Worst experience renting from Urbenorte Catalunya SL
(This is a long one, but it may help you put your own landlord nightmare in perspective, enjoy)
Do not fall in love with the commercial agents at Urbenorte Catalunya. They are fantastic, but their colleagues in administration, who you will have to work with after you sign the rental contract, are not.
To prove my point, I’ll describe an issue that has been unresolved for 165 days. Yes, that number is correct, and even right now, the administration team has been ignoring us for a week. Here is the story:
On our 3rd day in the flat, we reported that our climate control system (ACC), heating and cooling, was showing error codes and not working properly. They couldn’t fix it, with their own technician recommending we buy an expensive part or, even better, just replace the old machine. They did neither.
February 23 - move-in
February 25 - reported an issue with the system
March 1 - reported another issue with the system
March 30 - told us the decision to fix it was complicated (you should read “expensive”)
May 22 - System completely broke, does not even turn on (because the circuit board was so old)
July 26 - They finally hired a technician, but didn’t secure a repair date. Now they blame the delay on the technician they themselves chose to hire without checking if the tech had time to do the work. So we wait. They ignore us.
As of Today - nothing
165 days and counting. The system is the only way we can control the temperature.
How has our summer been, you wonder?
3 heatwaves. Flat is always 28-35C. No help. No care. No relief. It’s always hotter inside than outside. We sleep in a 30C or hotter bedroom. They know we cannot use our oven or hob or else the kitchen temperature climbs to 35C instantly.
What’s next? When winter comes, we won’t be able to warm the flat. I think that’s illegal. But at least we have blankets.
Do we live in a cheap flat? Of course not! Otherwise we’d just move. But we’ve already paid a high agency fee to them to move in, and then of course, 6 months of rent.
Our rent is 1.650,00€, which includes an oven, hob, and the ACC, all listed as characteristics of the flat that justify the price. As everyone knows, you pay more rent for these characteristics. They’ve never reduced the price or offered any accommodations for the broken ACC. Their actions, or lack thereof, show they don’t care about tenants, in even the most basic ways. I admit I do imagine them reading this, laughing from their air conditioned offices. The irony.
Over 165 days, no repair, no replacement system. This is our 5th year in Barcelona. We’ve never experienced anything like this.
There are too many flats for rent in this city. Read reviews of the agencies listing them. Think twice before you rent from Urbenorte.
Sign with them at your own risk.