To be wth - letting agent advice please

[whyarepeoplesobananas]

Need some advice on this to see if it's as weird/unprofessional as I think.

No hot water last night, boiler well and truly gone, ok not great two DC's under 4. Letting agent has an online reporting tool so nothing to do but log and call in the morning. Which we did.

When we clicked the issue on the digital tool a pop up tells us to continue reporting on there but for this problem to also call the emergency line, I mean in my head it's v urgent but not an emergency as summer. Called twice no answer.
Gets an auto-response from agent saying that this problem (heating and hot water) is classified as urgent and that they will attempt to deal with urgent queries in 3 working days.

We were a little eeekkkk, what does that mean, have someone out or just respond, being Thurs eve we were a little panicky and the thought of it not being dealt with until the start of next wk - we have nowhere to go as the three people we could ask have covid!!! I called the emergency no again and left a vm saying we've just received this email, if someone receives this tonight I'd appreciate a quick call or text just confirming that 3 days won’t be the case and stop me panicking I was nice and jokey about it.

45 min later nothing, and as we have a really good (small city) FB page I thought I would ask on there to set my mind at rest;
"Does anyone rent with xxxx and has had experience of no hot water/heating, and their xxxx online reporting system? We reported the problem via xxx but have received a response back saying this has been categorised as urgent - it then lists all the urgent issues (emergency issues above this are basically major structural problems). And that they will aim to deal with the issue within 3 working days of the issue being reported.

I'm not sure what deal means, but I'm taking from this it could be into next week before its resolved given it's Friday tomorrow😅😱. Surely this can't isn't right, is it? I was thinking there would be some kind of 24hr call out for boiler issues??"
We're all just recovering from covid, DC have conjunctivitis and just wanted some reassurance before I went to bed that I wouldn't be waiting 3 days. I haven't rented since 2007 so have no idea what is to be expected.

Fast forward to this morning they email DH to say someone organised for today, great, they then followed up with call to confirm - I picked up, I was bright and breezy on the phone and like oh thank god, thank you, yes seen email etc. and was about to say we were panicking as your online thing says the above, but, to say the agent was being aggressive was an understatement, I thought DH had maybe complained this morning or there'd been some kind of altercation and he'd not said, so I said sorry is there a problem do you need me to get DH, when they exploded at me, not in volume more tone IYKWIM. How they would have expected me to come directly to them if there was a problem, how disappointed she was in me, at which point i was like I'm sorry what, they then proceeded to to tell me how they were members of the facebook group and they had seen the post last night and they were really hurt (they sounded more angry but ok) that we were complaining on there and we thought they wouldn't fix the problem they always fix problems like that in 24 hrs, so I was like, whoa, well if you've seen the post you'll know I was talking about your reporting platform and the message generated from that, which distinctly does not say 24hrs it says 3 working days!!!

She then said “well that's what the emergency phone number is for you should have called that as per the tenancy agreement....."we did, 3 times, left two messages one asking the exact question I put on facebook. No one ever got back." Her response was to shut me down and say "we can go round and round on this I don't think there's anything more to say". I was just completely baffled and kept saying what, sorry, I then said look I'm not sure what's happening here...." at which point she slammed and I mean slammed the phone down.

I just feel hair dryer'ed and I do not appreciate that, I mean this is unprofessional right.? Also feel a little spied also who is she to tell me what I can post on Facebook.....I looked at the member list and none of the lettings team are members of that group.

DH has emailed the branch manager asking them to call him - emailed back saying they are on leave today and can't call.....picking up emails and no out of office though 🤔

Fair point re “have to”.. But the info from the EA at that stage suggested three working days, so in my view she was perfectly reasonable to raise the question on FB. I don’t see anything wrong in that. We all ask questions all the time on MN - social media is used for asking questions, amongst other things.

YWBVU 3 days is a standard response to a summer boiler call out.

Hot water can be boiled by other means and you don't need your heating.

To call OOH was OTT too!

@LIZS well what if I didn't want to, that's not the point, if someone wants to be offended by the perception someone is being impatient or whatever, the point of the post was should we take further how I was spoken to.

Sorry but I think you were massively unreasonable to be complaining on fb without even giving the agency a chance to respond first.

It isn't a massive emergency and you've been given a timeframe of 3 days, so if you had questions you should have waited until the office was open and you could speak to someone in person before you went down the social media complaint route, so I'm not surprised they were pissed off at you.

They shouldn't have hung up on you, but I'm guessing you aren't going to the top of the list of people they rush to help in future...

@Electriq for the millionth time, we were told to call the ooh for that problem by their portal a) b) part of the absolute dressing down I got was for not doing so and for posting on facebook rather than calling the ooh no, that's why I was so baffled on the call.

@myuterusistryingtokillme so I'm not allowed to ask a second opinion in the mean time....I mean clearly there are rules that say you're not, but I'd love to know who sets them and makes them up!

I don’t know why so many posters are giving the OP a hard time for calling the out of office number - the instruction on the EA website is “for this issue continue to report here but also call the emergency no on 07....” So she did that. What’s unreasonable about following the EA’s portal instructions?

I don't think the fb post which I've copied in is complaining, just asking for other's experience. Does it not come over that way?

I think it comes over that you are worried and unsatisfied by the letting agents systems and response.

Which I think is unfair as you basically didn’t even wait til the next working day (only hours away) to get clarification.

So I’m not surprised the letting agent was arsey.

