Absolutely Appalling and Unprofessional

Absolutely appalling and unprofessional. I have never in my lifer experienced such poor service. I have been in Real Estate for over 5 years now and I have never come across this sort of thing. I recently moved to Ballito Hills Estate in Ballito which is managed by Balwin Properties KZN. On the first day of moving into a brand-new unit, there were issues with the unit that we had to beg to get fixed and replaced. Few things were seen to, but the rest only got sorted out the day we left, one year later.

Then, we had constant issues with our downstairs neighbors because of the "floors being hollow". - said by Clarissa from Balwin Properties that there was nothing they could do. Each time we’d be fined for neighbors hearing our footsteps. It’s a shame for people who have small children like me who had to live in this type of environment.

After being there for a few months, I noticed changes being made by the Estate, like the fact that you are only allowed 6 visitor codes per day. I wanted to get a cat for my son, in which I requested a Pet Application Form from Balwin, which I was told will be emailed to me, but I never received.

My friend left a package for me at the security boom gate, and they denied anyone coming to drop it off. My partner had to walk into the security hut and physically look for the package in amongst their belongings just to find our package was hidden there.

After having such a terrible experience, we decided to move out after the 1 year Lease expired. We handed our notice in 2 months prior as per our Lease Agreement, and still had to go back and forth with emails from Balwin stating we have not handed in our notice. That being said, we followed all the rules and regulations regarding moving vehicles, codes, etc....

On the day of leaving, my partner printed 7 copies of our "move out' form that he gave to the Ballito Hills Office as well as to the security guard that was on duty. Just to have a different security guard claim he did not receive a form; therefore, we could not leave. My partner was handing this form out to every single employer of Ballito Hills Estate just so that we could leave the premises with our removal truck. We also emailed Balwin all the relevant documents needed.

After eventually having sorting that out, we still had to come back for the inspection. Eric was the person who was doing the inspection with us. I told them about the toilet seats that were not replaced on the day of moving in and I had to sort that out myself with no help. We painted the walls a few days prior to moving out to make sure that the unit was in mint condition (which it was). We bought this paint from Paintcor in Ballito. When purchasing the paint, the employer of Paintcor asked us if we live in Ballito Hills and with that being said, another terrible remark was made about Balwin.

Our deposit and interest was due within 7 days of the termination of Lease. We left on the 31st May 2023, We had no amounts due to the Lessor as the inspection was completed.

There was a hold up with our deposit because there was a crack in the granite countertop that Balwin tried to claim was our doing. We have photographic evidence that the crack was there when we moved in and did our inspection. Nevertheless, they received the photo and then told us we will receive our deposit back. It is now the 13th of July 2023, we have just received our deposit refund form after many emails and broken promises.

On this deposit refund form we are being charged R550.00 for 1 Wall to be painted. We bought the 5L paint ourselves and left it at the unit for use. We have now queried how we are being charged this amount, but with no response, as expected by now.

All we wanted was to leave that terrible place, peacefully and yet we have been fighting a losing battle. I hope that the Director of Balwin Properties assists the employees with some sort of training or some order in the business as it seems that every single person we have dealt with has not been forthcoming, honest or been able to stick to any commitments for that matter.

It is so disappointing that good people have to experience this. We have had so many encounters with the same complaints! Ballito Hills Estate has such potential to be such a prosperous and family orientated Estate (as it is marketed), and yet it feels like a prison. These complaints are even cascading through the employees and external companies interacting with Ballito Hills, not only the residents... it’s truly sad.