MESA, AZ — People living at an apartment complex in Mesa are hoping their air conditioning won’t go out again.
Some said they were left in their apartment, at the Tides on University, for nearly a week without cool air.
The management group told ABC15 that the problem was fixed, but renters say they’ve still had issues.
“I honestly feel like it could have killed me it was so hot in here,” said Bonnie Brockway.
But the sound of air gives Brockway some relief. “It’s been going on a good week and a half, and so a week ago Saturday they brought me that thing,” said Brockway pointing to a portable AC unit.
The 80-year-old was left with just a portable unit. She said she was grateful for any help, but it wasn’t enough to cool her unit.
“There were two nights I put ice cubes in a towel and laid that under my face,” said Brockway. “It was that hot.”
She doesn’t have family in the area and gets food through meals on wheels.
She says trying to move all of her medication and items to the one friend that could have taken her in, would have been too much.
Other families and renters told us they were also left struggling to find a hotel covered by management or somewhere to stay.
“I was very happy when my friend said I saw your story was on the news,” said Brockway.
The Tides on University is run by The Robinson Group. After ABC15 aired two stories the group told us on June 10 that the situation had been fixed, but days later Brockway said there were still issues.
“We got another email saying there was another problem, and it will another two hours and then it will be okay,” said Brockway.
After going hours without A/C, it’s now back on, but residents received a message this week saying a temporary chiller had been installed.
Large equipment with cones around it could be seen in the parking lot.
“I would expect a week and a half-credit on my next rent bill just to be human,” said Brockway.
Something The Robinson Group has said is that it will be giving credit to people who found somewhere else to stay.
“You can’t live in Arizona like that, not at my age,” said Brockway.
We reached out to The Robinson Group who sent us the following statement:
Thank you for contacting us. Yes the chiller is back up and running. While it was repaired we make the executive decision to get a brand new temp chiller that’s even larger than what was on site previously installed to ensure there is no outage during these summer months. We’ve also purchased a brand new chiller for the community which is estimated to arrive in 2-3 months pending shipping delays. The residents will not have any issues moving forward.
