tictac

Following an inspection of our rental a number of months ago, there were a small number of items which required repair which we reported using the usual form.

These are mainly items which require a "routine repair" but one item (faulty dishwasher) is slightly more urgent that these, albeit not an emergency.

These faults were initially reported over 3 months ago and despite many phone calls, visits to the office and subsequent promises received, we have yet to have them resolved.

The latest excuse is that there is a huge backlog following Xmas and they will get round to us "as soon as they can".

I feel we're being given the runaround here, which is a bit rich considering we've just renewed our lease for another 12 months and had our rent increased by $20 per week at the same time!

I wonder if there is any course of action we could take to ensure we get taken seriously. After all, we're paying for a number of household appliances which don't actually work.

calNgary

Its a joke i see this kind of thing every day why have you not named the company?

Dorothy

Because BE is not here soley as a "name and shame" outlet.

Kim67

Do you know your landlord? Why not try and contact him directly. We've found often that property managers just get in the way. We had a call from our tenant directly yesterday (I don't think he realised it was actually 5.30am here) because the property manager is taking his time to repair something - so my husband told the tenant to contact directly if there's a problem.

SillyOldBag

If you are in Queensland then thissite might be useful. I don't know if there is similar in other states - I would imagine there might be?

homewardbound

Estate agents are governed by the OFT. You must put your repair requests in writing and they have so many days to sort it, if not go to the OFT

Sugo

hey we have had similar problems, we ended up moving then got more clued up on what to do when things turn bad. Now with ou current rental we do things by the book keep records and dont let them ignore us.

First you should look for the consumer site for your state, if you in queensland its
http://www.rta.qld.gov.au/

most states have forms you can fill out often called a 'notice to repair', do one of these photocopy it, and send it to your landlord registered mail, also send a copy to the letting agent. Here in Victoria this states that they have 2 weeks to fix the repairs. If this is not done then you can take them to tribunal and claim for damages. I think you have to then complete a breach notice which you send to the landlord and also to tribunal who will hear your case.

The main thing to do is keep a record of everything you send and say to your landlord or letting agent. During telephone conversations take notes, repeat things they have said to confirm you understand, especially promises to repair, then write all this down in a email and email it to them as a follow up to what was discussed on the phone. This means there is some evidence that they have knowledge of what you understood from the conversation.

Be a thorn in their side, in our previous address we called our letting agent everyday until it was fixed, if she wasnt available we sent tons of emails and letters. We have since found it is much better dealing with the landlord directly. However i think we are lucky that our current land lord isnt too bad, some are awful.

Its not perfect and does take a long time and lots of effort but its worth being persistant. We had a terrible time in our previous address, and got more and more upset since our rent wasnt cheap in the end we couldnt use one of the 2 bedrooms, and couldnt have the lights on when it rained. The last straw was when the electrics went out and the gas hot water box got flooded. We ended up moving and feeling very bitter, especially since we didnt keep good enough records or send in the official repair notices.

Hope this helps and good luck, it sucks paying for something your not getting eh

Sugo

just found this of the queensland site, i doubt they would let it get to the point of you ending the tenancy before its due since it costs them money to have an empty place, so the threat of being able to leave might be enough to get things fixed. you just have to make sure you reasonable and pleasant but firm, you dont want to give them any ammunition to make you look bad.

tictac

Thanks for the info

Look, it's highly unlikely we'd want to end the tenancy because of a faulty dishwasher door, it's just that I'm not the sort of person who's prepared to be dicked around.

I just want it fixed without having to get shirty with them, as on the whole they've been pretty good.

asprilla

Hi Dorothy - Is it against the rules to e.g. write about a bad experience and name the hotel/bar/service provider in question??

It seems that people are discouraged from recounting their bad experiences and warning others not to make the same mistakes by "naming and shaming"..... but conversely, when people want to praise an individual/service/company, this is permitted?

I reckon that this rule has an undesired consequence, in that it makes BE a slightly less informative place for people who want to make the move to Australia, or for people who currently reside here..... However I do appreciate that it is up to the moderators to make the rules, we merely abide by them.



ps- I do completely agree, if BE were to become a place where people just came on here to air their "dirty laundry" then that would not be ideal. I just think that this kind of thing would be easy to spot and deal with on a case by case basis.