No heating and help from agency

fragile

I moved into a new house in Saggart in early January and last monday week the gas boiler stopped working, which means no heating, hot running water or showers! The agency sent out a repair guy 4 days later, who looked at the boiler and said he wasn't able to fix it, and since then the agency (Coldwell Banker Estates) have done nothing.

Every time I ring they tell me that the agent we dealt with is in a meeting (a week long meeting!) and they never return calls. They also refuse to give me a contact number for the landlord.

I know I can contact PRTB or Threshold to seek advice and mediation but that is a lengthy process and in the meantime I am paying a lot of money for a house that is not fit for living in.

Am I within my rights to withhold the rent? I suggested to the agency that I could use the rent money to book a hotel room so that I would have access to hot water and a shower, but I can only get in touch with the receptionist who cannot authorise or even comment on this suggestion!

Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated.

Cork Exile

Give them a deadline saying they don't you will be moving to alternative accommodation until the problem is sorted and they will be billed for any costs incurred by you. If possible put this in writing and hand deliver it to the office.

ntlbell

is there no supervisor they can put you on to or someone else?

what's your contract like?

I would be gone out the door all ready.

fragile

I was able to track down the landlords number from his name with a quick Google and left a message with his secretary - 3 hours later I got a call from a plumber saying the landlord had asked him to be there this evening

I called the agency and they knew nothing about this, they also said that the agent was still unavailable :rolleyes:

I told them that I didn't want to hear from them ever again and that I would deal directly with the landlord in any future matters.

Thanks for the help guys

ntlbell

good result.

Victor

Given the weather we have had, not having heating would probably have been grounds to put the landlord / agent on short notice (I think the act specifies 7 days).