No TV in Rental

[shaleejam]

Hi, I am hoping for some advice from landlords regarding a property we started leasing on December 17th. After moving in we realised that although the home has an Antenna it is not connected to the port in the home as the house is new. We informed the land agent who said they will get onto having it done for us. It has now been two weeks and although we understand it's hard to get things done reasonably quick over xmas we have an 8 year old who is getting frustrated (guess all those xmas presents were not as exciting as we anticipated )

The agent suggested that we hire daily DVD's for her but we would also like to be able to access things like the news etc.

Our mobile phones rarely work in the area (Point Cook) as coverage here is very poor and we are also having major internet issues so not always able to load news pages, we understand this is no problem of the agent or owner but it's adding to our need to have the television issue sorted out.

How long should we wait before asking again? We really don't want to become annoying and come across as whinging tenants.

Any advice would be very much appreciated

ps: we visited our local Dick Smith's to buy an internal antenna but the sales person said they don't work very well in this area

 

[Sheryn]

As a LL I would consider the TV an essential service especially with kids and holidays.

Having said above it is extremely difficult (impossible) to get things done the week before and for at least 2 weeks after Christmas in most instances.

Personally, I would be ringing the Property Manager each week day & send a written letter requested reduced rent until TV service supplied. As a LL I would give reduced rent eg $25 per week until service can be rectificed.

As a LL who builds new properties and puts in tenants there are always hiccups and it is very difficult to get builder back to fix up faults even worse over holidays.

Once I had a property with no hot water PM left a phone message on wrong phone and I never heard about the problem for another week, then it took me over a week to get fixed at my expense as the builder would not wear any part of the cost to fix.

As I said ring PM each day for progress report.

Cheers
Sheryn

 

[luckyone]

I would remind the property manager. Just be polite about it and it should be ok. She may have just forgotten about the problem with Christmas and everything.

 

[rugrat]

They don't need to reduce rent, but they DO need to get the problem resolved ASAP. It can be harder to get things done over christmas, but they should still be able to find someone to come in and fix it.

In the meantime, if its such a hardship, go to Kmart and buy a pair of rabbit ears.

 

[buster]

Shaleejam, why dont you just ask the LL to pay for the cable and connect it your self. Assuming you have two legs, two arms, eyesight, and 15 minutes to spare.

 

[chilliblue]

Remember to document your correspondance with the agent and perhaps attain your own quotes to push matters along.

In the past the most it has cost me is $150-$200 so the cost is not significant.

 

[bluestorm]

It has now been two weeks and although we understand it's hard to get things done reasonably quick over xmas we have an 8 year old who is getting frustrated (guess all those xmas presents were not as exciting as we anticipated )

Do what people did before they had TV to baby sit their kids. Buy them a few books to read, get him involved in a hobby.

Personally, I would be ringing the Property Manager each week day & send a written letter requested reduced rent until TV service supplied. As a LL I would give reduced rent eg $25 per week until service can be rectificed.

Rubbish Sheryn. If I was the PM, I'd put you on the "annoying tenant" list. It's not like the electrical wiring is fryed, or plumbing has a burst pipe. It's a TV service. Hardly something in the "emergency" category that needs ringing every day, or reduced rent.
And if it is "such" an emergency, than that's a sad life.

I'd ring them on Tue, but also be realistic. Xmas/New Year, if they were to get a handy man out there, then there is probably also a LOT more urgent work lined up in the new year for these people (so there may be a queue for a couple of weeks).

 

[shaleejam]

Thank you for the responses, we did ask about connecting it ourselves but apparently it is not that simple as it needs to be connected thru fibre optics at a $600 charge to the landlord...or something like that.

We were also told by Dick Smith not to bother trying the inside antenna idea as they have not been working very well for other people in new homes in the area.

I understand that people survived many years ago without TV and yes our daughter has many books and things to keep her occupied, but this is the modern age and we would eventually like to have access to television.

Happy to wait another few weeks though and will bring it up with the Property Manager again if nothing has eventuated.

Thanks again for the responses.

