What Do People Make Of This?
By admin | August 27th, 2010 | Category: Past Articles | 9 commentsWe stumbled across the following Industry Today report on Amalgamated Lifts and how they had secured the contract with Peverel Property Management, to maintain up to 300 lifts that will be adopted over the next twelve months in the South-East.
One of the points that we found of particular interest was the quote:-
As part of Peverel’s drive to reconcile the number of suppliers they use and deliver best value for money for their clients and residential customers, the company has conducted a nationwide tender to create a Framework Agreement with their suppliers
Pardon us for almost spilling our tea over the keyboard….. we were shocked to read that they are trying to reconcile the number of suppliers to deliver best value for money to their clients and residential customers!
Does this mean that finally, they are trying to appear as independent and are opening up the tender process to all channels now, rather than to those that ‘reward’ them? No comment!
Will this mean a reduction in charges to customers? Probably not, it’s likely that they will probably have secured a low price for this service from Amalgamated Lifts to then add a premium on top!
AllAgents.co.uk Reviews
When TTAS was first setup, there were very few reviews of Solitaire Property Management on this website, but over the last few years, well in fact months – a lot more people have reviewed SPM and not surprisingly have rated them 1 out of 5!
This was the rating from 120 reviews, but does say it all really!
If you haven’t added your review to the AllAgents website, click here to do so.
Hello to Peverel
We mentioned earlier today that it had been very quiet on the Peverel front with ‘Andy’ not having contributed to the website that much.
Well, we’d like to re-assure everyone that Peverel are still very much monitoring the website on a regular basis, because our website statistics tell us, that since the 13 January – they have visited the site over 7800 times! (These figures are returning visits and not unique hits from them)
Now, let us cast our minds back to July 2008 when the website was first setup and they didn’t pay much attention to us for over six months! Oh, how times have changed, eh!
Finally – Thank You
Recent posts have provoked a great reaction from visitors to TTAS and we have received many messages of support to thank us for setting up TTAS and for taking the decision to ‘out’ our friends.
We’d like to say a big thank you to all of the contributors and visitors to TTAS, because without you and the information that has been shared by ourselves and others – none of us would be in the position where we are now.
Our aim has always been to promote awareness of SPM, it just so happened that on this journey we discovered the tangled web that was Peverel and the even greater web of Consensus Business Group and how both of these companies have managed to monoplies an industry that had no regulation, to take full advantage of residents who unknowingly stepped into this predicament.
If anything, what encourages us is the fact that now – once and for all, people can purchase properties and find out the real facts of the management company – if it is a PPMG / CBG company.
This is something that none of us had the opportunity of doing and people can purchase a property in the knowledge of what they can expect and what they are getting themselves into, without the feeling that many of us have of “being conned / not told the full story”
We also appreciate the fact that we have probably made it harder for residents to sell properties with PPMG/CBG associated to them, but without this medium – none of us would be any wiser and we’d all still be complaining as individuals without knowing that there are others out there with the same complaint and to know now, what can be done to remove these awful companies.
Don’t forget “OM Property Management” too!
http://www.allagents.co.uk/om-property-management/
Amalgamated Lifts have just been awarded the contract to maintain the lifts in our development. We were told that this is because Peverel used their size to negotiate a better rate. But guess what, the estimate for the year still went up. Surprise Surprise.
Further to the ‘Industry Today’ report, Amalgamated Lifts have on their own website the following:
http://www.al-lifts.co.uk/peverel.html
I wonder if any of the Board, Directors or Senior Management of AL have any previous connections or used maybe even used to work for Solitaire / Peverel / CBG in the past?
AMALGAMATED LIFTS LIMITED
1 STABLES COURT
HIGH STREET, ST. MARY CRAY
ORPINGTON
KENT BR5 3NL
Company No. 02316623
Date of Incorporation: 14/11/1988
Previous Names: E.C. ENGINEERING SERVICES LIMITED (05/10/2000)
They are a fairly ‘young’ company and seem to have come about just when all our problems started to kick off?? Maybe if anyone from AL is reading this they can confirm?
Hi Everyone,
Having read the allegations posted by Admin today, and comments from other contributors, concerning the ‘Industry Today’ report on Amalgamated Lifts I can let you know the actual facts here.
In inviting tenders for lift maintenance contractors, such as Amalgamated Lifts, our aim is to achieve the best possible value for our customers. All savings made are passed on to customers via lower service charges.
