Should be ashamed.

The total lack of common decency from the company in question, has brought me to writing this review. But looking at other reviews about them, I am definitely not the only tenant that has experienced their utterly poor service. My family and I were tenants of a unit in Hillside, Bloemfontein, adjacent to the municipal dump, from September 2018 until September 2020. The letting agents was Jawitz and the property management company was Coler Wealth. Unbeknown to us then, two years of challenges started right there as the letting agents did not inform us about the issues underlying staying so close to the dumping site. We only realized after a while, the reasons as to why the unit stood empty for such a long time. We rented in a unit owned by a well known Nephrologist in Bloemfontein. Coler Wealth managed this unit amongst others owned by the Doctor in the area. When we moved in, the unit has been empty for a while. It was in a terrible state. The unit was dirty and the carpets were clearly in dire need of a proper clean. We were promised it would be taken care off very soon. Two years later we were still waiting for Coler to send someone to come wash the carpets as promised. In the course of the next 2 years we battled to get things that broke due to lack of maintenance, fixed. We sometimes waited for weeks. In some cases the contractor had to come back twice and even 3 times to fix the problem again. It became clear in this time that communication, or lack thereof, between management and staff was a real problem. The almost reluctance on Coler side to attend to maintenance issues we reported, made me realize that as a Property Management Company, they were falling way short of their responsibilities towards, not only the owners of the units but also the tenants. It was clear from the state of the outside of the unit, specifically the small pane windows were putty was completely missing and the paint on the outside walls, that our unit was not been maintained as it should be. It was evident that the unit outside has not seen a coat of paint in may a year. Trap doors were missing and parts of ceiling boards were falling down. I became convinced that the owner, was none the wiser regarding the state of his property whilst under the impression that the company he trusted and paid for this purpose, was not doing its job. As tenants were were forbidden to do any maintenance at the unit, everything needed to be reported to Coler and then communicated to the relevant personnel for fixing. When we decided to vacate the unit, we send a months notice. in this notice we requested a outgoing/final inspection to be done. Between Jawitz and Coler, it was totally botched. In conversations with staff of both parties, the one blamed the other and it was a he-said-she-said scenario. The two companies in fact had a meeting that very same day to address their differences and inability to work together. In the mean time, clients were waiting for them to get their ducks in a row and just do their job. One day later, a contractor of the letting agents and his assistant, eventually pitched up and took a umber of photos. This apparently is the "new" way of conducting and inspection. I was promised a copy in 3 days time. I had to call a week later and then received a document with a bunch photos and comments to some of them. It was nothing more than a half finished school photo collage and it was very unprofessionally done. This should never be an accepted standard for anyone. When I queried the report, management from Coler accused me of being personal and abusive. It seemed I struck a nerve when addressing their incompetence and being honest about who promised what and when as is was the only response I got after a couple of mails to Coler. They were however very quick to remind us with our monthly statements that should we not pay our rent at a certain date, legal action would be taken against us. in an email to my wife a member of Coler management told her that they will conduct a "comparison", request quotations as to decide what costs will be for the owner and and which for us. The irony of this absolute ridiculous statement is that us as tenants will be absent as they compare what ever to what ever. A proper outgoing inspection is done when you take the original snag list (upon occupation) and compare that to a outgoing check. That is a professional, like for like comparison. I have in the mean time learnt that this apparently is the way Coler conduct their business. They do their comparison after the tenants have gone, find ways to hold the previous tenant accountable and then deduct it from the deposit they still owe the outgoing tenant. Stories of how they hold outgoing tenants "accountable" for amounts up to R 14 000.00 for a bachelor flat and retain the client's deposit, were mentioned to me. How convenient it must be to make a decision in the absence of the outgoing tenant that will be to his detriment. It has been 3 weeks since we vacated the unit and I am still waiting on the so called comparison report from Coler. No one from Coler has had the common decency to send us any feedback as to the outcome of the so called comparison. We have left the unit in a much better state than what it was when we moved in and there is no comparison really. It has come to light in this time after that Coler Wealth has built themselves a reputation as a company that delivers bad service. One has only to speak to former tenants that had Coler as their management company to confirm this. it is very sad that a company is known for its poor or bad service in stead for what it should be. To any future tenants of which Coler is the property management agents, my advice is to really think twice. You are leaving yourselves wide open for a lot of unnecessary frustration and challenges. I will neglect my duty as a concerned and severly frustrated citizen if I do not inform people about Coler's poor performance as a property management agent. I sincerely hope that Coler clean up their act and honor their responsibilities to the owners of the units as well as the tenants.