Apartment Rental Problems

[SCARLETIBIS1]

I recently moved in to a new apartment and am having nothing but problems with no resolutions from management. When I first moved in I was told there were only two units left. Later I found out that this was a blatant lie when I started checking the electric meters. Management apparently is shepharding renters to certain floors and lying about how filled up they are.

My initial problems were that:

a) the room was not cleaned as agreed so I had to clean it.

the internet did not work which is typical throughout Thailand I understand. But in this case I paid for LAN and it did not work properly for 18 straight days. Every day I complained to the management in the building and they refused to do anything. Finally, I got the cable company out and they measured the signal to the building and told me and management that it was the system in the building that sucked.

They finally contacted the company that installed the system and he came out three days later after having not shown up as he said for the three days prior and he spent all day fixing the problem. After he left it worked quite well for one day and since then it still works but goes out constantly and the download speed is anywhere from 1kb (believe it or not) to 25kb/sec.

I had to make a scene at the front desk with the manager to get her to contact these people. The question I have of course is why did I have to lose my temper and embarass the manager in front of other Thais in order to get her to simply contact the internet company to come out?

On a more serious note I have sewer gas coming up thru the drains in the bathroom. There is not venting anywhere. I have complained every day for over a month. It smells like s... in there. The office sent someone out once and they flushed some system outside and it was okay for one day but now they just act like they don't understand me. They say I am the only one complaining. I actually asked the manager to take a shower with me ( a joke) so she could enjoy the smell. She of course just laughed.

The question I have for all those Thais out there on this site that bitch about us farongs who complain is, "how the f... do I get these morons and crooks to fix my problem?' Because that is what they are and nothing less. I don't have a problem with uneducated Thais that don't know any better but the guy who owns this building owns two others. One would think he knows or should know what he is doing in construction by now.

And, oh by the way when it rains the water pours in thru the venting in the stairways and the water travels down the stairs and sits in a big puddle in front of my room.

Is this what you people call Thai hospitality? There is no way in hel_l this crap would go on in a civilized country. But seriously, what are my options??? Thanks. And I would mention the building but I still live here for now as I cannot move for 3 months according to my contract or I lose my deposit.

I will mention two other apartment buildings that I would not recommend either. One is a luxury apt calleld the Dome on Huey Keow rd which has no screens in the rooms thus inviting all the mosquitos with Dengue fever to visit and the other is a somwhat newer building down the block from them called Chiangmai Lodge. This place has absolutely no one who speaks English well enough to understand your problems. They have incredibly poor internet service, sewer problems as well and the doors are so thin that they are almost all warped and the walls are so thin that when someone closes their door the whole building shakes.

In addition, there is a karoke bar on the west side of the building which is quite noisy until around 1 or 2 am and then the employees out there are talking it up until 5 am. It is incredibly noisy there.

In addition, they do not have enough parking and most of the motorcycles have to park unprotected from the rain last time I lived there. Management again generally does not care about your problems in my experience. Oh,l almost forgot. They have one 14 watt bulb in the ceiling for you. Barely enough light to see anything at nite and forget trying to read anything. Plus they have no electrical outlets next to either side of your bed. This place is a nightmare.

Service in Thailand seems to be non-existent to me. I really don't mind paying for service but so far I pay but don't get it.

Edited July 15, 2009 by SCARLETIBIS1

[longstebe]

Thats a bloody good moan right there.

I say start looking around for a new apartment.If you find one that you like,go there in the morning,

afternoon,evening and on the weekend before paying a deposit.

Stick it out till the end of the month then leave,<deleted> the deposit.

[DP25]

There is no way in hel_l this crap would go on in a civilized country.

Of course it would, horrible apartments exist everywhere. Sounds like you live in a dump. Forget the deposit, move, but do research and check everything out before moving in to a new place. Isn't stuff like smelly bathrooms, no internet, only one lightbulb, and no convenient electrical outlets something you should have checked out before moving in?

I've always had great service wherever I've stayed in in BKK and management were very quick to respond to any complaints, and this in cheap places as well.

[yabaaaa]

Sounds to me like a sh*t building with a Sh*t owner and the problem is compunded by the fact many Thais simply wont complain about anything. Move its the only way, done it myself a few times, you will resolve nothing with the onwer he couldnt give a flying fig.

[sanook2me]

I recently moved condo because the fast internet speed i was paying close to 1500baht was a shared wifi ! it crawled in the evening with everyone peer to peering...it was so slow that just normal surfing was tedious

The management couldn't care less i complained and complained and then just gave my notice in......

Did they offer to do anything before i moved..NO!

But in all fairness the higher up you go in the food chain the more likely you are to have your problems resolved.

