145 Phan Chu Trinh

HenryJo wrote:

Guys,

Just putting word out about apartment 10-10, 145 Phan Chu Trinh. I had a horrible experience. stayed there for one month, couldn't wait to leave to be honest.

The owner/manager of the apartment was pretty useless. He would take ages to sort any issue. case in point. The microwave dish was missing, I reported it and sent him a photo of the back of microwave (with make and model). Few days later he brings plate that didn't fit. Waited about two weeks again for the correct part. Even after it arrived he wanted to keep putting off bringing it round.

The place has really old a/c units and the building is old (top floors heat up pretty sharpish during day) so if you constantly have a/c on, it will cost you an arm and a leg. The first week I used 274 units. This translates to 548,000 VND (274 x 2000k per unit). Then started using a/c only at night and manged to lower usage.

Anyway, the previous tenants had run up a bill around 3Million. The owner didn't pay electric bill, so electric company cut the supply. There was no warning. One morning, someone came and put a letter on the door, then my electric was off. On the letter it said electric bill of 3Million + 100k must be paid to reconnect electric.

I called owner immediately. He said he was at work and can only deal with it after 5pm. Then he had the gall to suggest that I take all my stuff and go to his other apartment, which is apparently more 'luxurious'. Doesn't he have any comprehension of convenience?

Without leaving it to this numpty to sort out, I rang the electric company, asked their closing time. They confirmed 5pm, so looked up where they were. They were located near the Vung tau airport. Headed straight there. When I got there contacted owner and asked him if he had paid. He kept insisting he had. I knew he hadn't, as staff at electric company said no one had paid. By now it was nearly 5pm, so I paid the full electric bill plus reconnection fee immediately. Staff there said if it's paid before 5pm, connection could be done within the hour.

I get home around 7pm and still no electric. Get a phone call from engineer at electric company. Unfortunately, he only spoke vietnamese, and my vietnamese is very basic so cannot understand. I call owner and give engineer's number. He calls engineer, and tells me we have to wait for the Building Manager to come back for the electric to be turned on.

After half hour building manager rocks-up leisurely, unlocks the electric meter/switch cupboard (located by the stairway on each floor) then takes off the seal on the switch and turns electric back on. Actually the building manager was hardly around throughout my stay. Whenever I asked to check the meter, staff would say the owner of the apartment must ask the building manager. I was pretty lucky to get a reading after first week, because apartment owner had contacted electric company and asked that they send an engineer to check if there was a problem with electric leaking. Anyway, it turned out there wasn't'. My final bill came to around 1.4M. Not bad after the 1st week costing 548k.

Even after I had paid the previous tenants bill, the owner only returned 200k when I checked out. Anyone with an ounce of courtesy would pay back the whole amount from previous tenants straightaway right?. Afterall, I did go to electric company, and did what the owner would normally had to do. None of that, instead he pays back a measly 200k at checkout and says we cannot check the electric meter because the Manager is not around and that going by the 1st weeks usage, it looked like I would have used 3Million dong electric so we should call it even. I told him, I had cut down on the usage and that going by my calculations the bill should not come to no more than 1.5Million. He did not believe me.

This is when he said he can pay me 200k back. He then says he can check the meter later and transfer the money via bank transfer if there's a difference. I knew this was a ploy but I was also getting late,so agreed. Few days later he sends picture of electric meter reading. Turns out I had used 1.4Million VND.

When I asked about returning the balance, he went quiet. He's stopped communicating now.

Be careful guys. I was lucky being able to go somewhere elese after one month. THat month felt like an eternity. Beside the electric issues, the apartment above had a dog barking at all hours. Reported it to security. Nothing was done.

Some receptionists were okay, one was absolutely dreadful (not a care in the world). Cleaning staff downright rude.

Don't say you've not been warned.

I realize the thread is almost a year old.

I'm just thinking, if I had a choice between moving to a different "luxurious" apartment or going to the power company and paying someone else's bill out of my own pocket, I'd probably be moving.

Of course, only you know your situation and how much inconvenience would be involved.

For me, I'd rather have the inconvenience of the move than have the uncertainty of being paid back.

Hope you are in a better situation now.