 6 hours until the sealant had dried. 3-4months of 24hr a day heating was required to even start drying the property out. That added to the smell of stale cigarettes that oozes from our 10year old carpets (that don’t need replacing because there not worn enough apparently) has meant a delightful first year. Oh I forgot to mention the leaking sewage pipe. 3 blown windows, no working tv points, the broken shower (240V with no isolation other than the upstairs ring main RCD…. Building regs apparently don’t matter), screeching extractor fan that wakes the whole house, and broken letter box. Admittedly most of these problems were rectified within the first few months, however, the engineer did tell me that the type of oil boiler fitted has to have a stainless steel flue to work correctly. Not the Asbestos / Clay pipe we have …. Result one broken down boiler last week in January with -4 outside. The installer was told that he couldn’t install and new flue as it would be to expensive. That was before the mould started grown through the Kitchen wall. 5 months latter they came to fit a new one, (after two surveys for the same problem by the same guy) after 3 missed appointments (one for no new flue, one for high winds and one because the guy had apparently fallen off the ladder) they realised they couldn’t fit a new one without major building work so we are left with our inadequate asbestos and clay pipe and a boiler that will break every 10months…….. GIVE ME STRENGTH!!!!!!!!

Are you even allowed Asbestos in a kitchen?

[Jumping_Jack]

Due to the utterly crap service I have endured since their inception I now refer to them as 'Medieval Housing Solutions' ('Wattle & Daub, it's the way forward'). The contractors that evenually turn up are amused anyway......

Had a plumber sent to fix a leak in the roofing flashing.....doh!
Had a roofer sent with no ladder.....doh!
Had a roofer arrive with ladder that he couldn't use (no one 'qualified' to hold the bottom.........doh!
Had the scaffold put on the wrong house (right numbers, wrong order!)...doh!
Builder with 30+ years experience not allowed in the roof to view problem (hadn't done MHS course).....doh!

You couldn't make it up......

J_J :ugh:

[High_Expect]

Does anyone have an address for Defence Estates or at least know where they are based. Our boiler has broken down for the second time in 1 ½ weeks! (see my initial post for background) and I’ve had enough. I’ve written a very extensive complaint letter and I’m fed up with MHS seemingly throwing them in the bin. This one is going in at the top, so hopefully the **** will cascade downwards with people listening for once.

Who is the head of DE? A 1 star?

[30mRad]

Head of DE is Princess Anne's other half, 3* V Adm.........

Head of MHS is Seamus Kerr (ex Army 2* I believe)......

All fits doesn't it :mad:

[spannermonkey]

Glad I no longer have to put up with the problems you guys still have to. I have to admit in the 12 years that we used MQ's, both airman and officer types we only had one property that would be classed as good, the rest (7 of them) were cr@p. That does not include the numerous ones we turned down when moving due to various problems. In the end we got so fed up that at my last unit my wife broke down in tears in the DE office on camp. Our furniture was on the drive, the house offered had not had the repairs required carried out despite being reminded about them several times, which they said they would get done (rusty and pointy gates, poor kitchen fittings, crappy decoration, dirty overall, a dangerously unsafe coal bunker that was falling down, bath stained and rusty, along and numerous other issues). All of this resulted in my saying to the DHE/MHS pleb that as they had failed to meet the agreed conditions of our move-in, I would now under the regulations for allocation, like a MQ above my entitlement as they could not provide one that I was entitled to and which was of a suitable standard. I also said that unless they sorted this out in the next 10 mins I would be booking my family into a hotel (nice expensive one) our pets into a boarding kennel and and would eat out every night then pass them the bill and would do so untill the situation was resolved to my satisfaction as I was p@ssed off at being messed around by DHE/MHS. I also said that as my wife did not fall under military regulations she may just feel the need to make a call to a newspaper of some low but useful reputation to explain her situation. All of this was on top of already turning down 2 other MQ's due to them being rubbish. Following the usual 'but we don't have any spare MQ's for you blah blah blah' and my doing the old talk to the hand, funny old thing 10 mins later we were given the keys to an MQ, just as I was dialing the number for the local posh hotel!

