The Leather Works

“It’s nice to have the shared cafe back in the middle of the place. Unfortunately, the main staff member left, and a lot of the people I’ve talked to are really disappointed about it.”

“It’s a bit of a problem for me since the university is down the hill, and that’s tough when you have asthma.”

“One thing that could be improved is how long it can take for maintenance issues to actually get sorted. Sometimes problems get fixed, but other times they feel like they get delayed a lot, or even ignored completely. For instance, my towel rail broke almost immediately after I moved in back in September. I noticed it straight away and me and my mum had a look at it. We tried to sort it ourselves, but we couldn’t, so I reported it through the MMM help desk app. I was told it had been marked as sorted, even though it was still lying on the floor. My wardrobe was another issue. The door has come completely off its hinges and it nearly fell on me twice, which is honestly quite scary. When I reported that, it did get fixed within the next few days, or at most by the following week. The frustrating part is that it seems like you have to word things in a much more extreme way to get them dealt with faster. You end up having to make it sound like you’re genuinely terrified, because if the problem doesn’t sound like it could hurt you, they don’t take it as seriously. That’s why the towel rail took so long, even though I’d already reported it twice. I’m going to have to report it again, but I’ve been distracted by uni life and everything. With the wardrobe, I did get it fixed within about a week, but only after I explained how scared I was that it might fall off completely while I was propping it up. It’s kind of similar with other things too. The flat door breaking off was fixed the day after I reported it, but again I had to really spell it out. I had to explain that the main building door was also broken, so anyone could just walk into the block. The main gate is still broken as well. Most of the time, people can walk straight in from the street, go through reception, and if any doors are broken, they can get through even more easily. If someone’s flat door is broken, they can basically access someone’s flat, which is a huge safety risk if a door isn’t locked. I get that they probably trust their flatmates not to go into private spaces, but still, it’s a big concern. So overall, I’d say maintenance needs to be handled a lot faster. It feels like they mainly respond to how scared people sound, rather than actually fixing the underlying problem. Unless it’s an extreme case where someone’s safety is clearly at risk, it doesn’t seem like they care as much.”

“If it was nearer to the city, I wouldn't have to take an Uber, a bus, or walk uphill for 40 minutes just to get there. There’s basically nothing nearby, and it ends up wasting time for everyone.”

“The heaters are working just fine.”

“Please make it clear that the rooms in the flats come in different sizes, and also spell out when someone’s room will be smaller even if they’re paying for more space. And for the windows, switch them all from wooden to PVC in every building, not just in the newer ones.”