For the retired Abshoff couple, a leisurely breakfast is part of their morning ritual. When Monika Abshoff wanted to prepare the obligatory morning coffee, there was a nasty surprise – not a single drop came out of the tap. “Then we soon heard from the neighbor: There is no water,” says her husband Jürgen. Like the couple and the neighbor, all the residents of the five-story “Weserhaus” in Überseestadt happened on Thursday morning. From one day to the next, the coveted element dried up. And not only that: the district heating system also stopped working.
Two “Weserhäuser” with 35 apartments were disconnected from the water and heat supply for almost exactly 26 hours. What particularly annoys Jürgen Abshoff: “This happened without any announcement or explanation.” At least there was good neighborly help. “Water was brought to us from other houses, and we also got still water from the supermarket.” We then had to go to a restaurant to eat and just to wash our hands. “You should actually demand compensation for that,” says the 80-year-old. Even showering was out of the question at first. But Abshoff doesn’t just have his own difficulties in mind. “Families with children who faced significant problems live in our house.”
There was a lot of guesswork among those affected about the reasons. “It was said among the residents that the water access had been sealed because the bills had not been paid for a long time,” says Abshoff. The two buildings have just had a new manager. The real estate company Justus Grosse built the “Weserhäuser” in 2017 and is owned by a fund company. The Grosse company has previously taken care of the property management on their behalf. Since October 1st, management has been in the hands of the property manager MVGM, which is active throughout Europe.
It has now become clear that the outstanding invoices had been paid at the time of the blockage. However, the SWB booking system did not process the compensation payments for the arrears in a timely manner, says SWB spokeswoman Angela Dittmer. “That led to the lockdown process being triggered.” But this process is “an isolated case in every respect,” she emphasizes. The system has been working reliably for seven years. “It’s the first time something like this has happened.”
But how could the supply interruption even happen when the bills had been paid? Dittmer says there were “irregularities in payment processing and the associated communication over a long period of time on both sides.” The resulting residues led to “the situation.” Which would mean: Even before the change, everything wasn’t going smoothly between the energy supplier and property management for at least months. It is difficult to assess what the truth of the accusation is. Grosse was unable to comment on this by the time of going to press.
In any case, the new administrator MVGM was shocked when the residents raised the alarm. “Unfortunately, we were not aware of this information in advance,” said the property manager in an email to the residents, which was available to WESER-KURIER. “We as the new administration have not received any reminders, invoices or threats of closure.” SWB was contacted immediately to clarify the matter. “As soon as we have the outstanding invoices, they will be paid immediately.” But that wasn’t necessary because there were no outstanding invoices.
The fact remains that the impending closure was not communicated to the residents of the house. Dittmer regrets this. “We are very sorry for the residents of the house that their supplies were interrupted for around 26 hours.” As a rule, those affected are informed “about four weeks in advance” so that all sides can react. According to Dittmer, the double breakdown belongs in the category “Where people work, mistakes happen.” The responsible colleagues are in the process of working through the entire process.
Abshoff doesn’t find the SWB announcement particularly satisfactory. The graduate economist moved with his wife into the house with a view of the Weser from Hamburg six years ago. The former managing director of the Hamburg Hospital Society describes the energy supplier’s apology as “a bit thin”. “In particular, the lack of information before the shutdown would have to be explained a little better,” he says.
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