Out-of-service card readers in University Housing laundry facilities, which haven’t been working from the beginning of the semester, have residents wondering when they can do laundry.

The card readers have been unusable in every residence hall for more than two weeks, according to Barry Olson, University Housing assistant director of E.S. King Village.

Some students said they were angry because they could only use quarters to pay for the washer and dryer.

Sara Falardeau, a freshman in English and resident in Lee Hall, said she had to deal with the card-readers issue her first week on campus.

“It was definitely an annoyance because I had to lug my laundry around with me to find change in other residence halls,” she said.

The card readers caused more inconveniences than just sending students around campus to find change.

Zach Gonzales, a freshman in First Year College, said he “had to wear winter clothes” since he was unable to do his laundry.

Joseph Pack, a senior*** in aerospace engineering, said he felt there should be signs stating the card readers are not in service.

“Students are trying to use the card readers and losing money, or sending the money to the wrong washing machine or dryer,” Pack said. “Putting up a sign is a fairly easy thing to do.”

Pack also said some of the residents have gone to the FYC 24-hour service desk and have only been told to call the manufacturer listed on the reader.

“They shouldn’t shove the responsibility onto the students, especially when they are paying for these services,” he said.

According to Olson, Housing is the in the process of programming the card readers.

The card readers are an upgrade from those in the facilities in years before and are “IP address-able,” as opposed to using a building controller for management, which is taking them longer to program, he said.

“We feel bad that this has happened,” Olson said. “We wanted to be done by the first day of classes, but it just hasn’t gone our way.”

As for students’ complaints of a brush-off at the FYC 24-hour student service desk, Lisa Labarbera, the University Housing central campus assistant director, said Housing is in the process of making sure students who work for them are well-educated on information about the campus.

At the same time however, University Housing is trying to educate the students in the residence halls, she said.

“We try to understand the complaints student’s have, and we also make sure they know they can fill out a work order online, which goes straight to University Housing,” Labarbera said.

According to Labarbera, the University is currently programming the card readers and plans to have them in service before Friday.