Amin Mohammed Jindani..

having such large balance sitting in Bank Account earning nothing is it wise to do so.all the members of committee are very intelligent people I hope they give some consideration to this. Amin

Ahmad Bilal..

Dear Owners of Goldcrest Views Interim Owners’ Association,

Due to breakage of main pipe from Empower District Cooling, chilled water supply is temporarily disconnected.
We are in continuous contact with them and as per their statement they will rectify the problem by the end of the day.

We will update you regarding the matter.

Your cooperation in this regard will be highly appreciated.



Sincerely,
HOAM

Ahmad Bilal..

Dear Owners of Goldcrest Views Interim Owners’ Association

We are pleased to announce Goldcrest views 4th Annual General Assembly.
The General Assembly is scheduled as follows:

Date: 15th November, 2014
Time: 05:00 PM to 08:00 PM
Venue: First Floor, Function Room, Goldcrest Views

Find the AGA Packet enclosed.

Please join us for this most important meeting.

Sincerely,

HOAM

Happy Diwali !!!

Dear Owners / Residents,
May This Festival Of Lights,
Illuminate Your Ways And,
Make You Life Full Of Happiness,
Progress, Joy And Prosperity.

Wishing You A Happy Diwali.

Mr. Michael Baker..

Dear Farha

Thank you for this update information it has helped to understand how the calulations were derived.

I am a little concerned however about the Common area Capacity charge calculations and also the refund for the 10th February.

Year Budgeted total = 960,212.33
Number of days = 365
Budgeted total per day = 2,630.71
Number of actual days Jan (31) Feb (10) total 41
Total 41 x 2630.71 = 107.859.46

This is a little less than the 135.929.26 in the Cap charge working file. Have I missed something?

The PDC working shows old capcity charge as 334,312.5 and the new common area shows 126,545.63 as a percentage this is 37.8% of the building. I am struggling to understand how any more than 20 - 25% of the building can be common area seeing as the corridors are only 2m wide. There are no corridors on 2 floors of the building (37 & 39) and only Ground and First floor a portion of 40th floor and the mechanical floor on 30 falling under this category.

Can this be explained?

Sorry for the additional questions

Regards

Michael

Ahmad Bilal..

Dear OA Members,

The detailed computation for Capacity Charges Refund is given in the attached files for your reference.

Capacity Charges refund has already been credited to your accounts in 4th Quarter of 2014.

Amount of AED 907.00 on Account of BTU meter installation has already been adjusted in the 3rd Quarter of 2014 Services Charges.

Thanks & Regards,
HOAM

Amin Mohammed Jindani..

Dear Mr. Michael Baker.

Thank you for taking up the matter of refund on behalf of all the owners. Really as usual you are just great. Amin M. Jindani

Mr. Michael Baker..

Transparency is of Vital Importance!!!

Dear OA Board members and HOAM,

I have just received the Q4 invoice for the AMF and there is a figure posted as a credit balance. Unfortunately you have failed to explain what this figure consists of and how it has been calculated.

I am expecting 2 refunds from the OA as follows.

1. Refund of twice paid Capacity charges to PDC from the building account and then by myself on registration. I was told this would be refunded in Q3 first and then this was changed to Q4.

2. We were promised a reduction of our AMF as the Capacity charge would no longer be split between each unit from the OA but is paid directly to PDC in a quarterly charge on the account. I believe the adjustment to this was supposed to be about 1.8 per sq foot so for me personally on 1,113 sq ft internal area this should equate to AED 2,000

I believe I can speak for all the owners that we want to see proper calculations and a full explanation of things appearing on our statements. Please provide all the details of when and what you are handing back

Thanks

Eid Ul Fitr

Dear Owners / Residents,
Team HOAM wishes you a very happy Eid Ul Fitr. May the auspicious occasion of Eid bless you with peace and bring joy to your heart and home.

Mr. Salim Khan..

test

Mr. Salim Khan..

As Mr Khurum suggested, depends where you buy the Artison brand from (horizontal or vertical W/H 80L-100L), the prices varies but could only be verified from suppliers.

