Can estate agents make us pay call out charge

suki1001

HoneyAndLemon wrote: »

Well I dont really spend much time looking at the windows to be honest. The windows are really tall and the vents are kinda above the frame so they arent that visible. My point is, at no point during the 2 times I raised this over the phone and by email, and when the girl was out doing the last inspection and I showed her it, did they even mention the vents. They even said themselves they didn't know there were vents until the engineer told them thats what the issue had been, so we could be forgiven for not knowing. Its not exactly our fault they had to send someone out instead of offering any advice of their own.

Also, the vents were obviously closed when we moved in so who closed them, and why weren't they re opened when the last guy left?

I think the landlord should pay it. Its his flat. If we hadn't have kept raising the issue and not let it drop because we didnt know how to fix it, it could very well have led to something more serious, like damp. Our behaviour has been the opposite of negligent. If at any point we'd been told we would be liable for the charge I would have tried to get a relative out or something. But the estate agents always made it out if we had any problems, thats what they are there for.

I think you should pay for the call out and put this down to experience, although you could argue your case anyway, it's worth trying. Whether or not it was intentional and whether or not you are good tenents, it's been caused because the vents weren't open. The call out fee is not a figure the ea made up and it's not about length of time visited, it is the minimum they charge to come out. Yes it is extortionate, but you'll never leave the vents closed again.

HoneyAndLemon

But we didnt close the vents. We didnt even know they were there. They are covered by the frame. So its not down to us that they were closed in the first place.

We've had people out to service the boiler, replace the fridge, and the hob, which were broken when we moved in. We didnt have to pay anything then. And that was when work actually needed to be done too. This was something that took a few minutes, but had we not not pursued it and just left it, it could have resulted in work being done to remove damp. I doubt the landlord would have appreciated that. Just feel like we're being punished for trying to be responsible.

FilthyLuka

what sort of 'engineer' did they send?

even a fully qualified surveyor wouldnt cost that much

half the time they just send a bodger

HoneyAndLemon

Just some guy, with what seemed like his dad. It's not really the cost thats bothering me. Whether its £1 or £150, I don't think we should pay. We haven't had to pay for any call outs before, and I don't think we should have to just because it was a quick job either. The emails from the estate agents said we had to pay it because it was due to negligence by tenants which caused damp...but there is no damp...which they agreed with over the phone, so what is their argument now for making us pay?

Ive emailed them this evening with my views on it, and I'll see what they come back with.

Appreciate the comments folks.

firsttimetom

£150?

That is a completely unreasonable amount for the 'work' that was carried out. I've seen people on Rogue Traders that haven't even charged as much as that.

If it was me I would politely inform the Estate Agent that you do not believe you should pay because:

1. When you pointed out the problem on an inspection, they didn't advise that there were vents, nor did they offer any other solutions. As the 'experts' were unable to offer a simple solution then you believed it was a more complex solution.
2. When you asked them to get someone in, they did not inform you that you could be liable for the call out fee or did they give you any indication as to how much it may be. Had you have known in advance, this could have given you the chance to get someone in your self who would have charged a lot less.

The vents should have been open when you moved in and the Estate Agent should have pointed them out when you informd that at the inspection, so you could argue that they have been negligent in their actions too.

I would maybe give a couple of other local tradesmen a call and describe what happened and ask what they would charge in this scenario.

agrinnall

1) You don't know what the call out charge will be until you receive the engineer's invoice, the LA may have said £150 but unless they've arranged an engineer who lives 2 hours drive away then it seems very unlikely that it will be anything like as much as that.

2) The LA has told you that they didn't know that there were vents so it wouldn't have been possible for them to tell you to open them. While I wouldn't normally be an apologist for LAs in this case I think they have done the right thing (assuming the charge isn't really £150), the alternative was to do nothing and you wouldn't have been happy with that.

I would say chill out until the invoice actually arrives, if it's more than an hour's charge, or if the rate is excessive, then query it but if it's reasonable, say £50, then I think you should pay it.

Caroline73_2

Did the LA get quotes from 3 independent tradesmen? If not then I wouldn't pay.

GAH

OP, If you don't think you should pay, then don't pay. The agent booked them to come, not you.

The contractor will want his money, so agent will have to get Landlord to pay.

Landlord/Agent may not agree that they should have paid and at the end of the tenancy may want to try and make a deduction from your deposit.

You can then leave it upto the arbitrators to see who they think should have paid.

m1ntie

"The emails from the estate agents said we had to pay it because it was due to negligence by tenants which caused damp"

I think you are arguing about semantics here - you are quite right, you did not cause damp. What the EA should have said and almost certainly meant was that you caused condensation which resulted in mold growth.

I would have expected a reasonably sensable person to know that lack of ventilation causes condensation.

I think the call out charge should be paid by you, however £150 is outrageous. I do not think they could justify more than £50

HoneyAndLemon

m1ntie wrote: »

"The emails from the estate agents said we had to pay it because it was due to negligence by tenants which caused damp"

I think you are arguing about semantics here - you are quite right, you did not cause damp. What the EA should have said and almost certainly meant was that you caused condensation which resulted in mold growth.

I would have expected a reasonably sensable person to know that lack of ventilation causes condensation.

I think the call out charge should be paid by you, however £150 is outrageous. I do not think they could justify more than £50

Sensible*. And yes we were being sensible. Its an apartment. There are only 2 windows and a set of balcony doors. We explained to them we kept them open as much as possible when we were home ( we are on 1st floor so it wasn't safe to leave them open when we were out). I also tried to make sure there were never too many clothes drying at any one time, and again did this when at home, making sure all windows/doors were open. I spent every night washing down the window with warm water and bleach. I even looked into getting a humidifier.

I did everything I thought I could to keep it ventilated. And when I still couldn't fix it, I contacted them. Twice. If I had known there were vents I would of course opened them. But they even admit themselves they didn't know there were vents until the engineer told them.

What really confuses me is that they have sent out people before to fix things and never charged us. I really don't see how we are at fault here because I really did try everything I could, and they agree that I did.

Thanks anyway.