Tenants changed the lock. Who pays?

jadex

saajan_12 wrote: »

The point is £395 is not reasonable even for an emergency call out to change a simple Yale lock.

I don't think that you can call £395 unreasonable without knowing full specifications of the job and other circumstances (time of the day/night, parking costs, VAT payer or not, etc).
However, I would agree that charging £160 for a lock itself was probably unfair. If the Joe Public can buy such a lock for mere £30 then I'd assume trade can get it much cheaper than that.
I'd ask locksmith for at least £100 back.

bowlhead99

jadex wrote: »

However, I would agree that charging £160 for a lock itself was probably unfair. If the Joe Public can buy such a lock for mere £30 then I'd assume trade can get it much cheaper than that.
I'd ask locksmith for at least £100 back.

Trade don't have to sell it to their customer at the price that they themselves paid. A successful business will engage in price differentiation, changing their pricing structure according to the market and supply/demand factors.

Come into my locksmiths shop in business hours or get me to mail it to you second class post, and you can have it for £30; have me hand deliver it to you on half hour's notice at 3am when you are standing in the cold, and you can have it for £160. If you don't like my shocking mark-up at 3am, shop around for someone else or wait to buy it from my store at a different time of day and location.

FBaby

They made a mistake, just this one mistake by the sounds of it

So why shouldn't they take some responsibility towards that mistake. Why is it that LLs should now just be grateful that their tenants are not causing them massive trouble. Tenants are not children, they are adults who sign a business contract.

In this case, it's not black and white, but they did make a mistake, so a 50/50 arrangements does seem the most reasonable agreement.

Barny1979

Red-Squirrel wrote: »

Just so you know, this is not the case for anybody else except you!

This isn't pertinent to the OP's point and doesn't prevent the sentence being understood.

zagubov

If they're overseas students we've already made a fortune out of them.

I'd make sure they've got your contact details for future emergencies.

Before I'd ask for any money off them I'd want a detailed description of what happened from them and the locksmith.

takman

If i was renting a place the first thing I would do is ring the Landlord or Lettings Agency emergency number and get them to arrange the work. I wouldn't go directly to a locksmith because I wouldn't expect to be able to get the money back especially if the bill was almost £400!.

jadex

bowlhead99 wrote: »

Trade don't have to sell it to their customer at the price that they themselves paid. A successful business will engage in price differentiation, changing their pricing structure according to the market and supply/demand factors.

Come into my locksmiths shop in business hours or get me to mail it to you second class post, and you can have it for £30; have me hand deliver it to you on half hour's notice at 3am when you are standing in the cold, and you can have it for £160. If you don't like my shocking mark-up at 3am, shop around for someone else or wait to buy it from my store at a different time of day and location.

Exploiting situation to the max - maybe next time ask for a £1000 then? Or why not £2000?
"Trade don't have to sell it to their customer at the price that they themselves paid." - sure, but also at the same time they don't have to charge extortionate premium.
I am sure karma will bite that locksmith soon.

Anyway, service/labour part aside, quick google gives some idea that £160 is way way out.

Lockout
from £59.00
To Open The Door

Lock Change
from £84.00
Labour +Standard Lock

24/7 Availability · 25 minutes at your door
Amenities: Locked out £55, Change Lock £49, Locks from £35

The average price for an off-peak call to a locksmith to fit a whole new unit is £125-£225.

Smodlet

"Off peak"; so not 2-4 am then. In your area.

steampowered

saajan_12 wrote: »

The point is £395 is not reasonable even for an emergency call out to change a simple Yale lock. In this case the LL owes the tenant a repair, but has the right to choose the service provider. In your examples the damaged party is owed money.

If you're going to call a post 'nonsense' then check your facts and be precise with the liabilities.

Your original post stated that the Tenants should only be reimbursed for the cost of the cheapest possible locksmith.

This was incorrect. The Tenant gets reimbursed if the cost is reasonable.

This does not mean the cheapest provider. If you have to pay to fix someone's car, they are entitled to take it to a proper garage - you don't get to pay the cost of having the cheapest possible mechanic do it. The same principle applies to Tenants; particularly in an emergency situation.