Posted by
aquabubs
10 yrs ago
My building management does not allow shoes/shelves/plants etc to be placed outside the doors of our apartment units (we have several units per floor). My neighbour has 6-8 pairs of shoes outside their door everyday, it's an eyesore! Maybe it sounds like I'm making a big deal out of something so insignificant, but imagine if like me, you open your door every morning and you are greeted by leather shoes, boots, sports shoes (dirty too), high heels lying on its side... yes it's outside their door not mine and they step over it all to get out of their house but still!!... and again, when we return home, the elevator doors open and we see a bunch of shoes!
Building management puts up notices regularly saying nothing should be placed in the common area etc, and property will be removed without further notice. BUT despite having complained several times, and specifically asking why they don't remove it since obviously my neighbours don't care about these 'notices', building management has told me "oh we just say we will remove it but we can't really do that it'll cause too much trouble".
So, apart from nagging building management everyday which obviously achieves nothing apart from making me 'famous' now, what else can I do (legally)? No we have not spoken directly to the neighbours I don't think that's an option.
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Arrange for a short getaway for yourself and ask a friend to come in one evening to "water your plants". Ask this friend to shove all the neighbors shoes in a big black garbage bag and throw it away on his/her way out. You should be pretty sure of your neighbors schedules so that this can be carried out without being seen / caught. Once you return from your short holiday - with stamps in your passport to prove you were not in HK when the shoes disappeared - innocently pretend you cannot IMAGINE what could have happened to their shoes! Maybe they learn a lesson. Especially if their shoes were expensive.
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Usually, the reason for not allowing residents to leave personal belongings outside their apartments/in the lift lobbies, is due to fire regulations. In the apartments where we used to live, they had regular checks done by the fire dept., and everything had to be removed. I suggest you speak to your management again and tell them that, unless they do something about it immediately, you have no other option but to inform the fire department that your management company are not enforcing the rules, even though you have complained several times. It may not work, but it's worth a try!
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Our next door neighbour used to forget to pick up her newspapers. One day, I got so fed up having it lying in my path in a pile that I made a sticky note on her door saying that we have her newspaper if she wants it as we did not want to step on it or get it ruined.
It worked with a bonus of her becoming quite a pleasant neighbour.
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Thanks for the replies! Update on the issue - I spoke with building management but only brought up hygiene reasons + they must enforce their own rules! Will leave the fire regulations one for the next chat. They have sent a "final notice" to them requesting them to remove their shoes within a "particular period of time" otherwise it will be removed by building mgt. Not gonna work. Well, maybe yes for a day or two only.
What if I didn't pay the building mgt fees for "a period of time" until this is solved? They don't do their job, why should I pay them ? Well, then I get slapped with a late penalty and all that nonsense. Pathetic. Yet I can't just pack up and leave. Gonna keep at it. Let me know if there is anything else I could try! thanks!!
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Do the shoes actually have an offensive odor that fills the hall or are you just offended by the sight of seeing shoes haphazardly left outside?
If the latter I'd recommend finding something more useful and important to focus your energy and time towards.
Legally I do not think you have any standing to stop paying management fees. And if you try to pursue legal actions I suspect you'd have a tough time proving damages suffered.
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Cluck
10 yrs ago
You could just ask bdg management to put a letter in their postbox advising if they're leaning shoes outside their apartment that they put them in a show rack.
Personally, I don't see the big deal. Also if someone threw away my belongings I'd go mad - could be classed as theft!
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It's annoying no doubt, but perhaps you should just let it go.
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itching powder might do the trick OR dead cockroach finds its way into a sports shoe
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love the ideas!! yes I really should just get over it I know, but every time I convince myself it's just wasting my time and energy . . .then the next morning I open the door and am greeted by a bunch of shoes scattered everywhere it drives me crazy again! Especially when my little one goes and tries to put them in a straight line... (he's in the tidy up phase right now)
After the final warning letter from mgmt it's now down from 6-8 pairs to only 2-4 ... an improvement I guess . . .
it's more the sight than odor, as the odor is only an issue if they put smelly sports shoes out which is not on a daily basis but few times a week "only"...
thanks everyone!
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