[Lindengardens] Washing Machine Next to Door Will Be Fixed Next Week

Wed Jun 23 08:28:37 EDT 2010

I think something that would help keep him on his toes is that we all call the service number whenever any of us has a problem with any of the machines.  I was under the impression that the phone number posted on the wall was not the number to call.  I'm glad to know it's the right number and I will call when I have a problem.  Also I think that we should all demand refunds when we lose money in any of the machines.  Has anyone ever asked for their lost money back?  just wondering if they were successful.  

Mike 

--- On Wed, 6/23/10, Ona Kondrotas <ona.faster.k at gmail.com> wrote:

From: Ona Kondrotas <ona.faster.k at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Lindengardens] Washing Machine Next to Door Will Be Fixed Next Week
To: lindengardens at mit.edu
Date: Wednesday, June 23, 2010, 12:55 AM

Dear Candy,
That was very elucidating--without requiring me to consult my contract--and compelling. (I'm working on becoming a lawyer). I think you're right in that the best way--as in, safest to tenants in terms of money--is to consent on a course of action by hashing over the precise wording of the contract, including definitions of 'good working order' and so on, find a loophole, make certain that said problematic machine can perform said problem if a demonstration if and when needed, and then select a calm-mannered tenant to send into the storm, so to speak.
I'm just relieved everyone's having problems with the machines--I always imagine it's my own lack of attentiveness to protocol that messes them up, then hope it's not my fault they broke permanently. Thanks again for the update,
yours,
-ona k.

On Wed, Jun 23, 2010 at 12:17 AM, Candy Malina <candyjoy at earthlink.net> wrote:

Actually, I believe the laundry contract goes until July, 2011, so it is another year.  And about breaking the contract early -- I had a couple of attorneys tell me early on that we could likely break it, because it was actually a contract that Dan Silva, as Broadway Management (owner of the machines) made with himself, Dan Silva as Linden Ave. Associates, which was the name of the entity that officially owned the building prior to it being condo-ized.  The contract says that Linden Ave. Associates and successors (i.e, Linden Gate Condo) are responsible for that contract until July, 2011.  I was told by one attorney that it is illegal to bind successors on a service contract, which that attorney thought the laundry contract would be considered, and also I was told that "self-dealing" is illegal, especially if it is not in the best interest of one of the two parties -- the attorney who told me that was of the opinion that signing a 10 year contract was
 not in the best interest of Linden Ave. Associates.  HOWEVER -- our current attorney, who is one of the top condo attorneys in Massachusetts, told met that the 10-year contract for laundry machines is standard, and also told me that these contracts are very hard to break.  I guess the bad outcome would be that he sues us for breach of contract, and that we might then need to pay him for the remainder of the contract, meaning all the income he would potentially have generated from the machines -- plus court and attorney fees.  So we had decided it wasn't worth the risk of that, as I recall.  We talked about trying to have a conversation with him and seeing if we could work out a compromise amicably, but my sense from Dick William's initial conversation with him, in which he was reportedly furious about our breaking the contract at all, was that he wouldn't likely compromise.

If he doesn't keep up the machines, then I would guess he is breaching the contract, which I assume says that they are kept in good working order (I am sure I have a copy of it somewhere: I assume the current trustees do too; I know Paradigm does).  However, if we don't inform him of the machines not working, then we can't accuse him of breaching the contract by not fixing them.  (If he breaches the contract, then we could theoretically get out of it.)  I imagine that this would be his motivation for fixing them in a timely manner.  Otherwise -- our current attorney had advised us to send the letter breaking the contract as early as possible, because you have to put your intention to break it in writing 180 days (6 MONTHS!) before it ends, or it rolls over automatically for ANOTHER TEN YEARS!!  Seriously.  So she said that we were better off making sure he got the letter way ahead of time.  Which I think made sense -- however, I wonder what that
 does to his motivation for maintaining the machines?

All this being said (I'm sure way more information than you wanted!) -- I agree with Chris.  The deal is that he gets to keep the machines here AND collects 2/3 of the income from them, and that in return, he keeps them in good working order.  I don't see why we would want to limp along with machines that don't work well; I don't believe there is anything in the contract that would require us to do so.  In fact, I would look at the wording of the contract.  It might be that he needs to replace the machines if they are not working adequately.

