Landlady not repaying me for repairs to washing machine

S

Shiraz

Registered User
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47
Hi,

I`m leaving the apartment I was renting for the last 3 years at the end of the month.

During my three years there, the waching machine broke 4 times.
The first time it stopped working,I rang the landlady to ask her what should I do, and she told me to ring the service number in the instruction booklet for the washing machine, and arrange for someone to come and fix it.
So I did that, and paid myself, meaning to ask the landlady for the money
back at a later stage.
Three other times the washing machine broke, and since I knew the procedure, I didnt bother the landlady by ringing her - I just rang the service center directly, arranged for them to come, and paid them when they fixed it. I mentioned the incidents to her in general conversations afterwards.

Now that I am leaving the apartment, I have shown the landlady the receipts for this work done, and have asked her to pay me back (Its E210 for the 4 visits).
She is saying that the breakages were caused through ¨general use¨ and so I should pay for fixing the machine.
Is this fair?

I dont think it is, since in one of the breakages, it was because the inlet tube was too short, so with the movement of the machine it was stretched and water starting leaking out. So the service guy replaced it by a tube three times longer. Another time the motor (I think) had to be replaced. The previous apartment I lived in for 2 years had the same waching machine, and I had no problems with it, so I dont think its that i am specially hard on waching machines! (The service man said its like a new machine now, since it has the new motor and tube).

My contract is not very specific. It says the landlady is responsible for the upkeep of appliances, apart from where its degradation due to general use. I suppose here we are disagreeing whether the breakages are through general use, or faults with the original machine/installation.

Apart from this, I get on ok with the landlady and have been a model tennant (never late on a payment, place kept spotless, etc).

What do you think - is she right to not pay me back for these repairs?
I wouldnt even mind going half and half.

Thanks,
Shiraz.
 
Hi S. As a landlord I pay for general repairs and I don't have a problem with this.

I am a bit suprised that a landlord would take this approach! If you were with her for three years she should be grateful for your business and be fair to you.

'degradation due to general use' this is imo a disgraceful condition - how can you use it in any other way? 'degradation due to abuse' is fair but not general use. Maybe the rent was very cheap to account for this but if not it doesn't make sense to me......

The only thing that I would be unhappy about is getting a bill for all the repairs years later - but I would still have no problem paying it.
 
Thanks for the feedback Sidzer.

Yes, I thought the same as you. I had to use the machine, so I would have thought a few repairs from normal use was to be expected.
(Im paying 750E for a one bed apartment, so the rent wasnt cheaper to account for this.)

Yes, good point, I shouldn´t just present her with the total bill now - I should have asked her for the money as each repair happened (but I didnt want to be bothering her).

Cheers,
Shiraz.
 
She should pay it, but your not notifying her of each breakdown, then presenting her with the bills in a timely fashion is not on either - what if she had wished to replace it after the second or third breakdown? She should have had this choice. You handled this quite badly.
 
Your landlady would normally be responsible for the repairs, but you went and repaired it without her permission on 3 occasions. I have a policy of not repairing washing machines if they are over 5 years old I replace them instead. The landlady saying that the repairs were through 'general use' is rubbish. Even so a faultless tenant of 3 years standing should in fairness be given the 210 Euro but unfortunately for you your landlady does not see it this way.
 
As already stated above, repairs necessitated by general wear and tear would normally be paid for by the landlord. As you say, you only consulted her once for instructions and obviously should have presented her with the receipt at the time. On subsequent occasions the procedure should have been the same. You did not give her an opportunity to decide if the machine was worth repairing. Presenting 4 receipts which were for repairs over a 3 year period was not good practice on your part. As you appear to have a good relationship with your landlady, at this stage I guess the best you can hope for is some kind of mutual agreement, due to a misunderstanding of the procedure she would have preferred you to follow.
 
Yes, looking back, I definitely should have handled this differently.

At the start of the lease, the landlady had made it very clear that she didnt want to be bothered often by little things in the apartment.
So the first time when I told her about the broken machine, she just told me to look in the instruction booklet for a repairs contact number and to sort it out myself. The second time it broke, I thought, rather than bother her I`ll sort it out, and then told her about a week after it. She seemed totally satisfied over what I had done.
The third time (a month ago), before ringing the guy I actually did tell her about it, and told her I was ringing the same guy. She was fine with this and there was no mention from her that she was planning on replacing the machine, so the 4th and final time (last week) I just went and got it fixed.

But yes, lesson learned - in future I`ll agree upfront as to what procedure they want followed.
 
What I'm most amazed at is that it only cost €210 for 4 visits & obviously som parts. Who did you use!! I was charged €95 +parts (I had a fair ideal there were no parts needed or else would have thought twice & possibly got a new machine!
 
Hi Sam_h,

yes, it was very good value - but that`s because its not in Ireland! I was amazed at how cheap it is - E37 for a call out, plus parts.
 
If you're not in Ireland then the rules are different, where I am the tenant is basically responsible for everything, servicing the boiler, cleaning the windows, cutting the grass and hedges, repairs, breakages, wear and tear etc. Landlords are only responsibily for structural problems.
 
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