In Tokyo, my toshiba ac/heater unit stopped working. I tried desperately to look up how fix and have tried everything but it just seems to be broke. I emailed my landlord rental company, but they won’t respond. But it got to 4 degrees last night and it was unlivable and unsafe. Not to mention I have a condition that gives me low tolerance for cold and I can’t regulate body temperature well. Do I have any rights as a tenant?
8 comments
A phone call would probably be quicker than an e-mail.
In the meantime just go out and buy a cheap portable heater so that you can remain comfortable. Don’t put yourself in danger over a moral stance of “but the landlorddddddd”.
Take care of you first, landlord second.
It depends if the heating unit is provided as part of the rental, in which case they are responsible for repairing/replacing, or if it was “gifted” from the previous tenant, in which case it’s up to you.
Assuming it was provided as part of the rental, [contact consumer affairs](http://www.kokusen.go.jp/e-hello/map/index.html), and they will assist you in handling the issue.
If it’s part of the contract then they have a responsibility to repair or replace it, but there isn’t strictly a legal time frame that things have to be done by, and this time of year is busy for AC companies as they’re getting callouts to lots of places having the same issues as you, so even if the landlord gets onto it ASAP it might take a while.
If they’re not responding via email then call them, when you say rental company do you mean like, a management company that act as the middle man? A lot of landlords are kinda hands off here so you’ll wanna get in touch with them over the phone as they’ll be arranging everything.
A decent space heater should be able to get a 6 tatami room up to 18C~ or above, I have a little one from 10 years ago that still goes strong. Takes a while for sure but turn it on an hour or two before bed and you’ll be OK, paired with the electric blanket you said you got, stick another blanket or two on your bed and you’ll be toasty, a nice pair of pajamas will do wonders too!
If you can, take a hot bath, put on a nice pair of fuzzy socks, heat tech, long sleeve pj’s and a double blanket, you’ll be warm as a cinnamon bun!
You didn’t mention how long ago your AC broke, or how long ago you emailed the landlord, but I’ve never used small to contact any of my landlords (aside from the initial contact), and I’ve lived in at least 4 rented places in Tokyo.
Likewise, now that I own apartments, the tenants who live there contact the management company by phone, and they contact me by phone.
It’s not that email isn’t allowed, but it’s typically seen as a show method for low priority stuff. If they didn’t give you a phone number, I would fix that ASAP, because worse things can happen than your great going out and you really do want to be able to call them quickly in the event of a gas or water leak, etc.
Also be glad it’s the winter, but the summer. It may not be fun, but you can always put on another sweater, double up on socks, or stay under the futon/kotatsu.
In the last place I rented, the Air Conditioner died in the hottest day of the summer, and the inside of the apartment was 35° in no time. That’s harder to deal with, because there’s only so much clothes you can remove.
I called the landlord, told him I would pay any amount to have it fixed ASAP. He told me that it would be fixed as soon as humanly possible at no charge – but sadly the air conditioner installers were backed up for several days. So, I ended up making an emergency run to Tokyu Hands to buy a fan. (The thing is, it was so hot that the fan actually made it feel hotter, by blowing the air around, until I opened the window and used it to blue air in from outside).
Anyway, if the AC was included in the apartment, then they will fix it. Unless you live in a slum, they will fix it quickly, as they want you to be happy so you stay and keep paying rent.
Did you write your e-mail in Japanese? Often, for local Japanese companies, English emails are simply considered spam.
Is the management office far? At this rate I’d go to the office and tell them in person
Email them again, include “【至急】エアコン故障” (Urgent: AC broken) in the subject line. You might also visit in person if you can. In the meantime, you can cover your windows with bubble wrap, buy a hot water bottle (surprising how warm this is), and focus on heating a small part of the apartment. I’m sorry this is happening.