Korean Job Discussion Forums

[K1020]

So I was recently informed that I had been remiss on nearly 2 years of maintenance fees at my school provided accommodations. While I could understand a maintenance fee if there were amenities or facilities, this building doesn't have a yard or an elevator even (nothing in particular to maintain). . .
Being that this is the first I've heard of it I'm not inclined to pay anything "owed" and reluctant to consider future payments. From my perspective this is a standard fee attached to the apartment and thus rent regardless of how you slice it. Anyone have insight onto where these maintenance fees fall with respect to the GEPIK contract?

[PRagic]

There can be maintenance fees for a building even without a yard or elevator. The fees usually concern keeping the stairwell and building exterior clean and the occasional bug spray. In most cases, this amounts to under 50,000 won a month.

Who is asking you to pay, the school or the landlord? Has your school been pretty honest with you to date? Odd that the landlord would bring it up so late, so it could just be a way for some a-hole at your school to weasle some coin out of you for their party time. Wouldn't be the first time someone tried to get over that way.

What are they trying to soak you for? Get a Korean friend and speak directly with the landlord. If the claim is on the up and up, pay THEM, not anyone at your school.

[Weigookin74]

Considering they didn't tell you until now, I'd tell them to eff off. I don't think maintenance fees should be more than a 5 or 10 thousand won a month for the type of building you described. Unless, they are charging you for cable, internet, and other things that were free.

I know I had a dude come at me for this expensive water bill back when I was in the countryside after a couple of years. I really argued with them and the ed office. Boy, did I give those folks a piece of mind. Argued quite the discount I did. Ah, pre-recession Korea was such a wonderful place....

[TheUrbanMyth]

[K1020]

Thanks for that UM,
At this point my issues are one, there ought to be a bill for ongoing services provide, I wouldn't have an issue with the fee if I could justify 80,000 won (4 apartments per floor x 20k won) per month to run a mop across the hallway once a week. At bigger apartments those fees are paying for security and recycling or community centers ect. . . In this case it's a cash grab and everyone knows it. I have repeatedly asked for a bill which no one can produce.
Second, expecting me to pay the nearly 2 years of fees I was never informed of, nor billed for, is over the top, (I was only given the account transfer number last week). In the absence of a contract for those services and evidence of notification I shouldn't be held accountable for it.

I have made an arrangement with my school that sees us splitting the back payments in half, and me getting a convenient coordinators fee (to the tune of one years maintenance fees) on top of my pay for summer camp this year. I'm glad I held my ground on it, they they originally just told me I owed the whole thing. I am glad it is settled, and my director acknowledged their fault where admin wouldn't, but I'm still really frustrated by the situation.
I am left wondering what new fee may be invented without any documentation next year.

[YTMND]

[K1020]

well first, as I said I would prefer an itemized bill that said explicitly what I was paying for and who I was paying. Next I would prefer a charge that was relative to the work being done.
By my estimation the floor is being mopped once a week. It is a small building so I would guess it ought to take about 7 to ten minutes to run a mop across my hall, generously an hour a month. Given that minimum wage in Korea is under 6k an hour if each apt. on my floor pitched in 5k that would still put the maintenance man in a good position for the work being done.
If it is in fact not rent but a legit charge for maintenance I think neither are too much to expect.
. . and yes, if those two stipulations were met and justified I may well prefer a higher fee, in fact I am considering it.
My issue is less about the fee than it is about transparency and credibility.
[BTW 12x20=240]

[YTMND]

[TheUrbanMyth]

[byrddogs]

Ah, the old monthly maintenance fee. In some buildings where there are actually facilities/service it isn't so bad. My first building in Apkujung charged 60,000 a month. It was an older villa that offered nothing that justified the cost (like mentioned here already, someone ran a mop across the floor and took out the recycling occasionally). There was no documentation provided by the school/hagwon other than their hand written deduction on a post-it. Another building I lived in in another part of Seoul charged around 80,000. There was always a guard on duty and I was able to use the lift parking for my car. The charge showed up on my monthly salary/deduction printout from the public school.

[War Eagle]

I live in a 3 story brand new (renovated) villa with 2 apartments to each floor. There is no elevator. There is no in-house recycling program (it all goes to the street). There is no security guard, only a key-carded sliding door. I pay 7,000 won a month for one of the older resident ladies to keep the hallways and outside clean.

I used to pay upwards of 50,000 when I was living in officetels with elevators, security personnel and in-house recycling.

[le-paul]

yeah, I was a bit miffed the first time I got that bill for my old place. The adjoshi just sat about and surfed the internet everyday and did some gardening when it suited him (in what wasn't the buildings garden). We did have cctv cameras though, but it never stopped people from taking a crap in the under ground parking...

[davemon]

I got mine 2-3 months after my contract was completed and I started a new job. I was never told beforehand, but I need the reference for work experience. I laid down ~400k for the year IIRC. Was sent some jpg'd excel sheet that shows "maintenance" in hangul and the varying amounts monthly. No other information was on the jpg but it looked to be cropped from a bigger spreadsheet. Shady? Yes, very likely. Would they withhold my work reference if I didn't pay? Yes, very likely.

[YTMND]