Our Upstairs Neighbors Are Driving Us Nuts!

[clairebear]

We have just returned from our third year spent at our timeshare. We have confirmed that the people in the unit above ours are owners and that they come every year. The problem? They make a tremendous amount of noise.
It sounds as if they rearrange the furniture daily by dragging it all over their unit.

Some background: The two units (ours and noisy neighbors) are considered very desirable and the timeshare we bought into doesn't often have primo units like these for sale. When we bought ours, the owner at that time had two weeks (wks 5 & 6) and was considered "difficult" according to the sales person.

Fast forward to this trip. We stopped into the sales office to say hello to the sales person who sold us the unit and we asked about the people in unit "123" above us as they have been extremely noisy the last 2 years and we can already tell it's going to be the same this year. Another salesperson walking by started snickering as soon as she heard "unit 123." Our sales person got a little flustered and flipped open a notebook to look them up (presumably). In hindsight we feel confident she knew exactly who occupied unit 123 without looking them up. She confirmed that they were long time guests. It hit us the next day that it's likely the "difficult" person who dumped their 2 weeks was fed up with the noise from above and that the sales people weren't surprised at all by our complaints

After about 4 days we stopped by one of the offices in the front lobby to complain. The person we spoke to said he would call them and speak to them about the noise and that long-time guests sometimes forget this is a time "share." Whatever he said to them made no impact and the noise continued. We were actually glad to leave and come back home.

Sorry this is so long and thanks for reading. Do we have any recourse?

 

[dioxide45]

I suppose your only recourse would be to read through the condo documents and see if there is any protections in there for this type of situation. If there is and the HOA or management isn't willing to enforce the rules, then I suppose you could sue them to force the issue. Your other recourse is to just sell your week there.

 

[vacationhopeful]

Are the 'furniture movers' as identified by the staff as "guests" or really owners of the unit?

I would start a letter of complaint to the HOA. Ask that something be done ... a means of correcting the noise the constant noise. Perhaps area rugs be placed in the living room, furniture moving glides be installed on the bottom of all the furniture or the tile be replaced with RUGS.

Also, have you talked to other guests under other 2nd floor units? Could this a problem with any unit UNDER another occupied unit.

Ask the HOA to enforce the NO FURNITURE MOVING or to TRADE your ownership with a quieter unit ... one of the 2nd floor.

Have you actually talked to the people above you? Are they aware they are NOT really good neighbors?

If nothing works ... exchange or trade your week(s) ... or SELL ... moving on.

 

[ronparise]

I realize its not not a solution for a fixed week owner, Your situation is why I always ask for a top floor unit.

 

[pedro47]

I agree with Ron, always ask for the top floor unit or book both units for the week (A & B).

If you can prove that they are rearranging the furniture in the unit that could/should be a violation of the condo usage policy. I would report this violation to the resort manager.

Good luck or on your next visit book a top floor unit.

 

[WinniWoman]

Could they have at least sent security to the unit above yours? That is what they should have done.

Nothing you can do about it now, but we also made sure to buy a top unit and a loft unit- both corners.

 

[Talent312]

Someone I know (not me) would deal with it by using a broomstick to punch the ceiling in an effort to let them know that we could make noise, too. Alternatively, buy a pair of earplugs.
.

 

[silentg]

Ask to be assigned permanently to another unit that is same size as yours. We had a RTU timeshare that wanted to use our unit as a sales office so they moved us to another unit. It can be done, just ask. Best of Luck!
Silentg

 

[clairebear]

Thank you to all of your replies and suggestions. They will be very helpful when we communicate with management next week. We have not spoken to the upstairs neighbors or to any other neighbors on our floor. (I can't think of a single time last week where we encountered anyone else on our floor during our comings and goings.)

I checked our HOA rules and found the following, which I hope will be helpful. Thanks for suggesting the HOA!

"No unit owner shall make or permit any disturbing noises by himself, his family, servants, employees, agents, visitors, licensees, nor do or permit anything by such person that will interfere with the rights, comforts or convenience of the unit owners."

p.s. I bought earplugs at the beginning of our week and they still didn't drown out everything.

 

[dioxide45]

Thank you to all of your replies and suggestions. They will be very helpful when we communicate with management next week. We have not spoken to the upstairs neighbors or to any other neighbors on our floor. (I can't think of a single time last week where we encountered anyone else on our floor during our comings and goings.)

I checked our HOA rules and found the following, which I hope will be helpful. Thanks for suggesting the HOA!

"No unit owner shall make or permit any disturbing noises by himself, his family, servants, employees, agents, visitors, licensees, nor do or permit anything by such person that will interfere with the rights, comforts or convenience of the unit owners."

p.s. I bought earplugs at the beginning of our week and they still didn't drown out everything.