You need to get to the owner somehow and all will be resolved.......

This was the final thing that made me move!

(the girl who worked the counter was just shocking..no interest in her job or customer care/satisifaction.. one day i'd forgotten my security key and she wouldn't open the security door for me and insisted my g/f come down 5 floors to do it !!! like <deleted>! )

anyway dude reading your posts.

There is no way in hel_l this crap would go on in a civilized country

Isn't that why you are here enjoying a cheaper happier life than in your civilised country

If you're not happy you know where the airport is and back to your fast streaming flash videos

[Tod Daniels]

Once you either sign a lease, and/or pay your deposit you end up with very little leverage in regards to poor service, especially so in a predominantly thai populated building.

Conversely I have found the more foreigners in a building, the better service you sometimes receive as the staff is used to dealing with people who have no fear of voicing complaints in no uncertain terms; (as opposed to the sheep-like thais who won't complain for fear of either losing face or causing someone else to lose face). Of course the rent you pay per month can sometimes go up astronomically in regards to baht per square meter when foreigners are involved.

I also concur with the posters who say, visit the building you want to live in a several different times of the day, night, and weekend. Noise levels and human traffic in the area differ greatly. What may seem like a great quiet place to live in the early afternoon; becomes nearly unlivable in the early evening after everyone gets home from work. It can be made even worse so if the building is populated by people who "work at nite", routinely come home at 3AM piss drunk, and with no regard for the other inhabitants in the building.

I'd bail out of where you are, lose the deposit and find another place. Although FWIW at least you got to vent your frustrations on this forum to people who for the most part speak something resembling engrish. ..

[BEENTHEREDONETHAT]

You might as well move now, your chances of getting your deposit back are about the same as snow in CM next week.

[mizzi39]

Cut your losses and move to a more comfortable apartment, or go back to that "civilized country". Problem solved!

[offset]

It would be interesting to know what the rent is for the apartment because that has a bearing on what level of service you get

[bkkmei]

why lose the deposit? Use it towards next month's rent.

Change the locks beforehand so they can't kick you out.

And start looking for a new place.

[Sandstone Art]

I'll say pack your bags and leave the country altogether is you have this mindset " how the f... do I get these morons and crooks to fix my problem? "

It's very unfair and unpleasant to use such general terms.

If they are morons and crooks, what are you?

[khundon]

Smelly toilets? If I didn't know better, I would think some dirty bastard has been shi**ing in there.

Why didn't you check the apartment out properly first?

[grantbkk]

Over the past seven years I have lived in two condos and an apartment. Everything works all the time and if it breaks it is fixed immediately. I think my good luck stems from the fact that my landlords in each of my homes were non-Thai. Two were Chinese Thai and the one I currently have is originally from India.

The original OP should have done some inspecting before plopping down the cash. I will not look at a unit that has any laundry visible from the outside. It seems like it a lose of face issue for the Thais to address and solve complaints by tenants. Rents are beginning to seek there own level here but are far from where they should be given the economy. The Thais would rather keep their inventory empty than to show weakness by reducing the rent to fill their apartments in many cases.

I feel blessed that I have received my full large deposit back from the two units I moved from. I agree with the posters that say that you should look for another place and stop paying the rent. Put the landlord off and use some of that deposit you will never see.

[scorecard]

why lose the deposit? Use it towards next month's rent.

Change the locks beforehand so they can't kick you out.

And start looking for a new place.

- Move.

- Find some other apartment names and post here see if you can get some specific comments.

- Post here the area you prefer and the price you want, again you might get some specific advice from other members

- If you don't pay last 30 days be very careful. Change the locks as suggested but be careful apartment manager doesn't addd another padlock to bar you. If you do anything like this make sure you have all your important documents valuables etc., in another location / friends room or whatever.

Further to this point, a few years back I had a friend in a similar situation, he tried to avoid paying last month, manager called the police who made it very clear that my friend needed to pay the rent immediately or get taken to local lock up.

[SCARLETIBIS1]

I'll say pack your bags and leave the country altogether is you have this mindset " how the f... do I get these morons and crooks to fix my problem? "

It's very unfair and unpleasant to use such general terms.

If they are morons and crooks, what are you?

You are right, I should have used different language. I should have asked, " how the f... do I get these professional, intelligent, punctual, prompt, honest, truthful, caring, friendly, effective, problem solving, helpful, business-like and most of all smiling morons and crooks to fix my problems for which I am paying them NOT to have??????

And you are right in asking, "what am I". And idiot myself for moving in here. LOL

[SCARLETIBIS1]

I'll say pack your bags and leave the country altogether is you have this mindset " how the f... do I get these morons and crooks to fix my problem? "

It's very unfair and unpleasant to use such general terms.

