Re/Max Southern Properties

Remax Southern Properties failed to repair our heater in a reasonable amount of time when it went out this winter with two small children in the homeOn Saturday January 30th approx 5:00 pm the heater went out in our home that we rent from ReMax Southern Properties. We placed a call to the ReMax emergency phone number and left a message regarding our situation and concerns, since the temperatures were dropping to freezing overnight, and we had our infant and small child living in the home. Their agent called us back, and informed us she was selling Girl Scout cookies, and it would take some time to research how this would be addressed. She was very dismissive about our concerns from the beginning, saying it had been warm that day. We again expressed our concerns for our infant and small child, along with the temperature forecast for that night and she said she would see what she could do. From previous repairs that have happened in this home, we knew that the home owners use a home warranty company for repairs, and we anticipated a similar process with this repair. Shortly after, we received a call from a repair company called [redacted] who stated they had received a work order from the home warranty company; however it was not coded as an "emergency" so [redacted] wouldn't be able to come out until Monday. [redacted] however was ready and able to come out that night, however the work order had to reflect an "emergency". We immediately called back the emergency number (this was the only reachable number at Remax at the time) and left another message regarding the work order. She called back about an hour later, and was not concerned that work ordered didn't reflect an emergency. It was approx 8:00 pm at this time, and she said was no longer willing to work the issue that evening and she would call in the morning. I became upset and frustrated at this point, not knowing what I would do with my two small children in my home without heat. The agent also became very emotional at this point, saying she wasn't going to call, and she would block my number on this line. She said I was overacting and she was extremely unprofessional. She even stopped talking for a few minutes during the conversation, even when I was begging for some help/resolution that evening. She hung up the phone and said she no longer wanted to speak with me, and she would deal with my husband going forward. After multiple emails back and forth with my husband that night and the following day, the issue between the home warranty company and repair service could not be resolved. The agent seemed make half-hearted attempts to get the issue resolved, but as of 2:00 pm that Sunday it was apparent th repair service would not be able to come out that day. With another cold night approaching, we decided to make our own call directly to a 24 hour emergency heating repair company. We informed the agent of our intent to do this, and we requested to deduct the repair from our rent. She said that there was an addendum in our lease that prevented us from making unauthorized repairs. However, we expressed were not willing to go through another night without heat when emergency services were available. The company we contact were able to come out within hours, and get the heat working for the night and charged us $150 service fee. That Monday, we contacted the owner of Remax Southern Properties and scheduled a meeting. We expressed our concerns about how the situation was handled, the unprofessional nature of her agent, and that we were seeking reimbursement of the repair that had been made. She said she would contact the home owner to see if they would pay for the repair. That Friday she sent an email saying the owner would only reimburse us for $60, and we would be responsible for the rest. We then requested that if the owner pays $60, Remax should be responsible for the remaining balance because of their agent's negligence and how unprofessionally the situation was handled. The owner of Remax said she would not be doing that, and $60 from the homeowner was all she was willing to credit us.Desired SettlementWe would like to be reimbursed the full amount of the repair which is $150. Business Response In response to the above complaint... the tenant called our afterhours emergency line to let us know it had been extremely hot in the house on Saturday and he had turned the air condition on to cool the house off. When he flipped it back to heat that afternoon they noticed the heat was not coming on. They called our emergency line and left a message at 5:55pm... our afterhours agent returned their call at 6:17pm. The homeowners warranty company was called at 6:26pm. At 6:41pm the tenant called back to let us know the vendor could go out that night if we could upgrade this repair to emergency status... at 6:45pm a call was made by our office to the warranty company to upgrade to emergency status.Please note the process from when the tenant originally reported their heat being out until the claim was submitted and upgraded to emergency status was a total of only 50 minutes. The vendor that was assigned to this call claimed to the tenant several times that he did not have an upgraded emergency status from the warranty company. We followed up with the warranty company and also have in writing a statement from the warranty company that the service was upgraded to an emergency and the vendor HAD been notified. The tenant claims that the agent became very emotional... the agent became very emotional after being talked to so hatefully by the tenant. The afterhours agent was instructed by the owner to only communicate by text or emails because this conversation had gotten so out of hand.Our company called the assigned vendor on Sunday to let them know the emergency upgrade had been approved. Only the first call was answered and the assigned vendor reported again that they needed the warranty company to send them that information. (The warranty company is showing our company in writing that they have sent the updated status).Tenants called another company out on Sunday to repair the unit. The tenants were told in writing they were not authorized to have anyone go out without the owner's permission. The homeowner DID NOT give them permission. They had someone come out anyway.PLEASE NOTE... this company did not make the repair. Basically the tenant wasted $150.00 because they did not have the issue