Obviously it was unprofessional to speak to you in anger, but everyone’s human, right? You made a FB post when you should have calmed down and waited to speak to someone in the morning. Everyone makes mistakes.

@whyarepeoplesobananas - I’m as puzzled as you by the unwritten rule/s you have broken here by firstly following the EA’s instructions, and then daring to ask a question on FB!

Do you answer all work related questions within 45 minutes out of hours even if you had an out of office saying it would be dealt with within 3 days? Or would you consider that an unreasonable expectation?

Would you be happy if someone went on a work WhatsApp group to publicly 'clarify' something you may not have even seen with a 'Surely this can't isn't right, is it?' or would you expect them to wait until tomorrow and ask you personally when your working hours start?

Come on, it's hardly rocket science!

the point of the post was should we take further how I was spoken to

I wouldn’t, if I were you. To err is human, to forgive is divine, and all that.

The way that the agent spoke to you was completely unacceptable. As a previous letting agent for a company where a social media post like that would have brought a ton of bricks on my head if it referred to my team, I still don't think you were being unreasonable.

Their auto reply outlined expected time frame which was concerning to you and you posted I imagine hoping for responses like "yeah I got that but actually it was resolved the next day", or even if you were just looking to vent that was the result of the expectations they set

I agree that it's probably not an emergency but either way you aren't unreasonable to ask about it.

I do think some complaints are very unfair, and that people don't realise the stress and distress that is caused by emailing someone high up to complain about someone who is probably doing their best, or posting something scathing online about the same, but I recognise people's right to their experiences. An example of the above might be when I was working day and night (literally 8am-1am that week, although that was unusual) in a hugely understaffed team trying to move people in on time single-handedly and when I achieved all the dates everyone wanted, somebody found the email of someone high up to complain that I'd taken two hours at a time to reply to emails. A bit of a tangent - but upsetting at the time (I'm not sure why really because I also used to get outright abusive calls and emails all the time and most didn't phase me!)

Anyway, despite that, YANBU OP and I'd never have dreamed of speaking to a tenant like that

Clearly there is no getting through to you as you don't think your behaviour was unreasonable but no you should not take it further because to be honest, the agents should have acted more professionally but their irritation is of your own making by being so impatient and shaming them on social media

Faze not phase!

I don't think you were unreasonable at all, sometimes we need clarification/reassurance so we can get a good night's sleep! They have been very unreasonable and unprofessional. I'd have left the original post up then added a synopsis of their rude response! Although, it might be best to do that after you've moved out, if you're planning to stay for longer than the initial contract length.

Carry on with the direct complaint, it's not your fault that these people have such poor reading comprehension that they thought your question was a complaint. Their response, even if it had been a complaint, was totally uncalled for.

Also, if staff saw this on the group, why didn't they reply!? A quick, 'i work for arsehole and sons and we always sort this out within 24hrs' would have resolved it publicly if they are so worried about their reputation.

Would you want to publicise that, or would you be concerned that you end up with tenants contacting you seeking 'reassurance' at all times of the day and night?

Thing is, all OP has done is ask for clarity on something the LAs told her, surely? If they are wanting to keep the within three working days timescale a secret, perhaps they shouldn't be emailing it out themselves?

Not sure if this was for me or the OP?

I definitely don’t answer queries within 45 mins out of working hours (and not always within working hours, either!) But I also don’t have a lazy standard response that says I will answer within three working days. This is what left the OP worrying about not getting a response until next week.

I wouldn’t mind at all if someone went on a public WhatsApp group to clarify something - she wasn’t complaining, only seeking clarity. I would answer (the next day, in my working hours), with details on how reports are escalated and prioritised. Why are businesses so frightened if people asking questions? I would take it as a learning curve that our communication was not clear enough. If the OP had ranted and complained on FB I’d have viewed it differently, but in my (clearly unpopular 😊) view, asking a question is perfectly okay, and sits well within the function of social media.

Don't get snarky, you asked what people thought and she's told you and I agree with her,

you sound like a naughty child saying 'I was only asking...'

Being an 'emergency' doesn't mean they'll send the heating engineer out within 10 minutes.

you've been very unreasonable.

YABU.

Sometimes tenants seem to expect landlords / letting agents to be wizards. We own our house but have still had to go a week without heating and hot water a couple of times while waiting for our ridiculous Grant combi boiler to be repaired and then ultimately replaced. I think your agent responded really quickly!

You sound like hard work tbh

Bloody hell. Really disagree.

OP everyone is jumping on the bandwagon to put you down but there's no way your post to a community group, asking advice, can be seen as slagging them off on social media.

That said yes possibly a little early for your kind to have gone from 'I'll report on the portal then wait till morning' to 'gosh we can't wait so long I need answers now'.

But they way they reacted is ridiculous. Even if you had been slagging them off it's their portal with the wrong info on and their emergency line that doesn't get answered!! They were so in the wrong.

But it wasn't outside of working hours - it's an emergency line that wasn't being manned!

@Sistanotcista it was to the OP 😉 but thanks for you answer.

It's interesting because I very much read the fb as a complaint - it's the ffs it's ridiculous and completely out of order, why am I expected to wait for more than 24 hours Surely this can't isn't right, is it? I was thinking there would be some kind of 24hr call out for boiler issues??" that does it

Unfortunately even in this world of instant gratification, sometimes people have to wait until working hours for an answer! Homeowners usually have to wait for a few days for a non emergency plumber, tenants aren't going to be any different so 24 hours is probably an unrealistic expectation in the first place