On an occasion I was quoted retail price for 80L around AED400.
In a unit of mine in Saba Tower for 50L W/H replacement their contractor charged me AE D730 in total allowing 100%
marke up on the cost of w/heater.

Having said that one should make sure the origin of Artison make as the maket is flooded with china made products too.

I could only suggest if the board could look into the price structure of the contractors before allowing them into GCV
office unless they are the same contractors the Board has
already contracted.
I could further suggest if a competable price list / break down cost for various other minor repairs and periodic checks (A/C ) and services etc could be made available and minotered somehow with in the Board or by a sub committee in order to save time and hassel for residence.

Mr. Salim Khan..

Khurram Khanzada..

Dear Mr. Ferdous, I concur with Mr. Marc's reply

for everyone's interest, the water heaters installed in GCV are Ariston Brand, ranging from 80 liters to 100 liters.

the price ranges from 750 to 950. depending upon where it is purchased from and the availability in the market. installation 250 to 300 depending upon other materials (such as hinges, pipes and repairs to the ceiling after installation)

average life of a heater is 5 years.

thanks & regards
Khurram

Dr. h.c. m. Fallenbuchel..

Hi,
its up to you, you can choose any company/ contractor.
If you have a trusted and cheaper one, i suggest you to go ahead with..

basically you can do whatever you like, as long as it has no impact to the building or/and your neighbours.
in case you go ahead with a contractor from outside, it would be great if you can share your experience with the community.
have a great evening
Marc

Mr. Ferdous Islam..

Thanks, Marc for your helpful comments. Do we have to go through the building management (who charges exorbitantly) or we can bring in our own contractors?

Dr. h.c. m. Fallenbuchel..

Hi,
it depends to the apartment, for my Studio i have paid arround 1200.- in 2011.
my 1bed room + study (it has 3 waterheater and its also a bigger one) arround 1400.- in 2012.
8 weeks back i have paid 1350.- for my other studio.
believe me....i feel with you...
im not shure about...i guess the new one comes with 5 year warranty !?!
warm regards
Marc

Mr. Ferdous Islam..

Thanks for your quick feedback, Dr. Fallenbuchel. How did you get it fixed then? Do you remember the cost of replacement?

Dr. h.c. m. Fallenbuchel..

Dear Mr. Islam,
maybe i can help.
Everything inside the Apartment belongs to the Owner (Maintenance, Repairs, Replacement etc.)
if this is your 1st replacement you are in luck, my waterheater starts leaking 3 years back.
So it is your part to replace the Waterheater :-(
hope this will help you.
Marc

Mr. Ferdous Islam..

Hello Khurram,

This is an urgent issue - there was an accidental water burtst from the water heater in my apartment flooding the floors and the hallway.

When we contacted the building management office, they handed over a quote of AED 1350 to us for the replacement of the unit.

My question is - why should I pay for the repair/replacement, when the building management is responsible to maintain it? I did not install it nor maintain it, the builder did it and the management office take care of this unit. It's a permanent fixture in the unit and should be covered by the service charges we pay every quarter. If there is a failed equipment, it reflects faulty management service.

Please look into this matter urgently and advise further. I have a new tenant who was supposed to move in yesterday and now impeded by this accident.

Mr. Ferdous Islam..

Mr. Michael Baker..

BTU Meter update

With 5 months of the year now passed I have been monitoring the changes I am experienceing between the old Shared billing system and the new Individual meters. The system didn't implement until February and I would have saved a further AED 70 in January as there was no usage.

My total savings so far in 2014 amount to AED 980 over the same time last year. I know there will be some offset required for the communal areas, hopefully with a raising of these areas by a few degrees we will see furhter savings, but I still anticipate it being worth the effort to change over with the unit paying for itself within 2 years or 2.5 years.

Mohamed Lakhi..

Hi Farha

Can I assume you sent this out to the wrong address and it was intended for one person?