While I can look back and chuckle, at the time it was beyond a joke. When you have to go to such lengths to obtain a house that to be frank is still far below the standard expected.

Just play them at their own game and call their bluff.

[High_Expect]

Thanks,

Anne's other half
C/O The Queen
Buckingham Palace
SW11SW

Anyone know where there head offices are? They must be headed up by at least one Air Cmdr and several Gp Capts.

[cornish-stormrider]

Why not write to the queen direct. you work for her. Be extremely polite though - but I bet if she got to hear about the midden would hit the windmill.

[Cpt_Pugwash]

From their website (http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/Microsite/DE/)

DE Headquarters
Kingston Road
Sutton Coldfield
West Midlands
B75 7RL

General Enquiries
Tel: 0121 311 2140

Good luck!

PW

[30mRad]

High_Expect

No need for the sarcasm - assumed since your evidently still in the mob you could find out the address for the V Adm with no problem, but to help you out:

V Adm Laurence
CE DE
MoD Main Building
LONDON
SW1A 2HB

As for Seamus Kerr - I can't google MHS either so just as lost.

[High_Expect]

:-P

Thanks for the info.

[Fire 'n' Forget]

I got billed £165 when I moved out of my last quarter. Lo and behold when I went back to the unit on a visit I knew the person who had taken over my old quarter. Upon asking and then visiting his house the work had not been completed. I went to the smalls claim court and started the paperwork to bring action against the 'local' housing manager that had billed me the £165. Needless to say within 2 days I had a phone call from 'mister high on mighty' got my £165 back plus £100 'distress' fee, letter of apology plus disciplinary action against the local 'manager'. :ok:

[dash2]

Yesterday I returned home to find the smoke alarm going off in the unoccupied quarter next to mine (think terraced). Due to my quarter's paper thin walls the noise was loud throughout my house. On ringing MHS I was told that they would do nothing to sort out the problem until monday morning leaving me, my wife and our 4 month old daughter to listen to next door's smoke alarm throughout the night. I was told that if I could see smoke I should call the fire-brigade who could break into the quarter. This was clearly a case of the battery running down in the alarm so I could not really call the fire-brigade out.

Last month the waterpipes in the house next door froze (due to not being drained) and flooded the house leaving horrible damp marks all over our walls. I wonder what'll happen this month...Nice one MHS, keep up the good work!

[Riskman]

I am so glad I bailed when I did.

Here's the link to MHS.

Welcome to MODern Housing Solutions (http://www.modernhousingsolutions.com/)
Senior Management Team (http://www.modernhousingsolutions.com/about/about_meet_senior.asp)

I must say that, having looked at the photos and biogs on the About us/SMT page that the link below may be more appropriate.

BBC News - Britain's 'top 10' doorstep crime suspects revealed (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/8464733.stm)

Aren't the Forces Families Federation involved in this or has everyone been worn down by indifference, intransigence and incompetence?

R

[Talk Reaction]

Maybe we should withhold rent until we get satisfactory service , oh we can't :mad:

So to jump on the bandwagon, we walked into our living room to find it full of 100s of wasps with our chimney sounding like there were thousands more in there.... Rang MHS to be asked if anyone in the house was allergic to stings (I reckon everyone is allergic to hundreds of stings??) cause if someone was AND we could send paper work to that effect, then it would be an emergency otherwise 7 to 10 days!!!!! When I asked them to take responsibility for their decision, should I discover over the next week or so that my wife or I were allergic to stings, I was accused of being threatening - they have no idea!!

One final thought, clearly we all voice our opinions vociferously, what about all the young families with no choice but to live in SFA but feel they can't shout and complain, or the young mum at home while hubby is overseas for 6 months. It's disgusting that these companies make profit out of us and the taxpayer at large whilst doing the least possible and that badly too???

[EZY433]

Ah, MHS, love the string guys and had to put my 2 pennies worth in. Moved into a s£$%hole in mid December, Housing Officer couldn't wait to offload and get out..."sign here, sign here. No time to have a proper look around the house before she scarpered...meanwhile removals at the front door.

