Tenant "Stranded"

Elevator Out of Order—Technician Didn’t Arrive Until Three Days Later

Max K. recently underwent major head surgery. Without the elevator, he cannot leave his apartment—something that is urgently necessary after eleven weeks in the intensive care unit.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/ZVG Privat)

No weekend service: Residents of an apartment complex in Lower Austria had to get by without an elevator for three days because the service contract had allegedly been “scaled back” without their knowledge. This hit residents with limited mobility particularly hard—including father Max K. 

For the residents of the apartment building in Kottingbrunn in the district of Baden, a broken elevator turned last weekend into a nightmare. Take Max K. (name known to the editors), for example, who had only recently been able to return to his third-floor apartment after spending eleven weeks in the intensive care unit. He relies on a wheelchair and oxygen. Since the elevator was out of service from Friday through Monday, it was practically impossible for him to leave his apartment.

From Seven-Day Service to Service Only on Weekdays
Particularly controversial: According to residents, no technician was sent over the weekend despite multiple emergency calls. The suspicion: The HEIM housing cooperative is alleged to have reduced the maintenance contract from a seven-day service to service only on weekdays. This has not yet been officially confirmed. The tenants are now making serious accusations.

Max K. recently underwent major head surgery. Without an elevator, he cannot leave his apartment—something that is urgently needed after eleven weeks in the intensive care unit.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/ZVG Privat)

We called again and again, but were just put off.

Mieterin Anita K.

Co-op Is Aware of Elderly and Mobility-Impaired Tenants
Although the cooperative was aware of at least one severely disabled resident—a stairlift was approved for a resident just this year—nothing was done for days on end. “We called again and again, but were just put off,” says Anita K. She recalls that it used to be normal for someone from the service company to come by if the elevator was out of order on the weekend. She fears that the contract was simply changed without the residents’ knowledge.

Co-op declines to comment
It wasn’t until around 3 p.m. on Monday that the elevator was back in service. In addition, the elevator has reportedly been causing problems for some time: the doors close too quickly, and the sensors aren’t working properly. This is also said to be the reason for the constant elevator outages. The HEIM housing cooperative was confronted with these allegations by the “Krone,” but was unwilling to comment.