I am usually so happy, upbeat, and positive when I blog, but today I need an outlet to vent. Most people have heard this story or pieces too many times to care anymore, so I decided to write it all out as a way to vent some frustration.
Most of you know that we pay astronomical rent rates in Bermuda. The average rent for a one bedroom is around $2000 a month, a two bedroom $4000, and 3+ bedrooms can run anywhere from $5000-$25,000 a month depending on location and quality. Thanks to good housing allowances, we can afford to pay the rates, but usually it comes with some cost. It is difficult to go from owning your own house to renting from landlords that don't always have your shared priorities. Okay that is the build up to the story of, "The Laundry Room from Hell."
When Ryan first looked at our place it was nice, close to town, and had most everything we wanted. It had laundry in the front of the house below the front apartment. You have to go outside to get to it, and it is shared by the renter in the front, but it was on site and usable. After moving in we discovered that it was coin operated ($1.50 to wash and $1.50 to dry). While I was frustrated by the fact that the laundry was essentially in our house and we had to pay for it, I found out that the landlords pay the electricity that goes to the laundry room. So they were using the quarters to pay these bills.
After living here a month, the cold water stopped running to the washer. It only came out scalding hot! After waiting 2-3 weeks to have someone fix it, we decided to start carrying buckets of water from our back faucet to the washer. That got old quickly! I also discovered that since the room is a basement and is damp and cool, cockroaches, spiders, ants, and even the occasional rat like to inhabit our laundry room. I refused to go down there after dark!
A few months after the cold water was fixed, the dryer coin operation piece was jammed. The tenent in the front had jammed a Canadian quarter in the slot. While the machine accepted USA and Bermudian quarters, it did not take Canadian quarters. They had to order a whole new coin piece. Once that was installed it jammed again the next week. Once again a Canadian quarter. After that, 2 times in December and 4 times in January the dryer just didn't work. You would wash your clothes, put the money in the dryer and it wouldn't turn on! We started keeping a tally on how many times the dryer didn't work. I was forced to bring laundry to friends houses or hang it in our house or on a line outside. Many times after hanging it outside, it would start to rain. The wet laundry in the house would take forever to dry as humidity levels were extremely high. We had had it!
After a heated email in January, the landlords decided to buy a brand new washer and dryer. We were excited to have new units. After they were installed this week, I discovered that that washer and dryer are once again coin operated! We were hoping this wouldn't be the case. While I don't mind paying some money for the cost of electricity, it is ridiculous to have to go to the bank monthly to get quarters! The thing that set me off today was that I found out they upped the cost to $2.50 to wash and $2.50 to dry. That is 20 quarters for one load of laundry. With a baby on the way, I can't imagine how many quarters I am going to need to keep up with all of the future laundry. Also in the summer it is so humid that if you leave anything wet in your laundry hamper it will mildew! I had moldy towels and shorts this summer. Mold does not come out of clothing!
Here is the real kicker. I could not get the washer to work last night even after putting in the appropriate amount of money. I soon discovered that the coin operation pieces only take USA quarters. When you buy rolls of coins at the bank, they bundle them with Bermudian and USA quarters mixed. Since money is one for one, it does not matter which currency you pay in. All soda machines, parking meters, and other machines in Bermuda accept a mix of Bermudian and USA quarters. The quarters essential are the same size and shape. They must not be exact as my machines now only take USA quarters. I could see if it only took Bermudian quarters as we live in Bermuda! I sorted out all of my quarters today into one bag of USA and one bag of Bermudian quarters. I have since emailed the landlord to express that this is not acceptable, but I will have to keep you updated. For now I am headed back down to the dungeon to retrieve my dried clothes! At least there wasn't a rat down there today!
Until next time...
Wow...
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