Frustration can be experienced by tenants submitting work orders to their landlord or property manager. This is a well known fact. Landlords and property managers don’t act fast enough to make a repair, the repair isn’t good enough, and the vendor that went out was not skilled for the task, right? The folks that receive repair requests in the property management office, AKA landlords can get frustrated too! Even the vendor assigned to address these repairs can get agitated at times! It can be quite a pickle to keep everyone happy.
So in an effort to perpetuate world peace, I think it’s important to detail the best way to foster tranquility to all parties involved in the process. DETAILS DETAILS DETAILS DETAILS DETAILS DETAILS
Want faster service? YES!!
To achieve the fastest service possible, tenants should give concise information that is riddled with details about the repair need. This is not a scenario where more details are going to cause a problem. Be sure that before you even begin the process, that you troubleshoot to be sure that a repair is indeed needed.
Repair delays can be caused by:
- Sending the repair request to the wrong person. Not all property management staff handle repairs. I get many repair requests every day and I don’t handle repairs at all, I avoid them at all costs.
- Not submitting requests in the format required by your lease agreement. Most states require that you provide your landlord with a written account of your request. Virginia does too and we like it that way.
- Sending scant information causes the person on the other end to have a research project.
- Who the heck are you?
- Where are you calling from – address?
- What room is the issue in?
- Detail when the issue is occurring?
- What person/number shall we use for scheduling with the vendor to enter the home?
- Can you send a photo of the issue you are having?
- Is there any other system or item at the home in need of repair? Addressing multiple repairs at once will help out the owner who pays more fees to address several items at several visits. Think hard before hitting “send” that there are not more items that can be addressed at the visit.
- Not indicating who you are or where you live is a common mistake.
- Sending paragraphs of meandering information can cause confusion. I personally like a list with bullets. Start your bullets by giving the room/item that is malfunctioning, and then detail a good account of when and how your issue is occurring. If the problem is sporadic, say so. If a vendor gets to your home and the item works fine, they need to know to keep at it.
Examples
Below are some examples of various ways to send in the same repair request. You can see where one example is infinitely better than the others.
Mary – PROperty Manager for Stephanie Clark Property Management