can a repair man let himself in?

sonastin

A simple way to determine if it really was an "emergency" is to ask the repairman when he was called. If the LL is paying emergency call out rates he obviously considered it urgent enough to need fixing immediately. If its been in the guys diary for a few days, or even a few weeks, LL has no excuse for not making more effort to get in touch.

moromir

I apologise if I missed the information, but I note that you live with flat mates - have you checked with all of them that none of them recieved calls from your letting agent or the handyman asking to come round to fix the problem?

Are you sure none of them opened and chucked to one side a letter from the LA or handyman making an appointment? (although I realise this should be confirmed with the tenant). This was one of my old housemate's favourite tricks! We found letters down the back of the sofa when we moved out

BitterAndTwisted

The trouble with repair-men is that they often can't guarantee exactly what time they might be calling: it often depends on what problems they find at properties when they get there.

This sounds like either a miscommunication between the agent and the repair-man or a lack of any at all. It's entirely possible that the repair-man may not have been given the tenant/s mobile numbers if the agents didn't know that the tenant/s should have been consulted properly. In this instance I probably wouldn't make a huge issue out of it other than to ensure the agent has all of the mobile phone numbers they need to contact the tenant/s when necessary in future.

I'd rather have a pro-active landlord/agent than the complete opposite, especially where there's a risk of damp being caused.

clutton_2

""strapped to the bed smothered in peanut butter"

yummy !!!!


franklee - please show me where OP says it was a Small Puddle ?

now who is making assumptions ?

BitterAndTwisted

Pastures New got it wrong: it would be Nutella, I'm almost certain of it

Wee_Willy_Harris

(In a strong Scandinavian accent and wearing a magnum styme 70's tach)..... "
Hallo, I am de plumber to fix de plumbing."

Wee_Willy_Harris

clutton wrote: »

franklee - please show me where OP says it was a Small Puddle ?

now who is making assumptions ?

I assumed he was using his special x-ray vision and the skills he picked up from his "Distance plumbing diagnosis, tell the cause of a leak from 500 yards."

At the end of the day, and without the tenants knowledge, water was pouring from the house from a place it shouldn't have been. Ballcock needing a bit of adjustment? Probably. But it IS possible that the cistern overflow pipe was not able to deal with the volume of water filling the cistern and, as a result, the bathroom and all rooms below were at risk of serious flooding.

I have said all along that a phone call to the tenants would have been a good idea. But it seems to me that the more methods of communication we have (Email, mobile, land-line etc) the harder we are to contact.

tbs624

OP - just write to the LA in a friendly but firm manner, thanking them for getting the problem dealt with on this occasion but would they note for futire references that your mobile tek nos are x,y and z and that you wish them to let you know ehn workmen need to have access. You could also ask for the workmen's own tel nos so that you can arrange a mutually convenient time.

You say that you've also reported water in the cellar - you should follow this phone call up with a letter (keeping a copy) confirming your understanding of the conversation/ Always, a;lways, have a paper trail for " repairs issues". Any chancs that water from the overflowing cistern is responsible for/has exacerbated that problem btw?

You say that the overflow runs on to a part of the property that you don't use but you do have a responsibility to act "in a "tenant-like manner" with regard to looking after the property, and you can usually *hear* water which continues to run on from the overflow. Cover yourself by reporting (via snail mail, as mentioned above) all such issues to the LA promptly.

franklee

clutton wrote: »

franklee - please show me where OP says it was a Small Puddle ?now who is making assumptions ?

Wee_Willy_Harris wrote: »

I assumed he was using his special x-ray vision and the skills he picked up from his "Distance plumbing diagnosis, tell the cause of a leak from 500 yards."

Nowt that clever I was reading post #9:

duffer_83 wrote: »

there was just a small puddle outside

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Wee_Willy_Harris

I was refering to the CAUSE of the leak. That puddle came from somewhere and I was wondering how you diagnosed it as a non-emergency on the basis of the info given.