Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  05/10/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Im not having a positive experience with New Life Managment due to the lack of responsiveness to my questions, no explanations behind actions that have taken place or not taken place. Its been frustrating and disappointing. Im the one who has to continually reach out rather than vice versa, New Life Management hasnt been proactive in keeping me update.New Life Management became our property management on January 1, 2023. Having lived at this location since March ******************************************************************************************* fact I can say none of what is listed below has ever happened to me. I no longer know what to do.Complaint covers:Released private information without permission, Maintenance - repairs to plumbing connected to the washing machine. Current work order - concerns over process 1. They issued personal information without permission. Im to understand it was stored on a spreadsheet, and release in this manner. How is that sound management or "best practices?To date my questions have gone unanswered, they have shown little concern on something I consider very serious. 2. Water issues with plumbing pipes that connect to washing machine.August 11, 2023 - First contact regarding water from the washing machine backing the stand pipe.This Friday it will be 8 weeks, since first reported lack of responsiveness 3. No response to my emails regarding issues/questions regarding a work order. **** ** ************** * **** *** ******** ************* *** *** *** ****** ** ****** ** ** *** **** ** ** ***** * ** ***** **** *** *** ***** ****** ** **** *****

  

  Business response

  16/10/2023

  The Complainant, *******, has made a complaint against New Life Management due to the lack of responsiveness, release of private information and maintenance concerns. 
  
  For background, New Life Management, provides management services to the non-profit building ******* lives in, we have no legal authority to make decisions for this property and instead we are proxy's for the ***** of ********** The ***** of ********* are the properties governing body and make all decisions as set out in the Rules and Occupancy Agreement of the Co-op; Our job is to carry directives, actions and decisions made by the ***** of ********** 
  
  While our company does strive to provide a 3-business day response time, the property is restricted on hours and we are contracted at a certain level of hours per week. These hours are to cover all corporate, governance, member related and maintenance related items. As work fluctuates throughout the year, it is up to the ***** to provide directive on where the priority areas are. Our fiduciary duty and non-negotiable contract obligations are in regards to the corporate filings and accounting related matters; All other ares fall under the scope of the ***** of ********* and we are only able to provide assistance where requested and needed. 
  
  
  To speak to the submitted attachments:
  
  Screenshot 2023-10-05 at 5.06.11_PM
  
  The member was provided a response on September 13, 2023 @ 9:55AM
  
  The Property had a new property coordinator who had initially scheduled our inhouse maintenance team to tend to the members repairs for September 11th. Upon closer review, the call-out required a plumber as such a plumber was dispatched instead. Permitted, the property coordinator should have updated the member, *******, of the change in schedule, this was an error that I feel confident was due to learning a new property and this being a new system for the coordinator to utilize. 
  
  Please see attachment "*******************************"
  
  
  Screenshot 2023-10-05 at 5.03.24_PM
  
  The complainant, *******, emailed on September 21, the property coordinator responded after 3.5 business days, on September 27, 2023. ******* responded promptly advising that they would not like to speak to the property coordinator and to have their manager, **** call back instead. 
  
  Please see attachment "20230927_KG_*******_Email"
  
  
  Screenshot 2023-10-05 at 4.59.03_PM & Screenshot 2023-10-05 at 4.59.09_PM 
  
  The complaint against New Life Management not adhering to PIPA is a huge violation and one that we absolutely deny as personal information was not released by our team. 

  Our company collects information from the Co-op members, such as *******, this information is NOT shared with other members unless consent is provided. This information is for the management team or the ***** of ********* use as governing body only. 
  New Life Management sent a list without *******'s information and the volunteer at the Co-op who was in charge of updating the shared members listing did not notice that ******* did not want her information shared. 
  The volunteer in question, ****, emailed ******* confirming that this error came from her end and not New Life Management's and apologized. 
  
  See attachment "20230909_KG_*******_****_Email"
  
  
  Due to the above, I believe we have displayed that we are only actioning directives that come from the property. We as a management company do not have the authority to triage or expedite *******'s requests and this must be requested to the ***** of ********** Furthermore, the breach of PIPA was not done by an employee of New Life Management so to put that in this complaint is not fair. 
  I acknowledge our 72-hour response time has not always been met but the property has had such poor luck and has had many MAJOR leaks and priority/emergency call-outs that have needed to be actioned sooner. All of this can also be proved if necessary. The weekly hours are reported back to the ***** of ********* on a monthly basis as an overview of what takes place on a month to month basis.

