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residences: locked kitchens

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
edited March 27 in Work & Study
does anybody who live in university halls of residences have their kitchens locked at night?

ours get locked at 10:30 because its a "health and safety" hazard for them to be left open :(
Post edited by JustV on

Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    no, but we did have lots of people who set fire to their kitchens (and themselves) while attempting to cook late at night.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    ours gets locked as punishment coz people keep makin such a mess and propping the door open
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Ours doesn't get locked at all... and we're very naughty cos we block the door open... all the time... oops. we've only set the fire alarm off once....
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    we've discovered that they legally cannot lock our kitchen at night :eek:

    its not in our contract and also, there is no clause in our contract saying that they can change the contract if they want.

    we're aguing against it :D
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Originally posted by TinyTitch
    we've discovered that they legally cannot lock our kitchen at night :eek:

    its not in our contract and also, there is no clause in our contract saying that they can change the contract if they want.

    we're aguing against it :D
    Sounds a bit harsh. 10:30 isn't even late. When I was in halls, I would often eat at about 10 and work late into the night. Argue against it definitely - or make friends with the porter and get a key cut ;)

    Does someone come round and lock the door? Could you not just start cooking at 10:29 and force them to come back later, or have a sit-in protest?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Well the way I see it it obviously isn't down to proper health and safety regulations, otherwise every university would lock kitchens after 10.30 and clearly they don't. Its silly though because I don't know about you but where we are you can only get drinking water from the kitchen, so if you come back at like 2am from a club and want some water you can't go in and get some, that is just wrong.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    This is the reasons they gave us:

    "...Basically it is for Health and Safety reasons and also for those of noise. As the kitchens are in such proximity to study bedrooms, and in some cases are above or below bedrooms, the sound carries and becomes unfair to those students who have been allocated there. Also by locking the kitchens we have reduced the number of false fire alarm activations over night."

    and their reasons for not telling us that the kitchens were locked prior to our arrival:

    "We have looked at the paperwork you are sent and have noitced that there is no mention of this procedure. However, this is an oversight on our part. When the handbooks were re-written this year to include the new accommodation it seems to have been overlooked and not included."
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Originally posted by Kentish
    Does someone come round and lock the door? Could you not just start cooking at 10:29 and force them to come back later, or have a sit-in protest?

    not possible. if you refuse to leave the security guys are called and you are removed from the kitchen and reported to the Residence Team for disciplinary procedures.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Originally posted by TinyTitch
    we've discovered that they legally cannot lock our kitchen at night :eek:

    its not in our contract and also, there is no clause in our contract saying that they can change the contract if they want.

    we're aguing against it :D

    thing is students would have total control if you could "get away" with everything that wasnt in terms and conditions

    there will probly be some small sentence, say in the fine print of the bottom corner of those huge handbooks that say something along the lines of "we reserve the right to......"

    by the way, what university is it
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Originally posted by MrG
    there will probly be some small sentence, say in the fine print of the bottom corner of those huge handbooks that say something along the lines of "we reserve the right to......"

    we've all spent sever days going over the contract. there is nothing what so ever saying they have the right to change the contract at any time. also, the only reasons they give in the contract for closing the kitchen is if it becomes a hygeine problem and needs to be cleaned.

    i have a copy of the terms and conditions (in PDF format if you want to have a look through them :D ).

    Im in Swansea University (formerly known as the University of Wales, Swansea).
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Originally posted by dizzzy
    ours gets locked as punishment coz people keep makin such a mess and propping the door open

    Which halls are you in?

    Our cleaner just leaves notes about the mess for us.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    im at wheatley, where are you??
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Ah, I'm in Morrell.

    Do you have sinks in your rooms at Wheatley? Surely you need the kitchen for drinking water?

    Maybe its because its catered, so they think you dont need to eat that late. In our house we're still cooking at 10pm sometimes!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    its not shut after a certain time,just on days when its a mess or the doors propped open (today being one of them!)

    people use it all night sometimes

    we do have sinks in our rooms though
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    ah. the moral of the story is to not leave it in a mess then i guess!

    Our cleaners a nice guy who goes and has a break when i go in the kitchen to make breakfast.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    If you are catered, I doubt the room is actually a "kitchen" but more of a room that happens to have a microwave etc in. They dont lock the doors of kitchens in self catering cos' people cook anytime they like. But if you go into Catered you expect meals at certain times so i can see why they think you wont need 24/7 access. Uni's get away with a lot of stuff, for and against. Maybe you should just let it slide, you dont want supprise room expections etc happening every other day!

    Bopz
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    we are 'part' catered. which means we have breakfast provided.

    we're going to argue because after duscussions with various 'in the know' parents, its actually illegal as its not in our contract. it comes under trading standards law and some other obscure EU law as well. there is also a hygeine issue because when the kitchen is locked, the only water we have is from the bathrooms.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Yeah thats what I was going to say, bathroom water is very rarely drinking water, especially at unis because it all tends to come from a different place.

    Kitchens at my uni (Reading) are right next to study bedrooms, but "large gatherings" of people in them are not permitted and the kitchen gets locked if people are too noisy at night.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    well, what was funny was the fact that the uni obviously don't know how their own halls of residence are layed out. they mentioned that the kitchens were located above or below study bedrooms when in fact, all 6 buildings have the kitchens directly on top of one another.

    also, we have a common room on every floor that is situated next to study bedrooms, and surely more noise is made in the common room than the kitchen! anyway, we're going to argue and get them reopened because we're stick to death. there are people in our flat who work frm 4pm till 10, and by the time they get back, the kitchen is locked and the campus catering is closed down so they have nowhere to eat and no way to cook food.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Originally posted by TinyTitch
    we are 'part' catered. which means we have breakfast provided.

    we're going to argue because after duscussions with various 'in the know' parents, its actually illegal as its not in our contract. it comes under trading standards law and some other obscure EU law as well. there is also a hygeine issue because when the kitchen is locked, the only water we have is from the bathrooms.

    if its not in the contract then its not illegal, if they had mentioned in the contract that they would provide set hours of access and then broke them, that would be illegal

    but as its not mentioned in the contract, you pay for your rooms etc and the breakfast, and with no mention in the contract, you dont appear to be making a legal deal with these people to use these kitchens, therefore they can do what the hell they like, and its not trading standards law, its the trades description act, which in itself while vaguely similar is a subtley different kettle of fish
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    actually, we're been in discussions with people and this is what we've discovered

    We were sold accommodation under the impression that we had 24 hour kitchen access. We were not informed that the kitchens were locked until after we had paid. The university is as such providing substandard accommodation and has broken the trade descriptions act. Also, they are denying us access to our posessions by locking the kitchen overnight and are not providing us with fresh drinking water. As a result, the university is up s**t creek :D

    They won't make the same mistake again... they will make sure it goes into next years contract but since they messed up and left it out of this years there isnt anything they can do about it.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    waaaaay ....FUCK'EM AND THEIR LAW :D
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Don't you have sinks in your rooms?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    we are ensuit accommodation. but there are rules which state that water can only be called clean if there is at least 1 door between the source and a toilet.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    WE WON!

    They are going to leave our kitchens open from now on :D:D:D
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Originally posted by TinyTitch
    WE WON!

    They are going to leave our kitchens open from now on :D:D:D
    Lol well done!! :D
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Originally posted by TinyTitch
    we are ensuit accommodation. but there are rules which state that water can only be called clean if there is at least 1 door between the source and a toilet.

    even better cause it should be at least 2 doors, thats why you often dont see a kitchen door leading directly into a toilet
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