The indecent practices of Harbour View Horizon
After one year living in the Harbour View Horizon I would like to show you some insides and indecent practices of the management.
Start with the extension of the lease. If you want to move from Harbour View to Harbour Front, generally it is possible, but they won’t offer you the cheapest apartments, which are still available. They just tell you, all are already rented and you have only the chance to rent an apartment for let say minimum HKD 13K. A colleague of my got the same apartment with the same size for still HKD 3K less. Bargaining with them? No Chance. You will get the answer: “take it or don’t take it, I don’t care”.
Ok. Nobody is forcing you to live there.
Ok, let say, you agree and want to rent it for the price. Our lease with the old apartment ends on end of December. No chance to get the apartment accurate on that day. You have to rent immediately and pay after signing. Means you still have to pay the December rent of the old apartment and additional the rent of December of the new apartment. You pay double. According to the sales staff, ”you are free to sign by the end of December but I promise you, there will be NO apartment left for you”. When we asked first for free available apartments, they told us, in two towers there are approx. over 50% of the apartment available and free to choose. Step by step and minute by minute, they reduce the free available apartments and offer you only what they want to offer you. Even if you want to correct them, you just get the answer, “sorry all booked out”. They got the power to do so. Nobody is forcing you to live here. Ok.
Then something about Children friendly environment. In the gym the Harbour View offer a playground for kids. Wonderful and really nice. My wife meets there other Mothers with kids and the kids are playing together. Like a real compound community.
One day, when the kids where playing and the mothers talking, one of the staff warned them, that the kids shouldn’t be so loud. The noise disturbs the exercising customers.
My wife told them, that if they want a silent gym, please remove the playground in the gym or arrange a shield with the warning: “No Kids playing allowed at this Kids Playground” “Exception: Silent Kids”.
Now, another incident, which top it all.
As I mentioned before I have a son and he is 1 and a half years old. We all got a LCD flatscreen TV in the apartment. He was playing and took the remote and hammered it on the LCD display. You can imagine, that the display wouldn’t stand the hammering and it broke. TV was damaged. I informed the management about it and offer them to compensate it, because damage was done violently and by my son.
Everything fine with, them. The staff went to our apartment and inspected the damage and made us very sternly clear that they have to charge us for this damage.
I told them, that I was intending to pay for the damage and hadn’t showed any sign of refusing both on the phone and at the reception in the lobby.
The second day, a staff called me, and remind me again, that I have to pay for the damage. I told her again, that I will pay, I was not questioning that and just want to know how it can be repaired. They had
She told me it can not be repaired and they have to exchange the TV. Cost: HKD 18,000!!! Their purchasing price for this TV. They already got into contact with their contractor for the TVs (LG company).
(FYI, all the apartments got the same TV and they can not claim that they really pay 18,000 HKD for each TV set).
I told her, “Miss, with all due respect, this is ridiculous! It is a LG 32ich LCD TV and I informed myself, that you can buy the newest model of LG for HKD 6,000 with bargaining at the Broadway for this kind.
A 37 inch TV von LG costs HKD 8,900, and with luck and good bargaining skills you can get a Sony 47inch LCD Flatscreen TV with a lot of extras for HKD 18K.
I am not intending to buy a TV from you, I just want to compensate the damaged TV.
They called again, and told me as this is an old model and can not be purchased in the market anymore, we have to pay HKD 18,000 compensation. I was very angry now, and told them YET I am not intending to pay and they are free to sue me if they want to as this is not reasonable.
Then she called me again, and inform that I can handle it by myself, and they want the exact TV back, No other model, no other brand. Exactly the same one it must be.”
“That stupid and jerky chick” I was thinking, as we all know that this model has not been sold anymore and you can’t get it in Hong Kong. They are trying to blackmail me.
So I called LG in Hong Kong by myself and let someone from them sent to my apartment. He checked it, and told me, it can be repaired, only the display has to be exchanged and cost for this 6700 HKD for the LCD display and 750 HKD for repair. Still a lot of money but I accepted it as I was expecting this costs for repair.
The Management or better the “Sales Management” of the Harbourview never had tried or had the intention to repair the TV. They just want to get money. They even try to cheat you as they thought I have no idea.
So this is a warning about the indecent practise at the Harbourview Horizon (SALES) Management. NEVER broke or damage anything in the apartment and if, never report this to the management.