Cooked Aircon in Rental - Advice Please

LTyronesCheesyEggs on 15/03/2024 - 13:21

Asking for advice re a situation involving 1 cooked aircon unit and 1 cooked building/property manager. Situated in the swamp formally known as Brisbane, Qld.

Basically, on the 5th of Feb 2024, aircon unit in my current rental decided to die. Got onto my property manager who arranged a technician to look at the problem the next day - didnt hear anything further until I followed up with manager on the 13th of Feb. Feedback was the technician was looking for parts.

15th of Feb I ask manager where the technician is at with sourcing parts, manager says the technician needs to look at the unit again. Manager instead gets a different technician to look at the aircon (fried PCB ID'd as the issue).

22nd of Feb, I ask for an update - manager says the second technician has ordered replacement parts, will take 7-10 days to be delivered.

9th of March, receive update from manager that parts have arrived.

14th of March, technician succesfully installs new PCB, but now also finds fan motor is also cooked. New fan motor ordered, delivery time set for 7-10 working days.

So in total, will be 6 weeks without aircon by next Mon/Tues. Spoke to the RTA in the middle of this period who mentioned a Breach Notice would be the next step, but they also seemed to recommend I try to sort it out before that stage. Also have tried to negotiate a rent reduction during this period with the manager - his response has been a reduction will be negotiated once the aircon is back running.

Issue is compounded by manager having fairly poor written and spoken english.

Honestly not sure what/if there is anything that can be done? Could the technician have somehow tested for the faulty fan motor at the beginning? Will a Breach Notice at this stage basically just piss the manager/owner off even further which will come back to bite me when/if it comes time to renew the lease?

Any thoughts, greatly appreciated as I'm well over thinking by this stage.

Home & Garden Air Conditioner

Comments

  • spackbace on 15/03/2024 - 13:32
    +12

    Will a Breach Notice at this stage basically just piss the manager/owner off even further which will come back to bite me when/if it comes time to renew the lease?

    Yes

    • TyronesCheesyEggs on 15/03/2024 - 13:57

      Lol.

    • El cheepo on 15/03/2024 - 14:02

      Not sure how the OP or anyone would think otherwise haha.

      • TyronesCheesyEggs on 15/03/2024 - 14:06
        -1

        Reason for asking was the only thing in my mind that might be helpful with a Breach Notice is that it would formalise the issue which might come in handy for any rent reduction negotiation.
        Right now I feel like the owner/manager could very well turn around and just say 'fk ya' once its all done.

        • El cheepo on 15/03/2024 - 14:11
          +4

          The owner might be a perfectly reasonable person getting a bum steer from a bad REA.

          If that is the case and they were to get a breach, I’m sure that would only piss both the owner and REA off and give them ammo to not renew.

          I know a rental reduction would of been nice and fair, but is it something your willing to wager moving house on?

  • JIMB0 on 15/03/2024 - 13:36
    +6

    It's hard to get good service from air conditioning companies at the best of times, let alone in a summer heatwave. If it's not a common brand then getting parts can be hard. Short of replacing the whole unit there's not much the property manager can do.

    • TyronesCheesyEggs on 15/03/2024 - 13:58
      +1

      Brand is Daikon, pretty common I thought, but yeah take your point.

      • JIMB0 on 15/03/2024 - 15:02
        -5

        That explains the wait on parts. Daikon is not a common brand. It would be even harder to get parts for than the Fujita split systems that Dimmeys sold 20 years ago.

        • TyronesCheesyEggs on 15/03/2024 - 15:14

          Fk :(

        • Aureus on 15/03/2024 - 15:50
          +9

          Are you sure? I see Daikon every time I go to the Asian grocer.

          • TyronesCheesyEggs on 15/03/2024 - 16:31

            @Aureus: Damn, did not realise it was a delicous radish. Added to the next grocery list.

      • EightImmortals on 15/03/2024 - 16:15
        +2

        Don't you mean Daikin?

        • TyronesCheesyEggs on 15/03/2024 - 16:30

          I do. My bad, was spelling from sleep deprived memory.

      • skillet on 17/03/2024 - 09:40

        Mitsu if you want for more parts availability.

  • freefall101 on 15/03/2024 - 13:53
    +5

    Could the technician have somehow tested for the faulty fan motor at the beginning?

    Probably not. I had a similar problem with my aircon, they could identify that the PCB was fried but warned that there could be further issues that hadn't been identified. Because the fan likely won't run without the PCB telling it to turn on, and even if they get it on it can be hard to tell if it's moving air correctly.

    The property manager sounds pretty good, they sourced a second tech when the first couldn't do the job. Waiting on parts is the norm, so is waiting on the owner to get back to them on stuff. They did the right thing too, had someone look at it within 48 hours. Unfortunately after that there's usually not timelines on when something needs to be fixed.

    • TyronesCheesyEggs on 15/03/2024 - 14:01
      +1

      Thanks, that's helpful feedback.
      Think my main gripe with the manager is just having to chase him for any updates. He has the information, just sucks at relaying it, which might come from their English not being great.

