4 January 2014

ACT Housing maintenance phone number not working.

| justjbhere
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On Thursday at around 6:30PM, a tap in my bathroom broke, well the plastic part shattered into several pieces. I am in a ACT Housing unit so I rang the maintenance number (6207 1500) to let them know and to have a plumber come out to fix it.

Well the number didn’t work. I tried many times right up until 12:30AM but still nothing, just silence each time I rang. I also rang Canberra Connect but they were pretty much useless and would only give me the “emergency number” if it was an emergency.

I also rang Telstra who informed me that it wasn’t their number and to ring Optus who said it wasn’t there problem. The next morning I rang ACT Housing after numerous times ringing the 6207 1500 which again wasn’t working.

I finally got through to maintenance and they said someone could come around early next week even though it a 5 minute job.

The weird thing is that my neighbour rang the number on her mobile and had no problem to which I also tried them on my mobile and it too worked. It is expensive for me to ring on my mobile because it is prepaid.

So, I am wondering if any other ACT Housing tenants are having the same problem with their landline phone when trying to ring ACT Housing maintenance? Please let me know.

 

 

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IrishPete said :

Given my own personal experience of being an ACT government on-call worker, (over 5 years ago now) I still think the most likely scenario is some failure of the forwarding, which would have ceased to be an issue when the office re-opened the following morning, which I am guessing is when they and their neighbour happened to try from a mobile. I note the OP’s post about TransACT saying “the fault was at their end” but still doesn’t tell us what the “fault” was.

The department I worked for had a complex phone system (though probably a standard Transact VOIP thingy) that I was never trained in, and it was quite easy to stuff up the forwarding and “unforwarding”. I did stuff it up once, quite spectacularly, and the manager was called at about 0400 to track me down. The ancient work mobile phone also didn’t have reception in some key places I would often have to be, which also caused problems.

IP

If the forwarding was stuffed up you would eventually get a no progress tone, not dead silence. Dead silence is a problem in the audio path. Simple as that.

PS as for the fault being with Transact (this is directed at the OP), at no point did I say the problem was the OP’s line, I said between your carrier and Transact. First POC of course is your OWN carrier. I am surprised Transact would even talk to you, but good to know a fault has been identified and fixed.

JC said :

Umm, as the OP pointed out the service worked from a mobile but not from their landline. That means two things, that the ACT housing end WAS working and that the fault lies somewhere between their handset and Transact who provide the ACT government phone service and 2, that any call forward (if set) was also working.

As for testing it do you expect ACT housing to go to EVERY exchange in town and ring just to see that it is working? Because that is what would be required, and even then you may well find that someone is using a 3rd party carrier (like Optus over Telstra) or even a VoIP cairrer, how do you propose you test for them?

What should have happened is when the OP was getting silence when ringing they contact their carrier (which they did) and THEIR carrier does some fault finding not fob them off. Ownership of the end number is irrelevant it is up to the carrier you pay money to to ensure that the call gets routed to the end destination.

There is nothing ACT Housing or ACT Government could have done to have helped in this case as the fault lies somewhere else and of course my bet is they wouldn’t have even been aware of the issue.

As for the multiple explanations of what could have gone wrong, please enlighten us. My “quite clearly” comment was based on 25 years working on phone systems and dealing with the likes of Telstra.

A fault such as this would more than likely be a break in the audio path from the OP’s exchange to the end exchange (Transact in this case). The fact it was silence says that the call was setting up correctly, call set-up between Telstra exchanges is separate to the audio path using SS7 signalling. If the call wasn’t set-up correctly the OP would have heard a tone for an unknown/incomplete number or congestion. Silence says they received neither and as far as the exchange was concerned the call was routed through.

On top of that ring tone (which is actually called ringback tone) on digital exchanges is generated from the destination exchange. As mentioned before Transact use some strange tone set on their exchange hence the tone sounds different when you call the ACT Government or other Transact users. The fact this was not heard again points to a break down in the audio path somewhere between the OP’s exchange and Transact. First POC should of course be your own carrier.

I wouldn’t mind betting if the OP has itemised local call billing records they will see they got charged for every call attempt, because I would say the far end was ringing and got answered. Answering will trigger a call connected message, which in turn will trigger call billing, even if the audio path is silent.

So really the boogie man here is the OP’s carrier for not fault finding a fault that was reported to them.

