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Oh, is this not the lonely hearts thread? As you were...
I am considering whether I should dispute the other costs, the cleaning quote does specifically mention a few things that the check out report confirms were the same as when I checked in.
I don't mind paying for the damage I did to the ceiling but perhaps paying 90% of the cost of repainting the whole thing (when the damage is quite minor) is a bit steep.
I said in an email that I didn't mind paying for the cleaning and repainting but I haven't signed anything so I could dispute the fees via the TDS now...
I said in an email that I didn’t mind paying for the cleaning and repainting but I haven’t signed anything so I could dispute the fees via the TDS now…
Well, after you were so accommodating, they proceeded to take the piss and try to get you to pay to replace the landlord's ageing toilet, so it is only natural to check over the other charges too. 🙂
Perhaps it will make the agent/landlord think twice before trying it on again.
It's important to track the conversations you have with the agency. Keep a solid log
I don’t mind paying for the damage I did to the ceiling but perhaps paying 90% of the cost of repainting the whole thing (when the damage is quite minor) is a bit steep.
If you are happy to pay it (and I wouldn't be), tell them you'll pay it only on receipt of the invoice after the work has been completed.
I've rented for 18 years and move slot with work and in all that time I've had £25 takes from a deposit because I didn't do a good enough job of cleaning the oven.
I think you've screwed up agreeing to any costs unless you've trashed the place. You would probably have got out of all of that.
Offer to send a sample to prove normal usage. Better yet, one a day for a month in non-sequential packaging just to establish an average.
I’ve rented for 18 years and move slot with work and in all that time I’ve had £25 takes from a deposit because I didn’t do a good enough job of cleaning the oven.
Agencies / landlords can be petty and / or chancers. I'm suddenly reminded of the run-in I had with a letting agency a couple of years ago. It's a longish tale but it might provide some amusement.
A friend of mine moved out and they were withholding her deposit due to a number of alleged issues which they wanted to "give her the opportunity" to rectify, which was slightly problematic as by then she was living 200 miles away. For background, we'd spent an entire day cleaning the place before she moved out and had also had a professional cleaner in for some of it.
I offered to intervene, and opened by highlighting to the agency that they were already in breach of the TDS. Long story short, I offered to attend the flat to sort it out, not least because I wanted to verify first-hand what they were claiming.
Following several phone calls, this was their complaint, edited slightly:
We have been in discussion with the Landlord and we would like to give you the opportunity to return to the property to perform a light clean with particular attention to the following:
- Removal of tape from bedroom window and mezzanine Velux window.
- Back of bedroom door (hallway side).
- Window sill tiles in bedroom.
- Kitchen: outside of floor units, sink and draining board, inside oven (rim), fridge and freezer (including removal of food items)
- Bathroom sink
- Ceiling above stairs to mezzanine if possible.
- Removal of any belongings from the common areas if present (hallway, utilities, rubbish disposal)
I replied thusly,
It was agreed [with agent's colleague] that the tape on the window is to be left in place as it’s holding the faulty window closed. (I understand that this was reported to [agent] previously but no remedial action was ever taken.)
The junk in the communal area belongs to flat 3 and is nothing to do with us. A tenant at flat 5 was witnesses to this should you require confirmation. I believe there’s also a dog bite out of some of it from a dog we don’t have. You should be able to locate the dogs and their owners by following the delightful stench of canine urine in the hallway outside the flat.
As we discussed on the phone, the freezer needs defrosting. I was loathe to do this before leaving as I didn’t feel it safe to leave unattended in case it flooded the place (and in any case I couldn’t locate the power outlet switch to isolate it). I’ll chisel out the two boxes of ice cream and clean what I can.
I very much doubt I’m going to be able to clean the ceiling over the stairs (really?!) without specialist equipment. This was originally listed by [agent's colleague] as “if possible” and it probably isn’t. [this was maybe five metres up - I'd have needed scaffolding - and was stained when she moved in]
I’m utterly perplexed as to how the bathroom sink needs attention when it was professionally cleaned two days before [tenant] moved out, but I’ll take another look at it.
The rest of the above list I’ll address on Saturday.
I then went to check the place as above. This was my report back to them.
The bedroom door appeared to have splashes of something on it (tea?) I've cleaned this off.
