Most Common Tenant Complaints
Property managers wear many hats; one of them is listening to and taking care of complaints from tenants. Some of these calls may be emergencies, while others are more routine or subjective. Regardless, attending to all of these calls is part of the job description. But how to do it effectively and promptly and not get overwhelmed is a whole other story. So let’s take a look at the most common reasons for tenants’ calls.
Maintenance Issues
The most common complaints associated with rented properties involve maintenance issues. They can range from broken appliances to busted water pipes to cracked floor tiles. A tenant might call your office with the expectation that you will resolve their concerns immediately, and it would be possible if only you were available at any time of day and night. Guess what? You can do it. Wonder how? Keep reading.
Customer Service Problems
A tenant might get frustrated for a few reasons, and they would want to let you know about what went wrong. For example, maybe someone didn’t return their call or responded rudely, or a contractor made a mess in their home or office. Or possibly their appointment got rescheduled, and no one let them know. One of the best ways to diffuse these matters is to have a friendly and empathetic person to listen to their complaints and assure them that they are being heard and the problem will get fixed.
Pests
Neither tenants nor landlords want to have problems with vermin and pests. Understandably, a tenant may become upset if there is an infestation issue in their unit. And, of course, these problems need to be immediately addressed before they become worse. So, the property manager should either reach you after hours or make a referral to an authorized vendor, whichever you prefer.
Issues with Other Tenants
There are millions of tenants nationwide, either working or living near each other. A few clashes are bound to happen from time to time. If one of your tenants is overstepping their bounds, you’re going to get a call from another tenant. If this is serious, someone needs to contact the on-call person or ensure that you receive the complaint information the next business day. And what if it happened in the middle of the night?
Questions About Money
One of the biggest concerns among both businesses and individuals is finances. For example, tenants might have some questions or concerns about rent payments or the return of a security deposit. Putting off these calls will only add to the frustration.
There are many implications to having unhappy tenants. They may not want to renew their lease contracts, or they could take to the internet to let others know their opinion about your services. Taking care of both the issues and your tenants as quickly as possible is the best way to keep your occupancy rates and satisfaction scores up.
Solutions
Practically all of the issues listed above come down to possible communication problems. The emergencies often happen at night, but neither you nor your property manager can be there for the tenants 24/7. However, a call answering service can be there virtually anytime. The professionally trained agents can take detailed messages from the callers and tell them when to expect an answer to their questions. They can also call the vendors from your preferred list to set up an appointment to fix a broken pipe or a running toilet. If the matter is urgent, they will call for an emergency service even if the issue occurred in the middle of the night.
So these are the ways a professional answering service can help your PMC deal with some of the most common tenant complaints. It will also save you money on having an overnight attendant and show your tenants that you care about their needs.
If you would like to find out more about all the possibilities a professional contact center can provide you with, call Answering365 property management rep for a free consultation. You can reach us at 888-588-9800 at any time, and make sure to ask about our bilingual services. We are always open!