resolved any sooner. Then they wanted to be reimbursed for the choice they made (without authorization). The heat was back in working order in LESS than 48 hours. Our duties are to follow our homeowners instructions. That is exactly what we did. As far as the agent saying she "was selling girl scout cookies" this statement was made in general conversation. It in no way took precedence over calling in the repair call to the warranty company.The homeowner did agree to reimburse the tenant $60.00 toward her $150.00 "unauthorized charge". Which they did not have to do. We care a great deal for the homeowners we represent and we also work hard to do our job in representing them with their tenants. Things will happen in rental homes and tenants may have to be without heat, air conditioning etc. at times. We do everything within our ability to rectify these situations within a timely manner. It is in the opinion of [redacted] Rentals and the homeowner that this repair was corrected in a very reasonable time frame. Consumer Response The response to this complaint only further highlights Remax's negligence in this situation. Your agent took 50 minutes to put in a request for an emergency repair. If she had answered the emergency hotline when we called at 5:55 pm, not waited 22 minutes to call us back, and informed the warranty company on her first call that it was an emergency repair (like we stressed in our first conversation), this whole situation could have been handled far more quickly. An emergency repair would have been made that night. In your previous response you state that the fact your agent was selling Girl Scout cookies was brought up in general conversation. I can assure you that due to the nature of the situation and our concern for our family, there was no "general conversation" with your agent. All conversations and correspondence on our end were focused on resolving this issue as quickly as possible. Your agent offered many excuses from the beginning of our interaction as to why she would not be able to resolve this issue in a timely manner. The fact that she was selling girl scout cookies was just one example. She also attempted to rebut our concerns about the low temperatures based on her experience with the boy scouts. Please explain to me why a tenant who was so desperately concerned about the safety of their family and children would waste valuable time discussing girl scout cookie sales and boy scout experiences with your agent? As a concerned tenant/parent, I reserve the right to express emotion to convey my concerns about the severity of the situation. Especially, when your agent refused to continue to engage the home warranty company and the vendor to resolve the disconnect in communication the night she was informed of the emergency. In this situation, your agent was the only person that could resolve the issue and she chose to allow her emotions to prevent her from accomplishing this task. As a property management company who deals with many emergency situations, including emotional owners and tenants, you/your agent have a legal, moral, and ethical obligation to remain professional and do whatever is necessary to complete the task at hand. This did not occur. Your agent never showed any form of compassion ** concern for our family's safety. From the beginning of our dealings with her, she insisted that this was not an emergency and we were overacting. The temperature dropped to 31 degrees that Saturday night, and our infant's room dropped to 51 degrees overnight. A child exposed to temperatures below 60 degrees for periods of time can develop hypothermia. Especially an infant who doesn't stay covered up in the crib overnight. We provided ReMax with documented proof of the temperature inside our home after the first night. The Housing Codes for North Carolina require a heating source in each rental unit that can heat the unit to 68 degrees. You are also required by this Housing Code to "make all repairs and do whatever is necessary to keep the premises in a fit and habitable condition". The Housing Codes does not state that the renter must live in an inhabitable house while the agent waits for proper communication to occur between a home warranty company and a vendor. You even acknowledge on Sunday there was still no resolution between the home warranty company and their contracted vendor. If there is a disconnect with the process, shouldn't the agent still be actively working the issue to find a resolution? Your agent failed to do this, which lead us to seek out another company. As of February 16th, 2016 the repair company contracted through the home warranty company still is not tracking that this issue was ever elevated to an emergency status. As a professional property management company would you have me believe that your agent is incapable of accomplishing this small task?You believe that spending $150 to get the heat working that night to protect our small children was a "waste of money"? That again demonstrates the lack of compassion [redacted] and your company had for our family during this emergency. I would like to note that we have lived in this home for over two years, and we have never had an issue. We are always on time with our rent, and treat the home like it was our own.The heat was working within 24 hours because we made the decision to seek an alternate vendor. Within 2 hours of notification, the vendor that we selected was able to diagnose and temporarily repair the heater to get us through the night. Your vendor arrived 40 hours after our first call to Remax was made and completed the repair based on the guidance of our vendor.Based on our experience with your company, the only entity that you seem to care about protecting is ReMax Southern Properties. If you truly cared about the homeowners in this situation, you would have prevented the compressor and air handler from running 40 hours non-stop after we informed you of the situation. You also would not be asking the home owner to pay anything because of your agent's negligence. If the homeowner did not want to deviate from the home warranty company your agent had the responsibility to find and fix the disconnect in their emergency service request as quickly as possible. Final Business Response Our office followed the owners instructions and we feel 100% confident that we performed our duties exactly as the homeowner has hired us to do. The heat was repaired in a timely manner.