Alliance Owners Corporation Management

Worst owners corporate management ever. They do nothing. Not even provide meeting minutes for AGMs, are not responsive and then charge you half as much again in discretionary additions to service that they do not provide.

Unprofessional and Bullying Behaviour - Proceed with Caution – I am writing this review to caution others about my unfortunate experience with this company and manager (I see his name is mentioned in a similar review) Unfortunately, my interactions with this company and individual have been marked by a concerning level of unprofessionalism that I believe warrants a warning to potential clients. From the… Read more

outset, this Corporation have displayed unprofessionalism, dismissive attitude towards my concerns, often brushing aside important issues that needed addressing. Their lack of responsiveness was incredibly frustrating, as I found myself repeatedly reaching out for assistance, only to be met with silence or vague, rude, unhelpful replies. This pattern of neglect not only hindered effective communication but also led to multiple breaches and hearings with VCAT.

I am surprised this company is still in practice after reading the similar comments listed within other review, and I am currently working with ACCC to formalise my experience.

I encountered instances of rude and bullying behavior that were completely unacceptable. Instead of fostering a collaborative resolution in light of their breaches , this corporation seemed more focused on either ignoring and delaying on purpose, and then exerting power and control. Interactions have been unprofessional - and also deeply discouraging for anyone trying to resolve issues amicably.

In light of these experiences, I strongly advise anyone considering engaging with Alliance, to proceed with caution.

The unprofessionalism, lack of accountability, and intimidating demeanor are red flags that should not be overlooked.

To anyone from Alliance reading this review - It is crucial to start to prioritise working with individuals and demonstrating respect, upholding the law, courteous responsiveness, and a genuine commitment to serving your clients. It’s not too late to start.

My hope is that sharing this review will help others avoid the challenges I faced during my dealings with this manager and company. I hope to never work with them again.

Thank you.

Atrocious – Incompetent managers, achieving even the most simple tasks takes months of back and forth. They constantly avoid doing their job. An absolute joke of a company.

Legally illiterate manager – Our common waste pipe was blocked at the bottom. The Manager refused to repair and even wrote to the owner of ground level unit that since the waste water from upper level basin flows down and rose up in the ground level basin, the owner of ground unit had to agree to bear all the repair costs before works could be carried out! He was then forced… Read more

to do it by the issuance of a breach notice (of manegerial duty); that took another 28 additional days. He even claimed to be knowledgeable with the "benefit principle"! He collected annual levies for maintenance of infrastructure and wanted to collect money the second time with special levies for the same job. The judgement for my case against him and Committee is to be announced by VCAT in 2022 July. Please follow the subsequent update of this review. It is amazing that while he was waiting for the judgments on those actions, he managed to pull out even more breaches of OC laws: He organized a sham election of Committee: There were up to 12 positions on the Committee. There were only 7 persons including me standing for the election and the Manager from AOCM had blatantly  declared that I failed to get elected into the Committee although I got 4 votes from my 4 units. He had blatantly transgressed Owners Corporation 2006 and Crimes Act 1958. Do NOT engage this mob; they have no physical address (using ASIC company search).

UPDATE (2022May1): Alliance OCM had managed to get a 90 days delay to VCAT hearing but had subsequently missed their extended deadline for submission of "Points of defense" by more than 10 days. This created additional legal attendance costs to applicants.

UPDATE (2022May14) They have been served with 2 additional notices of breach

1/- Details of complaint/alleged breach of the rules, Act or Regulations

Describe what the complaint/breach is about including dates and times (if known)

Owners Corporation transgressed OC Laws in its Election of Commitee on 6 April 2022. There are up to 12 Committee positions, There were only 7 candidates including me. I had my own 4 votes and Manager [name removed] declared that I did not get elected into the Committee.

2/- Details of complaint/alleged breach of the rules, Act or Regulations

Describe what the complaint/breach is about including dates and times (if known)

Breach of sections 46, 47, 117 and 122 of Owners Corporations Act 2006 (incorporating amendments as at 29 March 2021).

The driveway of OC has approximately 30 square meter of defects comprised of pot holes and damaged/broken concrete slabs which are tripping hazards and may make voidable any Insurance Contract on buildings and liabilities for OC. The defects of most concern are the pot hole behind F1, the 1.5m long unintended step behind F13, the broken concrete slabs on the Northern side of F18, in front of F17, F16, F13, F6 and F1.

Committee Chairman has known of these defects for many years and Manager has known of these defects for more than one year.

UPDATE (2022July17) We are waiting for the official publication of the judgement for VCAT case OC2164/2021 on 2022July4. The first Breach notice issued on 2022May14 about election had been successfully turned into a VCAT urgent Court List. The Committee had now been served with still another additional notice of breach.

1/- Committee members sent intimidating emails to new Comiitee Member [name #1 removed], claiming he had breached their self-granted “confidentiality” when he informed lot owner [name #2 removed] of the proceedings and results of meetings. Committee had held their resolutions hidden from Lot owners for maximum time between AGM and then often claimed that the issues were long past. Committee had even hidden their activities from 2022 AGM Report and refused to issue Minute for Committee Meeting of 2022 Jun 29, they called it a “workshop” when [name #1] attended it. "Committee" had undue aversion from evidentiary emails discussions and often called nuisance verbal meetings causing tiredness to dissidents.