The windowsill tiles have been wiped down. This looked to have been a patch of brick / plaster dust from work carried out by [landlord's] Maintenance and not subsequently cleaned up by them as [tennant] had previously advised. [she'd already told them she didn't know how to clean it safely and didn't want to make a mess]
The floor units were spotless save for a couple of dribbles down one unit. This has now been cleaned.
The sink and draining board showed "tide mark" type splashes where water had dried. A shocking thing to find in a sink, I'm sure you'll agree. It now has a mirror finish.
The white residue on the oven rim was a deposit left behind by the cleaning products I used to clean the oven prior to departure. The irony is not lost on me here. This has now been rinsed off.
I've removed the offending bottle of milk and two cartons of ice-cream from the freezer. The freezer door had a couple of marks which I've cleaned, the fridge looks like it's just been delivered so I didn't deem any further work to be done here.
I've removed the six hairs from the bathroom sink which I assume fell there whilst [tenant] was brushing her hair. Aside from that the sink was immaculate, which is as I would expect because as previously discussed it was professionally cleaned two days prior to departure.
Additionally, I've removed the half-full toilet roll and kitchen roll we left behind previously, along with the DSL microfilter. I also straightened a picture hook that was crooked. I've left you the crack pipe as it came free with the flat when [tenant] moved in and I'm not touching it.
Now they’ve agreed you aren’t liable for the damage to the toilet take a sledge hammer to it 👍🏼
So it's still not over...
I chose to dispute the £75 cleaning cost and £96 redecoration cost and since then the letting agent has been doing everything they can to try get me to agree to the original costs and not take it to arbitration. I'm not trying to wriggle out of paying everything that I owe but the TDS is there to keep things fair so I don't know why they wouldn't want them involved.
The letting agent has even threatened to add additional costs if I take it to arbitration, which I think is pretty despicable.
I pointed out that if there were other costs then they should have mentioned them in the check out report, I also spoke to the TDS and they can't add more costs now anyway so it wasn't a very good threat. I'll get the TDS to arbitrate and the worst that can happen is I pay the £75 and £96(plus the £100 check out fee).
rant over thanks for reading
Must be worth bringing the letting agent’s threat to add more charges to the attention of the TDS as indicative of their attitude & approach. I foresee a win on all points for you, based on what I’ve read here.
Good luck and well done for not conceding.
That cleaning and decoration cost look ok to me. Which agent is it? The flat below mine got water damage and I got a bill for 500 gbp redecoration, they just sent me a bill.
Anyway, it was the adjacent flat responsible. Agents just fire off bills they arent really bothered who pays. 500 to redecorate a cupboard seemed excessive.
We went through the deposit scheme when our landlord tried to rob money from us for cleaning (despite us leaving him the receipt for the professional cleaners we'd had in when we moved out), a paving slab that was cracked and, most gallingly of all, a new carpet to replace the 20 year old one on the stairs that was now a little dirty.
The deposit scheme took a long time to process the appeal, about 3 months, but they gave us all the money back. They said that if the landlord doesn't have any before photos then they don't have a leg to stand on.
That cleaning and decoration cost look ok to me
It isn't terrible but I still don't want to pay to bring the property into a better state than when I moved in. The check out report says that the ceiling which I marked had defects that had been painted over before, so why do they get to re-paint the whole ceiling at my expense when I cause a small defect?
It's the same with the cleaning, they have charged me for cleaning the interior windows when the check out report says they were dirty when I moved in and dirty when I moved out (although I had cleaned them the day before I left)
I think that I would have bigger fish to flush than this 💩
The check out report says that the ceiling which I marked had defects that had been painted over before, so why do they get to re-paint the whole ceiling at my expense when I cause a small defect?
It’s the same with the cleaning, they have charged me for cleaning the interior windows when the check out report says they were dirty when I moved in and dirty when I moved out (although I had cleaned them the day before I left)
They can't... That's what's known as betterment.
Like if a carpet is ten years old when you move in, and you stain it, they've still had 10 years value out of it and it's already worn and depreciated in value, so can't just charge you full price for a complete new carpet.
the last toilet pan I bought ( about two hours ago, I buy quite a lot of toilets )
You do know they’re multi-use, yeah?
He’s used to replacing the Rolls when the ashtrays full up!