Letting Agents taking money from rent payments?!

chrispyphillips

Okay, I have a situation that I'm hoping someone on here may be familiar with or have solutions of how to handle, since I'm at a complete loss. I have tried contacting Citizens Advice by phone but can never get through, and the advice people shell out around here is generally very helpful and beneficial.

I own a flat which I rent out to help pay the mortgage off which is currently with a tenant. The letting agents I use were recommended to me by a friend and are a local, small company with a few clients and only 2 staff. They are really nice people, but arent massively efficient at their job, or communicating with their clients. I wont name them!

A few months ago they informed me that the hallway light wasnt working and needed fixing. I did know about this, yet since the hall is well lit I never bothered fixing it. They informed me that their father was an electrician and they would ask him for a quote and come back to me. I didnt hear anything more about it.

Last month I checked my payment and it was £40 less than it should be. When I asked for the receipt (as I wasnt given one automatically) I noticed they had charged me the £40 for fixing the light, without my permission or consent to undertake the work. I was still waiting for a quote. They still havent given me a receipt for the work or a rundown of the cost for the work. For all I know I paid for the bacon butties for breakfast!!!

I've emailed and called and still havent had a reply from them (poor, poor comms) and am at my wits end. I've asked for a full refund and the work to be reversed but dont know how to get my point across. They arent with ARLA so I cant refer the case to them, and as I said Citizens Advice are so busy I cant get hold of them! Any ideas guys, really hoping someone has some insight into this!?

Sorry if I missed any info, computer died and this is the 2nd time I've written this now!!!! Thanks.

QTPie

chrispyphillips wrote: »

I've asked for a full refund and the work to be reversed but dont know how to get my point across.

Is that REALLY what you want? You want the work to be reversed, just for the spite of it?

I agree that it was VERY wrong for them to do the work and charge for it without getting your go ahead.

I think that you should go in, in person, and speak to them. Demand a refund (unless they can prove, in writing, that you accepted the quote that they never gave you in the first place...), but insisting that the work is reversed is just silly :rolleyes:

Make it VERY, VERY clear that they must not undertake any works without your express say so.

QT

chrispyphillips

Cheers QT.

QTPie wrote:

Is that REALLY what you want? You want the work to be reversed, just for the spite of it?

Well, yeah, it is what I want. If they've undertaken work without my say so, they're unlikely to just leave it there and offer me a full refund, and I could get it done for about £20 if I did it myself, so I've asked a full refund, so I can fix it for less. Its more the principle at this stage. Had they asked me first, I may have haggled to £30 and accepted that, but sinceI know I can do it for half what I was charged, I'll ask them to reverse it! Either that, or offer a £20 refund!

And I cant really 'Go in, in person', as they dont have an 'office' and work from home, so its phone calls and emails only, which they are so far ignoring!

poppysarah

Lights on stairs and kitchens and bathrooms are pretty important.
The rest of a building is almost acceptable to use table lamps.

You could ask for any part p certification you would need for such work (Receipt should show eletricians part p number?)

QTPie

chrispyphillips wrote: »

Well, yeah, it is what I want. If they've undertaken work without my say so, they're unlikely to just leave it there and offer me a full refund, and I could get it done for about £20 if I did it myself, so I've asked a full refund, so I can fix it for less. Its more the principle at this stage. Had they asked me first, I may have haggled to £30 and accepted that, but sinceI know I can do it for half what I was charged, I'll ask them to reverse it! Either that, or offer a £20 refund!

And I cant really 'Go in, in person', as they dont have an 'office' and work from home, so its phone calls and emails only, which they are so far ignoring!

Well if it was so cheap for you to do yourself, why have you left it so long??? :rolleyes:

It would be cutting off your nose to spite your face.

Presumably you have an address for them, if they are ignoring your emails and phone calls, then go around. Whether they work from home, or not, they still have to be reachable in person.

QT

chrispyphillips

poppysarah wrote: »

Lights on stairs and kitchens and bathrooms are pretty important.
The rest of a building is almost acceptable to use table lamps.

You could ask for any part p certification you would need for such work (Receipt should show eletricians part p number?)

Sorry Sarah, not sure what part p is? Could you explain?

QTPie wrote:

Well if it was so cheap for you to do yourself, why have you left it so long??? :rolleyes:

chrispyphillips wrote:

I did know about this, yet since the hall is well lit I never bothered fixing it.

QTPie

Well precisely... sounds like you had no intention of having it fixed and probably never would do

QT

poppysarah

chrispyphillips wrote: »

Sorry Sarah, not sure what part p is? Could you explain?

Part P is a wonderful set of new electrical regulations that came in a while back to ensure that electrical work is done safely.

Although a light fitting doesn't require notification to the BCO at the council, it should be done by a competant person.

On your receipt from the electrician it should state their qualification maybe?

chrispyphillips

QTPie wrote: »

Well precisely... sounds like you had no intention of having it fixed and probably never would do

QT

To a degree yeah thats right. It never bothered me living there, the hall is about 10'x6' and has light from the bathroom, living room and bedroom shining into it, but they asked me to fix it, I said I'd listen to a quote, they never gave me one. Had they given me one, if it were reasonable I would have given the go ahead, if it werent, I would have done the work myself. To say I 'never would do' isnt correct at all!

The point is possibly being missed here. I've been charged without my consent or authority for work which I have had no proof of completion for. Anyone got any experience of this or know of a good agency to visit to get advice?

chrispyphillips

poppysarah wrote: »

Part P is a wonderful set of new electrical regulations that came in a while back to ensure that electrical work is done safely.

Although a light fitting doesn't require notification to the BCO at the council, it should be done by a competant person.

On your receipt from the electrician it should state their qualification maybe?

Thanks Sarah, I'll look into it if I ever get the receipt from them! :rolleyes:

QTPie

QTPie wrote: »

Well precisely... sounds like you had no intention of having it fixed and probably never would do

QT

Sorry, I ought to add... Getting a refund is reasonable, but getting the work undone is only going to not benefit your tenants - which I think is sad.

QT