Unfair treatment from Pompa

I would like to appeal to the CEO of Pompa South Africa, to look into my case. I signed up for a lease for The Kennedy complex, Bedfordview and I moved in on the 3rd February 2020 and moved out 29 January 2021.

I must say my experience with Pompa from day 1 was not a pleasant one in many levels. My family and I moved from Durban and on the 3rd February 2020 we collected keys from the complex caretaker, when we opened the unit that we had signed up for, my partner and I could not believe the horrible state the unit was in, it was horribly dirty and filthy, from the floors, walls, cupboards, toilet and doors, everything was just dirty.

The excitement of being in a new city was completely taken away by this experience of finding a place that you supposedly have to call home away from your real home. I immediately contacted Carina whom I was in contact with prior to moving whom was dealing with the lease administration. I remember when I contacted Carina that I was upset, disappointed and somewhat appalled that how could Carina allow me as a new tenant to move into a unit that was in that state. I remember thinking to myself that is this how Pompa treats their customers and from there I knew that I had signed up a lease with the wrong people.

I advised Carina that I needed to see her right away because there was no way that I was going to be staying in that unit that was that filthy. My partner and I drove from the complex to Pompa office on Riley Road. We found Carina and she called Andrew to come and address the situation.

I explained to Andrew and Carina that I was totally unhappy with the unit as it was filthy and that there were so many breakages that I noticed. Carina explained to me that the previous tenant had only moved out of the unit the previous day and that was 02 February 2020 hence they never had a chance to inspect the unit and clean it. I remember shedding a tear out of disappointed when I learned about the information from Carina.

I think it is important to note that my family and I stayed at the unit for 4 months and not 4 months consecutively as we spent 6 months consecutively in Durban due to lockdown.

The problem begins after we moved out of the unit on the 29 January 2021. Pompa is holding me accountable for some of the breakages that we found at this unit that we rented, as a result that have withheld my deposit of R8200 as they claim they need to fix and repair what they found wrong. I do not have an issue of being held accountable for things that are a result of my fault.

My biggest issue with the list of the items that they need to fix is the following :

* They want to paint the walls of the unit - but according to my cry and complaint when I moved in was that the walls were filthy. The incoming inspection report also indicate that the walls had marks and cracks. Also what's not fair is that Pompa never painted the walls when I moved in as I took over the unit a day after the previous tenant moved out. If Pompa wants to hold me accountable for walls they should have painted the walls before I took occupation in that way I would have taken a unit that was clean but that's not the case.

* Replacing of blinds - the blinds in the unit were damaged when we moved in. According to the incoming inspection report and photos that were taken, the blinds were rolled up, except for bedroom no2, they were left down and the photo for bedroom no2 you can see that the blinds are damaged. It is unfair of Pompa to expect me to pay for the replacement of blinds that were damaged by the previous tenant. I feel Pompa has singled me out and have not considered the damages that were created by the previous tenant. If I have to pay for this it can't be on 100% as the previous tenant created the damage not me.

* Ceiling fan cover missing and light bulbs that are missing from the incoming inspection the photos do show that this was an issue and why is it now pinned on me.

I would like to highlight that Pompa after they received the incoming inspection report they never cared to fix any of the damages that were reported in this report. However upon my departure they are wanting to fix areas that were an issue prior to me moving in. I wonder if they did hold the previous tenant accountable for the damages that the incoming inspection reported.

I have been in communication with Andrew, Carina and Dominique with regards to my concerns via email and to this day there hasn't been any resolution except that they are enforcing an invoice for repairs and they are happy to keep my deposit for their repairs.

This hasn't been handled properly because I feel the incoming inspection has not been considered.

Thank you I look forward to the feedback.