I say this because like others I have no arrears and cleared all balances to have my meter installed.

Mr. Kiumars Rahmani-Fard..

Hello Farha,
To whom are you speaking? The 907 AED has been credited for everybody? I am one of those that paid 3000 AED for the cooling registration. What happened to the extra 1500 AED that I paid?

Mr. Kiumars Rahmani-Fard..

Hello Farha,
To whom are you speaking? The 907 AED has been credited for everybody? I am one of those that paid 3000 AED for the cooling registration. What happened to the extra 1500 AED that I paid?

Ahmad Bilal..

Dear GCV Owners,

Your third quarter service charges invoices have been raised,

please note that we have transferred all outstanding balances of previously managed chiller charges accounts to service charges account
henceforth you will only receive one statement of account.

The balance of AED 907.00 has been credited to your account. This amount is the final balance after accounting for all expenses incurred on account of BTU meter installation and commissioning expenses

Please clear your dues before the due date to help us serve you better.

Thanks & regards
HOAM

Dr. h.c. m. Fallenbuchel..

Dear Raza,
its not my apartment, its a common area.
just want to report it to the FM.
thank you

Reza Rahim..

Dr. Fallenbuchel, this happened to my apartment as well. Apparently this was condensation from air conditioning unit. HOAM came and fixed it with no charges to me. Thanks.
Reza.

Dr. h.c. m. Fallenbuchel..

Dear FM,
plz see attached picture....

Reza Rahim..

Nicolai, thanks for the advice. I shall have mine changes as well. Best. Reza.

Mr Nicolai Gersbo Solling..

Hey everyone, a small tip that I can really recommend: Upgrade your thermostats for the AC.

After being on the palm cooling system and with the summer knocking at the door I thought about how annoying it is to have the fans running all the time, not to mention the cost associated with the same. (I know the chilled water gets cut off, but still)
I had some thermostats installed which supports auto off on the fans, so now I just set the temperature and forget the rest. The old thermostats had the fans running all the time causing noise and stale air being circulated around.

We don't like the temperature at 21 degrees, but in the past we had to do that to fight humidity - now it is much better, even at 23-24.
I am no expert why, but think it has to do with the system cooling when required and not just pushing around cooled air.

Best part is that it is cheaper then I expected. Around 200 aed per room including installation. The guys from al thuraiyah knows what needs to be done, and as always super friendly service.

The thermostats I got was called Honeywell HALO t6861 - they even fit the installation dimension of the old ones so no repainting required.

I am in No way affiliated with Honeywell or anything else - just really happy about the benefit I got out of it.
Will I save money on it? Probably difficult to tell, but the interior climate is the main benefit.

Ruby Diamond Investments Limited, rep. by Urs Stir.....

Hi there Mr. Phil, we encountered the same issues recently. What we did is we went to Palm District counter in Almas, JLT to check what happened and they asked us to complete all the requirements and pay the remaining balances and we comply to it and within 6 hrs it is reconnected.
Try to go there and approach them to be sure, maybe you have missed something in the documentation.

Thanks,
PJ
GCV2408

Mr. Philip Alexander Smith..

I am not sure if someone accessing this Wall can help me, however I have an urgent issue regarding the AC in my apartment. It has been cut off despite me having followed the process of filling in registration forms, sending all the required docs before the deadline of April 24th to HOAM and transferring money to the appropriate account for the registration/installation of the new AC system.

I have written an email to Farha and Hala at HOAM requesting the matter be resolved on their side, however if anyone reading this can help sooner, please give me a shout urgently, as my tenant is suffering considerably due to the sweltering heat.
Thank you.
Phil Smith
Owner apt 1101

Ms. Lida Shafaghat..

Owners of the Gold Crest views 1 ,
Mr. Khurram ,

I am not in the building but it seems that already this change in the chillers' system is causing technical problems !!!! Therefore , please stop any further changes of any kind without expert engineer studies by presumptions to save money . Ask questions and expert opinion from the first designer of the building , ATKINS company through the developer or directly , first , for god's sake . Is it too difficult for you ? Then do not continue to decide for others .

