No Reply

May 31, 2009

Maravilla Foundation
5729 East Union Pacific
Commerce, CA 90023

RE: Site Inspection, May 31, 2009
My Apartment

To Whom It May Concern:

I’d like to apologize to the woman and two men who visited my apartment this afternoon to inspect the furnace and foundation. I was uncharacteristically unhelpful and rude to them. Please know that I was entirely unaware of the benevolent nature of their visit and mistook them for the representatives of the Freed Leeds Property Management, the underachievers who manage this building.

I received no prior warning from the managers and in fact was on my way out when the Maravilla Representatives arrived.

These are the reasons I became annoyed:

1. Not one individual from Maravilla made it clear what organization they represented.
2. Not one individual made clear to me the altruistic nature of their visit.
3. I was asked if I wanted a new furnace installed with ZERO background as to why I would need one.
4. Still not having clearly identified themselves, the woman then asked me if I could produce my utility bills and asked me to state my income to see if I qualify for low-income assistance.
5. When I pointed out that they could have called, one gentleman put the onus on me as the one responsible party for gleaning this information from Corinna Martinez the apartment manager.
6. Confused by this, I asked her if she was the new apartment manager, and she handed me her badge to inspect while she glanced at my DWP bill.

I did not fully realize the intent of the visit until I reviewed your website some hours later.

All in all I’d say this interaction was an example of abysmal communication and I’m willing to acknowledge my part. I hope you can understand that my vexation was borne from a feeling of being blindsided by strangers wanting details I was not prepared to share. From now on, I will be more cordial to any and all representatives of your organization.

Your people need to learn how to introduce themselves more formally by initiating each interaction in this way or similar:

“Hello, my name is _______, from the Maravilla Foundation, you may have received notification from your landlord that we were planning on stopping by…”

instead of:

“Helloooo. (knock knock knock) Hellloooo. We are from the building.”

On another note, I’d like to donate money to the foundation if possible. I have a broad giving portfolio and would like to include the Maravilla Foundation on my list. Your website indicates that you do work that I whole-heartedly support and I would love to assist by giving. If cash donations are not an option, please let me know how else I could contribute.

Again, please pass on my sincere apologies to the people who visited today. I’m truly sorry for my part in the misunderstanding.

Please feel free to call me if you have questions or concerns. My cell phone is (323) xxx-xxxx.

All the best,


Yirko