Edinburgh Council has apologised to a local mum after she was left without hot water for a week.
The mum-of-two also alleged that a gas worker who was due to replace her broken boiler 'shouted' and 'swore' at her before walking off from the job.
Lisa Lambert, 28, who stays in a high rise in Restalrig, says her boiler was due to be upgraded years ago but the Covid pandemic put the upgrade on hold.
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Last Tuesday (May 16) she was running a bath for her youngest daughter, six, after she came home from dancing lessons but discovered there was no hot water - despite having money in the meter.
She said she phoned the council repair team to report the issue but that it was Thursday before someone came out to inspect the boiler.
The council said that her boiler would need to be replaced and that someone would be out to complete the job on Friday afternoon.
However the council worker showed up in the morning, startling Lisa as she was preparing to take her anxious 12-year-old eldest daughter for a high school transition day.
Lisa claims that she told the worker he was earlier than previously agreed and that he then began ‘shouting’ and ‘swearing’ at the mother-of-two before refusing to fix her boiler.
“I’ve stayed in this home for nearly ten years and I have two children, my six-year-old and 12-year-old daughters,” she said.
“My six-year-old had just come home from dancing and after I gave her dinner, I went to run the bath but there was no hot water. I had money in the meter so I knew something wasn’t right and I called the repair team who came back to me at 7 or 8pm agreeing that it sounded like my boiler was knackered.
“I stayed in all day on Wednesday waiting on gas call but they never came out until Thursday. A guy measured the boiler and said that it would need to come out and be replaced.
“I was told that someone would be out on Friday afternoon. I suffer from bad mental health and really cannot deal with folk when they are really early or late, so when they showed up at 8.15am, four hours early I was a bit panicked.
“It was just me and my eldest at home, she also suffers from anxiety and was expecting me to take her down to the high school. I told him that he was early and then he just started swearing at me, huffing and puffing, before saying he is not going to do it.”
Lisa’s housing officer called later that day to say that her boiler would not be fixed as she had acted ‘aggressively’ towards the workman.
But she says this was not the case as she was looking forward to having a bath on Friday evening and that her eldest daughter has a skin condition that requires a hot bath to soothe symptoms.
“I contacted the council again on Monday to see if it would be fixed that day but they told me that the earliest it would be repaired would be Thursday later this week (May 25). I need it fixed as soon as possible and I have no idea how they expect me to go without hot water for over a week.
“My mental health has been really impacted by this. I was sitting on the phone to my mum greeting my eyes out.
“My housing officer told me to just use my sister’s hot water but that is ridiculous as I have two young daughters and need hot water in my house. We are having to boil the kettle and that is costing money for electricity.
“All the council are saying is ‘what do you want us to do?’ They could put us in a hotel so me and my kids could get washed for a start or fix my boiler now.
“The housing officer has also been ignoring my calls. I don’t want to go home tonight because of this.”
Councillor Jane Meagher, housing, homelessness and fair work convener, said: "We are sorry to hear of the problems our tenant is experiencing with the boiler.
"Officers are investigating the issue and will be in touch with her urgently.”
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