  I believe I have responded to all the attachments, there were some doubles so I apologize if anything was missed. 

  Customer response

  16/10/2023

  
  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:  

  . no complaint was every made regarding a PIPA violation.  I asked **** how this happened that my personal information was a) put on a form (which I'm told had color coding) and b) was sent to anyone when I clearly indicated on the form with a NO it was not to be release to the membership or anyone on the Board.   I asked for a list of who else received this information.   No replied to my email.  

  .September 11 booked and confirmed inspection.    No one showed to to the inspection - I emailed Arun about this - to date no one advised me why this happened.    

  I brought these to ****** attention that I wasn't receiving answers, she was going to look into both of them.  I never heard back from her.

  3rd email - I asked two questions to get clarity on how New Life operations.   1.  about the work order process (don't know why it's would take 3 day's to get a repairs.   2. If New Life felt the services was acceptable. My housing charges include in-suite laundry, I'm not being reimbursed for the inconvenience or the extra money I'm having to may to take my laundry else where.    Once again **** did not answer either question - hence my reason for the second call to **** to once again complain about my questions not being address.   **** never returned my call.   As mentioned before in the 31 years I have lived in this co-op none of this has happened to be before - it's been frustrating and disappointing.   

   

  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***************************

  

  Business response

  31/10/2023

  The member has rejected our response so I am further responding to the complaint and our stance as "New Life Management" we cannot speak on behalf of ************* Housing Cooperative. 
  
  The member has stated they never agreed to releasing their information to the ***** of ********** the ***** of ********* are the governing body for the Co-op and have a fiduciary duty to manage the Co-op's business. While we do not have to release ALL member information to the ***** and try our best to keep members information private, the ***** has a duty to know of basic contact information; Further, the ***** had this information prior to NLM. 
  
  There was no inspection booked for September 11th. There was an appointment for a maintenance staff to tend to some maintenance repairs however the repairs required a plumber and so the appointment was cancelled and a plumber was dispatched. In my original response that the applicant rejected I already confirmed that, "The Property had a new property coordinator who had initially scheduled our inhouse maintenance team to tend to the members repairs for September 11th. Upon closer review, the call-out required a plumber as such a plumber was dispatched instead. Permitted, the property coordinator should have updated the member, *******, of the change in schedule, this was an error that I feel confident was due to learning a new property and this being a new system for the coordinator to utilize.".
  
  To state no response was given would not be accurate and I have also already submitted our email dated September 13th as proof; Had ******* further required information as to why ***** (the plumber) was dispatched instead of the original maintenance staff, this could have been asked. To date, ******* viewed our September 13th email twice; Once on September 13th at 11:27AM and a second time on October 4th at 5:56PM so I can confirm that the applicant did receive this response from our team.
  
  In regards to the comments about ****, I see that **** had emailed ******* on September 18th to put a phone conversation in writing, ******* has to date never responded to this email but has viewed it on 3 different occasions. 
  
  On September 27th ******* advised their Coordinator, Arun, that they would like to speak to ****. **** was not in office and was at a remote client site performing on-site services. 
  
  ******* followed up on October 3rd and **** replied promptly on October 4th advising ******* that **** is not available nor back in *********** until October 5th. No response, as such **** followed up again on October 6th. 
  
  ******* replied stating she is waiting for a call back still and is not having a positive experience with NLM and the lack of responsiveness. 
  
  Again, ******* indicated she would only like to speak to our community manager, ****. **** is not associated with ************* specific team and is a manager of our whole team. She does not have dedicated time for ************* for which ******* is a member for and is not contracted to work for this Co-op. 
  
  **** replied to *******s email after the long weekend as our office was closed and ******* replied advising that she had reported this to the BBB. 
  
  NLM's COO, *********************, replied to the email advising that she would look into this during the next business working day. By that time the BBB complaint was already launched, as such NLM responded to the BBB complaint but also followed up in writing via email to ******* directly. 
  
  In regards to wanting a reduction in housing charges, New Life Management cannot speak to this request. This is not within our purview as the Co-op's management company and this request would have to go through the ***** of ********* at *************. 
  
  This complaint seems evident that this was not a lack of response from New Life Management but rather the member is upset that they did not receive a phone call back; Despite the person they were trying to reach had sent an email indicating why a phone call was not possible at the time. This was also after the member, *******, advised their specific contact person, Arun, that they did not want to speak to them any longer and wanted to speak to this other specific team member, ****. I would like to re-iterate that **** is not part of the ************* dedicated team and oversees and assists with all of New Life Managements clients. 
  