Given my own personal experience of being an ACT government on-call worker, (over 5 years ago now) I still think the most likely scenario is some failure of the forwarding, which would have ceased to be an issue when the office re-opened the following morning, which I am guessing is when they and their neighbour happened to try from a mobile. I note the OP’s post about TransACT saying “the fault was at their end” but still doesn’t tell us what the “fault” was.

The department I worked for had a complex phone system (though probably a standard Transact VOIP thingy) that I was never trained in, and it was quite easy to stuff up the forwarding and “unforwarding”. I did stuff it up once, quite spectacularly, and the manager was called at about 0400 to track me down. The ancient work mobile phone also didn’t have reception in some key places I would often have to be, which also caused problems.

IP

justjbhere said :

Just an update and a thank you for all those who tried to help me.

The plumber came first thing yesterday morning and what I thought was a simple tap replacement job, actually turned out to be a lot more than that. I had to have both taps changed. The plumber was surprised that I didn’t have a flood in my bathroom.

Considering he is billing the ACT Gov, he can claim to have had to complete work not necessarily required.

Change two taps, a couple of washers, boom, $300…

Good on him, if i was called out to change a broken tap, id make sure it was worth my while too.

Please start a new thread when Jim’s Mowing turns up late..

Just an update and a thank you for all those who tried to help me.

The plumber came first thing yesterday morning and what I thought was a simple tap replacement job, actually turned out to be a lot more than that. I had to have both taps changed. The plumber was surprised that I didn’t have a flood in my bathroom.

As for the number not working, I rang Transact to see what the problem with the number (6207 1500) and they told me that there was an actual problem their end, so nothing to do with me or my Telstra landline phone. They are going to ring or email me back when it is fixed.

Again thank you to all the helpful people and I hope you all have a nice day.

IrishPete said :

There is no “quite clearly” except in your mind. There remain multiple possible explanations for the problem.

As for what else ACT Housing could have done? They could ensure their service works. When I arrange a call forward, I check it – I test it. Every time I arrange it, I test it, even if that is every night when I am on call or on night shift for a service. Yes really, it is called professionalism. People should try it some time – it is for satisfying.

IP

Umm, as the OP pointed out the service worked from a mobile but not from their landline. That means two things, that the ACT housing end WAS working and that the fault lies somewhere between their handset and Transact who provide the ACT government phone service and 2, that any call forward (if set) was also working.

As for testing it do you expect ACT housing to go to EVERY exchange in town and ring just to see that it is working? Because that is what would be required, and even then you may well find that someone is using a 3rd party carrier (like Optus over Telstra) or even a VoIP cairrer, how do you propose you test for them?

What should have happened is when the OP was getting silence when ringing they contact their carrier (which they did) and THEIR carrier does some fault finding not fob them off. Ownership of the end number is irrelevant it is up to the carrier you pay money to to ensure that the call gets routed to the end destination.

There is nothing ACT Housing or ACT Government could have done to have helped in this case as the fault lies somewhere else and of course my bet is they wouldn’t have even been aware of the issue.

As for the multiple explanations of what could have gone wrong, please enlighten us. My “quite clearly” comment was based on 25 years working on phone systems and dealing with the likes of Telstra.

A fault such as this would more than likely be a break in the audio path from the OP’s exchange to the end exchange (Transact in this case). The fact it was silence says that the call was setting up correctly, call set-up between Telstra exchanges is separate to the audio path using SS7 signalling. If the call wasn’t set-up correctly the OP would have heard a tone for an unknown/incomplete number or congestion. Silence says they received neither and as far as the exchange was concerned the call was routed through.

On top of that ring tone (which is actually called ringback tone) on digital exchanges is generated from the destination exchange. As mentioned before Transact use some strange tone set on their exchange hence the tone sounds different when you call the ACT Government or other Transact users. The fact this was not heard again points to a break down in the audio path somewhere between the OP’s exchange and Transact. First POC should of course be your own carrier.

I wouldn’t mind betting if the OP has itemised local call billing records they will see they got charged for every call attempt, because I would say the far end was ringing and got answered. Answering will trigger a call connected message, which in turn will trigger call billing, even if the audio path is silent.

So really the boogie man here is the OP’s carrier for not fault finding a fault that was reported to them.

If you have a problem with phone lines and taps, call ASIO and they will send some “plumbers” around.

Queen_of_the_Bun7:21 am 07 Jan 14

IrishPete said :

The weaselly self-justification of the cruel trolls on here is really a sight to behold, worthy of Little Johnny Howard.

