Please discuss the impact of using a Call Centre when the appointed plumbers often require the payment of the excess upfront. We had an instance where the tenant was asked for cash when the plumbers arrived to replace the geyser. She was understandably concerned and taken aback, as the excess is not for the tenant’s account.
Often owners and MA are not aware of this, but it is very important that some sort of process is put in place so that there are no delays in attending to the geyser because the call centre plumbers will not attend to it if the excess is not paid first. Also to get some sort of receipt/record of this…. This is potentially problematic if owners are not resident (tenanted) and/or if they are difficult to get hold of (offshore/different time zones etc).
I had a discussion with Brian about this, but it is something important that owners and MA’s need to be aware of. What would the solution be if you as the MA or rental agent, cannot get hold of the owner immediately to have them pay the upfront excess?