  I am unclear what solution the applicant, *******, is hoping for. I have spoken to the missed scheduled appointment, I have addressed they had a new Coordinator who was still learning the Co-op and I have addressed the party the member wanted to speak to was not available. I would like to ask *******, what solution is New Life Management able to provide at this time so we can move forward on a more positive note.
  
  New Life Management does not want any member to feel unheard and when it's within our powers as the management company, we will always provide an update and response. The appropriate way to speak to or request information regarding the Co-op is to go through your dedicated coordinator or to write to the ***** of *********.
  
  Please let us know how we can move forward and what solutions you would like to see implemented. 
  
  Thank you.

  Customer response

  05/11/2023

  
  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:******* is not upset at all about not receiving a phone call, and to suggest this is very upsetting as everything up to this point has been.  It feels like a pattern and Im truly at a loss at trying to figure out why its happened and why its continuing to happen.
  
  
  The phone call was nothing more than another area where I was following up as to why I had not heard back from the senior member of New Life in regards these items we had discussed on our phone call:
  
  
  1. Why I wasnt receiving a reply to why my personal information was given to a volunteer
  2. Why no one showed up for the September 11 work order request.
  
  
  The senior member advised me she would get back to me, as I never heard back I followed up with a phone call as emails were proving to be an ineffective way of communicating with New Life Management.    Hence the reason I stopped emailing all together as I was being asked to repeat over and over the same information they already had.   
  
  
  *** ****** ** ***** ****** *** ****** *** ****** *** **** *** ***** ******* ** ************ ******** * ** ** **** ** ***** * ***** **** *** **********  **** ** **** ***** **** **** *****
  
  Thru all this Better Business complaint Ive still not received answers to the couple of questions I have asked.  The position appears to be - is its about a new co-ordinator and there is nothing to see here.   My concern have always been lack of responsiveness.
  
  
  And it was never about the a return of a phone call, it was me trying to find out why **** never got back to be about items 1 and 2 above.    
  
  
  Of course I wish to not having the same argument repeatedly, and at the same time Im not feeling heard nor understood what so ever,  the conversations that are happening continue to go in different directions.   Like everything I have been experiencing hasnt been happening what so ever.   
  
  
  Only just this Monday at 9:30 am someone show up to change the smoke alarm, I was given no notice of this.  I have email New Life in an attempt to find out why this happened as we are all aware where we live is our home,  we understand that of course inspections, *********** must be done as well its important that members privacy is respected.
  
  
  I have attached the history/issues one final time.    Someone could call me answer my questions so we can get clarity, we could change our approach or table the issues.   If New Life Management has other ideas Im very open to hearing them.   
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***************************

  

  Business response

  18/12/2023

  Hi *******,

  You have asked the below two questions:

  1. Why I wasnt receiving a reply to why my personal information was given to a volunteer
  2. Why no one showed up for the September 11 work order request.
  

  The answer to #1:

  You emailed our team indicating that your personal information was shared, we connected with the ***** of ********* (***) to understand how this happened as NEW LIFE MANAGEMENT did NOT share your information. The *** was able to confirm that the release of your phone number was an accidentally error by a co-op volunteer who was assisting with this project co-op wide. The volunteer in question sent you an email apologizing for the issue and NLM was cc'd on the apology. This email confirmed that the volunteer member accidentally released your information and also apologized for this happened. In terms of how we viewed this matter, it was a closed item and did not require a further response from our team. 

   

  Answer to #2

  The September 11th call-out was cancelled as it was scheduled with a handyperson. This visit required a plumber and emailed you asking if ***** reached out to confirm a date and time regarding your work order. This was an error and we should have also communicated that ***** was the third-party plumber and that we had to cancel the handyperson because they wouldnt be able to perform the work. I have apologized for this throughout our communications and I am not sure what other resolution I can provide on the matter. If there was a resolution you had in mind, please let me know and we can look into the request. 

  
  
  Though this was not a direct question, you have also indicated in your response you are requesting why there are delays in responses. While our team strives for a 3-business day response time we have limited hours to spend on the Co-op and we do not service the Co-op full time at 40-hours per week. We have to triage the requests and work in priority base, this is up to the ***** of ********* to determine how they wish *******ops time spent.

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