Student Halls stinging me with unreasonable charges.

Kierz

I am having a couple of problems with the student halls I have been living in all year, in that they seem to have a "charge" for every kind of mistake a normal person could make, and these charges are very unreasonable.

First of all, I have a credit card sized key card with a magnetic strip to get into my flat. I lost this keycard earlier this year, and was charged £35 for a replacement. I think this is completely unreasonable as those replacement cards cost pennies and to reprogram it for a room number takes less than 5 minutes.

The second problem is, the cards themselves are really flimsy and I also managed to break my second one, however I sellotaped it and it still worked, I've just handed the key in because my contract has now ended.

Im worried that they are going to try and charge me for a replacement and take it out of my deposit because I have returned it broken. However, I'm sure that new students will be given brand new keycards anyway, regardless of their condition.

If they try to charge me again do i have a leg to stand on on the basis that they should have to prove that a £35 charge is reasonable due to the cost it takes to replace?

Caroline73_2

Welcome to the world of the grown up where we are responsible for belongings.

Regardless of how much the card costs, the system needs to be maintained, people need to be trained in systems associated with the cards etc. I imagine the cost is also designed to be an incentive to keep your card safe.

Kierz

Caroline73 wrote: »

Welcome to the world of the grown up where we are responsible for belongings.

Regardless of how much the card costs, the system needs to be maintained, people need to be trained in systems associated with the cards etc. I imagine the cost is also designed to be an incentive to keep your card safe.

If you are going to be so patronising with your introduction you could at least tell me something I didn't know and/or answer my question.

I am aware that a high price has to be set otherwise you'd get 20+ students coming in every day asking for replacements, and when I did lose my key, although it hurt I paid my money and got on with it.

However, the cards are so flimsy that this replacement snapped while in my pocket. So coupling the cheap flimsy plastic cards with the fact that new students are given brand new cards anyway, I cannot justify paying another £35 because I returned it broken. Surely this cannot be acceptable?

Caroline73_2

What does your tenancy agreement say about replacement card keys?

Kierz

Caroline73 wrote: »

What does your tenancy agreement say about replacement card keys?

I dont have a copy to hand, I know that they are probably covered in the contract, and I know I signed and agreed to the terms, but it doesnt help me thinking its unreasonable.

Losing a key can only be blamed on myself, I understand that, and paying £35 for a replacement, although a bit excessive, is also reasonable in my opinion.

The part I find unreasonable, is that the card itself is made of cheap and brittle plastic, and I have no option but to use this because i need access to my flat, all the while I can tell its likely that it will break.

My predictions were true because it broke (while I was walking with it in my jeans pocket). And now I will be expected to pay another £35 bringing my annual total to £70 spent on 2 flimsy pieces of plastic. Brilliant.

Surely charging fees as excessive as £35 for a replacement card cannot be classed as reasonable when the card you get is of such a poor quality that it is likely to break.

Is it not clear that they are making thousands of pounds of extra income by ripping off students who have no choice but to keep paying for replacements?

Now can anyone actually help with ideas to change their mind?

BitterAndTwisted

In my opinion £35 is not an unreasonable charge. It's obviously priced to be a disincentive to people not to lose or break them. If the thing is brittle and flimsy perhaps a wallet would have been a better place to keep it safe rather than in a pocket.

olias

Sorry OP but your fault entirely. The world now revolves around plastic cards (debit cards/credit cards/key cards etc). It is blatently obvious that to keep it in your pocket it will bend and flex (and break!) as your body bends and flexes. That is what wallets and purses were invented for, and the vast majority of the population seem to be able to house their cards in such things safely. Buy a wallet next time - a gather they can be had for a lot cheaper than £35!

Olias

Kierz

olias wrote: »

Sorry OP but your fault entirely. The world now revolves around plastic cards (debit cards/credit cards/key cards etc). It is blatently obvious that to keep it in your pocket it will bend and flex (and break!) as your body bends and flexes. That is what wallets and purses were invented for, and the vast majority of the population seem to be able to house their cards in such things safely. Buy a wallet next time - a gather they can be had for a lot cheaper than £35!

Olias

The card has a circular hole in the corner and is on a keyring with other keys such as the flats mailbox key and door fob, therefore not being kept in a wallet.

Im not looking to be told I am wrong, as I already know I am not in the right, Im looking for helpful ideas or things I can say that will get me out of this unreasonable situation.

Lifes_Grand_Plan

I think all answers given answer the question quite nicely, not a great deal I could add?

BitterAndTwisted

You could argue that you believe that the £35 charge is unreasonable but you've already set a precedent by paying it when you lost the first one. I don't think you've got a hope in hell of persuading anyone that you don't need to pay for the second one. It's only £35! I suspect that's equivalent to about half of a student's bar bill on a Friday night.

olias

Kierz wrote: »

The card has a circular hole in the corner and is on a keyring with other keys such as the flats mailbox key and door fob, therefore not being kept in a wallet.

Im not looking to be told I am wrong, as I already know I am not in the right, Im looking for helpful ideas or things I can say that will get me out of this unreasonable situation.

But that is the point entirely - it is not unreasonable!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! for the reasons given numerous times in this thread already - you knew about the fee, you knew about the flimsiness of the card! Whether or not it had a hole punched in it is immaterial, your experience showed it was too flimsy to carry on a key ring safely, so you could have used your common sense and carried it in a wallet.

All you can do is use that information to appeal to the better nature of the person collecting the keycards in and hope they agree and waive the fee.

I would also suggest writing to the accommodation manager and point out to him that problem and that it should be suggested to future students that the card be kept in a wallet. That may not help you now, but may help future students to avoid the situation you find yourself in now.

Olias