My way-more-than-2-cents!

Candy

At 11:47 PM 6/22/2010, you wrote:

I sympathize with Chris and others who get frustrated by the wall machine, but the fact is, it's still working. And Charlie's reboot procedure does work, when the machine gets stuck at the end of a cycle (after it's been opened before the "wait" sign flashes off).

Trouble is, some of us have gotten used to these idiosyncracies, but new tenants won't know, and their landlords shouldn't have to give them a complicated explanation.  So I suggest we put up a brief sign above the machine explaining the way it works. It will only be for another six months or so, at most. 

Indeed, I wonder if we shouldn't tell Sylva that we are going to replace his machines in the last quarter of this year, rather than waiting until 2011. What could he really do about it? Anyway, if we wrote the letter to him saying we intend to do so, it would be interesting to see how he responds! 

mmm

Martin M. Marks
Senior Lecturer
MIT, Music and Theater Arts Section, 10-268
77 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge MA, 02139

Office phone: 617-253-4967
Mobile phone: 617-851-8955
Email: mmmarks at mit.edu

On Jun 22, 2010, at 11:28 PM, Charlie Denison wrote:

Sure I'll make sure he looks at this machine as well. If it's any consolation, when I've called his company with washing machine problems before (I called the number posted on the sign in the laundry room), they have always been quick to respond. I personally have never had issues with the machine by the wall, but clearly there is a problem with it. The trustees will make sure the machines are in working order until our contract is done in 2011.

Charlie

Chris De Angelis wrote: 

Charlie, thanks for the experiment and feedback.  But I have to ask: are we just going to live with the unreliability of this machine until we can replace it?

I am going to be renting my unit soon, and I would really prefer that Mr. Silva take the time and spend what he needs to fix both machines, since he has stuck us with them until 2011, rather than have to explain to my renter "to get that machine near the wall working, stand on your head, do the hokie pokey five times, and insert your money, and it may then start".  He is getting the majority of the money we spend on our laundry, and I feel he has given us a very unsatisfactory level of maintenance over the years after sticking the condominium association with this contract going back six or seven years that says we have to use his machines until 2011.

Giving him the benefit of the doubt, if we make him understand that this machine sometimes says "WAIT" with no explanation of what's wrong or how to mend it, maybe he'll do what's necessary to fix it.  Could we please do that and avoid the potential for putting an extra couple of bucks in his pocket because his machines aren't reliable?

Respectfully,
Chris

----- Original Message -----
From: "Charlie Denison" <cdenison at comcast.net>
To: lindengardens at mit.edu
Sent: Tuesday, June 22, 2010 9:16:56 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
Subject: Re: [Lindengardens] Washing Machine Next to Door Will Be Fixed Next Week

OK it seems to be okay now. I put the lid down, but that didn't do anything. Then while he lid was still down, I unplugged the machine and plugged it back in. The computer made some noises for about 10 seconds, then said THANK YOU. It's ready for a new load now and says INSERT $2.00.

Charlie

Chris De Angelis wrote: 

So tonight, the washing machine next to the wall is just reading "WAIT" on the display and is not doing anything.  I came down to the laundry room and found it like that; it's empty and the lid is open, but I'm not willing to risk having it eat another $2.

Can we get that machine looked at tomorrow also?  I'm afraid while some of the time it is true that it just takes a while to start, we are having bad luck with it in that it sometimes eats our credit, tells us to wait, and then never starts.

Thanks -

Chris

----- Original Message -----

From: "Aaron Federman" <aafedz at yahoo.com>

To: lindencondos at yahoogroups.com

Cc: lindengardens at mit.edu

Sent: Saturday, June 19, 2010 12:57:14 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern

Subject: [Lindengardens] Washing Machine Next to Door Will Be Fixed Next Week

Dan Silva stopped by the building to look at the laundry machine. The washing machine closest to the door is filling and draining correctly, but the water is not "agitating" properly. He will send a repair person on Wednesday to fix the washing machine closest to the door. I told him to wait until Wednesday since we have plumbing work being done on Tuesday in our boiler room that will require us to shut off the water pressure. The washing machine closest to the wall still works correctly. It just takes several minutes to start. Dan may try to replace the card reader in that machine, but he doesn't know if that will make it start any faster. Aaron 

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