You are over-interpreting and likely mis-interpreting the OP’s post. Instead of jumping to conclusions, ask them. Do you really think they went next door at 0030 to ask their neighbour to try the number? A more reasonable interpretiation is that, still unable to get through in the morning, they checked with their neighbour.

It’s not trolling to question why the OP didn’t try to call the number from his/her mobile.

We are not all perfect people, able to empathise with what seems like a fairly trivial complaint.

That doesn’t make us trolls. I recall you were unfairly described as a troll late last year when you questioned an OP’s psychological diagnosis.

JC said :

IrishPete said :

Don’t be ridiculous. There is no such thing as a number you can call from a mobile but not a landline (at least not in this context). There was obviously a fault (or problem) with the line. The landlord provides a 24-hour contact number, it is reasonable toe expect it to work 24 hours. In fact it is probably part of the contract.

IP

Quite clearly there was a fault between the OP’s landline carrier and Transact, who provides the ACT government phone service. Different story however if the phone was ringing but not being answered.

That is hardly the fault of the government, and as the poster above said not unreasonable if the matter was SOOOOO urgent to call from a mobile if that was indeed working.

If you disagree please enlighten us as to what the OP should have done, or how ACT housing could have done anything different.

There is no “quite clearly” except in your mind. There remain multiple possible explanations for the problem.

As for what else ACT Housing could have done? They could ensure their service works. When I arrange a call forward, I check it – I test it. Every time I arrange it, I test it, even if that is every night when I am on call or on night shift for a service. Yes really, it is called professionalism. People should try it some time – it is for satisfying.

IP

The weaselly self-justification of the cruel trolls on here is really a sight to behold, worthy of Little Johnny Howard.

You are over-interpreting and likely mis-interpreting the OP’s post. Instead of jumping to conclusions, ask them. Do you really think they went next door at 0030 to ask their neighbour to try the number? A more reasonable interpretiation is that, still unable to get through in the morning, they checked with their neighbour.

IrishPete said :

Don’t be ridiculous. There is no such thing as a number you can call from a mobile but not a landline (at least not in this context). There was obviously a fault (or problem) with the line. The landlord provides a 24-hour contact number, it is reasonable toe expect it to work 24 hours. In fact it is probably part of the contract.

IP

Quite clearly there was a fault between the OP’s landline carrier and Transact, who provides the ACT government phone service. Different story however if the phone was ringing but not being answered.

That is hardly the fault of the government, and as the poster above said not unreasonable if the matter was SOOOOO urgent to call from a mobile if that was indeed working.

If you disagree please enlighten us as to what the OP should have done, or how ACT housing could have done anything different.

Queen_of_the_Bun9:17 pm 06 Jan 14

IrishPete said :

Queen_of_the_Bun said :

My original point was badly made and I apologise for that. I was a bit fired up on Sunday.

But there’s no 24-hour number for homeowners or private tenants to call for non-urgent repairs – and given that this number could be called from a mobile, I don’t think it’s asking too much to expect the OP to stump up for the cost of calling it.

Don’t be ridiculous. There is no such thing as a number you can call from a mobile but not a landline (at least not in this context). There was obviously a fault (or problem) with the line. The landlord provides a 24-hour contact number, it is reasonable toe expect it to work 24 hours. In fact it is probably part of the contract.

IP

Irish Pete, I usually agree with you. But this is what the OP wrote:

The weird thing is that my neighbour rang the number on her mobile and had no problem to which I also tried them on my mobile and it too worked. It is expensive for me to ring on my mobile because it is prepaid.

So, I am wondering if any other ACT Housing tenants are having the same problem with their landline phone when trying to ring ACT Housing maintenance? Please let me know.

Queen_of_the_Bun said :

My original point was badly made and I apologise for that. I was a bit fired up on Sunday.

But there’s no 24-hour number for homeowners or private tenants to call for non-urgent repairs – and given that this number could be called from a mobile, I don’t think it’s asking too much to expect the OP to stump up for the cost of calling it.

Don’t be ridiculous. There is no such thing as a number you can call from a mobile but not a landline (at least not in this context). There was obviously a fault (or problem) with the line. The landlord provides a 24-hour contact number, it is reasonable toe expect it to work 24 hours. In fact it is probably part of the contract.

