Money Moral Dilemma: Who should pay the bill?

Tulgey_Wood

Hmm....when I first read it I thought "she should definitely pay; what's she doing poking around their house while they're at work anyway?".....then reading the other replies it dawned on me (slowly....because it's quite an alien concept to me, I must confess) that this must be a normal thing for this family, in which case, their alarm, their problem......unless they don't actually like her just popping round while they're out and never really liked to say....in which case: bill her!

reluctantworkingmum

hmmmm... If it was YOUR mother - would you ask her to pay?

Talent

You have a faulty alarm system keypad. Talk to the supplier. Get it changed to one that can't stick as well as paying for the callout.

Stampede_2

By implication any one you give an alarm code to has your permission to enter whilst you are not at home yourself ..otherwise there is no point in them having the code so-

you should have thought through the ability of folks with your code to access it .. my m/law just wouldn't cope-other family members can

next point your alarm system should have a facility to give individual codes to each seperate user, you can then tell who and when the premises were accessed by- you as the main code holder should have the ability to alter other codes-

it pays to change your code from time to time on any key pad, inc. your car as the smooth buttons and dust on others gives a clue to what the code is !!! it also shares the wear and tear-or at least dust the pad from time to time

having a system that requires an engineer to reset is a rip off and just because that is how your alarm is currently set up doesn't mean it can't be reset to user/ householder reset access-some installers don't tell you this as it builds in further often needless costs for you and more profit for them - as your MiL's incident shows !

Has your alarm a 'duress' code facility ?- that's one where if you are forced to open up, when you punch in a code the alarm only goes off silently elsewhere but warns others that you are acting under duress

finally your A is I think you should pay .. and get a better system.

:j to all intents & purposes debt free -- just the normal every day or monthly bills and, despite the banks, Govt & anyone else who seems determined to grind me down still a little money for that rainy day when, as my Mother always said, 'the roof might need repairing'.

nitrofunction

. . . to keep the MIL out.

Might I suggest a Rottweiler instead?

Suziebear_3

I find all the responses a bit surprising really, i would get her to pay, and i would also tell her that she is rude for not even offering.

prudence41

If you give her your key and alarm code to help you out, then asking for the £50 repair fee would be counter productive. And remember Xmas is on the way and who else would you get to wait in for your deliveries?

Ebenezer_Screwj

You were not expecting her to call round but she knew the code for your intruder alarm and presumably had a key ? The responsibility is therefore yours and to avoid a repeat situation you should have the key back and/or tell your mother in law only to call round by invitation.

ILoveSaving

Why not go 50/50? It's your alarm and she broke it?

trekkie

I think that you should foot the bill, after all if you hadn't given her the code to enter your home then this situation wouldn't have occurred, although you could ask her if she would be willing to help with the cost, it is your alarm hence your responsibility.