5th March
To whom it may concern
We are a family of 5 staying in Australia for 12 months, 6 months in Noosa from France.
Since the 12th of November 08 we have been staying at Unit... Edgar Bennett st in Noosa Junction, managed by Remax (Noosaville).
The experience started well: All smiles and courtesy was handed to us until we paid $ 8000.00 in advance and signed the contracts. After that, rudeness and arrogance replaced smiles and professional mannerisms.
As the following points required for us to visit Remax, it suddenly felt like we had brought with us a massive task for them to tend to. Rolling eyes and deep sighs was our most common welcome!!!
1- No keys to the letter box, (greatly needed to receive important documents from France)
2- Mold and dust on walls and doors (it was promised upon inspection that this would be taken care of!)- Cleaner did not ever come back
3- Dryer not working (5 weeks to get someone to come out and fix!!!)
4- Stains on carpets not mentioned on inspection report
*These are just the main problems encountered in the 1st 2 weeks
In the matter of the letter box keys, i went Remax every second day and kept getting the same answer:” We are still trying to reach the owner... You should show some patience”
Having reached my wit’s end, i contacted a friend who’s been in Australia for over 20 years and asked him to come in to their office and help me talk to them.
As we once more asked what progress have been made, he sat there quietly until he heard our property manager simply tell us that things like this” just happen this way in Australia”. The moment he started to talk in Australian, and not in a struggling “Frenglish”, demanding that a locksmith be called in straightaway etc, she changed her behaviour very quickly and started asking exactly who he was etc...
Magically, within the next 5 minutes, she had managed to finally contact the owner, got permission to send in a locksmith the next day!!! The next day, they, once more magically, found the original keys?!?!?!?!?
In mid January, we decided to extend our stay in beautiful Noosa and went in to Remax, asked to talk to the property manager to extend but she wasn’t available. I left my details with the receptionist. No one returned my call so i called a few days later, was transferred to our managers answering service and left a message... Still no response until a week later, on Friday 30th January.
I called her back on the following day, Saturday 31st. She made it clear that she was not happy to be disturbed on a Saturday but did tell me that she would contact the owner on the Monday and would call me back... I am still waiting for that call today!!!
In the meantime, I started to look for another place to rent for our last 6 weeks in Noosa, as my lease with Remax was almost over (3rd March) and found something close by with another agency (starting on the 5th March).
On the 25th of February I went in to Remax to see what i needed to do to finalise the unit and get the bond back, as the process is very different back home.
This is when she told me that i would have to pay rent until the 10th of March, making up a 14 day notice. Hmmmm, interesting but nevertheless written on our agreement.
So i contacted my friend again as the language barrier was too great once more. (Everybody i have met in Noosa is nice, patient, understanding and make efforts to speak a little slower so I can understand better; all except Remax staff who just seem to get so very irritated when they speak no slower and have to repeat themselves.)
The property manager came out and when my friend asked firstly why my messages had not been returned, all she could repeat (3 times!!!) was that the receptionists at Remax were not trained as property managers so what happened between the front desk and the property managers, she had no control over!?!?!? Sorry, even today i still cannot see the connection between her not calling me back over the period of 6 weeks and the receptionist not having any training for property management!!!
Anyway, i told her that my experience with Remax had been terrible from the start and she simply replied: Well, I can’t talk about previous events or the property manager who gave you the rental contract back in November because she is no longer working for us. (Mind you, my friend and did see the previous manager walk past twice in the corridor, wearing her Remax shirt) Another amazing Remax unsolved mystery
All in all. She didn’t have very much to say through this meeting, other than, in a very serious, suddenly informative yet quite threatening voice, she said that if I chose to contact the RTA or go as far as the tribunal to argue this extra 7 day payment, that I would quite certainly not see a cent from my bond for weeks if not months!
Well, we are certainly not desperate for this money at all but, out of principle, refuse to pay.
Had we been treated with professional mannerism and a little respect at any point through our dealings with Remax, instead of having to endure rudeness, arrogance, insults, incompetent service, endless sighs and eye rolling when we had to physically come in and attempt to get results for ourselves, we would certainly not be in this situation today...
Do the owners have any idea how their properties are being managed??? I wonder!!!
My friend’s work involves working with real estates and he says that it is by far the worst service he has come across in the 15 years of being in business.
Regards
Isabelle Gandouly
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