Matt Hirji
Students living in HUB Mall report squalid living conditions
Alex Migdal
News Editor
Feb 15, 2012
During the three months that she lived in HUB last year, Monica Appleby rarely went without wearing slippers in her residence. It wasn’t by choice — the hair tangled in the stained carpet and the layer of grime on the steps of her stairs forced her to cover her feet.
It was during the same period that Melodie Champagne Laplante was asleep in her room in HUB one night, only to be awoken by a maid who had burst in, confused about which parts of the unit she was supposed to clean. Although Champagne Laplante asked the maid to leave, the maid insisted she needed to finish cleaning the unit.
Several months later, roommates Lana Mattice and Caitlyn Klingspohn were eager to move into their new HUB residence at the start of the 2011 fall term. However, when they walked into their unit, they were faced with an unsightly living space. A strange layer of grease coated parts of the unit. The cupboards appeared to be moulding. The stove was falling apart. The thermostat was stuck on high.
These University of Alberta students have all shared the unique experience of living in HUB Mall, a combined student residence and shopping mall on campus that houses approximately 838 students. The residences offer one, two or four-bedroom apartments, along with unfurnished studios, in a mall that offers direct pedway access to various campus buildings, the LRT station and the library.
But behind the brightly coloured windows that span the mall’s one-kilometre length is a decidedly different picture. Alleged unsanitary living conditions and a slew of issues with Residence Services have left many students dissatisfied with their experiences in HUB.
For roommates Mattice and Klingspohn, their troubles started almost immediately when they were faced with an infestation of pharaoh ants in their unit. The roommates lost more than $100 in groceries during the pests’ initial attack. Photos obtained by The Gateway show the ants crawling on the lid of a milk carton and floating in a bowl of cereal.
“There was an instance where there was a non-stop trail of ants walking through the sink and going down by the drain,” Mattice recalls. “I wondered what would happen if I blocked off their path. I put a noodle in front of them, and a massive pile just got stuck in that spot.”
Enlisting the help of a pest control company did little to remedy the issue. After months of dealing with multiple spray sessions, which involved the two girls packing up all of their belongings and waiting three days before unpacking, it was discovered that their kitchen was actually rotting, and that the ants were living in the wood itself.
Mattice and Klingspohn requested a transfer to a two-bedroom unit in December, along with compensation for rent. Residences Services agreed to the transfer them to East Campus Village, but denied their request for compensation.
In an email obtained by The Gateway, a Residence Services representative explained that compensating for rent is not in line with university policy. They also acknowledged that the maintenance team had failed to fix the roommates’ stove for several months, and apologized for the “comedy of errors” caused by an inexperienced pest control technician, who had used the wrong spray the entire time.
Third-year student Melodie Champagne Laplante says her main issue with living in HUB is the unexpected invasions of privacy brought on by constant inspections of units.
According to Champagne Laplante, 24-hour notices are not obeyed by inspection staff, which are often made up of students acting on behalf of HUB administration. If an inspector deems a room unsatisfactory when a tenant moves in or out, a string of inspections follow suit. HUB administration charges residents $30 per hour per cleaner for a cleaning service if a unit fails an inspection.
Champagne Laplante claims that she’s been unfairly charged the fee on several occasions, which she has repeatedly appealed. However, she says her appeals have generally been disregarded by Residence Services.
“If I try to send an appeal, it’s really obvious from their emails that they don’t even read the appeals. It’s hard to quantify who exactly in the chain is not exactly paying attention.”
Similarly to Mattice and Klingspohn, who lived in a unit with a thermostat broken on high, Champagne Laplante claims the units are borderline “tropical.”
She also points out that some of the cleanliness problems are due to careless roommates.
“I can’t blame that on the administration,” she says. “I definitely feel like my roommates who are here just for one semester and don’t really feel at home here don’t bother cleaning, and it just ends up being a disaster.”
Tobie Smith, a communications officer for U of A facilities and operations, echoes that claim, noting that it’s a “two-way street” between students and residence administration.
“The maintenance of that building — we can do as much as we can do. If students are not meeting us halfway and keeping their suites clean or respecting the facility, it takes a bit of a beating.”
Doug Dawson, executive director of Ancillary Services, says he’s well aware of student concerns, particularly the pest infestations, which he points out have caused an exponential increase in pest control costs.
When asked about complaints of lengthy waiting times for maintenance requests, Dawson says that response times are tracked very closely.
“Do things fall through the crack? Sure they do. But when we’re notified of issues promptly, we try to respond promptly.
“Generally speaking, if occupancy is an indicator of satisfaction, HUB is a very popular place for students to live,” Dawson adds. “It appears that the majority of students return year after year and enjoy living in that environment.”
But Champagne Laplante says the only reason she’s lived in HUB for three years is because it’s hard to find a unit that costs $400 a month including utilities. Still, she notes the monthly cost is an exorbitant amount, considering that her residence is “old and broken down.”
