No response from PM - time to switch?

Not sure if I'm being rash here, but my PM has not yet responded to an email I sent four days ago. Being close to the holiday season, I also CC'd it to the head property manager as well as my regular PM. I've resent it to both of them again this afternoon, so will see if there's any response tomorrow. Here's a de-identified copy of the email - easier than trying to re-explain everything again.

Hi ####,
Just following up to see whether ### ### ### Pest Control has been able to complete the termite inspection yet?
If not, does the company that you use, ### Pest Control, do full termite inspections (including using the thermal imaging tech)?
The reason I ask is that I was contacted by a tradie that had attended the property (who wants to remain anonymous) and he told me he saw what appeared to be signs of termite damage in the front entrance area. He said I should get the company that did the barrier treatment to do the inspection and if their barrier has failed they would need to sort things out.
I'm getting a bit worried and am not sure what to do now as ### ### ### Pest Control has still not done the inspection I requested after several weeks. I had a termite inspection done prior to purchase in November last year and it didn't find any evidence of termite damage or current activity, so this is really worrying me.
If ### Pest Control did an inspection and found the barrier had failed and there were active termites, what would they do? Would it still need to get put back to ### ### ### Pest Control as they did the barrier?
I hope I'm just worrying over nothing, but I'd like this resolved either way as soon as possible.
Kind regards,
####
​

Up until now my PM has usually responded by the next day at the latest, which makes me wonder if she's avoiding this issue specifically. I've been trying to get this inspection done for over a month and when I last asked her if it had been done she said the Pest Control place had been unable to arrange access with the tenant, yet there has never been any issues previously with any other trades people getting access.

I went with the PM with the same REA I bought through, but this agency had also been recommended on SS a while ago. Now I'm thinking I should switch to a dedicated PM agency after reading a lot of the threads on PC.

Regardless now of the outcome with the termite situation, which could be a whole new layer of hell, I'm pretty annoyed at being ignored by both PMs. Would it be rash to try and change PMs now or should I wait till this all plays out?

 

Hi @Toon

Try not to assume that they received the email. There is a possibility of there having been a glitch with the email server. This happens regularly at times when inboxes are chocka-block full of large attachments. Forward the same email back to them both requesting a response, and follow it up with a phonecall to confirm receipt. You could also enquire why you didn't get a response the first time.

 

Use a PM who has a guaranteed communication timeframe IMO

 

It's a possibility that it's a glitch, but a probability they just haven't replied. Any business using Outlook or a suitable business email server shouldn't be having capacity problems. Generally speaking, the sender would be notified if this was the case anyway.

Ask your agent whether they have a communication guarantee and if not, why not? So many agents talk about good communication but few are willing to guarantee it by implementing procedures to do so. Tell them you want a weeks' free management every time an email or call isn't returned within 24 hours and if they won't offer it, find one who will.

In this day and age where communication is so easy from multiple platforms, it astounds me that people still can't get it right from a customer service point of view, particularly when it is one of the top investor complaints about their property manager.

 

Re send the original email,
cut and paste with the original date.
Prefix by saying.. Dear PM I have not had a response , could you look into it please?
I hope this helps.

 

Exactly!

There could be a number of reasons why they haven't received it.

Call them.

Cheers

Jamie

 

Phone them.
Not being able to arrange access with the tenant is a poor excuse and really unacceptable.
With correct notice, PM can attend and give pest control access.
Marg

 

I have seen scenarios where emails to companies such as Barry Plant (emails they were sweating on and certainly would not ignore, and companies with suitable business email servers) simply never arrived, and no notification was sent to me as the sender that the transmission had failed. It turned out to be a problem with water getting into the battery in the Telstra pit which was causing email system dropouts and emails simply vanishing.

 

I sent plenty of emails to Barry Plant Bendigo when they were my PM and they certainly received them. They just chose to put them (and my phone calls) in the too hard basket and after about 5 months of bumbling around and "the house will be ready to rent next week" I changed PM who sorted it out quick smart and have been excellent since. Chalk and cheese.

The most disappointing part was the owner was a member of Somersoft and took little interest in resolving the management's inability to sort things out, he had his sales commission and seemed happy to cut loose a rental that required effort.

 

Give them a call as may not be getting through. Junk folder etc.

If it has been ignored then its a bit slack but there may be a legitimate reason. All sorts of inadvertant things can go wrong that cause a breakdown in communication whilst running a small business.

 

After resending to both PMs again yesterday, I received a response this morning, but they didn't try and pretend they didn't receive the first emails, so I assume they just placed no importance on replying. Miraculously they also came up with a copy of the termite inspection report too today. Big relief that no current activity was found - phew!

 

I was having a look at your website yesterday - unfortunately my IP is too far north of your area or I would have been very tempted to switch there and then.

 

I'm a bit late, but I would have said: "Pick up the phone and call them."

 

Yes, a lot of people have said that. I have a 'thing' about phones though, so I prefer email - or sticking pins in my eyes.

 

Either phone first, then follow up with email: "As discussed in our phone call..." or email, then phone when no response "Just following up on my email..."

But I also have an aversion to talking to people sometimes ...

 

I think we're now talking about two different things. You're describing a technical fault, not a capacity problem. When emails bounce due to capacity problems i.e. mailbox full, the sender is notified. Of course, any IT can have technical problems no matter how robust or commercial the system, but they shouldn't be having capacity problems.

My main point was that whilst this could be a possible cause of the non-returned email, the probable cause is that they just didn't reply.

 

I think you rolled in a grenade........they were just trying to get the guy there to do it and had nothing to say.

As others say, call if need be.

 

Indeed - it is easy to jump from A to Z with assumptions in life. When working with owners and tenants I am always conscious to not make assumptions and withhold judgement - evidence based practice.

 

I agree with the previous posts recommending to call the PM. The beauty is that it's near impossible to ignore someone when they're on the phone with you compared to simply skipping over an email follow up. Plus if you leave enough messages with reception, they'll get the message that it'll be easier to take your follow up enquiry than continue to put up with the chasing.

Sometimes workloads spike for agents and their normal quick response times take a dip. i.e when they're in the middle of preparing for a NCAT hearing.

 

I have the exact opposite problem: My Landlords seldom /rarely respond to my emails. In fact I often suspect whether I write too much... No I didnt. I only email them monthly statements, and Hello emails when there are new things worth reporting. They dont get junk mail or newsletters from me.
My solution: call them, be it Landlord or PMs. Better still if you can meet them face-to-face.