Jenna Kefauver/Staff Writer
Dealing with FIU housing has never been a picnic, and I don’t think it ever will be, but I think this may have been the most ridiculous experience I’ve had.
After being told only a week in advance that I needed to check-out on Aug. 11, I packed my things and made an appointment to do so.
But apparently, my checkout appointment was unneeded because I was transferring apartments, not residence halls, which I explained when making the checkout appointment. No one tells me anything though, because less than an hour later, I went in with another person and they were told that they weren’t supposed to make a checkout appointment if they were transferring to another apartment. This was due to the fact that the apartment you are transferring to may not be ready by Aug. 11, so just sit tight with your stuff packed and “wait until we call you”.
I understand that my room may not be ready by Saturday, but if you know this, don’t let me sign up for a checkout appointment, potentially leaving me with tons of boxes and nowhere to go for an entire week.
So with all my stuff packed and no way to speed up this process, I’m forced to wait for a phone call that I was told might not come till the next Aug. 17. It’s really unfair to assume that I have the time to wait around for a call, with no dishes, no food, no clothes, and no sheets or blankets or pillows. If I’m going to have to wait a week, don’t tell me to pack at all. I was told to have my stuff packed for when they call. Yeah, that’s fine, I’ll leave my stuff packed for an entire week, I don’t need any of it.
Thanks, housing.
And it definitely doesn’t help when your payments don’t go through for the fall semester and you aren’t aware that you were previously notified until Saturday morning, 20 minutes before the checkout deadline, leaving you without a room for the fall semester.
That’s my fault though, so thank you housing for understanding and helping me out and not leaving me homeless. I do understand that I’m a big kid now and need to pay closer attention to things, so I have to give you props for that.
But seriously, I seem to go through this every semester. With housing and financial aid having no clue about the different situations that each student has, no matter how many times that student goes in, semester after semester.
So here’s some advice for housing: communicate. And listen, please. It would make things easier on everyone involved. Many people at housing are very helpful and understanding, but you would have fewer angry residents if you just sat down and thought of a way to communicate more effectively with residents, residence halls, and other departments at the University.
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