IP

Queen_of_the_Bun7:23 pm 06 Jan 14

My original point was badly made and I apologise for that. I was a bit fired up on Sunday.

But there’s no 24-hour number for homeowners or private tenants to call for non-urgent repairs – and given that this number could be called from a mobile, I don’t think it’s asking too much to expect the OP to stump up for the cost of calling it.

Pitchka said :

The OP also stated they called up until 12.30am…

Do you honestly believe a busted tap is worth this amount of effort.

Possibly. Did the tap break leaving the water running? Does said ‘social housing’ tenant have a disability that may affect their ability to shut the water off now that the tap is broken? Does the running water create a situation that could be considered unsafe for anyone else in the tenants household – such as running hot water with children around?

Good trolling is often done without people realising they are being baited. You, however, do little more than live up to your username.

justjbhere said :

I agree, it has made me think twice about using this site or asking another question.

I think the RA can be a valuable source of information, but you really need to think hard about how you phrase the questions you ask. In amongst the attacks, there were some people who gave you some useful information, and I hope you use that info.

Unfortunately though, there are others who’ll latch onto any information you provide (however irrelevant to the question you actually ask) and use that to put you down. Rather than answer the question, they’ll say ‘ohh, silly public housing tenant, fixing a broken tap is easy and how dare you expect someone to do it for you and because you’re in public housing you’re obviously a sponge on society and my tax dollars support you and blah de blah de blah….’

If your question had been ‘Hi, I’m in public housing, and something has broken. I’ve tried calling the maintenance number, but I never get through – but it works from a mobile. Does ph:xxxx-xxxx work from a landline for anyone else?’ then you’ve removed the troll food from the question.

Anyway, I hope your tap gets fixed – I’m sure this discussion will extend well past when you stop caring about it. Which says far more about the people who want to attack you, than it does about you.

thatsnotme said :

Pitchka said :

thatsnotme said :

DrKoresh said :

banco said :

Do most public housing tenants have such a sense of entitlement?

No more than the denizens of RA it seems…

Couldn’t agree more. The OP’s question wasn’t ‘why didn’t someone show up straight away’, it wasn’t ‘why don’t all public housing tenants have a personal handyman on call 24/7’ – it was a question about why when the maintenance number was called from a landline, it didn’t work. I guess just answering the question that was asked, or simply not commenting if you didn’t have the answer, is too hard.

The OP also stated they called up until 12.30am…

Do you honestly believe a busted tap is worth this amount of effort.

Honestly, no, I don’t believe it’s worth that amount of effort. But I have no idea who the OP is, what their circumstances are, or anything about them. Who is to say whether the OP actually expected anyone to answer, or if they just kept trying to see if they at least got a ring tone? Or an answering service? Or anything that wasn’t silence?

At the end of the day, they asked a pretty simple, straight forward question. This is the RA, so it’s not so surprising that so many people chose to attack them based on the background info they’d provided, rather than actually help with the question at the end of it all.

I agree, it has made me think twice about using this site or asking another question.

Pitchka said :

thatsnotme said :

DrKoresh said :

banco said :

Do most public housing tenants have such a sense of entitlement?

No more than the denizens of RA it seems…

Couldn’t agree more. The OP’s question wasn’t ‘why didn’t someone show up straight away’, it wasn’t ‘why don’t all public housing tenants have a personal handyman on call 24/7’ – it was a question about why when the maintenance number was called from a landline, it didn’t work. I guess just answering the question that was asked, or simply not commenting if you didn’t have the answer, is too hard.

The OP also stated they called up until 12.30am…

Do you honestly believe a busted tap is worth this amount of effort.

Honestly, no, I don’t believe it’s worth that amount of effort. But I have no idea who the OP is, what their circumstances are, or anything about them. Who is to say whether the OP actually expected anyone to answer, or if they just kept trying to see if they at least got a ring tone? Or an answering service? Or anything that wasn’t silence?

At the end of the day, they asked a pretty simple, straight forward question. This is the RA, so it’s not so surprising that so many people chose to attack them based on the background info they’d provided, rather than actually help with the question at the end of it all.

thatsnotme said :

DrKoresh said :

banco said :

Do most public housing tenants have such a sense of entitlement?

No more than the denizens of RA it seems…

Couldn’t agree more. The OP’s question wasn’t ‘why didn’t someone show up straight away’, it wasn’t ‘why don’t all public housing tenants have a personal handyman on call 24/7’ – it was a question about why when the maintenance number was called from a landline, it didn’t work. I guess just answering the question that was asked, or simply not commenting if you didn’t have the answer, is too hard.

