Neighbourly Strata
6 reviews
In 40 years of dealing with strata representatives, I have never met a more inefficient, lazy operative than Leanne Charles from Neighbourly. Basic works can take over 10 months to be repaired. Constant reminders fall on deaf ears. Please seek other businesses if you want to get any form of bang for your buck!
They don’t respond. Tip Top Brunswick East is not maintained. Works that were due to be completed months ago have still not started. Pina and Kristie leave things to slide. They have kept us completely in the dark as owners about how they are resolving water damage and plumbing issues they initially spoke about when they commenced managing here… Read more
last year. We reported aggressive, unprofessional behaviour on several occasions by the building manager and asked for change, there was none, no acknowledgement from Neighbourly to written requests. Their leadership page had people listed on their site as working there when they had left the job months before. They are self-congratulatory on LinkedIn about acquiring a new OC to manage near Princes Park in Brunswick while over here five mins away we have had unregulated works outside permitted hours, common property issues not attended to, by-law breaches not enforced, over and over. With no one to respond or resolve any of it. Our confidence in continuing with them as an OCM is zero. We feel awful for the unwitting owners at this new place. Our site never reached it true potential under Engine, Kristie worked there for years during that time, when we saw she was ‘back’ at Tip Top we thought it was a good thing, 10 months into a first trial year we don’t want to continue with Neighbourly. Our chair knows owners are frustrated and is not acting. Seeing the acquisition of Bluestone by Neighbourly when that OCM is currently facing legal action in Vic Supreme Court, it is all such bad news.
They have Google reviews deleted. Found out more recently they were outright dishonest about works that did not go ahead - all these nonsense reasons they gave..the only real reason, the committee denied the request, committee acting in self-interest is as much of a problem as Neighbourly doing it.
⭐ Extremely disappointed with Bluestone and current Owners Corporation Manager, My experience with Bluestone as the Owners Corporation Manager for our building has been extremely disappointing, along with current OC Manager/ chair. I have reached… Read more
the point where I feel owners need to speak publicly about the standard of service we are receiving.
As an owner, I have repeatedly requested information regarding the management of our Owners Corporation, expenditure of owners’ funds, invoices and costs associated with various matters, and the scheduling of our AGM. Despite repeated requests, I have experienced significant delays, inadequate responses and, in most instances, no response at all.
Of particular concern is the amount of time, attention and apparently owners’ money being directed towards the ongoing dispute involving our current Building Manager. In my view, this has become completely disproportionate, while genuine maintenance and operational issues within the building remain unresolved.
Meanwhile, owners are paying substantial levies and are entitled to expect transparency, accountability and competent management of their building and funds. I personally have had an ongoing intercom issue that has not been properly resolved, despite raising it repeatedly, while other building maintenance matters also continue to require attention.
I am also extremely concerned about the continuing delay in holding our AGM. Owners should not have to continually chase their Owners Corporation Manager simply to obtain an AGM date, financial information or answers about how their money is being spent.
An Owners Corporation Manager should be facilitating good governance, transparency and accountability. They should be ensuring that owners receive information they are entitled to, that maintenance issues are progressed, that expenditure is properly accounted for and that the Owners Corporation operates in the interests of ALL owners — not simply allowing a small number of committee members to dominate decision-making without appropriate scrutiny.
Based on my experience, I have lost confidence in Bluestone’s management of our Owners Corporation. The lack of communication and transparency, the unresolved maintenance issues, the continued delay surrounding the AGM and the difficulty obtaining detailed information about expenditure are simply not acceptable.
Owners should not have to fight for basic information about their own Owners Corporation and how their levy funds are being used.
After repeatedly attempting to resolve these matters directly and requesting information without satisfactory outcomes, I believe it is entirely reasonable to publicly express my dissatisfaction.
I would strongly encourage any Owners Corporation considering appointing Bluestone to conduct thorough due diligence, speak directly with owners in buildings they currently manage, and ask detailed questions about transparency, responsiveness, financial accountability, maintenance management and how they deal with disputes between committees, building management and owners.
Our building deserves considerably better.
Follow-up · Our building has 330 apartments and is managed by Bluestone OCM, part of the Neighbourly group. Based on our experience, their service has been appalling. Emails and requests regularly go unanswered. Levy notices continue to be issued and money collected, yet serious maintenance, governance and financial concerns remain unresolved. Despite… Read more
My experience with Bluestone/Neigbourly has been deeply disappointing. Despite repeated attempts to engage constructively, I found a lack of transparency, accountability and meaningful communication. Rather than acknowledging and addressing legitimate concerns raised by multiple lot owners, I felt they chose to defend their position rather than… Read more
work towards a resolution. It is genuinely disappointing that matters have now reached the point where I have lodged an application with VCAT seeking an independent determination. I sincerely hope Bluestone reflects on how it engages with its clients, because this experience has been both frustrating and disheartening.
Based on my experience, there were recurring issues with communication, transparency, and consistency in the Owners Corporation's management. Previously resolved issues were reintroduced, key information was not properly maintained or communicated, and there appeared to be a lack of coordination across the team. As a result, the Committee was… Read more
frequently required to step in and manage matters that should have been handled by the appointed manager.
This created unnecessary complexity, delays, and frustration.
Overall, the service did not meet the expected standard for professional Owners Corporation management. Based on this experience, I would recommend carefully considering alternative providers.
Avoid these strata managers completely. They bought our previous strata manager company and nothing happened for months, despite urgent repairs and other matters needing attending to. Then their appointed manager steamed in like a bull in a china… Read more
shop after four months with no apologies or acceptance of any error. They were so pushy, trying to get us to use an insurance company with a huge commission to themselves, despite NSW strata law saying three quotes must be issued. They wouldn't listen to the owners. Eventually we called a special meeting, and the vote to change manager was unanimous - the first time all the owners have agreed on anything.
Follow-up · Following on, we discover that they have failed to handover documents and finances in a timely manner to the new managers. This is in breach of legal requirements. Also of more concern we find that they have defrauded the owners corporation of funds. They took payment for buildings insurance which they failed to renew and took funds for two… Read more
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