“In general, it’s almost a campus joke,” she says. “We hear all the time about how HUB is a terrible place to live. That’s got to come from somewhere. I’ve heard a lot of horror stories living here.”
Fourth-year student Richard Zhao, president of the HUB Community Association, says he personally hasn’t had any troubles living in HUB for the past four years. Still, he acknowledges that concerns have been raised in regards to cleanliness and pest infestations, although he says the language barrier among residents can often pose a problem in communicating those issues to administration.
“A lot of our residents don’t speak English properly, so we try to facilitate dialogue between our residences and staff members from Residence Services,” Zhao says.
Third-year student Monica Appleby doesn’t believe that HUB units are accurately depicted by Residence Services. When she moved into her unit, she was taken aback by the lowly conditions, including the state of her oven.
“The oven looked like a cave because of all of the stuff that was caked on inside,” Appleby says, adding that it barely worked during her stay. “We used that oven once and we could taste six years worth of food.”
But Appleby says the worst part of the apartment was her bathroom. The ceiling was peeling away, and the shower doors were frosted with grime. The tracks in which the doors slid were also caked with black and brown matter, which she says revealed a lack of inspection on the part of Residence Services.
Dawson, however, believes the conditions of the units are accurately portrayed. “I think we’re as transparent and open as we can be about all the products that we offer,” he says. “I don’t think we’re promoting the Four Seasons.”
According to the 2011-12 HUB resident survey, nearly 80 per cent of residents surveyed indicated they had filed a maintenance request in the past year for pest control, appliance fixes, room temperature and other problems. It’s issues like these that Mattice says students should expect to face when moving in.
“People really need to know what they’re getting into when they agree to live on campus, especially in HUB,” Mattice says.
“Honestly, my best advice would be to try to find something else,” Appleby cautions. “If someone was dead set on HUB, I would warn them to prepare for a lack of sanitary conditions.”
Comments
How are inspectors and Residence Services supposed to act on this article and “do better” if the students keep complaining about often the inspectors interrupt their precious sleeping and studying? People need to get in there in order to help you get better living conditions, but you moan and groan about how often we need to go in??? You come up with a logical solution then, since apparently, Res Services are so horrible, while you make it more difficult for them to do their damn jobs?
The reason there are so many issues in HUB is because of the lack of cleaning and respect towards property that many, not all, but MANY of the residents display. Whether this is cultural or mere individual choices, pests come about because of filth. It is NOT the responsibility of RES to ensure students clean up after themselves. They are not your bloody mothers. People need to grow up and stop complaining… take some responsibility. I feel for the people who move in and things are awful already, or pests just don’t go away, I really do. But how about the rest stand up to your disgusting roommates and get them to clean?
Posted by Aggravated on Feb 15, 2012
great investigative journalism by the gateway. feel really terrible for the students who have had to endure such living conditions.
the university should fix these problems before their wasteless spending on irrelevant events. Get this place clean!
Posted by Sam on Feb 15, 2012
I lived in HUB for four years since 2007 and moved out last June upon graduation. I (and I know countless other HUB residents) have been incredibly dissatisfied with the experience. Construction workers (men) charging into my unit and bedroom in the mornings while I am in bed (in my thin pajamas) were the norm. When our kitchen sink became clogged, it took two weeks before we could get it fixed despite our prompt online request for maintenance stating it was an emergency. It was so clogged that we could not cook or do dishes for those two weeks; the water level was almost to the top and it was disgusting. We actually never heard back from the maintenance people. Rather, the problem was solved by aggressive action - calling the student HUB coordinator again and again until they themselves talked to the maintenance guys directly. (Supposedly the guys were very upset that they were asked to come early the next morning for a “non-emergency”. I guess not being able to cook and feed ourselves is not considered an emergency?) These were only a few out of many recurring, disappointing, and frustrating events. I was very glad to move out when I graduated.
Unfortunately, the frustration did not end there. Upon moving out, I was the last resident of the 4-bedroom unit. There had been furniture in the common area before I had moved in, and I was not sure about what to do with them. Knowing how residence services loves to charge students for everything (eg. cleaning charges even when the unit is clean and even when the cleaners have not made a difference in the cleanliness), I immediately contacted the residence coordinator about this furniture. I received absolutely no response back. Thus, I cleaned the whole 4-bedroom unit by myself but left the furniture in the common area. I double checked a few days after my move-out to see if were any charges/problems regarding the cleanliness and furniture. They looked up my file and confirmed everything was fine. This was the end of June, and by October, I started to question about my security deposit. When I emailed the residence services, (and again they were very slow to respond), they notified me that I have a nearly $400 charge (which was even after applying my $150 deposit) from my move-out. It was due to “cleaning charges and removal of furniture”. I could not let this go, and continued to request for appeal to the residence coordinator. Her responses were very slow (she took almost a week to answer to any given email), and my appeal was constantly denied. I had to take a much more direct and aggressive action (scanning copies of documents, forwarding previous emails, showing the lack of response I received when I asked about the furniture back in June, etc.). My appeals were still being denied on such ridiculous bases that I had to continually email back. Over the course of 5 months (October - February), I continually emailed, and consequently had to speak with the supervisor of the coordinator, and then with the superior of that supervisor. Because of my persistence, they finally agreed to give me a $120 credit for the removal of furniture. (I am sure that this was not because they actually agreed with me, but rather they were tired of arguing with me).
