At Chapmans we have the philosophy where we like to help you help yourself – i.e. if you have an issue and we can help you fix it there and then, then everyone is a winner! You get the problem fixed, you don’t need to wait for a tradesman to fit you into their diary – or indeed, wait in for one either. You are part of the solution! You can get on with enjoying your life and the property and the landlord doesn’t get a hefty bill. If you can help us keep the landlord’s costs down then we tell them at their annual reviews and keep this in their minds at rent review time!
However, there are some things that you simply cannot fix yourself – so what should you do?
Report it to us using our fantastic online system – which is easy to use, has lots of pictures on it (great if English isn’t your first language) and is in over 40 languages. And once you’ve reported one issue you can get the system to remember you for the next time!
The system takes you through the process of reporting the issue to us and also offers you really helpful hints and tips along the way – all written by us at Chapmans – which may mean you can resolve the issue yourself!
What to do if you still can't fix it
If you still can’t fix it, the system will allow you to submit the issue directly to us – this then sends us an email and embeds the issue into our software system – so we simply cannot miss it! You can also state on there if you wish to be in or if a tradesperson can pick up keys from us!
The more information you give us the better it is – i.e. if the oven has broken down send us the make and model and we always love a picture or video. Try and get whatever it is into context so we can work out what we are looking at – and if you can, feel free to talk when doing a video to explain what is going on.
We will aim to respond quickly and efficiently – we may send you helpful YouTube videos for simple fixes like topping up a boiler pressure – so why not try Googling your issue yourself while you wait for us to get back to you?
Once we have the details we will get in touch and work out how to solve the issue in the most sensible way – the more information you give us the more likely we are to be able to solve it the first time around!
We have fantastic Tradespeople and Contractors who work for us and often drop everything to fit in one of our properties – but we also need to work with them – so remember if you can make their life easier, then the issue can be solved more easily. For example, did you know you can give them permission to collect keys from us or give them a large window of time when you are going to be in for access – remember they may have 10 jobs on that day so if they can plan their route around Edinburgh in a logical way then they may be able to come out on the same day! We always ask you to use common sense – what would you do if this was your own property? How could you solve the issue faster?
Remember this property isn’t ours – we have to get sign-off on big repairs from our clients.
We are committed to resolving the issue and will keep you informed throughout the process. We kindly request that you inform us if there are any deviations from the original plan, or even if everything goes smoothly, so that we can stay updated as well.
Your feedback is invaluable to us and we appreciate hearing from you!
