A letter from one of our readers...
HOW HARD IS IT TO BE A CONCIERGE?
One would think that living in a rental property that leases in the range of $1700 - $3000/unit would suggest a certain quality of services for residents, especially from the "face" of the building... the Concierge.
It appears that this is not the case at The Jefferson. I am personally fed up with the lackadaisical, lack luster and - on some days - complete lack of service from the people hired to manage the Front Desk and provide basic services including signing for & notifying residents of packages, monitoring guests and ensuring the overall security of the lobby area.
Let me share with you my recent experiences:
1) Last Friday night I stopped by the Front Desk on the way to the gym and no one was manning the desk. A non-resident was standing behind the desk rifling through drawers and stacks of catalogs looking for a key a resident left for her earlier that day. She asked me if I knew where the Concierge was as she needed to get the key. I asked her how she got into the building and for how long she'd been there. She informed me she walked in behind some residents about 15 minutes prior. A little unsettling on a number of fronts.
2) After my workout I stopped by the Front Desk again to try and collect a package and - guess what? - there was still no one working at the desk. The Concierge's coat was still on the back of the chair, but no Concierge was in sight.
3) Today, President's Day I stopped by the Front Desk to collect packages. Both Sherri and Tyrone were there... Sherri on a personal call chatting about the weather, and Tyrone arranging his McDonald's dinner on the back credenza. Neither could be bothered to help or even look up to see if anyone was there. I was not the only person waiting. After finally getting Tyrone's attention and asked if there were packages for our unit, he came back with one. I looked at the Package Binder and it said we had three packages. He seemed confused and said that was the only one. I flipped through the pages to ensure there were no others and Sherri snapped "You're not allowed to look through the book." Really? Well, I think I can considering the information they put in it is usually wrong.
Tyrone looked at the book and I pointed to the two listings for me and my partner with a total of three packages listed. He still couldn't figure out where they were. When Sherri finally hung up from her personal call I asked her if she knew where the packages were as they were logged in for today. She shrugged her shoulders and said, "I don't always look at the names on the packages. I just scan apartments and write numbers." Interesting. She can't be bothered to look at the names on the packages. I guess this explains why in the past we've had packages signed for and taken by other tenants in other units.
As someone who has been unemployed since June, I know how tough it is to get and keep a job in today's economy, thus I have very little tolerance for people who've been hired to do a job but don't seem to give a crap about doing it, let alone doing it well.
If anyone else has had these same problems, please share your experiences and possible solutions as it seems like the residents are getting shafted when it comes to getting the services for which we're paying.
Personally, I've never had issues with Sherri or Ty. Weekends are a different story, nothing but problems on Friday thru Sunday, randoms seem to get let in all the time.
ReplyDeleteI don't know what you are talking about. Sherri and Tyrone are the most courteous and helpful concierges I have ever met? I love the fact that they always have a smile o n their faces.
ReplyDeleteYou need to relax and stop being hateful. I strongly suggest that you change all that negative energy into positive energy and focus on getting a job instead of trying to get other people fired.
I have to throw in my support for Sherri and Tyrone too. Maybe they had an off day, or something else was going on there, but those two are by far the best front desk workers. Tyrone always greets me, he's pleasant, he'll buzz me in if I'm fumbling for keys or something, and he's excellent about tracking down packages for me. Sherri is great too--pleasant, if she doesn't know the answer she'll find out, etc. I'm not disregarding your experience, but I will say that Tyrone and Sherri have been consistently excellent for me.
ReplyDeleteNow, there are some other employees who although they are at the front desk, maybe even looking at me, will not buzz me in. Really? I have 6 bags of groceries, and chances are high that I live here...or then once I'm in and need a package, I get the heavy sigh as they are torn away from their magazine and need to find my mail.
Random people are always walking in. It's kind of like security at my office though...if you look like you know where you're going or doing, then you get in.
How is someone sharing their experience - which doesn't sound courteous or helpful FYI - deemed hateful?
ReplyDeleteThe fact that there are people posting about repeated problems on weekends and also problems during the week with the front desk means there is a serious problem. Period.
TJ is sure that there is always room for improvement, and I respect everyone's point of view here because we don't all have the same expectations or experiences. If TJ were to throw his hat into the ring I would have to say that Tyrone is always pleasant and helpful. In fact I would say he is one of the most pleasant features of the building (The Jefferson). He always has a smile on.
ReplyDeleteWe all have our bad days, and I'm sure Sheri isn't immune to them, but other than hanging on the phone a bit much, my experience has been that she is always friendly and helpful.
I don't receive a lot of packages though so I don't have the first hand experience that others might. I've received one or two packages since I've been in the building without incident
I think if everyone treats each other with respect there is probably no issue that couldn't be worked out nicely.
You live in an apartment building. If you don't want to live around people who are loud, buy a house. Otherwise, get a grip. People like to have a good time, and there's nothing wrong with taht. You don't like people drinking and getting wild on the weekends? Maybe you should move to Saudi Arabia...or get a house.
ReplyDeleteWe've never had a problem or complaint about conceirge staff...they are very helpful when we've called upon them. Everyone in every job is entitled to grab dinner or go to the bathroom during their shifts...perhaps you just have poor timing.
ReplyDeleteWhy is everyone sticking up for incompetent staff? I too have experience package difficulties to the extent that Shari LIED to me about a package I received two months prior. She told a resident had received it and just returned it. When I went to look for that apartment to thank them for returning the package (albeit 2 months later), the apartment didn't exist. The truth was that the box was in the mail room and was never inventoried correctly. I voiced my concerned to the property manager and she didn't seem to care much. I've had two other package mysteriously turn up WEEKS after they were delivered. It's to the point where I will not have packages mail to JCY.
ReplyDelete