2/- If dissenting members turned up Committee would say that it was only a Tea Party, if dissenting members haven’t they would make decisions against the latter’s interest as well as would declare that the latter failed to attend 25% of meeting and were to be expelled from the committee.

3/- Committee members may combine self-granted “confidentiality” and quick excuse of “being only volunteers" to deny transparency and accountability while raiding the common fund.

A tale of two Managers – Our OC signed on with Alliance after a dire experience with another OCM. We met with what I understand to be the principal franchisor who presented well, and our experience in the first 2 years of Alliance's tenure, when this gentleman was managing our OC was outstanding: prompt responses to queries, notices being issued on time with the correct… Read more

amounts and excellent attention to detail.

Two years in however, and he handed off to someone else - whether employee or another franchisee I can't say - and service went downhill rapidly. This guy was the complete antithesis of the first. I never did get to meet him face to face (first AGM during his tenure he "thought" the meeting started at 6 p.m. when it had been scheduled for a year to start at 5 p.m.; second one he "had" to go overseas for a wedding); he was relatively unresponsive; issued fee notices late, issued fee notices with incorrect amounts on them; issued a draft budget that had it been adopted would have exhausted the OC's Admin Fund reserves; and suggested that events were not claimable under the OC's insurance policy when according to the insurance company, they were.

All up, pretty poor, especially by comparison with the previous two years. Bottom line - if you can negotiate to stay with the principal franchisor, do so otherwise look elsewhere.

Stand over tactics – Mark Shapiro is a bully and stand over man. He seeks only to have his demands met, and will threaten you if you do not comply. He has poor listening skills, and will talk over the top of you to wear you down and ensure he has the final word. He also uses deception and subterfuge to achieve the outcomes he desires. This week, he allowed two… Read more

tradesmen to climb a ladder and photograph my balcony, without making any attempt to contact me for my consent. I intend to take this matter further, as I am overwhelmed by his ongoing harassment of me.

A different Experience with [name removed] – Our experience with [name removed] was unfortunately to say the least. She was not true to her word with allowing us to keep our preferred insurer but rather signed us up with a company paying her commission. A company policy so owners beware! She also refused to follow the instructions of our Committee and demanded more money in under three… Read more

months of being employed. Her communication skills and ability to work cooperative with others were poor. After changing managers we discovered we were grossly underinsured. In summation we found her to prioritise money making over people.

Several Issues – I don't know if this is the same AOCM, but if it is, the glowing reviews here are the opposite to our experience. Everything from constant miscommunication, to taking a long time to organise trades for repairs and upkeep to letting the small apartment block get into such poor condition that tens of thousands of dollars for several critical… Read more

works have been spent by us in a very short period, to make up for years of neglect, is making this company a living nightmare to deal with.

Also, they seem to always use the same list of tradesmen for quoting a job, and these tradesmen almost always provide a quote that is inflated way beyond reasonable, because they know that owners corps are easy cash wins for jobs. Our committee has had to request several times that job quotes are there to be compared, and we need more than one quote per project to make a decision on who we hire. And AOCM never seems to remember this: one quote per job every time; it's essentially a blank cheque for the tradies in their books.

And, there is absolutely NO follow-up on post-project workmanship. Several times, their listed tradies have done shoddy jobs, and walked away with the money, with owners themselves and AOCM being none the wiser about the condition or level of professionalism of the job done. Only when owner-occupiers see the problems does anyone know about it. If the block was all renters, nobody would find out, and nobody would be held to account.

Add to this, the manager we've been assigned since the more senior manager stepped away from managing our property has been in need of hand-holding with every step of the way - asking the committee where he should looks for trades and services etc, plus many other communication stuff-ups. Two years ago, we threatened to leave them due to his ineptitude, and it didn't seem to phase AOCM. We are still with them...for now.

Dealing with AOCM has created significant stress in our personal lives as well, due to myself and other members of the committee having to take over certain projects just to get the damn job DONE.

After all these years of our patience being chipped away, bit by bit, I would not recommend this company for your property management.

best OC Manager I have ever dealt with – I have had the unfortunate experience of dealing with a series of unprofessional, unmotivated, and incompetent so called OC managers at several different properties for the last 20 years and had resigned myself to accepting that as one of the downsides of strata ownership. Imagine my surprise when we were fortunate enough to engage Joanne from… Read more

Alliance OC Management. Obliging, honest, responsive, pleasant .. She obviously hasn't read the OC manager's pre-qualification manual. I would give her 6 stars if I could.

Finally, some high standards in the Owners Corporation Management Industry – Joanne is a breath of fresh air in an industry which unfortunately seems to be rife with unscrupulous and unprofessional 'cowboys' masquerading as Owners Corporation Managers. We immediately found Joanne to be genuine, friendly and approachable. Since signing on with Joanne we have enjoyed an impressive level of customer service - Joanne is… Read more

responsive, honest and transparent with great attention to detail. Her financial expertise are evident and we have confidence our account is being well looked after as Joanne has taken responsible ownership of it from day one, providing guidance and assistance wherever possible. Would highly recommend Joanne's services as an owners corporation manager.