Right Name, Wrong Number, No Wheel-Trans

What Happened

Ms. X moved to a new apartment in her Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC) building when her ceiling collapsed in March 2009. After the move, she asked her building superintendent to move her name on the intercom to reflect the apartment change. This was crucial because Ms. X uses a wheelchair and depends on Wheel-Trans to get around; in order to properly pick her up, Wheel-Trans needed to buzz the correct unit on the intercom. Despite her requests, the TCHC superintendent did not update the intercom. Further, Wheel-Trans continued to buzz the incorrect unit, even though Ms. X had phoned to tell them about the change. As a result, Ms. X missed several pick-ups for appointments. By August 20, 2010, Ms. X lost her patience and called our office for help.  

What We Did

We discussed the issue with staff at TCHC who said a contractor was hired to replace the panel, but they needed a part that was on back order. We said that surely there could be some kind of temporary fix.

The Result

In August, 17 months after her move, TCHC made the change to Ms. X’s buzzer. Ms. X commented that, if Ombudsman Toronto had not intervened, the issue would likely never have been fixed.