Student Halls stinging me with unreasonable charges.

real1314

Unreasonable bank charges?

Unfair Private landlord tenancy agreements?

What makes a university exempt from the unfair terms and conditions legislation?

A private landlord charging £35 for a job that cost £5 would readily be challenged, as should this.

How many occurrences will it take for some people (who have even been members on here for years!) to realise that a contract is NOT the be-all and end-all. Legislation can over-ride ANY contract. Unfair terms and conditions legislation is one of the KEY money saving issues.

Get it challenged, get every dodgy term challenged. :cool:

Tiddlywinks

OP - Why hand in a broken item without the guts to address the issue at the time? Your immediate honesty and attempt at a reasonable explanation (flimsy, in pocket etc) may have prevented a charge being raised.

Your trying to sneak the card back without drawing attention to the fact was a bit cowardly really wasn't it?

I don't think the charge is too high - it is not just the raw materials that they are charging for... what about the staff time taken to order cards, be available to process the requests, dispose of the security item (there will be internal processes to ensure that the item is adequately recorded as deleted and then properly destroyed) etc

Just pay up and move on.

Oldernotwiser

real1314 wrote: »

How many occurrences will it take for some people (who have even been members on here for years!) to realise that a contract is NOT the be-all and end-all. Legislation can over-ride ANY contract. Unfair terms and conditions legislation is one of the KEY money saving issues.

Good pun!:rotfl:

harz99

tbs624 wrote: »

I agree with you that if the card is designed to fit on a key fob then it *should* be able to stand up to some pretty rough treatment or they should make it clear that it needs to be stored flat inside a purse or wallet when not in use.

It sounds to me as though these cards are designed to be hung from a lanyard around the neck like say a security pass, not attached to a key fob, which anyone could see would cause quick degradation as the likely result.

Tiddlywinks wrote: »

Your immediate honesty and attempt at a reasonable explanation (flimsy, in pocket etc) may have prevented a charge being raised.


I don't think the charge is too high - it is not just the raw materials that they are charging for... what about the staff time taken to order cards, be available to process the requests, dispose of the security item (there will be internal processes to ensure that the item is adequately recorded as deleted and then properly destroyed) etc

Unless I have missed something no charge has yet been raised or even hinted at. The Op raised a "wotif" question.

You have to be joking if you think that charge is reasonable - cards are ordered in bulk, blank, and simply need encoding which takes seconds to do from the details held on computer. I might agree with you if old fashioned keys were involved but not electronic locks.

abby1234519

Meh, the charges are there to prevent students being irresponsible. I had to pay £35 for a lost key (even when I found it I didn't get a refund) and I just had to accept it. Although to be fair apparently ours were special keys that you can't get forged or copied so maybe that was why it cost a lot.

If it cost £5 to replace we'd all be careless

princeofpounds

What makes a university exempt from the unfair terms and conditions legislation?

Actually that's a really good point. Punitive charges are often unenforceable in consumer contracts. OP, you should look up the OFT guide to unfair terms in tenancy agreements.

Meh, the charges are there to prevent students being irresponsible.

You wouldn't want your landlord to act as your mother, so why the hell should theirs? The only 'irresponsible' thing to have done is lost (or in this case damage due to a similar oversight) a key, something even 'responsible' adults do from time to time you know.

Are punitive bank charges there 'to help people manage their money better'? Are councils who charge you penalties for accidentally dropping a potato in your recycling bin 'helping you manage your recycling'? It's nothing more than an abuse of position

abby1234519

princeofpounds wrote: »

You wouldn't want your landlord to act as your mother, so why the hell should theirs? The only 'irresponsible' thing to have done is lost (or in this case damage due to a similar oversight) a key, something even 'responsible' adults do from time to time you know.

Are punitive bank charges there 'to help people manage their money better'? Are councils who charge you penalties for accidentally dropping a potato in your recycling bin 'helping you manage your recycling'? It's nothing more than an abuse of position

Whilst I understand your point, it doesn't apply to student halls.
I have no idea when you were last in student halls but often they are treated with utter disrespect. The difference between my halls at the start of the year (clean and green and modern) to the end of the year (holes in walls, rats outside because people cannot be bothered to put the bin bags in the big area, rats also INSIDE because of the bags left in the stairwell), door locks broken from drunken idiots slamming their bodies into the doors, broken desks broken beds. And this wasn't that extreme.

Whilst students are adults and so should behave like adults, I am afraid its not always the case. And the halls I lived in weren't that bad compared to other ones in Leeds.

I went crazy, I hated it there. The fact of the matter remains that a large portion of students are irresonsible. And they are for a good couple of years. No I am not saying they all are, this year I lived with some very responsible girls, but those halls....my god I've never seen people live in such disgusting squalor.

The_Palmist

I can see why you feel its unreasonable and I also hope you understand why it is necessary to have such charges in place. In life decent folk who live and abide by the rules are often the ones who pay for those who have no respect for things or rules. I would suggest you speak with the Union and write to Dean of University. Your Uni must have a complaint and feedback procedure. They might reverse the charge for you.

Chances are they will not but they will surely consider it for next year and may be lower it for new students. You might not benefit for it but you will be making a change for future.

You must leave this feedback to someone higher up in university.

Tiddlywinks

harz99 wrote: »

Unless I have missed something no charge has yet been raised or even hinted at. The Op raised a "wotif" question..

The OP said he had already been charged once for losing a card earlier in the year.

harz99 wrote: »

You have to be joking if you think that charge is reasonable - cards are ordered in bulk, blank, and simply need encoding which takes seconds to do from the details held on computer. I might agree with you if old fashioned keys were involved but not electronic locks.

Still think it is reasonable - admin staff have to be paid, systems have to be maintained and the incompetents have to understand that they need to take care of the assets of others or face the consequences.

Lifes_Grand_Plan

princeofpounds wrote: »

Are punitive bank charges there 'to help people manage their money better'? Are councils who charge you penalties for accidentally dropping a potato in your recycling bin 'helping you manage your recycling'?

Errrrr..... yes and yes......

Same for speeding fines, or are you going to try and challenge those too on the basis that they are unfair?