Ramsay Hall residents are set to receive a 15% refund on catering fees after they were forced to use single-use crockery for months.
Welfare and Community Officer Rachel Lim confirmed Ramsay residents will receive compensation backdated to November when the hall’s dishwasher broke down and remained that way for months.
One resident said that the refund was “long overdue” and described the single-use crockery as “atrocious”.
The Hall team confirmed the compensation will include £10 promised to residents when a burst pipe in the kitchen resulted in the loss of meal service last month.
Compensation from UCL Accommodation is unusual. The most publicised and recent instance being for One Pool Street residents who were delayed from moving in for over a month in 2022.
Elsewhere, some residents of Ramsay’s London Block were recently informed of upcoming compensation following plumbing issues which resulted in toilet and shower facilities closing for about three months.
These residents should receive 25% of their weekly room rate since the disruption, excluding the catering rate, in the form of automatic credit to their UCL Accommodation account.
Despite alleged similar maintenance issues across the building, only residents from one floor are currently expecting compensation.
Speaking to The Cheese Grater, the Union Welfare Officer encouraged students facing any issue in their accommodation to submit a formal complaint on askUCL.
Ramsay was last term under media spotlight after a video showing a live worm on a plate of food and a picture of a rotting tangerine went viral on campus.
A UCL spokesperson said: “We are very sorry and apologise to our residents at Ramsay Hall, who have recently had to use eco-friendly disposable plates and cutlery due to a faulty dishwasher.
“A temporary solution has now been found ensuring students can use ceramic plates and metal cutlery again as usual and we are investigating what compensation our residents will receive as a gesture of goodwill.”
Correction: A previous version of this article included an unconfirmed figure for the level of refund Ramsay residents are set to receive. This has been updated again on 10/03 after the 15% figure was confirmed and circulated to residents. The Cheese Grater apologises for this oversight.