I can also confirm that Amalgamated Lifts is an entirely independent company. Their Directors and Senior management have no previous connection with, nor have worked for, any company in the Peverel Group.
As always, your constructive feedback is welcomed.
My direct email address is andy.solitairepm@peverel.co.uk
Many thanks.
Andy
Solitaire Online Feedback Manager
This is a question I’ve been meaning to ask and the ‘tone’ of “Andy’s” response above just reminded me! (BTW “Andy” nice to have you back! Glad you’re still out there (…if you are indeed the same “Andy” as before?) – even though you’ve been quiet for some time? Which is surprising seeing the activity on TTAS and the bad publicity of your employers of late!)
My point, some contributors to TTAS have chosen to remain anonymous, some like myself have not. “Andy” has always asked to email him directly (even in this most recent post) – until recently I thought his ONLY (or primary) reason for this was to deflect ‘bad press’ away from this pubic forum and into the inner sanctum of Peverel Towers. Where forever hidden it would remain…
However recently, after receiving what I can only call a fairly ‘aggressive’ letter from E&M – I wanted to ask contributors if they think that since they’ve been identified with TTAS if they have been treated differently (better or worse?) by which ever company(s) within the CBG they have the misfortune to have dealings with?
I certainly feel that some of the letters I have been receiving have got much more intimidating! Whether if using their real name(s) on this website or if contributors emailed “Andy” directly with their real details as requested by “Andy” thus identifying their property, account etc. to “Andy” and co. at Peverel Towers who were then able to put two and two together (…if that’s even possible for them? As they certainly can’t manage it when looking after our homes!)
and allowing them to thus ‘identify’ anonymous contributors to TTAS from their postings and subsequent directly reported problems via email (which could have been “Andy’s” secondary reason for asking for direct emails to him with the details he requested?)?
I certainly think that the awareness that TTAS has raised money couldn’t buy! Solitaire / Peverel / CBG have (in the past) relied on the premise that ‘neighbours’ don’t really talk to each other in these modern times, tackling each individual was easy for them. Even when neighbours got together, formed Residents Associations etc. it was easy for them to quash the small groups! Now it’s a NATIONAL problem for them it’s beginning to bite! Admin’s thread What Do People Make Of This? says it all really! AllAgents.co.uk Reviews, 7800 hits from Peverel (so even if “Andy” isn’t saying much s/he is certainly listening/reading!) etc. Admin keeps thanking us, but the real thanks should go to him/her!
Regardless of how ‘aggressive’ Solitaire / Peverel / E&M / CBG get the fight goes on…BRING IT ON!
PS Ironically one of the verification words in reCaptcha for this posting was “resolution” – will this be ever reached with CBG???
EXAMPLE:
“XXXX Truat and Management Scheme
Notes to the Accounts for the year to 30th XX 2009
5. Peverel Group and Peverel OM occasionally have bulk buying/national supply agreements with crtain suppliers to primarily provide competitive pricing for their customers. Alongside these agreements there are also some cases where the supplier may contribute towards Peverel OM’s administrative costs incurred in creating and maintaining the contract. Further information will be provided on written request where applicable.”
All those who receive annual accounts will probably find this statement on theirs too.
I leave everyone to draw their own conclusions, but for me this is a case of the devil being in the detail!
Archangel is right to draw attention to this small print in the accounts. I wrote to our property manager and asked for an explanation. Could it be the insurance, with a premium three times the market rate, where LVTs have declared the rebate from Zurich unacceptable and ordered repayment? Could it be the cleaning contract where our charges were twice the market rate? Could it be the lift maintenance contract where the Peverel OM supplier quoted a 25% lower rate to us if we were not managed by them? Perhaps it was the generous provider of the CBG Xmas party?
No no it was none of the above. It was for Pest Control whose bill is so small it does not appear in the Audit Trail!
I note they have “Andy” who represents Peverel OM on this website and “Laura” who represents Peverel Retirement on the Age UK blog.
Now do you think they are one and the same? I think we should be told
Andy…..calm down, calm down……
We are all sure that you only have the best intentions for Peverel/ CBG profit…sorry I mean your properties you manage!
Amalgamated Lifts, have Peverel/ CBG had any other quotes or informed you about any other tenders for the work?
If the works cost over £100 per person/flat then they are required to disclose all information before appointing anyone to spend your money.