 

[Luv2Travel]

I think you have every right to want the TV to work, but as others have said it's not an emergency and it is Christmas break, so you need to be reasonable. I don't think that requesting a rent reduction would be reasonable, certainly not at this stage.

However, at a cost of $600 hopefully you landlord isn't going to try and stall it for as long as possible so I think you need to keep on top of it, without becoming too demanding and unrealistic.

I can appreciate you wanting the TV for the child too, disregard the guilt people throw at people using them as "babysitters". Nothing wrong with occassionally shutting a kid up by putting it in front of the TV, provided it isn't all day. I think they are heaven when I have looked after my sisters kids.

 

[Sheryn]

Rubbish Sheryn. If I was the PM,.

Bluestorm
How many IP's do you have rented out?
How many new IP's have you built and rented out to tenants?


Regards
Sheryn

 

[weg]

Thank you for the responses, we did ask about connecting it ourselves but apparently it is not that simple as it needs to be connected thru fibre optics at a $600 charge to the landlord...or something like that.

If there's a port and antenna already there you would think it's a simple and cheap enough task to connect the two - either by you or the LL. Strange that it wasn't done it in the first place. Fiber optic would be well and truly optional I would think.

I personally wouldn't have considered this an essential service or one the LL was obliged to connect - a bit like aircon and phone.

 

[jaycee]

I think access to tv is pretty basic these days,. Unfortunately delays with getting tradies and maybe priority on the request may be making it hard.

I'd probably follow up with the PM and ask if there's anything I can do etc to keep up to date and remind them also that you're waiting for them to fix it

 

[alplant]

We often say on this forum that if tenants move into a place without air conditioning (for example) and then ask for it we shouldn't be under any obligation to provide it and if the tenant wanted air conditioning they should have found a place with it. I totally agree.

So looking at it from the other side - if a tenant moves into a place with an antennae on the roof and a TV socket in the wall I don't think it's unreasonable for the tenant to believe it's all connected and the TV would work and if it doesn't surely it's the landlord's responsibility to fix it.

If the tenant was happy renting a place that didn't have TV access (for maybe a slightly cheaper rental) he would have found one. This isn't like asking for something that wasn't there to start with, (even though it sort of is), because the tenant would have a reasonable belief that it was all connected, unless of course he was told upfront that it wasn't.

So giving the PM a little push wouldn't hurt.

 

[kathryn d]

We often say on this forum that if tenants move into a place without air conditioning (for example) and then ask for it we shouldn't be under any obligation to provide it and if the tenant wanted air conditioning they should have found a place with it. I totally agree.

So looking at it from the other side - if a tenant moves into a place with an antennae on the roof and a TV socket in the wall I don't think it's unreasonable for the tenant to believe it's all connected and the TV would work and if it doesn't surely it's the landlord's responsibility to fix it.

If the tenant was happy renting a place that didn't have TV access (for maybe a slightly cheaper rental) he would have found one. This isn't like asking for something that wasn't there to start with, (even though it sort of is), because the tenant would have a reasonable belief that it was all connected, unless of course he was told upfront that it wasn't.

So giving the PM a little push wouldn't hurt.

I actually agree.
If there is an antennae and TV wall socket, it is implied.
Does it state anything about TV connection on the lease?

 

[K4K4M]

we did ask about connecting it ourselves but apparently it is not that simple as it needs to be connected thru fibre optics at a $600 charge to the landlord...or something like that.

I read some where that "more than 300 Point Cook residents have connected to fibre-optic broadband project".
I guess its called Velocity Network etc - which means you should have fibre coming from street into your house (instead of normal copper wires) which will provide your Phone + Internet + Free to air TV.

Are you part of this project ?? Who is your ISP and phone provider ??

 

[shaleejam]

I read some where that "more than 300 Point Cook residents have connected to fibre-optic broadband project".
I guess its called Velocity Network etc - which means you should have fibre coming from street into your house (instead of normal copper wires) which will provide your Phone + Internet + Free to air TV.

Are you part of this project ?? Who is your ISP and phone provider ??

