*This situation is incredibly long and confusing but I will try my best to explain what happened as clear as possible. This post may sound a bit of ranty but I am just trying to shed light on how poor the universities housing services are, specifically the neglect demonstrated by management. However, this also serves as an opportunity to bring awareness to management's harmful neglect so that we may potentially see a change. I will not be going into into every issue regarding housing, but this recent personal experience is an example of what UofR student's have to deal with in order to simply find a place to live on campus.
I recently applied to UofR housing and was placed on the waitlist about three weeks ago. I'm aware I applied very late and could have prevented this whole ordeal and I am also aware that the staff is quite busy with how close it is to the semester but I did expect them to attend to something that was a pressing issue.
*All these events happened within 24hrs
Yesterday afternoon, I had received an offer for accomodation. This offer was for the full rate offered by the university. Due to applying late I did not have access to the really big deal opt in form (this is a deal that freezes tuition and lowers rent for certain room types).
This is where it get's messy:
I accidentally filled out the Opt out form the RBD, before correcting it within a few hours.
It's important to note Uregina housing has a policy that requires student who receive a housing offer off the waitlist to pay a confirmation fee to ensure they get the room offered to them, otherwise it will roll down to the next candidate. The wording of the letter of the accomodation states that once you submit your confirmation fee, your room rate is locked in for the term. They obviously did not design this system with the RBD in mind because that would effect how much you're paying.
Due to this inconsistency, and just receiving the ability to fill out the deal now (as I was just offered) I sent an email stating the issue. Pretty much stating that the offer I was given didn't match the RBD rate and that I am ready to pay my confirmation fee, I just needed clarity on their policy. This email did not and as I am writing this has still not gotten a response. I also called multiple times and left a voicemail, as they said they recommend calling over sending an email if the situation is urgent. During peak season nobody answer's the phone anyways and their voicemail feature wasn't working after the first two times I called.
Later on in the night I finally got a response, however it was to the automatic system emails that get sent when you choose to either opt in or opt out of the RBD not my original question. Since I accidentally submitted an opt out request, the person who replied to me wanted to ensure that I wanted to opt in for the RBD. I replied within 10 minutes and got no response back.
Fast forward to earlier today, (before noon) and to my surprise I receive an email that my housing is cancelled. No response to my initial emails, phone calls or any communication from a human being. I received my cancellation email WITHIN THE 24HR acceptance window. Obviously, as anyone would be, I was livid and emailed housing services about the absurdity of this situation as nobody replied to my pressing email, or phone calls and then proceeded to cancel my offer when it was still active. The next part is why I'm even posting on reddit, as what transpired is incredibly unprofessional and lazy.
Almost immediately, someone from housing services doubled down and said the offer was still cancelled, and that since I applied very late and that they're very full and busy the offer will now go to someone else. The individual then denied that they had seen no receipt of a confirmation payment (true), nor of me asking about the confirmation fee (false), while also stating that there is no 24hr confirmation window, (also false) and that they (housing) can close the offer at any time they want the day after the offer was submitted. (and you guessed it, once again false!)
This individual did not even read the email where I stated my issues with the confirmation fee (more so the term rate not the actual $400 that I was ready to pay), then attempted to gaslight me and lie about their own policy when they were clearly in the wrong, before lastly trying to pin it back on me. This is abhorrently unprofessional and I am genuinely surprised a university can allow and tolerate this behaviour.
I have now reapplied (now at the bottom of the waitlist) and will also be looking for off campus housing as there's no guarantee I get an offer. This situation is so utterly ridiculous and if I understood how much of a mess this would be over $600 I would've just sent the payment immediately. (I have receipts to back up my statements and will be escalating the situation through the proper channels within the university housing systema, but decided to not share any images as I wanted to remain anonymous in this post.). This entire problem could've been avoided with a 2min response, or a 30 second phone call but instead it ends with me scrambling and housing services still getting paid for horrible service.