| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
kiwiluvesyew
Joined: 29 Apr 2008
|
 Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 12:37 am Post subject: "Maintenance Fee"? |
 |
|
Does anyone know how you can stop the school from charging us a maintenance fee that wasn't listed in the contract, or brought up before we came over here?
Last edited by kiwiluvesyew on Fri Sep 26, 2008 6:01 pm; edited 2 times in total |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
ttompatz
Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Location: Kwangju, South Korea
|
| Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 12:54 am Post subject: Re: "Maintenance Fee"? |
|
|
| kiwiluvesyew wrote: |
| Does anyone know how you can stop the school from not charging us a maintenance fee that wasn't listed in the contract, or brought up before we came over here? |
IF it is the one for the apartment, then it is common in Korea (everyone pays it - not just the foreigners) and is considered to be one of the utility fees that you have to pay as the tenant.
It usually consists of your billing for your apartment's share of the common area costs, security, water, basic (12 channel) TV, etc.
. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
BigBuds
Joined: 15 Sep 2005
Location: Changwon
|
| Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 12:56 am Post subject: |
|
|
The school isn't charging you for it, it would be your landlord or apartment complex. They're pretty common in Korea and considered part of your utilities.
Still they should have mentioned it up front but unfortunately most Koreans seem to think the entire world is the same as Korea therefore we should know about these things. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
schwa
Joined: 18 Jan 2003
Location: Yap
|
| Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 1:09 am Post subject: Re: "Maintenance Fee"? |
|
|
| kiwiluvesyew wrote: |
| Does anyone know how you can stop the school from not charging us a maintenance fee that wasn't listed in the contract, or brought up before we came over here? |
I think you guys misread the OP.
He wants to pay but the school wont let him. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Dodgy Al
Joined: 15 May 2004
Location: Seoul
|
| Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 1:52 am Post subject: Re: "Maintenance Fee"? |
|
|
| schwa wrote: |
| kiwiluvesyew wrote: |
| Does anyone know how you can stop the school from not charging us a maintenance fee that wasn't listed in the contract, or brought up before we came over here? |
I think you guys misread the OP.
He wants to pay but the school wont let him. |
What? You don't think that perhaps you didn't misunderstand what she wasn't intending to say? Stopping non-payment for not paying the maintence fee... could that not be any more unclear?? Huh?
I need a beer... |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
icicle
Joined: 09 Feb 2007
Location: Gyeonggi do Korea
|
| Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 2:36 am Post subject: |
|
|
| I assume from your other posts that your question is whether you can do anything to stop from having to pay the maintenance fee and I would say probably not ... because it is actually a fairly standard thing in Korea relating to the rental accommodation and is usually like the other utility bills is the responsibility of the teacher. It didn't suprise me that it was the school that was requesting payment for it because I know that last year I received the bill which showed both the rent and the other different things which made up the maintenance fee and the school then paid the rent part and I paid the other things. I passed it on to them to pay their part and paid the rest. If the bill goes directly to the school (because they are paying the rent) then I would expect them to pass the rest on to the teacher (so in this case to you). |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
ontheway
Joined: 24 Aug 2005
Location: Somewhere under the rainbow...
|
| Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 7:00 am Post subject: |
|
|
OP:
This is your fourth thread about your maintenance fee.
http://forums.eslcafe.com/korea/viewtopic.php?t=134467&highlight=
http://forums.eslcafe.com/korea/viewtopic.php?t=134408&highlight=
http://forums.eslcafe.com/korea/viewtopic.php?t=134592
Are utilities mentioned in your contract? Do you have to pay them? Well then this is one of them.
Stop whining. Pay it.
| Quote: |
Most teachers here actually live in a Condominium and not in an Apartment. Your school has rented it from an individual owner and it is not owned by the building managers who are providing services to the condo owners.
"Apahtuh" is Konglish for "condominium."
"Konedo" is Konglish for "hotel suite."
These services are a monthly utility in Korea and are a legitimate monthly expense like any other utility. No doubt your contract states that you will pay utilities and this is one of them. That said, there should be a monthly statement that you can see, just like the telephone and electric bills.
In my own case, this monthly fee seems high, until you realize that it includes all of my monthly utility bills except gas and phone. The Condo management company compiles all the bills into one monthly statement. They are all itemized there, in Korean of course. My Condo management bill includes: electric, tv tax, water, sewer, trash and recyling service, monthly pest control, cleaning of the interior hallways and lighting, underground parking, storage, maintenance and repair crews for some maintenance items inside the unit etc.
