Charge $99 for service fee for doing nothing!

[Edward Brewington]

I recently had my rental property thoroughly remodeled w/ my property management in charge.They took a month to get a tenant. When they got a new tenant he reported the heater did not work. He had no hot water. The property management sent out company to fix the boiler because the tenant said it did not work. It was simply a  pilot light out and simply needed to be lit. I use to light my boiler by myself when I was kid....easiest thing ever. They did nothing but light the pilot light, nothing had to be replaced. They charged me $99.

My question is.....one......shouldn't the property management had this running before the tenant came in? 

Second, the tenant called this in without checking the boiler or even looking. Am I responsible for this? The boiler was perfectly functional.

Last, $99 for simply coming out. They said they would waive the fee if I had to fix or replace the boiler. 

Thoughts. Am I right to think this is outrageous? 

[Matthew Olszak]

@Edward Brewington

You'll have a difficult road ahead using a PM with this mindset. The solution might only take 2 minutes to fix a problem, but what about the time the office staff took to receive the complaint, then enter it in the system, then communicate with maintenance staff and dispatch them, then for that person to drive out there, fix it, report back, then for the office staff to enter the result. And the overhead/insurance/payroll/tax cost for those folks.

Good luck getting anyone to show up at your property reliably for under $100. They are charging you the minimum it makes sense to simply show up whether an issue exists or not.

And no, the tenant shouldn't be expected to troubleshoot a non-working boiler.