Lodger underpaying by 31p, would you make a fuss?

shaggydoo

tbs624 wrote: »

Check the cartoon stock website Shaggydoo -

"Can I use any of your images free of charge?

We are always happy to help if we can but we have to protect the rights of the artists we represent. Due to the agreements we have with our artists, we do not have the right to grant use of any of their images without the appropriate fee being paid."

Then check out MSE's Ts&Cs:

"....9.2 You may not use the chat forums or any of our comms systems for any illegal purpose and in particular you will not:
9.2.1 post or transmit material that infringes the intellectual property rights or other rights of others..."

Never mind "priceless", presumably your reproduction, as above, was fee-less? Just because it's on the net doesn't mean that it's free - ignoring copyright is definitely what I'd call showing a lack of respect for others.

I paid a fee:D

shaggydoo

fatpig wrote: »

Try reading the post. It's 31 measly pence, not £25.

Thank god I'm a homeowner and will never have to rent off one of you miserable sods.

Hear hear - this thread has reminded me about how horrible life could be in rented accomodation. I bet some of these characters count the sheets of T paper their tennants use Though those types of LL are the minority. I did have some really nice LLs (and they wouldn't have asked me for 31p;))

shaggydoo

Rollerball wrote: »

Please tell me that this entire thread is a wind-up. I refuse to believe that anyone in Britain is such a scrooge.

Sadly it would appear to be

Gorgeous_George

I went to the Post Office to buy a stamp. It cost 31p so I rounded it down to 0p but they wouldn't do the deal so I walked out.

31 miserable pence - no wonder the post office is going to be privatised. At least then they will charge a more respectable £1 for a stamp and we'll all be happy.

The OP should charge a nice figure (multiple of £5), rounding up where necessary.

GG

Lokolo

fatpig wrote: »

You're a bit slow, aren't you?. Try reading the post. The amount in question is 31 pence, not £25 or £50 or any other figure you might dream up..

I don't think you quite understand his point.

If you let one person off with 31p where do you draw the line? What if this new lodger comes in and then decides to pay 50p less a month?

If the OP lets the lodger off that 31p, then another person comes in and doesn't pay say 50p, the OP then says "Hang on this is wrong", the other person then has an excuse "oh well X doesn't pay his/hers fully". And thus this continues.

This happens a lot at my old job in Dominos - "oh well last time this person gave me free garlic bread, I want another free garlic bread now etc.etc.etc."

Gwhiz

I have always owned property (for 24 yeas or so) but sold up last year and am now in rented looking for a building plot to buy.

My LL is wonderful. I blocked the drains by using so called "flushable" parazone toilet cleaning wipes yet he paid for them be sorted and would not entertain my offer to pay. However I keep the house in immaculate condition for him so it's a win win!

Renting CAN be horrible but can also be wonderful if you both play the game to the sames rules and standards. I'm sure my LL would not be quite as amenable if I started short changing him.

As someone else has said.. if the agreement is to pay X, what is a tenant playing at by offering Y? Common courtesy and decency alone would suggest that it's not right and more a reflection of the p!ss poor attitude of the tenant rather than a purely fiancial issue.

Gwhiz

Rollerball wrote: »

The issue seems to boil down to the fact that for scrooge landlords 31p is a life or death amount whereas normal people couldn't care less.

What if the LL took a £20 note from a tenant every week paying £19.69 rent and never gave back the change! Would that be acceptable or would you accuse the tenant of being a life or death scrooge?

bandraoi

Gwhiz wrote: »

What if the LL took a £20 note from a tenant every week paying £19.69 rent and never gave back the change! Would that be acceptable or would you accuse the tenant of being a life or death scrooge?

I'd tell them to keep the change.

As for the comparison with a stamp, while I wouldn't expect to be let off the full price of the stamp if I didn't have the penny and it was a shop I frequented I'd expect it to be left off the cost.
As a proportion of the transaction, that's a far more similar amount.

If the OP wants to view it as the lodger taking the !!!!, they're welcome to do so, however personally I usually ignore things like that which might be done for provocation. I prefer to set my own boundaries as to what I will react to then have them set for me by somebody who (maybe?) is setting out to test me.

31p on a months rent is well below my provocation level.

ss70

Given it is probably only 0.01% of the monthly rent, why make a fuss about it?

All these comments about not letting her get away with it.... what planet are you from?

Out,_Vile_Jelly

Everyone screaming "scrooge" is completely missing the point- the 31p isn't going to plunge the OP into poverty and that's not why they care.

Anyone who's ever house-shared knows it isn't Big Issues like world politics, religion and the meaning of life that sharers argue about. It's tiny little things like always using someone else's milk. Using the last of the bog roll and never bothering to buy more. Leaving dishcloths sodden and full of crumbs. Small routine tasks and basic items that cost pence start to reveal an awful lot about the attitude of those around you.

A mistake is one thing; a calculated attempt to underpay by a silly, random amount suggests a weird attitude that's worth being aware of.

It reminds me of my first house-share at uni. One of my mates, we came to realise, had grown up with a cleaner in her parents' home and was used to things magically clearing themselves up. After making toast each morning, she would always, always leave her butter/marge out on the side, not even bothering to put the lid back on. Me and the others would always put it back in the fridge, probably out of instinct at seeing something out of place. One day, by mutual unspoken consent, we all ignored it and left it out and uncovered all day. She never left it like that again- she just needed a simple lesson in how grown-ups behave when sharing.

The boundaries need to be clear.