Hi everyone,
I'm new to this forum but I'd like see some feedback and comments on the following circumstance that my partner and myself are facing.
We live in a block of units and earlier this year we believe there was some plumbing issues happening within our unit. We contacted body corp to see if they can get this sorted and they said they would, provided we accepted all costs would be our responsibility should there be any issues found. While we said we understood this we never actually accepted this but we stated that we just wanted someone to have a look at our issue first before continuing any work. No other word was said from body corp and they said they'd organize a plumber to have a look.
The plumber arrived and did his inspection, poked his head around various nooks, crannies and turned the taps on and off and mentioned he would contact body corp and let us know of the issue.
Fast forward a week or two and we were slapped with a $495 bill...confused I contacted the plumber directly a breakdown of the bill and to see a quote of the works allegedly done. Of course there was nothing but photos and a report. I replied back stating that why should we pay this bill as there was no quote provided for the works done. Of course no reply. Followed up. Of course no reply. Followed up again. No answer/reply then life's other various issues eventually took over and this issue was forgotten.
Recently we got our strata levy from body corp and the fee of $495 still remained on there. We challenged the bill with body corp instead of the plumber and they said we accepted it so it must be paid (but we said we didn't want any work done just an inspection). Further they said, What are we actually disputing? - the on-site and report fee, body corp engaging the plumbers (so basically a call-out fee, a report and body corp engaging the plumber is $495?). One line I found interesting from body corp - ..."i fail to see how a quote could be given prior, to ascertain what extent testing would be involved in locating the leak..." (from reading the fair trading and consumer law websites, it is recommended we request a quote for any goods or services being provided...)
After body corp's interesting reply and the plumbers interesting absence of a reply, I'm at a bit of a loss on how to proceed...
But here's a list of questions that is swirling around in my head that I hope would be some answers to:
1. Why I should be paying $495 for something we never actually agreed to. While we understood the process, we never said to proceed with it and countered only if they can simply inspect and not complete other works without our permission.
2. Is it possible that our counter-request translate into accepting the all cost responsibility from body corp?
3. Can a consumer simply request an inspection from tradesmen without body corp permission? I understand there is a call out fee for tradesmen and unless that callout fee is stated prior, I will pay if agreed upon.
4. Is it legal for body corporate to just engage a tradesmen without asking for any quote when they know the owners of a unit will have to pay? Funnily enough - for other services, body corporate asked for quotes around the building from the same company but for us it was simply no quote.
Apologies for the long banter but I hope to hear some feedback.
Cheers!
I'm new to this forum but I'd like see some feedback and comments on the following circumstance that my partner and myself are facing.
We live in a block of units and earlier this year we believe there was some plumbing issues happening within our unit. We contacted body corp to see if they can get this sorted and they said they would, provided we accepted all costs would be our responsibility should there be any issues found. While we said we understood this we never actually accepted this but we stated that we just wanted someone to have a look at our issue first before continuing any work. No other word was said from body corp and they said they'd organize a plumber to have a look.
The plumber arrived and did his inspection, poked his head around various nooks, crannies and turned the taps on and off and mentioned he would contact body corp and let us know of the issue.
Fast forward a week or two and we were slapped with a $495 bill...confused I contacted the plumber directly a breakdown of the bill and to see a quote of the works allegedly done. Of course there was nothing but photos and a report. I replied back stating that why should we pay this bill as there was no quote provided for the works done. Of course no reply. Followed up. Of course no reply. Followed up again. No answer/reply then life's other various issues eventually took over and this issue was forgotten.
Recently we got our strata levy from body corp and the fee of $495 still remained on there. We challenged the bill with body corp instead of the plumber and they said we accepted it so it must be paid (but we said we didn't want any work done just an inspection). Further they said, What are we actually disputing? - the on-site and report fee, body corp engaging the plumbers (so basically a call-out fee, a report and body corp engaging the plumber is $495?). One line I found interesting from body corp - ..."i fail to see how a quote could be given prior, to ascertain what extent testing would be involved in locating the leak..." (from reading the fair trading and consumer law websites, it is recommended we request a quote for any goods or services being provided...)
After body corp's interesting reply and the plumbers interesting absence of a reply, I'm at a bit of a loss on how to proceed...
But here's a list of questions that is swirling around in my head that I hope would be some answers to:
1. Why I should be paying $495 for something we never actually agreed to. While we understood the process, we never said to proceed with it and countered only if they can simply inspect and not complete other works without our permission.
2. Is it possible that our counter-request translate into accepting the all cost responsibility from body corp?
3. Can a consumer simply request an inspection from tradesmen without body corp permission? I understand there is a call out fee for tradesmen and unless that callout fee is stated prior, I will pay if agreed upon.
4. Is it legal for body corporate to just engage a tradesmen without asking for any quote when they know the owners of a unit will have to pay? Funnily enough - for other services, body corporate asked for quotes around the building from the same company but for us it was simply no quote.
Apologies for the long banter but I hope to hear some feedback.
Cheers!