If they are morons and crooks, what are you?

And again, I am only refering to those that deserve the heading. Obviously, if someone isn't a "moron or crook" it doesn't apply to them.

[Harcourt]

I'll say pack your bags and leave the country altogether is you have this mindset " how the f... do I get these morons and crooks to fix my problem? "

It's very unfair and unpleasant to use such general terms.

If they are morons and crooks, what are you?

I don't think Scarletibis was using general terms...he (she?) was specifically talking about the staff/owners of the apartment.

[SCARLETIBIS1]

I'll say pack your bags and leave the country altogether is you have this mindset " how the f... do I get these morons and crooks to fix my problem? "

It's very unfair and unpleasant to use such general terms.

If they are morons and crooks, what are you?

I don't think Scarletibis was using general terms...he (she?) was specifically talking about the staff/owners of the apartment.

It has been about a week or so since I posted my remarks. I find it amusing that half the respondents obviously paid no attention to my post. I guess they were drinking while reading it. Just to update everyone especially "Sandstone Art" who has got to be a Thai spy or wanna be Thai spy, since I posted my diatribe my internet has been completely useless. The company who put in the system is called Chiangmai internet I am told. Their serviceman has been out here almost everyday to restart the system. I have actually paid him tips for coming out. I even have his home phone number now. But, two days ago he came in the morning to get it working again and I went out for the day. I came home that nite and it was out again-completely. I called him and had my gf (Thai) also call him and he said he would show up at 10am today, Friday. I also contacted the company direct and they said their service man would come right out (sure and the Pope is a woman). I also complained to the office staff again, my daily ritual. I usually go to the office right after I do my toilet training. It all goes down the same hole in the ground.

At 12:40 being only slightly pissed off after having waited since last nite I had my gf call him and he said he was busy so he couldn't come yet and started to use some obscenities with her after she (who is always calm being Thai) simply asked him why he didn't call me since he has my phone number and tell me he would be late. Gee, what an inconsiderate question to ask of a Thai person methinks. I of course spanked her for abusing the good man.

Then, after she drove to the complex and started talking with the staff the serviceman shows up in the office and I found out they disconnected my service completely which I did not ask them to do, because they said they could not fix the problem. This is a remarkable solution to the whole problem just simply disconnect the service which I prepaid for and not bother to even tell me.

The office staff blamed the problem on a server in Bangkok (right, almost everyday for the last two months).

And you ask why I call them morons????? Are you perhaps beginning to get it my friend or are you as dense as these people???? So, at the end of the day I wasted another 5 hours of my wasteless life waiting for these morons to do something. Surely, I expect too much I guess.

I debated to break the guy's legs or better yet pay some other idiot $5 to do it for me for abusing my gf or simply putting an ad in the papar for the local Taliban and tell them that there were some office staff wearing pants. In the end I suggested they call the cops. Right, it was my idea. I wanted to make a report. I also suggested that I would hire an attorney. Interestingly, they did refused to call the cops. I wonder why??

So after my gf who kept her cool talked with the assistant manager (the real one hides when she sees me coming because she has run out of lies to tell me I guess), they agreed I could move anytime I wanted without a 30 day notice if I promised to stop making a scene in front of all the tenants in the office. I had her write it down since I trust them about as much as a dog would promise me not topiss on my flowers if I gave it a bone and I accepted their offer.

So now I have decided to become a monk and a recluse and give up the internet completely in the hopes that someday I can overcome my total disgust for these "morons".

PS: Thank you for explaining the obvious to the blind.

PSS: I forgot to add that the manager told me to get my own seperate phone line. So I went to TT&T and they told me that the only line that service my area was full and that they told the manager that a month ago. They also asked me for a copy of my passport, a certificate from the apt complex and a copy of my lease none of which the manager told me I would need to present.

I also want to apologize to all the morons out there for including these people in their class.

[robblok]

Is there any way the mods can prevent certain TV members from using the font control.....

I wish there were.

If this guy is as gifted in communicated r/t as he is online i clearly understand the problem.

[SCARLETIBIS1]

Is there any way the mods can prevent certain TV members from using the font control.....

I wish there were.

If this guy is as gifted in communicated r/t as he is online i clearly understand the problem.

Not sure if that is a compliment or not but I apologize about the font. It looked ridiculous but I was too lazy to change it back half way thru my novel.

[beekaykay]

lol i hear ya OP, i have lived here for over 10yrs now and still think the same about the so called Thai service, i have more problems than Hitler did in 1945....

Edited August 3, 2009 by beekaykay