Thank you as well for actually understanding the question I was asking.

DrKoresh said :

banco said :

Do most public housing tenants have such a sense of entitlement?

No more than the denizens of RA it seems…

Thanks.

thatsnotme said :

DrKoresh said :

banco said :

Do most public housing tenants have such a sense of entitlement?

No more than the denizens of RA it seems…

Couldn’t agree more. The OP’s question wasn’t ‘why didn’t someone show up straight away’, it wasn’t ‘why don’t all public housing tenants have a personal handyman on call 24/7’ – it was a question about why when the maintenance number was called from a landline, it didn’t work. I guess just answering the question that was asked, or simply not commenting if you didn’t have the answer, is too hard.

The OP also stated they called up until 12.30am…

Do you honestly believe a busted tap is worth this amount of effort.

DrKoresh said :

banco said :

Do most public housing tenants have such a sense of entitlement?

No more than the denizens of RA it seems…

Couldn’t agree more. The OP’s question wasn’t ‘why didn’t someone show up straight away’, it wasn’t ‘why don’t all public housing tenants have a personal handyman on call 24/7’ – it was a question about why when the maintenance number was called from a landline, it didn’t work. I guess just answering the question that was asked, or simply not commenting if you didn’t have the answer, is too hard.

banco said :

Do most public housing tenants have such a sense of entitlement?

No more than the denizens of RA it seems…

Antagonist said :

Pitchka said :

Can i go one step further and ask why you were unable to ask a neighbour for some assistance whilst you waited for a plumber, or dare i say, your arrogance has rubbed off on them too?

From the OP: “The weird thing is that my neighbour rang the number on her mobile and had no problem to which I also tried them on my mobile and it too worked. It is expensive for me to ring on my mobile because it is prepaid.”

It is better to be thought of as a dickhead, than to open ones mouth and prove it. Do try to keep up.

Asking your neighbour to ring a number to see if it is working is not asking them to help fix a broken tap..
It is better to be thought of as a d***head, than to open ones mouth and prove it. Do try to keep up

As a tenant it is my responsibility to fix any tap, washer problems myself. Not my landlord. It’s pretty damn easy to do as well.

Pitchka said :

Can i go one step further and ask why you were unable to ask a neighbour for some assistance whilst you waited for a plumber, or dare i say, your arrogance has rubbed off on them too?

From the OP: “The weird thing is that my neighbour rang the number on her mobile and had no problem to which I also tried them on my mobile and it too worked. It is expensive for me to ring on my mobile because it is prepaid.”

It is better to be thought of as a dickhead, than to open ones mouth and prove it. Do try to keep up.

Im a little suprised that there wasnt a knock on the door as soon as the tap broke.

All public housing tennants should have their very own sparky/plumber/chef/gardener assigned to them, living within the same street, so as to not cause any inconvenience to the tennant.

Id put in a formal complaint, this isnt acceptable.

Can i go one step further and ask why you were unable to ask a neighbour for some assistance whilst you waited for a plumber, or dare i say, your arrogance has rubbed off on them too?

wildturkeycanoe said :

If you think waiting for a day or so to have a tap fixed is rough, try waiting three and a half years to get a few broken kitchen tiles replaced under warranty in a brand new home.
As for the phone issue, I reckon they had it transferred to the on call person and they had it either switched off and hadn’t set up the message bank, or were out of range on holiday. It would be interesting to know the time you got through to them, was it around 9:00AM or 9:30, when their office opened?

I already said that. GroundTurkeyDay?

IP

BTW OP, the ACT Governments phone lines are provided by Transact not Telstra or Optus, an easy way to tell is when you do get ring tone Transact numbers have a different sounding ring tone for some reason.

By the sounds of what you were hearing (silence) when dialling the problem would seem to be between your carrier, I presume Telstra and Transact. So in this case I wouldn’t be blaming ACT Housing or the government.

I would be going back to Telstra, because despite the number not being theirs, your number is, so they should provide some level of fault finding. Ringing other carriers is pointless as you are not their customer, so of course won’t help.

Pork Hunt said :

Queen_of_the_Bun said :

Must be really annoying to have something break and not be able to get straight through to someone to get it fixed.
Being a home owner, rate payer and all, I’m waiting on a plumber to come out and give me a quote on fixing my toilet. Which I will pay for, as well as your tap.
Someone cry me a river….