I emphasize again , Dubai is not Europe , it is an extreme weather country , specific engineering features are involved from materials used to system engineering to set ups etc... nobody can play with the temperature in any area without a careful study .

Me personally if any damages of any kind occurs to the building , common areas or private area ; I will held responsible the OA association which without any expert studies from technical to financial has made a huge wrong , absurd decision . Construction Engineering studies are necessary before any money saving ideas which up to now has happened to be exactly the opposite . This is not a business area like trading for goods . This is a specialized area even if considered as business . everybody needs to know the limits of his expertise .

Already if other owners ask from OA for financial damages incurred by this individual BTU metering , will OA be able to pay back for the whole building ?

All criticism on individual metering were not taken into any consideration .

Please stop destroying the building by lack of expertise and with no prior technical studies , otherwise you will be seriously held responsible with no pity . Nobody is going to forgive you for his /her investment .

Lida Shafaghat

Dr. h.c. m. Fallenbuchel..

Dear Michael,
in case it´s only a matter of poor or degraded insulation, than we should go ahead with your great idea !!

Reza Rahim..

Michael, this is an excellent suggestion. I have seen studies that claim that in condos when you increase the temp by 1 degree you can save upwards of AED 250k pe month. We needs to undertake our own study over the next couple if months and determine the savings.

I second Michael's recommendation.

Best.

Reza.

Dr. h.c. m. Fallenbuchel..

Dear Michael,
this would be great to save money, but iguess we will get more damages at the ceiling...as the different temp. between the apartments and common areas will increase the condensation.
you can see the result (water stains) in nearly every floor.

Mr. Michael Baker..

PDC Communal Areas

Dear fellow owners,

Now that the payment of PDC consumption for the communal areas has passed from the shared system that was paid by the tenants, the burden for this will now be the responsibility of the landlords.

In real life we spend very little time in these communal areas (except the lobby that is 24 hrs manned) especially the corridors of each floor maybe no more that 30 seconds to a minute. Often these corridors have been heavily chilled but I would suggest this is a drain on our Service Charges.

I would like to propose to the board that the A/C setting for the communal corridors floors 2 - 40 be set at something like 26.5 or 27 degrees and see how much of a saving we can make from this?

Thanks for your attention

Michael

Ms. Lida Shafaghat..

Dear owners of non OA origin ,
Dear Mr. Khurram ,

I paid fully all the registration fee for the PDC registraion of my studio related to the wrong decision made before .

All the expenses from the BTU meter purchase and the registration fees are equivalnet of at least 3 years of my apartment's A/C charges measured by the previous ( still unfair ) sq.f system , let alone .... .

Now I would appreciate to know what is the plan and/or the procedure to get our money back , totally .

And finally , with regard to the Current Arrears ; the presumption to make the debts of other apartments cleared has not really worked .

I do not know neither , whether Mr. Khurram has submitted my letter to the Head quarters of the developer or not .

Thank you for any positive efforts done in the buiding but people may become " vocal " when they face an extremely wrong decision which they have to bear the consequences . ( word vocal was used in one of the comment ).

My comment is not for a new circle of polemics , it is for a true solution .

Lida

Samer Jamil Saad Naffa..

I am interested in purchasing another apartment in our building. If anyone is interested in selling their 1-Bedroom Apartment please let me know.

nick.fillipou..

I find it alarming that a few owners are NOW thinking about how the process of car park allocation was undertaken. This occured over 5 years ago! For those active in the building at the time, they will recall that the process was fair and transparent, with allocation pinned to the notice boards for all owners to see at that time. These allocations have now been written into the contracts as previously identified.
For those owners who have recently become active and vocal within the GCV1 community, I am sure your energy will be welcomed, but please focus on the relevant and current matters that can be changed, and need managing.
Kind Regards,
Nick

Mr. Michael Baker..

Have we only recovered AED 600,000 during the PDC registration process or are there still further payments to be reconciled and input to the system?

