Rental Experience - Alfa Villas
As expats, first month in Dubai we needed to settle and find a home for the family. We signed with Alfa Villas, connected to Alfa Residence above the spinneys a newly built residence in the JVC. It came with a full maintenance contract, garden service, appliances, fire and gas alarm - and seemed to meet all our requirements. A week after moving in the garden service was cancelled and we were informed that this would now need to be self-funded. At the time this wasn’t a major set back as the garden was relatively small. We then started noticing issues:
1: The gas line, it wouldn’t be working and sometimes we would sit 2 days with no gas - and no warning from the management team- this would continue for the rest of the year , despite chasing and follow ups with the management team - you would be passed from pillar to post, with no result.
2: water - we once went 10 days without proper running water, the shattafs would be leaking. We had a severe leak in the front garden, we had no means of turning the supply off and saw our garden flood for days before maintenance pitched. They turned the water off and it took a month to have the fitting changed - 1000 dirham patch of newly laid grass died instantly!!! Although we don’t drink the water, we noticed that the water coming out the taps was brown mixed with dirt. I forbid the kids to wash there hands with tap water and had to have fresh water dispensers installed all over the house and the bathrooms - I asked management to come check and they kept saying no problem.
3. Aircon - aircons would not work and it would take days before someone would come to the house - bear in mind it was 45 degrees plus outside!! Then they come with no ladder ? No scheduled appointment, no qualifications, Honestly !!! , then they tell you, madam I will go fetch a ladder, Then 4/5 days later they pitch unannounced and they fix it. I go to check and it’s blowing hot air. I send them back to clean all the filters and ask them to re-gas the aircons - obviously they don’t have gas and need another week to organise this.
4. The water, aircon and gas issues were being felt amongst the other residents as well, which resulted in a few people ,good families having to leave - this impacted all the residents!!! What we didn’t realize at the time was that all the fire alarms were connected. This meant that if an alarm was activated in another villa, all the alarms would simultaneously go off. A few resident left because of the above and didn’t pay their DEWA accounts. The electricity was cut and fire alarms were activated on a daily basis for roughly 3-4months. This was literally after the fire in London so we were extra vigilant with the kids and evacuated every time the alarm went off as exits in the house were not operating. This would take place all hours of the day. With two small children this was a terrible and scary experience for them. Management was called daily by myself and other tenants and it wasn’t until the 2/3month that another resident raised a legal dispute was the problem solved. I even had to send my daughter to hospital for severe heAdaches caused by the ongoing fire alarms.
5. The management team - where to start!!!!! You have the maintenance man, Abdul Karim that walks round the properties harassing you for money to wash your car, clean your garden Only a daily basis, asking for food. Then the management team in HQ change on a monthly basis and you get passed round the office like hot potato!!! When I refer to maintenance - there is no maintenance - they are ***boys of the street with a shirt and company logo! They don’t have a cooking clue!!! 6. Handover- we left in October, 2 months early - we had just had enough, we actually double paid on rent to secure another property as it was that bad. We were asked to provide the keys and final dewa bill and we would receive our deposit bAck, maybe charged 500AED for minor touch ups. We did the handover, good condition nothing broken, clean etc 7. The invoice - I request the invoice for days and get the invoice for another Villa, Villa 7. They were charged for cleaning and painting 3800, door locks 400, fly screen 150, shattaf set 150, seat cover 150, shower set 555, I was mortified and said this was not our villa and impossible. They apologized and said they would resend the next day, a week later :( I get slapped with the exact same duplicate invoice - same reference number, same charges everything!!!! I called and asked why I was charged for the door locks they said I lost keys - I had evidence that I handed all of the keys - he apologized and then called me back a day later and said that all the locks need to be changed for the new tenants !! I don’t even want to mention the bribery money we were asked to pay that we didn’t!!!! We were asked to pay AED300 to Abdul Karim to guarantee a full refund, (who did the handover with my husband )of our deposit, as we couldn’t receive a receipt, we decided against this and then receive that invoice. 8. I called, I fought back, I had evidence from externally companies that nothing was broken or damaged and still they refused to give back our deposit- or reduce the charges - I got a call saying I would get given 1000aed discount. At this point I was tired of chasing, 2 months of fighting and I accepted. Of a 8500 deposit we would get back 4000 - I wanted to move on and put this dreadful place behind us - 9. Weeks later I find myself at the rental disputes centre raising a case as I haven’t received my deposit. I keep being told that the cheque is ready but it needs signature - come madam, come madam- it’s ready tomorrow - not sure how many tomorrow’s I’ve heard that have turned to weeks and months.
Word of WARNING - stay away!!!! You will not get a cent back, there are other places with better maintenance companies, the sad thing is that I don’t even think the landlord is aware of how poor his properties are being managed. It’s just unfair for both parties.