Facility managers are in charge of assets worth millions of dollars. They oversee a team responsible for hundreds of thousands of square feet of office space. The security of the building and the efficiency of its operations is in their hands. Yet, building occupants only seem to care about this department when it is a degree too cold in their offices, or there is a strange smell emanating from the kitchen, or the third floor restroom is out of towels.
FacilitiesNet recently asked its readers to submit the most outrageous complaints they’ve received from tenants. Here are the best and funniest stories from office buildings:
"While I was dealing with phone system outage, I had an employee come to me stating that he thought the Splenda in the breakroom tasted bad and asked if I could get this replaced before his next coffee break."
"There was tenant who was the only employee on an entire floor, where the elevator lobby was separated from the rest of the floor by double doors. She complained that the temperature in the elevator lobby was two degrees higher than the temps on the rest of the floor."
"A gentleman complained about the size of the toilet bowl. Specifically, that he was built such that his genitals were so large that they would hang in the water when he sat to use the toilet."
"The tenants on a floor were watching an eagle that kept flying into the glass of the building across the street. They wanted to know if we could call that building manager so they could station someone on the roof to wave the bird away."
"I will never forget the law firm I had as a tenant that would regularly throw a conniption fit about the janitors moving their tea cozy. I hadn't even heard the term 'tea cozy' until this tenant became so fixated on it. It was a cute little wicker basket that held their variety of tea bags and it sat on the breakroom counter near their coffee makers. The janitors, doing their job thoroughly I must note, would move it over to wipe down the counter underneath it. But if they didn't put it back in EXACTLY the right spot, we would receive a complaint about it. This tenant just could not understand why on earth these hardworking janitors who work the night shift doing a job many people look down on, couldn't seem to put the tea cozy back in the exact right spot. No exaggeration, if that thing was left crooked or even a few inches from where they thought it should be, they complained. While I was meeting with this tenant in person and watching the demonstration of how this tea cozy was left in various perfectly acceptable locations that were very much unacceptable to them, I had to fight the urge to ask why on earth they couldn't just let it go and be appreciative that the janitors took the time to actually wipe down the counter regularly at all! I will never look at a tea cozy the same way again..."
"Many automatic restrooms soap dispensers waste soap! When the soap dispenser is placed very close to the automatic water faucet, when the user gets water to wash soapy hands, their hands under the faucet cause the soap dispenser to dispense soap. At that point, the user doesn't need more soap, and the extra soap is wasted! Automatic soap dispensers should be mounted far enough from the faucet to prevent this."
"Overnight security said the main entrance door mag locks were not working. They even went as far as to record from the inside as another guard walked up to the doors outside and opened the doors without swiping a badge. Turned out that the guard standing inside the building was triggering the motion sensor and releasing the mag lock."
Do you have a similar story to share or think you can top these? Submit your most outrageous complaint today!