It's good news that the arrears have reduced but the outstanding figure is still a very worrying and large AED 5.85m.

Mr. Muhammad Farid Haroon..

Subjet : PDC registration confirmation.
Dear Farha,
From the last three days i am asking for PDC registration confirmation for my apt 2101. we sent all signed documents which you requested. and paid the registration fees and paid last two month bills. Please confirm the payments and registration status.
Thanks
Muhammad Padela

Mr. Kuldeep Chouhan..

I would agree with owners questioning the parking allocation as there was no clear process discussed, would definitely support reallocation.

Dr. h.c. m. Fallenbuchel..

Dear Dr. Shafaghat,
i have paid online via creditcard in March for each of my Studios each/ 187.50 and 491.25 for my 1bed + study....like the agreement. maybe they ad a penalty for late payment on your bill ?

Ms. Lida Shafaghat..

Subject : lack of transparency of palm utilities , for everybody's information

I have sent an e-mail to the Palm utilities to open a secure conventional credit card page payment to pay easily form outside UAE and for Quaterly charges instead of 187.5 AED as per the End -user agreement they have asked 246.98 AED .

This is the lack of transparency we are facing in this story of individual metering form all sides . Good luck for the future bills .

Lida

Mr. Khalid Nazir..

This is in response to Mr Lakhi's comments /suggestions on re-opening parking space allocations. While not part of the original process I cannot comment on it - but it seems unfair to penalize recent buyers who bought their flats on allocated parking spaces to have to go through the reallocation process. How would you deal with them? I put it you gentlemen that there is no such thing as 'fair allocation". Drawing lots is after all a process of random luck. The blame can be conveniently shifted to luck as opposed to the allocator.

Amin Mohammed Jindani..

I am the owner of 3203. I have used Mr Michael Baker recently.
I am glad I did that because today I see every owner of property in GOLDCREST VIEW 1 in confusion and frustration where as my Registration is done and over with Thanks to Mr. Michael Baker. Thank you Michael Baker.
I recommend you all do the same. I am sure you all will not be disappointed by him at all he is a very nice person and also knows what he is doing and talking about. Amin Jindani

Ms. Lida Shafaghat..

Subject : Individual metering

Dear Mr. Ferdous Islam ,

Dear concerned owners ,

Dear Mr. Khurram ,

I appreciate the clarifications of Mr. Islam . I remember well , there was only one vote ( out of only 14 or 15 vote ) against this BTU meter procedure . If I may , it seems that this one vote was the only wise , well- calculated , informed & conscious one . I agree with you Mr. Islam .

However , I am following the procedure by obligation and may be I am wrong , I have paid before the 4000 AED for the BTU meter by trusting OA . Nonetheless it doesn’t stop here and majorly I am waiting for :

1/ The reply of the letter I have addressed to the developer ‘s Head office through Mr. Khurram ( posted on the wall comment as well ) and the technical report of the original designer & constructor of the Building , ATKINS company to check whether this change in the infrastructure of the cooling system in an extreme weather country like UAE , Dubai , will not harm the overall infrastructure of the building and the energy conserving aspect .

2 / The installation costs are very high as you mentioned , it takes years for this cost to be recovered specially for the small apartments . Still we have to worry about the monthly bills , because as per the End-User agreement , it seems that the calculation methods for the monthly or quarterly bills will result in more expensive bills than before . Adds to it the fact that PDC ( palm cooling utilities ) is keeping an unlimited right to increase the charges at any time . It shows that no negotiation or discussion was made to write the end-user agreement ( lack of technical lawyer work by OA ).

- For instance : I need more explanation for 187.5 per “ ton” as quarterly fee , as well as the significance of a security deposit of 1000 AED refundable upon change of the owner . Is it payable by the owner after full registration or the tenant ? And finally the 3000 AED registration fee was reduced to 2500 under another name ! and not really reduced to a half .

The outcome according to the basic descriptions in the End-User agreement , is to expect expensive bills too .