I then asked to see the details of the remaining charges, and it turns out it also includes a $60 cleaning charge from April. This charge was not processed onto my account until JULY 28th, a whole month after I moved out. (Actually, even the $400 charge was not processed onto my account until October). The excuse they give for the delay in billing is that they had a system upgrade from May 2 - May 15th. How does that justify that a charge from April be billed end of July, a month after my move-out, and that a charge in June be billed in October? You tell me.
Currently, I have paid the residence services the remaining charges excluding this $60 charge I find unjustifiable and I am still arguing over this.
It is really not a matter of money. It is how the residence services treats the students. If I were an international or exchange student, not very fluent in English, with time constraints (eg. having to move back to their home country), I would NEVER have been able to receive the $120 credit. I personally know a friend, an international student, who went back to their home country for the summer months and when she came back, found a $500 bill for cleaning charges. She visited the residence’s office to request an appeal, only to receive verbal threats that if she does not pay, she will get kicked out of her unit.
I find the state of HUB unacceptable and I encourage that others also share their stories. I hope that the university realizes how serious the problem is, and takes action immediately.
Posted by Rachel Jeong on Feb 15, 2012
people need to chill out… a little grime on your stairs won’t hurt you! And pharaoh are so tiny you can barely see them. Honestly, I lived in HUB for two years and lost heaps of groceries because the fridge kept breaking… it was always such a pleasure to see the maintenance guy, very nice fellow. People who expect a university apartment built in the 70s to be as clean as their parent’s suburban townhouse need to get a life!
Posted by wagonwheel on Feb 15, 2012
Truth be told HUB is in need of a complete gutting and renovation to bring it up to livable conditions. Yes students need to change their attitude and respect their residence but who would give a damn about it if you moved into a dilapidated shack that cost you money to fix the problems the previous tenant created? No one would move into an apartment if the landlord said you have to pay for the damage caused by the last tenant, so why does residence feel they can ge away with it?
Posted by HK on Feb 15, 2012
About time something was publicized about the horrid conditions in HUB. The unit I lived in (shortly) had carpet that looked like it was original to the building, the bathroom paint was peeling and falling off, appliances were falling apart, and the cupboards were crumbling. Maintenance requests were VERY difficult to report (computer based) and we could never find anyone to help us! So very glad I moved out of HUB.
Posted by Sherry on Feb 15, 2012
I say, things are not as bad as they put it in HUB! Sure, we get quite a few pests like pharaoh ants, mice, silverfish and bedbugs every now and then, but they’re nothing to worry about, as long as you don’t mind the occasional mouse corpse in the corner. All HUB needs are cockroaches to complete the model urban squalor ecosystem, and we’re good to go.
Posted by JL on Feb 15, 2012
I live in ECV and came home tonight to find a notice about a “quarterly health, safety & inspections” [sic] to take place next week. This is my third year living in this apartment (including through the summers) and I have NEVER received notice of such an inspection before. Wonder if it’s a response to this exposé.
Posted by ML on Feb 16, 2012
I’m very glad to see an article exposing the disgusting living conditions in HUB. I wasn’t aware of how bad it is, but I’ve been curious for quite some time. These are the kinds of issues the University needs to deal with ASAP, and that all students should know about. We’re all in this together, we need to help each other out, and it seems to me residence services is either exploiting these tenants or obviously incapable of maintaining a decent standard of living that these residents deserve.
I hope this article brings about some change in Residence Services. Awesome job, Alex.
Posted by AR on Feb 16, 2012
Although I have thankfully never experienced such bad living conditions as stated in this article, I have had several issues with Residence Services. I am still wondering whether I should send them an invoice for cleaning the outside windows of decades of grime after they failed to show up during the two weeks we were informed that this would be happening. During that time period, residents were expected to move their furniture in their room to allow cleaners access to the windows. Since residents were given a 2 week time span, some of us were doing this on a daily basis not knowing when the cleaners would arrive. After the 2 weeks elapsed and no one had showed up, I went to ask RS what was happening. I was informed that they had changed their minds about the window cleaning and didn’t think it was necessary to inform the residents. There was not even a email was sent out to apologize for the miscommunication nor an acknowledgement that many residents were needlessly moving furniture and waiting for cleaners when there was obviously not a reason for it.
I think that has been the most blatant disregard Res Services has ever shown me in the 2 years I have lived here. I don’t mind that I ended up cleaning the windows myself as that was a big, but not difficult, chore. I mind that Res Services just decided that it was not important to inform us of the changes despite knowing what work had to be put in on the side of residents.
Posted by SZ on Feb 16, 2012
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