Other people have lower monthly condo "maintenance" fees, but they have individual bills for water, sewer, electric, cable, etc.
Finally, my winter heating cost is so much lower being in a higher quality Condo than when I lived in one of the few real apartments in Korea and had to pay for oil heat, that even with all the added services and associated costs of living in a condo, my total expenses for the year are cheaper. |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Drew345
Joined: 24 May 2005
|
| Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 2:27 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Paying for the building maintenance while only renting an apartment in the building is one of those things that would leave us shocked in the west but seems to be accepted here. I think one poster long ago said "maybe I should buy the apartment owner dinner with the rent payment too."
As mentioned, it has been discussed to death and seems to be no way around. It doesn't make sense, you don't know where the money's going, but you're going to have to pay. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
kiwiluvesyew
Joined: 29 Apr 2008
|
| Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 5:59 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Sorry I've posted so much, but I did need answers quickly and I wanted to make sure people saw my question.
I just didn't think it was right that the one guy that lived here before us paid $35 and now my s.o. and I are paying $30 each. It doesn't make sense. Is the maintenance fee per person? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
ttompatz
Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Location: Kwangju, South Korea
|
| Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 6:07 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| kiwiluvesyew wrote: |
Sorry I've posted so much, but I did need answers quickly and I wanted to make sure people saw my question.
I just didn't think it was right that the one guy that lived here before us paid $35 and now my s.o. and I are paying $30 each. It doesn't make sense. Is the maintenance fee per person? |
No, but some of the costs do go up when there is more than 1 person using the space, like water usage (I assume you both shower - perhaps he didn't), etc.
. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Otherside
Joined: 06 Sep 2007
|
| Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 9:47 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| kiwiluvesyew wrote: |
Sorry I've posted so much, but I did need answers quickly and I wanted to make sure people saw my question.
I just didn't think it was right that the one guy that lived here before us paid $35 and now my s.o. and I are paying $30 each. It doesn't make sense. Is the maintenance fee per person? |
My apartment's maintanience fee like a previous poster includes everything except gas and internet.
So It's very likely that two people living in the same place will be using more electricity and water than a single person living in the same place. (Twice the showers, twice the washing machine usage etc). Not to mention, the cost of energy has gone up quite drastically in the past few months which may have caused an increase in charges. Finally, you might also have to pay double the "foriegner tax" because there are two of you. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
ontheway
Joined: 24 Aug 2005
Location: Somewhere under the rainbow...
|
| Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2008 5:30 am Post subject: |
|
|
The maintenance fee is a utility and you do have to pay it. However, you should get a monthly statement, like any other utility bill, and you should be able to see the charges and in many cases a detailed breakdown of the charges.
My monthly statement for the maintenance fee is two pages filled with financial detail, year to year comparisons of costs, pie charts etc.
You should ask to see this bill. It is reasonable to pay it, but it is also reasonable to see the bill BEFORE you pay. This is true for all your monthly bills. It's OK to let the school pay them for you, but you should get to look at the statements to make sure or the amounts.
Ask to see your monthly statements for all utilities. Many teachers get charged phoney amounts on these. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
yingwenlaoshi
Joined: 12 Feb 2007
Location: ... location, location!
|
| Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2008 9:49 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Mine is over 96,000/month. That doesn't include water and electricity. Water and electricity are on my bill, but they're added on to the management fee. Since I moved here in June, the total per month has been anywher from 125 to 135,000. It's too high. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
spliff
Joined: 19 Jan 2004
Location: Khon Kaen, Thailand
|
| Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2008 3:03 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| I pay mine once a year easier that way. 360,000. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
kiwiluvesyew
Joined: 29 Apr 2008
|
| Posted: Mon Oct 27, 2008 6:58 am Post subject: |
|
|
We asked the school to not take it out of our pay so that we could pay the landlady ourselves and then they got upset and said they would start charging us more for our cable because they would stop the "convenient for teachers" 3-year plan they had set up, yadda-yadda.
We've never gotten a statement about the maintenance fee, but we got one for everything else. It's now $30 for each of us a month.
The school hates us and so asking them to put our correct names on our pay stubs hasn't even happened yet. I'm thinking that's going to be a problem later when pension and taxes come into it.
Can't I just write a note to the landlady asking her how much the monthly maintenance fee is? She lives downstairs... Would that be bad somehow? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
