Repair bill

I try and remember to send manuals to any PM for new place....but...

The PM must be a twit, I always listen to these things, but I tell the PM's, if we send someone and there is no issue, the tenant gets the bill, or if it is somehow their fault.

AC like Hot water etc, often gets turned off at the board, but splits also often have another isolator.

AC with a remote, well, if they can't operate it without a manual, then where have they been for 20 years, I have worked in many work places, and no one supplied me manuals for anything ! so I would push it back to them, so they know your not a door mat.

Also, be aware, many trades will purposely be vague when it comes to what caused problems, they feel the tenant is the underdog.

 

Sometimes people over complicate things!

 

I don’t think the tenant should be expected to know about the isolating switch for an air con. It should have already been turned on when they moved in.

I wouldn’t have known about this myself.

 

Yes and no - "IS THE POWER TURNED ON?" lol



Under the Residential Tenancies Act there is no requirement for the Lessor/Agent to provide Tenants with training. It’s unfortunate for a Tenant not to know, but no fault of the Owner.

In this case I believe when the Tenant had their power connected the Energex contractor turns everything off in the unit first, then connects power, then goes around and tests all the GPO's etc, and didn't turn the isolation switches back on because they're hardwired and not plugs so probably forgot.

(At previous tenancy exit report they were checked and working, no reason for them not to be the same when doing the entry for the new tenancy prior to lease commencing but with no power connected to the unit etc.)

@Tom Rivera, how do you think a Tribunal would rule on this one? I thought 50/50 or even in favour of the Tenant, so didn't bother taking it past DR. Have just added it to my checklist for future reference.

Verbatim Tenant's response, "I’ll share my point of view and if you still insist me paying the bill without pointing the particular items in the Agreement or in the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008 I will have to open tenancy dispute with RTA. As I described in my previous mail the troubleshooting process of 2 not-working Air Cons - this was according Addendum - Special Terms - 2 (h) “To only operate any machinery, plant or equipment on the premises in accordance with the lessor’s or manufacturer’s instructions” I did all according the manufacturer’s instructions, because I wasn’t provided with anything else. In addition, I’ve re-read the Agreement and haven’t found the item according which I should be charged in the situation. Could you point me the particular item in the Agreement or Act?"

I thought 50/50 or even in favour of the Tenant, so didn't bother taking it past DR. Technically, if the manual doesn't say have the units got power, then they're probably not liable - no doubt the manual is written to obviously assume your air conditioners are hooked up and powered lol. Have just added it to my checklist for future reference.

 

Some older style air cons manufacturers in their wisdom, would work the opposite way around.
The sun symbol meant it was sunny outside , so you wanted the cooling mode.
To most people and most well known brands the sun symbol means heat (heating mode)
The snowflake/snow crystal meant cool(cooling mode) , not its cold outside and I want heat.

 

LOL.

People can be amusing if that's the right word. Next they'll be insisting you teach them how to turn on the lights.

You may wish to inform the dudes you're an environmental warrior and they are to use this in future.

 

@Michael Mitchell though Beenleigh tribunal has of late begun to restore my faith in a fair adjudication process, I tend to agree with you that there is a fair chance a ruling would be made that tenants are not expected to have a simple knowledge of the function of household items (Do I sound biased, haha).

I run tenants through the simple things at sign up (water shut off valve and circuitboard) along with examples of how to avoid unnecessary emergency callouts (e.g. their own faulty appliances), but I have to admit I don't think I've ever shown anyone the A/C isolation switch.... it's usually huge, well labelled and right next to the outdoor unit.

In your particular case- had the tenant just moved in? It's one of the first things you'd check on a new tenancy, but if it were an ongoing tenancy, someone would have had to physically switch it off (kids?)- they don't trip like circuit breakers.

 

There are people out there who are actually living totally independently for the first time, and don’t necessarily know all these little tips and idiosyncrasies for household functions.

Hubby and I first lived independently in a house owned by friends. After several months the hot water ran cold. We called an electrician, who was amused to explain to us that the system had a “refill” lever and you actually had to refill it every few months. Who knew? Certainly not us! (At least the electrician got a good laugh!)
Marg

 

@Big Al, this is just your subconscious mind and the universe teaching you a lesson for not learning it the first time you invested in residential property.

IPs are evil, shares are good. Simple as that. Anyone who doesn’t abide by that universal truth will surely suffer. The more times one breaks that rule the greater the suffering will be as @Big Al is learning.

 

What’s that thing? It looks dangerous. Does it come with safety instructions?

 

Yeah - new tenancy they'd just moved it. It literally never even crossed my mind to ask if they'd checked the isolators because I'd asked them "is the power on" and they said yes. English wasn't their first language, what a headache lol.

 

Ah! ESL is a real pain- I feel bad for the tenants, if I'm frustrated they must be twice so. All sorts of misunderstandings can occur in that case.

 

English is my first language and if asked ‘is the power on?’ I would have turned on a light or the radio to check!

Wouldn’t have realised I needed to go outside the house, to the external air con unit, to check a switch there! Anyway, ‘live and learn’.

I feel your pain though. I’ve had a couple of instances where the ducted heating was reported as not working by my tenants and it turned out to a a flat battery in the wall controller...however the battery cover is really tricky to get off and it’s not obvious there is a battery at all..

 

> I give my PMs a link to dropbox which includes all the manuals.
> On some IP, I add extra pages as where we've had issues in the past (ie. laundry outlet through vanity, thus turning on the tap without the laundry connect will spout water out the laundry sink outlet)

I thought I am quite handy... moved into a new place, I thought the laundry sink tap was broken so promptly told the PM... it turns outs, the laundry sink tap flow was stopped by the washing machine taps at the bottom. ¯\(°_o)/¯

 

Have this as addendum to the initial tenancy agreement?
It's not a special condition, just a clause to not be a twit (referring to the tenant).

Though I admit, I had an oopsie moment as of late per my last post. (ie. not knowing how the water connections worked). Fortunately for the landlord, it was the PM - who was scared sh!tless of irate landlord - who came over to diagnose - and a few other things which were wear-and-tear.

 

And when the guides are gone at the end of the tenancy what happens? Charge the outgoing tenant for a new guide?

 

Fujitsu has the clearest remotes - Heat, Cool, Dry, Auto and Fan! I have Mitsubishi in my PPOR and never really know what all the symbols mean............

 

You always keep the originals.

Give the PM a photocopy of each. Instruct PM to make sure the photocopied manuals are all there each time they install a new tenant.
Marg