Merry Xmas and a happy new year to you too.
This person has a problem with their home that they can’t fix themselves. What if they have good reason to use the tap due to bathing issues/health issues/menstruating/hot weather/what ever?
You and I could easily use vice grips to make the tap usable in the short term but this person may not have any or be able to use them properly.
Further, having a go at someone’s financial situation in this case is totally uncalled for.

Thank you for your comment. It seems this site is full of nasty trolls, sorry, people who like nothing more than to put others down when they don’t even know the person or situation.

wildturkeycanoe7:02 am 06 Jan 14

If you think waiting for a day or so to have a tap fixed is rough, try waiting three and a half years to get a few broken kitchen tiles replaced under warranty in a brand new home.
As for the phone issue, I reckon they had it transferred to the on call person and they had it either switched off and hadn’t set up the message bank, or were out of range on holiday. It would be interesting to know the time you got through to them, was it around 9:00AM or 9:30, when their office opened?

Do most public housing tenants have such a sense of entitlement?

justjbhere said :

Someone cry me a river….

I was not crying a river ok. I have a legitimate complaint.

Instead of giving a negative comment, maybe next time you could give some useful information and if not, don’t bother commenting on something you don’t know anything about.

Okay, so I can’t see exactly what the problem is, and I don’t know if you have physical limitations, but going by the information you have provided I’m going to guess and prescribe the following:

Put twenty dollars in your pocket.

Go to Bunnings or wherever.

Buy this:
http://www.bunnings.com.au/trojan-150mm-adjustable-wrench_p6110465

Then buy this:
http://www.bunnings.com.au/shaw-mason-white-tap-handle-_p5001649

You can probably go cheaper.

Whichever way you go, you will have a useful tool in your drawer and maybe you can claim back your expense if you keep the receipt. You can even see if you can borrow the shifter.

You will undo the screw. Replace the handle. Do up the screw.

It will be done as early as tomorrow morning, depending on you. The actual task will take about the same amount of time it would’ve taken you to find the number for maintenance and dial it.

You do not need to pay a plumber or anyone else to do this. You are capable of reading, writing, and using a computer and keyboard, which means you are over-qualified to perform this task.

The alternative is rely on other people to tend to you at their convenience.

You have options. Good luck.

agent_clone said :

I do not think this is an unreasonable question, and from my point of view it is odd that mobiles work but landlines don’t. I do not see what the difference in the connection would be…

We as taxpayers are paying for this substandard phone service from private enterprise.

justjbhere said :

Instead of giving a negative comment, maybe next time you could give some useful information and if not, don’t bother commenting on something you don’t know anything about.

I see you are new to the internet.

Queen_of_the_Bun said :

Must be really annoying to have something break and not be able to get straight through to someone to get it fixed.
Being a home owner, rate payer and all, I’m waiting on a plumber to come out and give me a quote on fixing my toilet. Which I will pay for, as well as your tap.
Someone cry me a river….

Merry Xmas and a happy new year to you too.
This person has a problem with their home that they can’t fix themselves. What if they have good reason to use the tap due to bathing issues/health issues/menstruating/hot weather/what ever?
You and I could easily use vice grips to make the tap usable in the short term but this person may not have any or be able to use them properly.
Further, having a go at someone’s financial situation in this case is totally uncalled for.

justjbhere said :

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd said :

Yep. You are not allowed to whine.

Anyways, there are also two other maintenance numbers plus the national help desk number.

Soooo, 4 numbers for housing maintenance, all that work from a landline.

What are these numbers because when I rang Canberra Connect? They only gave me the 6207 1500 number which of course didn’t work and would not give me the other emergency number. I I looked everywhere online for these other numbers so if you could please tell me them I would very much appreciate it.

I presume when you looked on-line you didn’t look at the ACT housing contacts website then? If so you would have found an number you could send an SMS to, provided of course you had credit to pay the SMS cost.

http://www.communityservices.act.gov.au/hcs/contact_us

Queen_of_the_Bun4:30 pm 05 Jan 14

justjbhere said :

Someone cry me a river….

I was not crying a river ok. I have a legitimate complaint.

Instead of giving a negative comment, maybe next time you could give some useful information and if not, don’t bother commenting on something you don’t know anything about.

