It’s been a year that my air conditioner hasn’t worked.
My gf called the company and they sent a staff and he said clean it (it was already cleaned) so we cleaned it again.
Nothing changed, then we called again and they said buy some sheet to dehumidify the outdoor thing like a screen… エアコン室外機カバー
I have many doubts this thing will work after looking at it, because the aircon isn’t able to push out any cold air. They want me to buy that エアコン室外機カバ with my own money too.
They just keep saying “Oh well let’s try this other thing that will buy time”. It’s freaking hot and I’m dying here. lol.
What are my options if they keep doing this and not spending the money to actually fix it?
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Thank you!
13 comments
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Gaslighting? More like a bureaucratic runaround.
Welcome to living in Japan… Turns out even if the air conditioner is working when you moved in, they are your problem to fix. And they don’t need to be working when you leave. Most places will let you install your own and remove it when you leave. Even in Okinawa. Went round and round with our housing agency a couple of years ago over that. Three new air conditioners later the apartment stays cool. And you better believe it I’m taking them with me when we move out.
Edit for grammar my bad…
https://www.britannica.com/story/what-is-gaslighting
What did you do to clean it?
See if you can see how old it is. If it’s over 10 years old, they usually replace it.
Less than 10, they’ll only try and fix it.
Move.
Go to wherever they work, find the aircon and switch it off.
Take all of the remote controls.
Leave.
Tell them you’ll return them when yours is fixed.
Is the aircon part of the rental? i.e. was it installed/owned by the Landlord, or is it one that a previous resident just left behind?
In Japan there is a duty to repair (修繕義務、民法606条1). Anything that is a part of the apartment must be repaired within a reasonable amount of time. You can send them a letter saying you will be paying a reduced rent until the repair is made (賃料減額請求).This will speed up the repairs. Some contracts even include a handy formula for calculating how much of a rent reduction you can ask for.
However, sometimes an air conditioner is NOT an official part of the apartment but something left by a previous tenant. In that case it will be labelled a 残置物 on all ads for the apartment and on the contract. This term means “leftover item.” For these leftover items the landlord has no duty of repair, and also if you completely destroy it the landlord cannot charge you for damages. It is just an extra optional item that comes with the apartment. Check your contract for that wording. If the air conditioner is listed as an item that belongs to the apartment it will say so.
Technically you may be renting an apartment with no official air conditioner and you would then be expected to buy and install your own air conditioner. Let me guess, this is one of those 0 key money 0 deposit places?
Are the settings correct on your remote?
You haven’t told us what it’s set on.
You might have the heater running at 22 degrees.
You haven’t mentioned the model of the unit and the size of the room it’s in.
A weak ass cheap A/C isn’t going to do diddly for small room either.
Did it work before? Can you paste photo of Aircon remote screen while on?
yo, first world problems. Ask these things when the minimum wage of your country is 200 USD