Landlord charging me £126 from deposit for changing 6 bulbs?

_gnasher_

Left my flat last week and the landlord said that they weren't sure whose responsibility the lightbulb replacement was, but that they'd let me know.

I now just got an email with an electrician's receipt for:

Bulb supply: £60 (???)
Labour: £50
Parking: £16

Now, I never knew that they would even get an electrician and would have definitely changed them if I had known a) it was my responsibility and b) it would cost this much!

What can I do in this situation? Do I need to just accept them taking £126 out of my deposit? Or can I say it is ridiculous and pay only £50 or something?

Poolie

Was your deposit in a protection scheme if so raise a complaint

dawyldthing

sixty quid for bulbs and 16 for parking. Where did you live? Buckingham Palace?

Seriously though, someones taking the mick. 16 quid for parking and 50 quid for an electrician for something that will take all of 20 mins to do max, its changing a lighbulb for heavens sake!

bobula

ive always just replaced blown bulbs in my rented flats without involving the land lord.

a light bulb costs 2.50 ? and its not like they blow "all" that often ....

cant believe the cheek to charge you that much :O

Nynaeve

I bet the landlord bought some bulbs for £2 each and fitted them himself.

Def dispute it, that's taking the p*ss

pinkshoes

Did your inventory list working lightbulbs? If not, tell them to take a hike!

I certainly wouldn't pay that though, as it is far from reasonable!

Beckyy

Is your landlord an electrician who runs the company who changed the lamps by any chance?

drummer_666

I've often left houses without bulbs when I've moved out

If the house was unfurnished then unless mentioned on the inventory, which I very much doubt, then you didn't need to leave bulbs!!

HappyMJ

Load of rubbish...it's a consumable. If it blows while you are there then the tenant is responsible for changing them but if they are found to be dead after the tenancy ends then it's just an expense the landlord lives with. It's only a maximum of £2 a bulb anyway and he'll be there anyway so the labour is nil as well as the parking charge...what is that? Did the property have some free parking nearby at all?

Next he'll be charging you for not leaving the same amount of toilet paper on the toilet roll as was left when the property was given to you...

theGrinch

are these some kind of special spot lights?

_gnasher_

Beckyy wrote: »

Is your landlord an electrician who runs the company who changed the lamps by any chance?

Wouldn't surprise me...I googled the electrician's company and there were 0 results on Google.

pinkshoes wrote: »

Did your inventory list working lightbulbs? If not, tell them to take a hike!

I certainly wouldn't pay that though, as it is far from reasonable!

Unfortunately I can't find my inventory . Doubt it had bulbs on it, though?!

drummer_666 wrote: »

I've often left houses without bulbs when I've moved out

If the house was unfurnished then unless mentioned on the inventory, which I very much doubt, then you didn't need to leave bulbs!!

It was furnished unfortunately.

HappyMJ wrote: »

Load of rubbish...it's a consumable. If it blows while you are there then the tenant is responsible for changing them but if they are found to be dead after the tenancy ends then it's just an expense the landlord lives with. It's only a maximum of £2 a bulb anyway and he'll be there anyway so the labour is nil as well as the parking charge...what is that? Did the property have some free parking nearby at all?

Next he'll be charging you for not leaving the same amount of toilet paper on the toilet roll as was left when the property was given to you...

In all fairness my flat was in central London (so needed parking and congestion charge), but this is another annoying thing - why didn't the landlord get an electrician (thousands+?) in central London who didn't need to pay these things for such an easy/quick task!

The bulbs had gone during my tenancy, but I just never got round to changing them...

theGrinch wrote: »

are these some kind of special spot lights?

Just standard spot lights