What is your complaint exactly? You broke a tap fitting, you were unable to get in contact with anyone until the next working day, and you might have to wait a few days to have something minor – you describe it as a 5-minute job – fixed?

I think a dose of reality is in order.

Queen_of_the_Bun3:54 pm 05 Jan 14

justjbhere said :

Someone cry me a river….

I was not crying a river ok. I have a legitimate complaint.

Instead of giving a negative comment, maybe next time you could give some useful information and if not, don’t bother commenting on something you don’t know anything about.

So you’re too poor to be able to use your pre-paid mobile to call for minor repairs to your publicly-funded home, but you can afford to sit on the internet all afternoon?

You and I have very different ideas of what constitutes a “legitimate complaint”.

Someone cry me a river….

I was not crying a river ok. I have a legitimate complaint. Instead of giving a negative comment, maybe next time you could give some useful information and if not, don’t bother commenting on something you don’t know anything about.

Queen_of_the_Bun3:41 pm 05 Jan 14

justjbhere said :

agent_clone said :

Queen_of_the_Bun said :

Must be really annoying to have something break and not be able to get straight through to someone to get it fixed.
Being a home owner, rate payer and all, I’m waiting on a plumber to come out and give me a quote on fixing my toilet. Which I will pay for, as well as your tap.
Someone cry me a river….

Being a home owner you are responsible for your own house.

As a renter, I would expect my landlord to be fixing this, and reasonably quickly as well. Admittedly I would not necessarily expect to be able to reach the real estate at 6:30pm that day, but rather the next day.

Given that they are in ACT housing they potentially do not have the money to pay for the plumber to fix it then reclaim from their landlord. Especially as they are talking about the expense of mobile costs.

I do not think this is an unreasonable question, and from my point of view it is odd that mobiles work but landlines don’t. I do not see what the difference in the connection would be…

Thank you for your post. At least one person understands what I said. Also, I am on a pension so it is hard to pay a plumber to come out and fix it.

Yep, cos homeowners and workers have soooooo much money to splash around. It’s so easy for us.

Complaining about having to wait until the next working day to report a non-emergency fault that someone else will pay to fix for you is pretty close to whinging.

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd said :

Yep. You are not allowed to whine.

Anyways, there are also two other maintenance numbers plus the national help desk number.

Soooo, 4 numbers for housing maintenance, all that work from a landline.

What are these numbers because when I rang Canberra Connect? They only gave me the 6207 1500 number which of course didn’t work and would not give me the other emergency number. I I looked everywhere online for these other numbers so if you could please tell me them I would very much appreciate it.

agent_clone said :

Queen_of_the_Bun said :

Must be really annoying to have something break and not be able to get straight through to someone to get it fixed.
Being a home owner, rate payer and all, I’m waiting on a plumber to come out and give me a quote on fixing my toilet. Which I will pay for, as well as your tap.
Someone cry me a river….

Being a home owner you are responsible for your own house.

As a renter, I would expect my landlord to be fixing this, and reasonably quickly as well. Admittedly I would not necessarily expect to be able to reach the real estate at 6:30pm that day, but rather the next day.

Given that they are in ACT housing they potentially do not have the money to pay for the plumber to fix it then reclaim from their landlord. Especially as they are talking about the expense of mobile costs.

I do not think this is an unreasonable question, and from my point of view it is odd that mobiles work but landlines don’t. I do not see what the difference in the connection would be…

Thank you for your post. At least one person understands what I said. Also, I am on a pension so it is hard to pay a plumber to come out and fix it.

I see the unsympathetic trolls are out in force on a Sunday.

As a tenant obviously you have a right to get your plumbing problem fixed, and it is your landlord’s responsibility. That the landlord is the ACT Government is not really relevant 0 you could be in private rental, paid for by the ACT Government and Centrelink, and your rights would be the same.

I always thought the rent paid for public housing was excessive – isn’t it one third of your pension? For some of the quality of properties that’s outrageous, properties that you simply couldn’t rent privately because of the size, location and neighbours. And quite a high proportion of your income. .

Sounds to me like a fault with the forwarding of the 6207 1500 number – it is likely to be being forwarded to an on-call mobile after hours. I can’t see how it would make any difference that you are calling from a landline or mobile, I wonder was it just a timing thing? By the time you and your neighbour tried on mobiles it had been fixed?