House full of defects including...wait for it...a hole in the roof that leaks into the upstairs landing. Reported it to the monkeys in Speke who said "that's ok cos it will only leak when it's raining" I jest you not! Eventually sent another trained person around who couldn't investigate as he didn't have a ladder..."hole in roof me thinks me should take a wee ladder with me" He told me that he had seen this defect in the very same house 6 months ago and recommended to MHS that the place is not occupied until the defect if sorted....hmmm! I have been told that scaffolding needs erecting (I know where I would like to erect it!) and that the repair should commence in approx 4 months...oh yes, 4 months. So that's ok then!

House in general was is a really crap state and as I stated in my 14 day report, you know the one that say's don't write defects, report them to MHS, the house needs knocking down and rebuilding by a company that is not call Bodge it and Bugger the Serviceman Ltd. My frustration at both DE and MHS is that they are S&^T Hot during march out ensuring you have scubbed the kitchen floor with a toothbrush, yet they are more than happy to hand over below standard houses.

Apologies for the rant, I must get out more!

[NutLoose]

Why not write to the queen direct. you work for her. Be extremely polite though - but I bet if she got to hear about the midden would hit the windmill.



Good Idea, How about?


Dear Ma'am

I have recently taken possession of one of your less luxurious properties and I was wondering Ma'am if perchance one of your Corgis has possibly crapped in the corner. I do realise this is of a delicate matter and of late you have ceased to breed the Corgi, could this possibly be due to you suffering from the same problem?

Your obedient servant

[Mr C Hinecap]

More people need to use the RAF Families Federation for this sort of thing:

The RAF Families Federation - RAF Families Federation (http://www.raf-families-federation.org.uk/)

They are there there for those young families as well as everyone else. I have involved them in a DHE faff before and they were a great help. Everyone there was positive and willing to wade in on my behalf. Please, tell people they exist!

[lippiatt]

I have just filed my 2nd stage 1 complaint this month. I have worked out from the ref number that there will have been just over 2500 complaints in January on a pro rata basis (approx 85 per day).

This is almost 6% of the total number of 'occupants' (45,000 properties according to MHS website) - if that stat were to continue throughout the year, and each complaint was from a different resident, then 72% of MHS's customers will complain about the service in a year!

This must be known 'higher up' - how can it be allowed to continue?

[Standby!]

Just had a nice brand new central heating system installed. Nice one you may think? Well, it only works on 20 degrees. The alternative is off. The plastering where the bloke made a bloody great hold in my wall has been painted once (as he couldn't be arsed to call back to apply extra when dry) and now looks like a 3 year old has painted it. Finally, there is a large hole in the lino where he removed the old floor-mounted boiler.

When I challenged the useless people at Speke on these issues, they said (probably correctly?) that the installer should have 'made it good'. Well he didn't so what are you going to do about it? NOTHING. It was suggested that I chased the installer. However, it is amazing what Mrs Standby has done with a few mats and a towel rack! And if they have the audacity to question this mess on marchout (which can't come quickly enough) the proverbial will certainly be hitting the fan.

Final thought: Is this abominable excuse for housing a cunning 2-fold plan to reduce housing stock (as people will be forced to buy their own houses rather than live in the sh1tholes provided - providing they have been in 4-6 years of course!!) and to reduce actual numbers of personnel as people 'bang-out' rather than have to put-up with continually being accommodated in these hell holes? :*
OAO

[Farfrompuken]

Standby,

I had similar issues with workmen clearing off before job done. You can:

Refuse to sign as work complete.

Or (as I did) ring speke and raise another repair complaint, stating the work (include ref no.) was not completed. Workmen came back like a flash as clearly the contractor couldn't charge for it as the job wasn't done.

The reason why my FMQ is in such a poor state is that any work is completed to the most basic level and often cosmetically, it'll last only a week or two before it's back to square 1. Thank god the original structure was so strong in the first place!