To send this complaint to Thirteen about how they've treated my dad?
Dear Sir or Madam,
I am writing to lodge a formal complaint on behalf of my father.
Following the death of my mother, my father has been residing at Care Home for the past several months. During this time, it was decided that the care home environment was no longer suitable for his needs and that he would be better supported within the extra care facility at ADDRESS.
Unfortunately, the entire process surrounding his move has been extremely stressful and poorly managed, largely due to poor communication and delays caused by Thirteen and the housing coordinator, NAME.
My father was shown the property at ADDRESS in March, and from that point onwards we were left waiting for confirmation of a date for him to sign the tenancy agreement and move into the property. We were not provided with this date until Thursday 7 May, at which point we were informed that his previous address at PARENTS BUNGALOW needed to be fully vacated by Monday 18 May. This did not provide anywhere near enough time to organise the move properly.
As I write this letter, there are still personal belongings remaining in the bungalow which need to be removed. Had we been given a confirmed moving date earlier in the process, we would have been able to arrange a full removal service in good time, rather than being forced to rely on only two hours of support at very short notice. It was suggested that we should have placed his belongings into storage but this would not have helped because of the short timeframe which made it extremely difficult to book the removals service and we were only able to book it at all due to a cancellation. My Dad also could not afford the cost of paying for significant storage space for several months while we waited for a confirmed date.
In addition to this, due to the rushed nature of the move, my father is currently living in a bungalow with no gas supply, meaning he has no heating or hot water. I spoke to NAME this morning, Monday 18 May, and was informed that the gas would be uncapped later this afternoon. However, I do not consider this acceptable under any circumstances. He also does not have curtains or a cooker for the same reason.
My father is 81 years old and has medical needs which require him to have reliable access to hot water and heating. These essential services should have been fully operational before he moved into the property and it is unacceptable that this did not happen due to NAME being on holiday.
Lastly, when asking what would happen should we not be able to complete this move to the specified timeframe, NAME said this would leave my Dad homeless and they would no longer be able to help. Considering dad is 81 years old and has several medical conditions, I do not believe this is an acceptable thing to say and found it both offensive and upsetting to hear.
Overall, this experience has caused significant stress and upset to both my father and our family at an already difficult time. I would appreciate a formal response addressing these concerns, including an explanation as to how this situation was allowed to occur and what steps will be taken to ensure that vulnerable tenants are not placed in similar circumstances in future.
You can contact me on or at this email.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours faithfully,