IP

Woody Mann-Caruso2:20 pm 05 Jan 14

I’m the first to stick up for tenants’ rights, and to dickpunch anybody who thinks they can look down on somebody just because they’re in public housing.

But the fact that you seriously think there’s some sort of government maintenance crew sitting around on a Thursday night ready to pounce on your very minor plumbing issue, that you’d keep ringing about a bathroom tap til 12:30am, and that you’ll gladly put this grasp of reality on the record, all show you’re a 10th dan black belt muppet, trained by Sifu Jim Henson himself.

I have no idea about the ACT housing maintenance number, but as for your complaint about them not being able to come out until next week (even though you seem to admit it is a non-emergency), you do realise how difficult it is to get a plumber, or any other tradie, out over the xmas break? Also most property managers only respond to emergencies over this period, that is standard in the private rental market, because the property managers want a break just like everyone else. As a homeowner I had an unfortunate experience of needing a plumber over the xmas period and it is not easy even for a job that clearly can’t wait, and even if willing to pay extra $$$. I was most fortunate to find a sympathetic plumber who would come out to do the job, still that was during business hours I did not expect him to answer his phone at 6.30pm!. My five minute job cost me $215 BTW, not that I am complaining as I was grateful to get the job done and plumbers are never cheap in any case, it could have been much much worse. But it irks me that you think the ACT taxpayer should somehow be expected to wear the cost of ACT housing answering phones after hours (for non-emergencies) much less for us to fund non-urgent maintenance requests over a holiday period (yes a recorded message informing you of this would have been a good idea I do admit). Homeowners and private tenants do not get the privilege of free after hours services for non-emergencies. Nor do users of other government services which mostly shut down over xmas and are only open 9-5 Mon-Fri in any case. I am guessing that if you were a homeowner you wouldn’t want to pay the cost of getting a plumber in after hours/during holidays for a non-urgent problem. You would wait until one was available for the standard cost.

Queen_of_the_Bun1:59 pm 05 Jan 14

agent_clone said :

Queen_of_the_Bun said :

Must be really annoying to have something break and not be able to get straight through to someone to get it fixed.
Being a home owner, rate payer and all, I’m waiting on a plumber to come out and give me a quote on fixing my toilet. Which I will pay for, as well as your tap.
Someone cry me a river….

Being a home owner you are responsible for your own house.

As a renter, I would expect my landlord to be fixing this, and reasonably quickly as well. Admittedly I would not necessarily expect to be able to reach the real estate at 6:30pm that day, but rather the next day.

Given that they are in ACT housing they potentially do not have the money to pay for the plumber to fix it then reclaim from their landlord. Especially as they are talking about the expense of mobile costs.

I do not think this is an unreasonable question, and from my point of view it is odd that mobiles work but landlines don’t. I do not see what the difference in the connection would be…

Yes, as a home owner I am responsible for fixing my own house. As a tenant, which I was until August last year, I would never have expected to be able to get through to the real estate agent at 6.30pm for a non-urgent issue. And I didn’t expect my landlord to fix it straight away unless it was urgent.

I just rang that number from my landline and got straight through. Perhaps the OP has a problem with their landline.

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd1:10 pm 05 Jan 14

Yep. You are not allowed to whine.

Anyways, there are also two other maintenance numbers plus the national help desk number.

Soooo, 4 numbers for housing maintenance, all that work from a landline.

Queen_of_the_Bun said :

Must be really annoying to have something break and not be able to get straight through to someone to get it fixed.
Being a home owner, rate payer and all, I’m waiting on a plumber to come out and give me a quote on fixing my toilet. Which I will pay for, as well as your tap.
Someone cry me a river….

Being a home owner you are responsible for your own house.

As a renter, I would expect my landlord to be fixing this, and reasonably quickly as well. Admittedly I would not necessarily expect to be able to reach the real estate at 6:30pm that day, but rather the next day.

Given that they are in ACT housing they potentially do not have the money to pay for the plumber to fix it then reclaim from their landlord. Especially as they are talking about the expense of mobile costs.

I do not think this is an unreasonable question, and from my point of view it is odd that mobiles work but landlines don’t. I do not see what the difference in the connection would be…

Queen_of_the_Bun11:56 am 05 Jan 14

Must be really annoying to have something break and not be able to get straight through to someone to get it fixed.
Being a home owner, rate payer and all, I’m waiting on a plumber to come out and give me a quote on fixing my toilet. Which I will pay for, as well as your tap.
Someone cry me a river….

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