Student sent apology from halls provider Liberty Quays

Liberty Quays has issued an apology to a disgruntled resident following reports of allegations regarding false charges

(written by Kieran Watkins for The Medwire)

As reported in the Medwire last weekend, Business IT student Alex Zarach had been charged for administration payments from Liberty Quays after they claimed he had made missed his rent payments.
However, in letters obtained by the Medwire, Alex and management from the halls, owned by Liberty Living, had already agreed weeks before the installment was due, that Alex would delay his payments to coincide with his student loan payment.

Both parties had signed the form to agree this was the case, with Alex paying the first instalment on September 24, 2012.

Liberty Quays staff however posted a letter to Alex a few days after the payment was made, claiming Alex had not paid his rent and that there would be a £30 administration fee for sending the letter.
Pointing out that it had already been agreed with previous management – signed by Duty Manager Alison Lidster – that he would pay the first instalment later, staff admitted the mistake but refused to drop the administration charges, sending him another letter claiming for an extra £10.
Following complaints made by Alex’s family and lawyer, Liberty Living has since emailed an apology to Alex, apologising for the mistakes made by staff at Liberty Quays and dropping all charges.
In an email sent from Mark Moulding at Liberty Living, Mr Moulding said:
“I would like to apologize once more for sending you the letter and would like to take this opportunity to reassure you that you that Liberty Quays have not applied any late payment fees to your account.”

Fresh allegations of bogus fines made against Liberty Quays

Further allegations of false charges have been brought to the student halls from a current resisdent (written by Kieran Watkins, for the Medwire)

A Liberty Quays resident today told how he was threatened with additional fines for unpaid rent, despite having previously agreed to delay the payments.
In an exclusive interview with the Medwire, student Alex Zarach, 18, told us Liberty Living had sent him “threatening” letters.
The halls provider at Liberty Quays in Gillingham sent him letters claiming for unpaid rent – despite having previously agreed to delaying payments to coincide with his student loan payment.
Alex, a first-year business IT student, moved into Liberty Quays during September, having agreed with former manager Stephanie Triggs and current Duty Manager Alison Lidster that he would pay his instalments later than scheduled.
In a letter sent from Ms Lidster to Alex, which The Medwire has obtained, both parties agreed and signed in writing that the rent would be delayed until Alex’s student loan came in on September 24, 2012.
The letter from Ms Lidster states “we hereby agree to you paying said rent instalments”, following evidence provided by Alex to Liberty Quays from the student loan company.
Believing the payments had been processed, Alex said: “I moved in to Liberty Quays and all was fine.”
“Nothing was mentioned of the payment,” he added.
However, arriving back from lectures to his room one day, Alex noticed a letter that had been pushed through his door.
The letter was sent by General Manager Mark Moulding, dated September 28, four days after Alex paid his first instalment.
The letter claimed that the “rent instalment due on 15th September 2012 in the sum of £1981.20 is now overdue,” despite having already previously agreed with Liberty that the rent would be paid a week later.
The letter also confirmed that Liberty Living would charge him £30.00 for sending the letter, which would cover their administration fees.
“I was shocked! I had never been informed about the £30 charge, and was angry and upset that they had decided to charge me despite the fact I had paid everything on time.”
Despite demands from Liberty Quays for more money to pay for more letters, Alex is standing by his refusal to pay up.
“These letters were sent for no reason at all”, he explained. “I had already paid the fees, it was a mistake on their part to send me a letter telling me I was overdue on the rent.”
Alex has also mentioned that his family lawyer branded the claims as “harassment”, and would be looking into the case.
Having spoken to a receptionist at Liberty Quays himself, who he described as “rude” and “disinterested”, Alex said they confirmed that his rent payment had indeed been processed, but that they would still be charging for him for the letters.
Liberty Living declined to comment on the issues raised.

Just six months in to the job, Liberty Quays manager departs

 

Stefanie Triggs, manager of the Medway halls, is "no longer with the company" after a tumultuous term (written by Kieran Watkins for the Medwire)

Liberty Quays is on the lookout for a new manager, after losing yet another manager in the space of six months.
In an exclusive for the Medwire, a representative from Liberty Quays, run by Liberty Living, confirmed that Stephanie Triggs has now left the company after just six months as general manager of the halls in Gillingham.
Speaking to reporter Kieran Watkins this evening, receptionist Laura Forrest confirmed that Stephanie Triggs was no longer manager of Liberty Quays.
“She is no longer with the company”, Laura confirmed.
She went on to admit that there was no replacement as of yet, despite 600 University of Kent students moving in this weekend for the start of term, which commences on Monday, September 24.
The departure of Ms Triggs is the second manager to leave Liberty Quays in just a year. In February, former manager Doug Jarvis left Liberty after a series of allegations were made by students following bogus fines sent from management to students.
The fines, sent to a number of students at Liberty Quays, stated that fire extinguishers had been tampered with by students. Extinguishers were then taken from kitchens by management, with students facing charges of £60.00 to replace them.
However, following complaints and a successful petition created by Student Trustee Maya Esslemont, the fines were dropped. All extinguishers, which turned out to be un-tampered, were then placed back into kitchens.
Talking about the incident in July, Ms Triggs said Liberty Quays were “deeply sorry” for the incident, and that it put a “stain on our otherwise fantastic reputation.”
Although Liberty Quays declined to comment on the reason for Ms Triggs departure, the exit comes after 150 signatures were signed by disgruntled students, parents and members of the public, all angry with conditions and service provided by Liberty.
Extortionate check-out charges, mice infestations and rude, negligent staff were all mentioned in the comments, which can be seen on the online petiton.

