Stuck In The Office Lift

In my 3 years plus working in my company at Far East Shopping Centre, this was the 2nd time in 3 weeks that I had been stuck in the office lift. The 1st time, the lift just suddenly stopped but the lift door opened by itself after a short while.

But I was not so lucky on Thursday. My colleagues and I were looking forward to our lunch at 12pm. We took the lift down. As we reached the 6th floor, the lift suddenly stopped and the lift door didn’t open. My first instinct, was to press the lift alarm, which my senior and I took turns to do it.

We didn’t hear any responses or voices from outside after 5 mins. That was when I decided to give a call back to my office, to get the Management Office’s contact number. I managed to get the contact number from my boss, after I told them we were trapped in the lift.

I called the Management Office at 12.07pm. They said that they have heard the alarm but the lift maintenance company, OTIS’ phone lines were busy. A lady, who was in the lift with us, decided to call OTIS directly and fired them over the phone at 12.10pm. I called the management office at 12.12pm, telling them to hurry up. I said that it is ridiculous for us to wait for another half an hour. I called again at 12.20pm, and this time I really lost my temper and shouted the the Management Office officer. We were finally rescued at 12.35pm.

I had a quick bite before heading back to office, although my boss called me and told me that I could have come back from my lunch later. But seeing my work piling up on my desk, I knew I could not afford to do so.

When I was back from my lunch, I decided to call the management office to let them know my displeasure. I told the officer, It is ridiculous that the lifts are always breaking down, almost once every month. Granted that the building is old, but there should be proper maintenance procedures to ensure that the lifts are in good working order. Someone in the building maintenance department should be trained to rescue people who are trapped in the lift. To wait for the OTIS maintenance team for about 30 mins to rescue us is ridiculous. You guys always tell us to pay the building maintenance fees on time. If we did not pay on time, just for a day, we are charged late payment interest. Instead of handling the tenants’ complaints, that our colleagues’ umbrellas are blocking the way, when we hang out for them to dry, a solution should be resolved on how to solve the “lift always break down, and sometimes for a few days”.

I was sharing with my family this when I had dinner with them at night. My dad, who used to work as Building Maintenance Manager at a major shopping centre at Orchard too, agrees with me. He further adds that if the management office charges late payment interest for one day, the maintenance service should be at first class. My mum adds that, when the lifts break down each time, please take photos to show the management office to show how poor they are!