I’ll try to keep this short

As some of you will know we have had a statutory notice put on our building for repairs. Edinburgh council has unique powers to do this beyond repairs to dangerous structures,

Its gone badly wrong in our case with years of delays and huge cost escalations as well as poorly done work and unneeded expensive work done. there is a whole unfolding scandal around the issue with corruption allegations and all sorts

A reputable TV company is looking to do a documentary on this and have found out about our issues -we are one of the worst example in some ways because of the cost.

The various complaints and so on are not resolved yet I cannot get thousands of pounds worth of repairs to my property from damage caused by the contractors done for example and we are facing bills of many tens of thousands of pounds. towards a hundred thousand or more. I see no resolution without going to court

a lot of poor practice and lack of supervision ( at best)from the council and its appointed contractors and project managers – No obvious corruption tho.

Would you get involved if you were in my shoes? Both my building and my face will have to be shown on telly if I do.

ta

when you say “your” building, do you mean the building you happen to work in or a building you have some responsibility for? I’d be tempted to say leave it to your facilities manager, unless that’s you. I’m very suspicious of TV companies, they do a cracking job of twisting words and removing context.

I’d get legal advice as to whether getting involved in the film would prejudice any case you may later put before the court but I can’t see that you’ll be creating a ‘problem’ for yourself if you go down this route.

One assumes that the ouncil aren’t likely to ‘send the boys round’ in the way that some disreputable traders might choose to?

Cobblers Uncle Jezza. Cut the flannel and tell us the truth. You’ve been enlisted for the next series of the Secret Millionaire haven’t you? Where are they sending you? 😉

TJ, I would hate to be involved in a documentary!

This may seem obvious so excuse me if I am insulting you – have you looked into complaining about the local authorities actions through the ‘Local Government Ombudsman’? The best way is to read their rules thoroughly first as they relate to the things the council is obliged to do. I have been successful in several complaints by framing the councils action within the Ombudsman’s rules – for (a hypothetical) example: failesupervisingon of the contractors could be seen as bad administration.

It’s not simple to ‘construct’ a good complaint to them but can be well worth the effort.

http://www.lgo.org.uk/

Onzadog I own a flat in the building. so I am one of 15 owners. freehold not leasehold

I wish binners

supertramp

Thats the stage I am at now. complainto the ombudsman is being organised.

I’d be very wary, but i’m not basing that on any actual knowledge or experience.

Do it! It’s every citizens duty to speak out and call attention to incompetence and corruption in public services. If we all just roll over and refuse to make a stand, where will our society end up.

Sounds like you have a good story to tell, so tell it, sticking to the facts as you know them. It will be the programme’s researchers who will need to peice things together to make a bigger statement.

Can’t see any harm coming from being involved.

Make your own documentary on scratchy 8mm, then sell it to the doc maker in a couple of years time when it’s all resolved. Lots of shaky hand “to camera” stuff a la Blair Witch.

Which TV company ? Do you trust them ? Will your bum look big ?

In all seriousness what do you have to lose – a bit of press coverage might spur some action, although I hear from somebody in the know that most of the rats have left that sinking ship. (The cooncil office responsible – not your tenement !)

P.S I would add though DONT TRUST JOURNALISTS and chose your words carefully, stick to the verifiable facts and don’t come across like a crazy person.

NOTHING is “off the record”.

Seems there are a lot of emergency repair helpline calls on a Sunday in Edinburgh. You might think the workies were calling it themselves.

Have briefly appeared on Midlands Today as a Member Of The Proletariat answering a question about bathing/showering 🙂

Tough one, I’d suspect that the docu makers will be on your side, but you don’t want to come across as a loon on the docu either, drawing attention to yourself on TV may make the Cooncil want to single you out and fight hardest with you.

I’d prob avoid TBH.

but the opportunity for TJ to be the centre of attention of a ding-dong where he is RIGHT….it’s unmissable, surely?! 😉

TJ, I’ve been involved with documentary makers. It’s their business, they look for the most sellable angle not the most righteous one. You will never be sure that the end product puts over your case as you would wish, you will not be there at the edit desk. Think carefully as to why you want to do this? They will not share your urgency for resolution. Having said all that, there are good guys out there as well.

hels – Member

Which TV company ? Do you trust them ? Will your bum look big ?

I don’t want to say who but its a reputable and trustworty outfit. Not sensationalist

hels – Member

P.S I would add though DONT TRUST JOURNALISTS and chose your words carefully, stick to the verifiable facts and don’t come across like a crazy person.

NOTHING is “off the record”.

Yup – been caught like this before

Stoner agreed it would make fantastic TV.

(shot pans to TJ at PC online…)…”The stress has caused Jeremy to spend hours venting his frustrations on the internet…and he has become addicted to arguing online, now being responsible for 90% of ALL hits to Wikipedia”

😀 etc

I wouldn’t want to be the subject of any TV show, documentary or otherwise. Editing is everything and you’ll have no idea how you or your argument are going to come across until you’ve seen the show.