Your best option will be to write a letter to the BOD and management company. Reference the said regulation from the governing documents.

 

[silentg]

Upstairs Noise

Thank you to all of your replies and suggestions. They will be very helpful when we communicate with management next week. We have not spoken to the upstairs neighbors or to any other neighbors on our floor. (I can't think of a single time last week where we encountered anyone else on our floor during our comings and goings.)

I checked our HOA rules and found the following, which I hope will be helpful. Thanks for suggesting the HOA!

"No unit owner shall make or permit any disturbing noises by himself, his family, servants, employees, agents, visitors, licensees, nor do or permit anything by such person that will interfere with the rights, comforts or convenience of the unit owners."

p.s. I bought earplugs at the beginning of our week and they still didn't drown out everything.

Can we ask what resort and where this is?

 

[pedro47]

Can we ask what resort and where this is?

Suggestion only. I would not confront the party upstairs. That is the job of the resort management team or security. Good luck.

 

[vacationdoc]

Are the 'furniture movers' as identified by the staff as "guests" or really owners of the unit?

I would start a letter of complaint to the HOA. Ask that something be done ... a means of correcting the noise the constant noise. Perhaps area rugs be placed in the living room, furniture moving glides be installed on the bottom of all the furniture or the tile be replaced with RUGS.

Also, have you talked to other guests under other 2nd floor units? Could this a problem with any unit UNDER another occupied unit.

Ask the HOA to enforce the NO FURNITURE MOVING or to TRADE your ownership with a quieter unit ... one of the 2nd floor.

Have you actually talked to the people above you? Are they aware they are NOT really good neighbors?

If nothing works ... exchange or trade your week(s) ... or SELL ... moving on.

I agree with Linda. Too late this year, but if you have the same problem next visit, record the noise. DS was having this problem so he took a video/audio on his cell phone of his clock and the upstairs noise from this video was enough for his apartment management to have the upstairs neighbor stop. This was after he had mentioned it to the neighbor and gotten an aggressive response Edited to add: I would not approach the upstairs guests, since the resort seems to be aware of their "manners".

Good Luck.

Judy

 

[Nancy]

Not just timeshares

We live in a 3 level condo part-time. We live on the middle level. Depending on who is using unit above us, we've had lots of noise. The upper lever doesn't really know how much noise is heard below. (Not saying to confront them, just stating a fact.) On the other hand, because we have units all around us, we use the a/c and heat less. We even have a smaller a/c unit than the upper level.

Nancy

 

[travelplus]

We have just returned from our third year spent at our timeshare. We have confirmed that the people in the unit above ours are owners and that they come every year. The problem? They make a tremendous amount of noise.
It sounds as if they rearrange the furniture daily by dragging it all over their unit.

Some background: The two units (ours and noisy neighbors) are considered very desirable and the timeshare we bought into doesn't often have primo units like these for sale. When we bought ours, the owner at that time had two weeks (wks 5 & 6) and was considered "difficult" according to the sales person.

Fast forward to this trip. We stopped into the sales office to say hello to the sales person who sold us the unit and we asked about the people in unit "123" above us as they have been extremely noisy the last 2 years and we can already tell it's going to be the same this year. Another salesperson walking by started snickering as soon as she heard "unit 123." Our sales person got a little flustered and flipped open a notebook to look them up (presumably). In hindsight we feel confident she knew exactly who occupied unit 123 without looking them up. She confirmed that they were long time guests. It hit us the next day that it's likely the "difficult" person who dumped their 2 weeks was fed up with the noise from above and that the sales people weren't surprised at all by our complaints

After about 4 days we stopped by one of the offices in the front lobby to complain. The person we spoke to said he would call them and speak to them about the noise and that long-time guests sometimes forget this is a time "share." Whatever he said to them made no impact and the noise continued. We were actually glad to leave and come back home.

Sorry this is so long and thanks for reading. Do we have any recourse?

We have stayed 2-3 weeks in a Timeshare and are not loud guests. My gosh you must be fed up already with the noise. Could you ask to be moved? This is the reason why I like a unit on the top floor(i know if there are stairs and you have mobility issues you more than likely may need a ground unit).


One idea would be to go down to the Front Desk Manager and very politely but firmly explain what you just told us here. Tell them it effects your enjoyment of your vacation and its hard for you to sleep at night. Also you may want to call Security when it gets loud after the Quiet Hour has started to document it.

Can you see if they can give you a partial refund or even a full refund if units are not available? I know that guests should be considerate of each other but it is not your responsibility to talk with the offending guests as you never know they can turn around and start a fight.