Room available to rent at the University of Kent Medway campus

If you’re coming through clearing to join us at CfJ this year and haven’t yet sorted out where you’re living, you might be interested in looking at the super-fantastic space we’ve still got for our house!

Three (soon-to-be) second year students are looking for another journalism student to join us in our house next year after the initial plan fell through, so we're asking any new students starting next year, whether undergrads or MA's, if they'd like to join us and we’d even go so far to say the deal is better than Quays!

· Rent is just £89 a week – that’s over £30 cheaper for a room of the same size.

· This includes all bills, internet and, unlike in halls, a TV licence and our internet is wireless!

· Unlike in halls our bathroom comes with a bath as well as shower, we’ve got a living and dining area and a garden.

· All of the rooms come with their own locks and everything’s fully furnished.

· We’ve also got enough pots and pans to sink a small ship, so there’s no need to splash out on your own kitchen equipment – as long as you wash up after yourself we’re happy to share!

· We’re also closer to university (so you get to spend longer in bed), closer to town for shopping and nights out and a mere two minutes away from a Chinese and Fish and Chip shop!

The house also comes with the added plus of being able to meet the housemates before you decide whether or not to move in and we’re happy to meet you first, have a chat on the phone or give you a look round – whatever really!

Just for the record you'd be living with three other journos; two girls and one boy. Our names are Jem Collins, Lydia Hamilton & Kieran Watkins if you want to Facebook stalk us first.

If you're interested or want some more information feel free to drop us an email at jemcollins@live.co.uk or kdjwatkins@yahoo.co.uk

Or you can comment and ask questions at the bottom of this blog post!

Also free to do viewings Sept 5th!

Petition calling halls “extortionate” reaches 100 signatures overnight

A petition calling for an end to apparent "unfair" and "unjustifiable" charges at Liberty Quays has attracted mass support

A petition branding Liberty Quays as “extortionate” and “opportunistic” has received over 100 signatures overnight.
The campaign, calling for the Medway student halls to address a number of issues from high check out charges to rodent problems, currently has over 140 signatures.
Set up by disgruntled student Jem Collins, the online page has attracted dozens of comments from students, families and members of the public.
She said: “I set up the page after having problems with my own experience when management insisted that I was the only one complaining and I thought this just can not be true.
“They’ve told me I’ve accrued over £200 worth of damage, but the only evidence I’ve received is a couple of photos showing pictures of a pen on a shelf and some paper on the floor”.
She added: “Management have been extremely rude and patronising throughout the whole procedure and aren’t taking anything seriously”.
Other complaints about the accommodation, which is owned by Liberty Living and is the only halls provider in Gillingham for University of Kent students, range from fictitious faults to rude and unhelpful staff.
One student said he was charged for a chair that was broken upon arrival, whilst another said that they had been refused access to pictures showing the alleged damage.
One student commented: “I was charged £10 for a key that was never given to me in the first place and then treated very rudely and disrespectful (sic), accused of lying and given absolutely ridiculous excuses by S.Triggs : ‘must have fallen off before you even realised you had it.’”
Deposit charges range from £15 to replace standard shower curtains, up to £30 for dust and £65 for replacement chairs.
When quizzed over the high prices, Mrs Triggs, manager at Liberty Quays, said: “Many of our items like the shower curtains are not of standard size and the cost reflects this”, though admitted they could be sourced as cheaply as £1.

She added: “These charges are necessary to ensure the standard of accommodation at Liberty Quays is maintained at a high level in an exceptionally short space of time to ensure the accommodation is ready for our summer students.”
She also said that she had encouraged students in the past to seek to buy the items from other places to avoid paying the charges set by Liberty Living.
Other comments from students included reports of a mice infestation, leaving students unable to use their kitchen for over a month.
In another incident, a number of flats were charged for faulty fire extinguishers that the halls provider claimed the students had tampered with.
However, following a similar petition and campaign, the faulty fire extinguishers were found to be untouched.
Ms Triggs said: “The fire extinguisher incident did not result in any charges to any students. ”
Other complaints have included faeces being left in a communal area for over three days and lack of proper security patrols, allowing members of the public to walk into flats freely.
In a statement from Mrs Triggs, who in a bizarre move has signed the petition herself, she said: “We take all complaints seriously and investigate each on its own merits.”

Have you had problems with Liberty Quays or did your stay go just fine? Let us know in the comments below!

Article taken from the Medwire student magazine, written by Kieran Watkins