Hi, yes we are part of this project. When we signed the lease we were told that the landlord needs to pay for fibre optic internet if needed and we could pay an extra $300 for faster connection but we have wireless internet with 3 and still have a year left of the plan so we said it isn't necessary at the moment.

There was nothing in the lease about it and nothing mentioned about the television not being connected to the arial.

When we noticed the television was not connected we rang and asked about it but we were handled by someone different and she then set the wheels in motion for the fibre optic connection. Again we said its not necessary and asked if it is possible just to have the arial connected for the television without the landlord needing the added expense of connecting internet when it's not needed.

We are happy to wait a couple more weeks before asking if there has been any progress. We just wanted to make sure we handled it in a way that doesn't give an impression we will be troublesome tenants complaining about anything and everything. We move every year or two due to work and like to ensure we have excellent rental history.

 

[K4K4M]

Hi, yes we are part of this project..

Following are links for this proj / trial

http://www.telstra.com.au/fttp/
http://www.telstra.com.au/abouttels...oint-cooks-fibre-broadband-network-ready-.xml

if needed and we could pay an extra $300 for faster connection but we have wireless internet with 3 and still have a year left of the plan so we said it isn't necessary at the moment. ..

You can get speed upto 100Mbps - worth it, as compare to wireless with 3 you having major problem.

When we noticed the television was not connected we rang and asked about it but we were handled by someone different and she then set the wheels in motion for the fibre optic connection. Again we said its not necessary and asked if it is possible just to have the arial connected for the television without the landlord needing the added expense of connecting internet when it's not needed...

Your house connected to the FTTP (Velocity Network) therefore its bit complicated just to connect the TV - becuase your phone,internet and TV all connected to one fibre. But I still believe your rooftop antenna should have a working coax connected to the TV point before joining this trial

We just wanted to make sure we handled it in a way that doesn't give an impression we will be troublesome tenants complaining about anything and everything. We move every year or two due to work and like to ensure we have excellent rental history.

I reckon you handling this very well, you just have to find out your TV can be connected to the normal rooftop antenna or it gonna come from the FTTP.

Also visit http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/ a good tech forum.
Keep us informed

 

[shaleejam]

That is very helpful KK thank you

 

[shaleejam]

Hi again,

I just wanted to update and again ask advice. Still no progress with the TV antenna issues although we have contacted the real estate in writing on 3 occasions.

We joined the library and have enjoyed reading as has our daughter but it's getting a bit annoying now.

We also have an ongoing issue with insulation coming thru the vents in the roof and that is not being dealt with by the agent either.

The suggestions we have been told by the agency in regards to the TV are:

* buy rabbit ears - we already tried that and got a very fuzzy reception with an old TV that is not possible to watch but can't get an indoor digital antenna to work at all.

* Hire DVD's while our daughter is home on holidays....this is getting a bit boring - hence us all reading..a lot.

When we rang about the insulation falling out of the vent above our daughters bed and in the spare room where I had a chair set up to feed my baby. We were told to close the vent in that room when using the cooling system. However now the heating vents have insulation falling onto and into our beds even when the heating is not on. We have a 9 month old crawler who likes to eat everything and although I am normally very clean and vacuum regularly I am having to do it at least once a day to ensure there is no insulation in corners for him to pick up.

Our patience is now starting to wear thin. Is there even anything we can do about these issues without having to go to VCAT? And if it did go so far that we had to pursue that avenue...will we get anywhere? We have never had any dealings like this before and it is not something we want to do.

It's a lovely house, the property manager was so nice and professional, we cleaned up the overrun garden and we are pedantic and tidy inside, we pay our rent a month early and we have never been rude or aggressive when asking for some progress - what more can we do? The property manager said it's up to the "maintenance department" (which seems to consist of just one staff member who doesn't communicate well)

We love that we are all a little more well read, but it would be great to sit down and watch the news on our new TV we bought 3 weeks before moving here.

Any advice would be wonderful...

 

[kathryn d]

Have you been putting all requests in writing?
If not, you need to have a paper trial.
Give the PM a deadline of when you want this fixed, and state if it is not resolved, you have no choice but to go to the VCAT..and do it.