      • Jimothy Wongingtons on 15/03/2024 - 14:08
        +8

        If it makes you feel better most property managers I’ve dealt with were native English speakers and were generally MFs to deal with anyway :)

        • TyronesCheesyEggs on 15/03/2024 - 15:15

          Hahaha yeah the profession doesn't seem to the attract the greatest of talent.

  • Duckie2hh on 15/03/2024 - 13:55
    +1

    Is your dishwasher running?

  • djsweet on 15/03/2024 - 14:06
    +2

    6 weeks without aircon in summer is pretty brutal. If you are planning to leave anyway push for a rent reduction, and potentially file a breach notice. If you want to keep living there, I would probably do neither of those things. At the end of the lease the owner will either boot you or put the rent up astronomically offsetting anything to be gained. There is no way anyone could prove that the landlords actions are related to the airconditioner situation and you will get screwed.

    • TyronesCheesyEggs on 15/03/2024 - 15:17
      +1

      Yeh, my thinking aswell, particularly given general rental shortages. What a cluster fk.

  • MITM on 15/03/2024 - 14:34
    +3

    Air con techs are getting smashed. You're not the only one overcooking the AC this summer - it's been HOT.
    Sometimes if money is no problem, just get it fixed yourself.
    Once had a dishwasher not working and knowing the PM was a PITA, so I just bought a 2nd hand one and stored the old in the garage. When come time to move, swapped them back and resold the 2nd hand one.

    • TyronesCheesyEggs on 15/03/2024 - 15:18

      Thats not a bad shout. If I get dealt another lengthy delay I think I will just bite the bullet and do something myself.

    • Love a bargain on 16/03/2024 - 12:14

      It's a lot easier to swap out a dishwasher than an air-con unit though.
      If OP a\had paid for the air-con to be fixed/ replaced and that causes other problem down the track, OP might be on the hook for that damage.

      • skillet on 17/03/2024 - 09:44

        Your looking at least $500 for back to back installs because it needs to be gas reclaimed then regas and etc.

  • onetwothreefour on 15/03/2024 - 15:22
    +6

    Had you been running it all day at 16 degrees?

    • Jimothy Wongingtons on 15/03/2024 - 15:22
      +2

      i understood that reference

      oink

    • TyronesCheesyEggs on 15/03/2024 - 15:24

      I wish. Ran it on the scorching days at a comfortable 22 degrees so I wasnt a puddle on the ground. Pretty conscious to run just fans under those temps.
      Cause of the failure was a gecko that fried itself inside the unit :(
      Edit: missed the joke

  • 7ekn00 on 15/03/2024 - 16:38
    +3

    Is it a Daikin aircon? This sounds like their level of support :/

    I waited close to 3 months for Daikin repairs in Darwin … then the whole thing (compressor and pump) blew up 5 years and 2 months after purchase (so no warranty)!

    • TyronesCheesyEggs on 15/03/2024 - 17:30

      Tis yeah. That sucks re your experience. When it comes time for me to buy my own unit I'll be going with something alot more mainstream.

      • 7ekn00 on 15/03/2024 - 17:38
        +6

        Daikin don't coat their PCBs with resin (which offers a level of protection from environment and critters) …

        Fujitsu, Panasonic and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries all have resin coated PCBs (so less likely to externally affect the electronics)

        • TyronesCheesyEggs on 15/03/2024 - 17:40

          That is some great facts right there! Thank you.

    • Love a bargain on 16/03/2024 - 12:17

      should still be able to claim it under Australian Consumer Law

      • 7ekn00 on 16/03/2024 - 12:28

        Should, but can't be f%^ked going through months of crap to wait months more for a repair :/

        Just happy to replace all 5 Daikins with MHI as the Daikins break (even in warranty) …

    • TyronesCheesyEggs on 15/03/2024 - 20:16
      +2

      But then I'd be living in Blues territory :(

  • 2esc on 16/03/2024 - 10:04

    In some areas its a real struggle to get a ac technician so at least there has been action.

  • LFO on 16/03/2024 - 15:20

    Situated in the swamp formally known as Brisbane, Qld.

    LOL Why are you still there then? ? ? ? ?

    By the way a Breach Notice will do very little to help you. And, as a matter of fact, the property manager is already seeking to remedy the issue.
    Very painfully slowly but still doing it.
    RTA will never act for something so trivial … trivial versus evictions, demolitions and similar.
    I'll say it will not help you, in particular if seeking a lease renewal.

    RTA offers many "scary" options to handle landlords and tenants but nothing is really really neither instant nor exemplary … if rent is in default it will still take weeks to vacate regardless of how many Breach Notices are produced.

    Costly and inefficient but perhaps a portable air con could help. Or a room / window unit.

    Yes, weather has been quite a bit putrid for human life (warm, rainy and HUMID!!!! since December). Someone mention Sydney is getting a bit of that too.

Login or Join to leave a comment
Login Join