Private Landlord adopting Office Hours telephone calls

babe-ruth

poppysarah wrote: »

What sort of calls are they making that you don't class as an emergency?

It's a long story & not straight forward so i won't bother you with it but we responded to the original phone call promtly (as usual) but it involved quite a few more phone calls to get the problem resolved. My point is - every phone call from them came late at night, or on a Sunday or whilst we were away on holiday when there was no need for it.

They are first time renters and young too so we have been very patient with them. There was also no reason why they couldn't phone during the day. So this is the reason it got me thinking maybe we should set out some ground rules with them regarding reasonable time to make phone calls to us. Also, if it's late at night they must know that there is nothing i can do till the next day.

Common sense has to prevail on both sides surely!

clutton_2

the young frequently dont have common senses, and if they are first time renters, a very polite conversation about how you would much rather they call up to 7.00pm (unless it is VERY serious) as you also would prefer a fairly normal working day, may well do the trick. Dont get mad... tell them what you want first... if they continue to do it.. then you may have reason to get mad......

my first ever tenants were 17 and 19, and they rang me a lot..... in their view it was because they did not want to be blamed if the slightest thing went wrong with the house - i realised just how little the knew of the world of looking after a property... mum and dad had done it all their lives...

so a little patience, a lot of explanations and a little tolerance will sort this out,

if they are going to be long termers, its worth the effort.

Could you do an inspection and then explain all this face to face with a big smile ?

babe-ruth

clutton wrote: »

the young frequently dont have common senses, and if they are first time renters, a very polite conversation about how you would much rather they call up to 7.00pm (unless it is VERY serious) as you also would prefer a fairly normal working day, may well do the trick. Dont get mad... tell them what you want first... if they continue to do it.. then you may have reason to get mad......

my first ever tenants were 17 and 19, and they rang me a lot..... in their view it was because they did not want to be blamed if the slightest thing went wrong with the house - i realised just how little the knew of the world of looking after a property... mum and dad had done it all their lives...

so a little patience, a lot of explanations and a little tolerance will sort this out,

if they are going to be long termers, its worth the effort.

Could you do an inspection and then explain all this face to face with a big smile ?

Thanks for your advice Clutton, we have pretty much done as you have stated and the orignal problem is all sorted now. In the OP i was just wondering how other private landlords deal with their phone calls

tbs624

Many self managing LLs don't view their business as being simply 9-5
but they do start as they mean to go on. Ts aren't mind readers

babe-ruth wrote: »

I have always responded to calls, which usually come in an evening or at weekends and frankly i'm getting a little tired of it, especially as it has not been a matter of emergency.

my bolding.

Give all Ts clear guidance on how and when to contact you and confirm the timeframe within which you will deal with various potential repairs and maint issues. make sure that they have say boiler call out numbers etc

Has it occurred to you that Ts perhaps ring in the evening because they think that you are working for a living (ie in a job elsewhere) during the day? I don't think it's unacceptable for a T to contact their LL on a Saturday.

I do however personally loathe it when people call me past 9.30pm at night unless they are close friends, family, or its a genuine emergency but then I do make that clear.

As others have said, you could simply set up a dedicated ( & regularly monitored) phone answering machine and/or email address specifically to deal with tenant queries. Provided that you are responsive within a reasonable timeframe Ts will soon get the hang of it. You can use an auto response to say that their message has been logged & will be dealt with.

You also mention being contacted whilst on holiday - if you are going away you should leave the contact number of someone who will deal with issues in your absence.

propertyman

:eek:Answering Machine Is it still 1983 ? Perhaps a filofax for their contacts?

Have a mobile phone just for your properties.

Office hours ? Maybe 10.00 to 6.45 to give enough leeway.


Parkinsons Law applies- the task will always fill the time available.

babe-ruth

propertyman wrote: »

Have a mobile phone just for your properties.

don't see the point in carting TWO phones around with me

TimBear

FATBALLZ wrote: »

If the hours bother you use an agent.

I disagree! I'm a tenant, and my previous letting agent was only available office hours and not at all on weekends.

My private landlady now is brilliant! I've never had an emergency, touch wood, but any problems I've usually emailed or text her and asked her when she's free to have a chat about it to arrange for her to come over.

Yes I am paying her but, in my case at least, being a landlady is not her 'job' and I don't want to disturb her unneccessarily.

If it were a genuine emergency then I would deal with appropriately (fire brigade, locksmith, gas services etc, whatever the problem may be) and sort it out with my landlady after the fact.

babe-ruth

Couldn't agree more Timbear! I'm sure all my tenants appreciate the fact that they have a landlord to deal with and not an agent, apart from the fact that they don't have to pay uneccesary charges they know that i am at the end of a phone (even though i am not happy to take calls late at night)

Beware of dealing with emergencies yourself though! Always try and make sure you landlady is aware of any emergency and has the chance to deal with it herself first.

Meepster

In my previous rental property, my landlady asked me to e-mail any non-emergency issues to her and she would reply within 24 hours, or in the case of a real emergency, no matter what time it was, to call her on her mobile. Likewise, she would only e-mail me, unless it was an emergency.

I thought that was a sensible solution, that suited us both and we both knew where we stood...

lighting_up_the_chalice

babe-ruth wrote: »

Beware of dealing with emergencies yourself though! Always try and make sure you landlady is aware of any emergency and has the chance to deal with it herself first.

You mean leave a message on your answerphone..........

" (Beeeeeep!) Hi, landlady. Your house is on fire. Will you call the fire brigade, or shall I? Look forward to hearing from you."