From Residential and Business Services

[Admin]

I contacted Residential and Business Services this afternoon and received the following reply. Hopefully this should put people's minds at ease.

[hr]
The process for the allocation of accommodation to first year students is
virtually complete.
Any student who has not received confirmation of their accommodation allocation should contact Student Accommodation Services on St Andrews (01334)462504/5/6 where a team of people are available to handle enquiries.
Residential and Business Services has been under pressure from the
exceptional demand for accommodation from first year students this year
and any inconvenience to student callers is regretted.

Roger Smith
Director of Residential and Business Services.
[hr]

Thanks to ResBus for replying

[Prophet Tenebrae]

Am I the only one who sees the subtext of that message as being "It was admissions fault"?

In any evennt,thanks for eliciting a reply from them, Oli.

[David Bean]

You're probably right, but then it probably is. I have a feeling that the issue of the university's spiralling intake will provoke not a little disquiet during the coming year...

[Keynes]

[s]David Bean wrote on 20:05, 15th Sep 2003:
You're probably right, but then it probably is. I have a feeling that the issue of the university's spiralling intake will provoke not a little disquiet during the coming year...


What exactly does "confirmation" entail? If I received a hall contract and mailed in it within the allotted amt of time, am I okay? Or, in addition to the offer, should I have received a notice confirming that residential services received my response?



[hr]
Challenge is pleasure.
http://hindidiamond.livejournal.com

[LeopardSkinQueen]

[s]Keynes wrote on 21:41, 15th Sep 2003:


What exactly does "confirmation" entail? If I received a hall contract and mailed in it within the allotted amt of time, am I okay? Or, in addition to the offer, should I have received a notice confirming that residential services received my response?




I've never had any confirmation from Resbus that they have recieved my reply, so I'm guessing you'll be fine.

Well done Oli for actually getting a reply, despite its vagueness and neglect of several issues, such as: the vertical twins, and specifically whether people who were told that they would have a single room would be moved to VT rooms.

But as getting anything from them is like getting blood from a stone, it is some feat.

[hr]
[s]"Frodo breathed heavily and leaned against Sam, who put his arms about him." 'Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Book 2'
[/s]

[Keynes]

[s]LeopardSkinQueen wrote on 22:02, 15th Sep 2003:
[s]Keynes wrote on 21:41, 15th Sep 2003:[i]


I've never had any confirmation from Resbus that they have recieved my reply, so I'm guessing you'll be fine.
[/i][/s]
[/i]

Thanks! I'm relieved to know that I won't get to my room and find that it was given to another student!





[hr]
Challenge is pleasure.
http://hindidiamond.livejournal.com

[Nickel]

Any chance we can see what you asked them Oli?
they seem to be stepping around the issue of if there are bunkbeds again. Did you ask them outright about that?

--
nickel

[David Bean]

Interesting you shouldmention that, Keynes, but I was wondering the same thing (about the lack of confirmation that we've definitely got the rooms we accepted). Thanks to LSQ for clearing it up.

One surprising thing, I found, was that they didn't seem especially concerned about asking for money; in the end I had to look on the web site to find out how (or, indeed, apparently whether) they wanted me to pay for the room! Thankfully the cheque has gone off now, though, so all should be well.

[Admin]

Below is the email I sent to ResBus (less introduction and signature)


[hr]
I have noticed that there have been a lot of messages posted recently [on the Sinner] by new first year students, who are unsure where they are staying, or whether they have been allocated a room yet.

The Sinner website is being used by many new students, both from the UK and overseas, as a means of finding out more about the University, as they haven't received yet their welcome packs or details about their accommodation.

I would like to invite you to post a message on The Sinner messageboards to help alleviate any uncertainty regarding accommodation this year.
If you would prefer, you could email your reply to me and I will post it on your behalf.

[Guest]

Confirmation? Does this mean they send something back after I sent off saying I will accept my offer of a place?

[Jaspect]

i applyed for halls time ago and got St-Salvators hall, great, so I replyed immediately and heard nothing more. I e-mailed to see if I actually had a place and I questioned them (From Residential and Business Services)about why I didn't get a confirmation letter. They replyed by saying "assume you have a place unless you hear differently", which was fine. Today I got a letter saying that "you have been allocated accomodation within one of the university's traditional, catered residences. you will be sharing with two other roomates". So are these people unsure about where I am staying or am I just paranoid? Also appart from the time they want me there I dont know anything about where I should go on saturday, where to park, what sort of queue there will be to get into halls, Whos welcome to assist me in moving in?

Do we get a further discount in hall fees for sharing with two other people? Is there enough room to house 4 to a room?


Sorry for being so mardy but Im gettin twitchy obout the universitys organisational skills and care towards there students!!

[gingerbeer]

You should just turn up to the hall you've been allocated to on Saturday, most of them have a car park, although some of them are quite small. I don't think you get a discount for sharing with 2 people instead of 1 (other than the cheaper rate students in shared rooms already get), but last time this happened, the people affected got a priority voucher, which means that if you want to apply for a room in a university residence in the future you're given priority over other applicants.

[Neferet]

Does anyone now know how much the rent is for the new DRH apartments? Just curious.

[Prophet Tenebrae]

I think that it's roughly comparable to New Hall.

[Rennie]

Rent for the new DRH apartments is £75, as far as I know, but i have heard other people mention they think it is as high as £80.

Also, I think accomodation services haven't been sending out confirmation sheets because if they offer you a single place, and you sign the contract then they have to give you a single room legally. However, if they leave sending out the contracts until the last minute, when they know pretty exact figures, then they can fob people off with double (and even triple) rooms because of their inability to plan ahead.

[harmless loony]

DRA is about £2700 and New Hall, self catered, single room is about £2400 (very roughly - I can't remember the exact amounts!)

[stan-drews]

Our contracts say "Prior to arrival fees should be paid in full or an installment plan established". Does this mean that we can't just turn up to the cash office with a cheque on the dates given? (25oct,25jan,25april) Or must I phone up resbus telling them this is how I plan to pay my fees before I move in? (I can't imagine they would want a lot of people phoning them just now)

[TheGamesMaster]

You can turn up with a cheque to pay the whole amount on arrival. Or with your contract there should have been a direct debit mandate which is the installment plan.

I have used both methods to pay for residence fees without needing to phone them. However they did mess up my direct debit mandate last year (basically they had it but didn't use it, so my dad had to send them cheques for all but the last payment).

[Aer]

last yr we paid accom at matriculation.

[Capt. Jean-Luc Picard]

will they send you a letter telling you your room would have changed from singles to doubles? is it ONLY first year students affected by this and not second/third/fourth year students?