‘Beyond a joke’: Dennis’ fury as flat buzzer still unfixed months after being ‘ripped out by vandals’

A North Ormesby flat resident has been left furious after vandals “ripped out” the building’s security buzzer.

Dennis Pattison said there is now “no buzzer or way of contacting” those living in the building, claiming that individuals left the damaged system dangling from the wall. The 70-year-old said he first noticed this on March 30 this year.

Almost three months on, Dennis remains furious that the issue hasn’t been fixed, causing problems when anyone from delivery drivers to friends and family visits his home. Home Group, which manages the flats on Palin Close, apologised that the customer was “not kept up to date” as it dealt with delays regarding the repair.

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The housing association has since confirmed that work should be completed within the next two weeks to fix the broken buzzer. – and added that it will make sure the customer is aware of the goings on “every step of the way.”

Dennis, who lives on his own, said: “This has been going on since March 30. If anyone comes, like a parcel or anything like that, they can’t buzz me to get in! It was ripped out by vandals. There is no buzzer or way of contacting us in the building. If there is an emergency, then what the hell are they going to do? They can’t get in the building.”

Dennis said a new system needs to be installed, recalling that subcontractors inspected the issue in April and concluded that a new system was required. However, as from April 3, Dennis claims nobody had been in touch from Home Group.

“I’m sick of ringing and emailing Home Group to find out what is happening about this,” he explained.

Dennis said he is “reporting it all the time” and contacted them over phone or email “every other week” – but is still waiting for it to be fixed months on from it being ripped out. He said: “When you get an email back, they say it is in hand. When I first reported it, it was classed as an emergency. Now it isn’t. I am not happy with the service of Home Group, to be honest.”

While he admitted that he doesn’t speak to many of the other residents, he claimed that they “don’t seem happy about it” either.

It’s not the first time Dennis has raised concerns over his flats. Back in October, bins had reportedly been left to pile up at the site for more than four weeks after not being emptied. At the time, he believed he had a rat in his ceiling that was keeping him up throughout the night. Home Group arranged for a one-off collection of the rubbish after residents complained.

Regarding the buzzer issue, Matt Pattison, head of maintenance at Home Group, said: “We are sorry our customer was not kept up to date as we dealt with delays relating to the quote for the repair.