(shot pans to TJ at PC online…)…”The stress has caused Jeremy to spend hours venting his frustrations on the internet…and he has become addicted to arguing online, now being responsible for 90% of ALL hits to Wikipedia”

Applauds!

Dont do it. You would go off on a rant, which while it would make good tv, wouldnt do your case or your your sanity any good.

A reputable TV company

Just a snipit of advice from someone who has been through these hoops TJ

Me and my wife were approached by a reputable TV company to produce a documentary about an aspect of our life some years back.

The film crew that turned up (late) were all just our of film school and did not get past our front door!

Check their credentials thoroughly TJ, ask who will be involved and what experience they have, that would be my personal advice.

Yes, why not? What have you got to lose?

I have arranged a meeting with the journalist on Thursday. Ill check her out

TJ, the LGO can work very well, but as i said just be very careful with the wording of your complaint as it has to fall within the bounds of things they investigate – I was a local government officer for longer than I should have been and have seen the council get shafted in this manner quite a few times 😉

you can order digests of their old cases for free and a good read of a few will be very enlightening!

I appeared in a documentary representing Welsh Water and would underline the above comment about what they can do with editing. Be careful what you say off cammera too. The sound man must have left his machine running pretty much all day and they cut in some of my off camera, off the cuff comments. As we were the heros rather than the vilains in the story no harm was done but beware.

I am the victim in this case and the council are the baddies.

Try and get that Kirsty Wark if you can.

once you are covered on tv the local press will give coverage for an update. this will only progress your case to the top of the pile…

Obviously none of the people you deal with on the council are STW regulars otherwise they would have realised the futility of arguing with you and either paid up or hung themselves by now 😉

Seriously though – can’t see that you have much to lose if you are in the right and it might get it resolved quicker.

Would you get involved if you were in my shoes? Both my building and my face will have to be shown on telly if I do.

What price do you put on anonymity?

I am the victim in this case and the council are the baddies.

at the moment, wait until the jorno’s twist it…. been there, got that T shirt.

TJ, two of my brothers are journalists, as is a close friend.

I wouldn’t trust the feckers with a bag of jeffing crisps, never mind anything more serious. They rank somewhere below Estate Agents in the global bad guy list.

I wouldn’t trust the feckers with a bag of jeffing crisps, never mind anything more serious. They rank somewhere below Estate Agents in the global bad guy list.

Of the one journo I know, and anecdotes don’t make science, I would say this is a fact.

Teej you have to ask what are you trying to achieve? You want your house fixed and for you to have to pay only a reasonable sum for it. I say just don’t pay and let them sue you, it will all come out. The documentary will only muddy the waters.

The journo’s do not give a sheete about you or your problems, they just want to sell tv programs. I can only imagine how difficult it will be for you to hold your tongue, ( I counldn’t) and what happen’s if they discover your persona on here? You’ll go down in flames. Avoid like the fardiking plague.

If I refuse to pay they simply put a charge on the property at 1% above the mortgage rate. I am obliged to pay – they do not have to sue.

#What I want is the guys responsible embarrassed (ruined) and for his to not happen to anyone else. Vindictive and nasty of me but the costs to me could be ruinous. One has made his living out of ripping me off – for an architect dragging the contract out over years and adding more work in so his fee has gone from £30 000 to £120 000. thats a nice earner for him. His incompetence has damaged my home. the council officers have sat back an allowed this to happen to me and have failed in their duty of care to me.

At least 6 officers from the council have been suspended pending investigation including the person responsible for my contract.

I would chase the legal angle, not depend on journalists. You may need more patience, but it should be better than getting dicked over by yet another group of people.

Yes…why not? Nothing to loose really. Hopefully it will help sort the issues, worst case is it doesn’t and you are still where you are now…

TJ I’m sure Private Eye did a small article on this recently. The Edinburgh repair scam not the going on TV bit.

Personally i was asked to take part in a fly on the wall and refused our work did go ahead and it was boring . What i did note was that there was a huge gulf between the overall tone of the program and the reality of our life (Quell Surprise) but little factually inaccurate . Also one person who declined consent was shown on film.

In your case you have a cause to push rather than solely being offered up as entertainment. As long as you keep in mind that every thing you say or do is for public consumption then surely the publicity can only increase the pressure on the council and help you?

TJ,

I believe I read something in private eye recently which reminded me of your previous posts on this topic (I think it was in the rotten boroughs section), so they may already be on the case. I would be tempted to drop an email in their direction rather than going down the tv route…lower profile than tv, and would probably keep your name out of it, but tend to be used as a source for the mainstream media, and with a track record in David vs. Goliath cases….. (don’t mention mmr…they screwed that one up completely….)