***It is necessary to ask Palm utilities to give us an estimation of an average bill for a Studio of 43 sq.m & a three-bed as examples , in this very season ; a medium temperature season in Dubai and/or in summer as well , in a building like ours . ***

3 / With high installation fees , registration fees , expensive bills and the potential of unlimited rise in charges by PDC what is the use to continue this wrong procedure ? Still we do not know who is going to take care of the maintenance of BTU meters .

4 / We can still go back , the registration fees can be refunded , The manufacturer can get the BTU meters back as package-opened but non-used , the 4000 AED refunded to owners again and the system can return to the situation it was before . To establish the necessary fairness (I am the owner of a Studio only) we can change our monthly utility bill calculation method by introducing new calculation parameters or coefficients ,if necessary .

5 / The ones who decided without studying anything and making any calculations and still not letting other OA members speak out in OA association must be penalized for the costs of returning the system back to the status it was before .

6 / For the debts related to the Annual Maintenance fees and utility bills of other owners , obviously the right answer to the problem must be searched and implemented in order to truly finish with this problem , forever .

One of them may be what Mr. Islam has mentioned ,in his comment .

***Finally the report of ATKINS is necessary . If this change in cooling system can damage other infra structures of the Building ; who is going to bear the responsibility & the costs ?

To resume , all decisions specially the major decisions must be studied , well calculated , discussed with everybody and finally the votes should be informed votes . Uninformed votes or uninformed consents are not valid legally . There are in addition new costs (not told before ) emerging . There are enough evidences to reconsider this wrong decision legally too , in order to prevent more damages .

Thank you again Mr. Islam . I appreciated your responsible comment and clarifications and am waiting for the reports and estimation I have asked . A new correct collective decision is really necessary .

Sincerely yours ,
Lida Shafaghat

Mohamed Lakhi..

I must confess. I am still quite upset and agree with most of the points in relation to the parking allocations.

I have heard the arguments on both sides and have to agree the process for allocating the underground parking was all rather clandestine.

The argument that those who are owner occupiers got first allocation rights holds no water.

We all pay exactly the same for our properties regardless of if we choose to live in them or rent them out.

Our tenants have been seriously inconvenienced by this underhand and unfair allocation as well as have the owners if they decide to live in the apartment at a later date.

I hereby think this subject matter needs to be reopened and brought up in the next meeting.

I would personally fly out to Dubai to attend this. The parking allocations for the basement needs to be wiped clean and a new and democratic system of allocation needs to be put in place and voted for.

I wonder how many people who have arrears on their units have a underground allocation for parking whilst many fully paid up and honest owners have been disadvantaged at the hands of a few.

I would urge this subject to be re-opened.

Mr. Ferdous Islam..

Dear Mr. Naffa,

I agree to disagree with your several points:

1. If you continue to insist on your misgivings in the past, things will not improve, as it has not in the last years. Your statement "One, two or even 100 descending votes do not and should affect the outcome unless they are a majority in such a democratic process" does not reflect respect of equal rights but attempt to establish Pan Americana style rule in this building. Now get these facts for me - how many owners are there in this building? How many of them were contacted before taking the individual meter install decision? How many of them were even given the right facts to make the right decision? How many actually voted? If you talk about process fairness, then we can ask for a better decision making - we need at least 2/3 majority or better even consensus before making a critical decision like this.

2. The initial parking distribution was done in complete secrecy without corresponding with anyone, except those living in the building. I never kept any service charge outstanding, yet wan't ever told about your self-righteous process, for 7 years. Why was this matter kept under the lid? I am sure you would have had solved this matter with MGI much earlier, had this affected you. Why not mete out the same justice to others, as you would like for yourselve??

3. I would ask that we vouch legal opinion on the possible action plans people have proposed so far in this forum. I urge that you ask for a brain-storming from all owners and then create a focus group to further develop some legally valid action plans to recover service charges and settle MGI wrongdoings via a legal retainer.

4. Going forward, once again I insist that we show our civility, politeness, mutual respect and accept our past faults as a guide for the future.