With a log they can see how many times you have called about the guests. I would think the resort would be more proactive and politely tell them the policies of the resort(there is usually something you sign at checkin with the rules of the resort). If these guests do not abide especially after the Quiet Hours start they can be asked to leave.

 

[Jason245]

We have just returned from our third year spent at our timeshare. We have confirmed that the people in the unit above ours are owners and that they come every year. The problem? They make a tremendous amount of noise.
It sounds as if they rearrange the furniture daily by dragging it all over their unit.

Some background: The two units (ours and noisy neighbors) are considered very desirable and the timeshare we bought into doesn't often have primo units like these for sale. When we bought ours, the owner at that time had two weeks (wks 5 & 6) and was considered "difficult" according to the sales person.

Fast forward to this trip. We stopped into the sales office to say hello to the sales person who sold us the unit and we asked about the people in unit "123" above us as they have been extremely noisy the last 2 years and we can already tell it's going to be the same this year. Another salesperson walking by started snickering as soon as she heard "unit 123." Our sales person got a little flustered and flipped open a notebook to look them up (presumably). In hindsight we feel confident she knew exactly who occupied unit 123 without looking them up. She confirmed that they were long time guests. It hit us the next day that it's likely the "difficult" person who dumped their 2 weeks was fed up with the noise from above and that the sales people weren't surprised at all by our complaints

After about 4 days we stopped by one of the offices in the front lobby to complain. The person we spoke to said he would call them and speak to them about the noise and that long-time guests sometimes forget this is a time "share." Whatever he said to them made no impact and the noise continued. We were actually glad to leave and come back home.

Sorry this is so long and thanks for reading. Do we have any recourse?

Have you ever considered just going upstairs, knocking on the door, introducing yourself, telling the neighbor that they sound very noisy from the floor below and asking what is causing it?

For all you know they are dragging an oxygen tank around.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk

 

[saabman]

Have you ever considered just going upstairs, knocking on the door, introducing yourself, telling the neighbor that they sound very noisy from the floor below and asking what is causing it?

Best advice yet.

 

[BevL]

I'm all for just going and directly addressing the problem. I live in a condo and have had conversations with residents about something or other that's creating a problem, and have encouraged my neighbours to do the same if I'm irritating them in some way.

In this case though, it seems these folks are known for being difficult, which is a different thing than being oblivious. Trying to do the right thing by having a pleasant conversation to bring to their attention the problem might lead them to retaliate by stepping up their game and being even noisier.

I'd probably see if I could find out what they look like and speak to them a little more casually if the opportunity arose. A very annoying issue, especially since the resort seems aware of it and doesn't seem to want to really address it and I'm sorry it's impacting your vacation time.

 

[theo]

Do we have any recourse?

IMnsHO, not likely --- unless the noise that your neighbors create is sufficient to actually constitute a disturbance (not just a personal annoyance to you alone) and / or their noise level perceptibly violates an existing and enforceable standard in resort bylaws, literally interfering with use and enjoyment by others.
There is certainly a whole lotta room between "personally annoying" and "interfering with use and enjoyment".

If you own fixed units / weeks, you can hardly ask or expect Management to just move you into someone else's fixed unit / week; they have absolutely no legal right or option to ever do so without that other owners' expressed knowledge and consent (assuming there is a vacant unit available then in the first place).

Transmitted noise is not an uncommon problem in some multilevel properties, particularly those of light or wood frame construction. We certainly learned this lesson the hard way over the years at a place in Maine, also "enjoying" practicing furniture relocators (at all hours) galloping around directly above us. We ultimately sold our weeks there which were not located on the top floor and bought replacement weeks on the top floor instead when they became available. We try to always be mindful of those living below us, but some people can be remarkably inconsiderate of others (... sometimes bordering on being just outright ignorant, truth to tell).

If the furniture movers are not fellow owners, but renters or "guests" of some other non-owner flavor, you may not succeed in appealing directly to their better angels.
Good luck, in any case.

 

[Passepartout]

If the place is not well enough constructed and soundproofed to keep noise in the place it's generated, either sell your current unit and move upstairs, or elsewhere. Or make peace with it, and the family of elephant furniture movers upstairs.

Jim

 

[VegasBella]

I think the first step to take in a situation like this is to go try to talk to them face to face. Studies show that people are less considerate when the harm is done to some unknown, general person than when there's a face attached to the recipient of their inconsiderate behavior. I would calmly ask them to try to keep the noise down because XYZ (use or make up some reason that makes sense).

Only after that would I resort to other options. I know you probably don't want to confront them, but it really is the right thing to do. A face to face conversation is likely to benefit both parties better than starting some sort of HOA war. By all means, go to war if you need to. Just don't start there.