Landlord won't reduce rent for broken fridge

ryanm8655

EssexHebridean said:

Come on people - seriously - 3 months for the OP to get a working fridge is in nobodies world “in a timely manner” surely? I know there are folk on here who are landlords - but seriously, you’d treat your tenants like that? 

Quite…

That and spending more than a few hours getting quotes…the landlord is taking the pee.

ButterCheese

Chief_of_Staffy said:

Your contract is with him, so if there's compensation due, it's from him. Therefore, since he admits the situation is worthy of compensation, then he needs to provide it. 

Yes, your landlord doesn't soud very good.  When my tenants reported a similar issue with fridge/freezer, I had an engineer around the next day.  I was told it was not an economical repair.  So a new fridge freezer was in situ the following day.  It's not difficult to do.  

How specifically did you ask for a reduction in rent?  It sometimes works better if you can provide evidence of what your losses were and present a figure.  Rather than just asking for a reduction, which often sounds like more of an emotional plea rather than a fact-based reimbursement

Grumpy_chap

EssexHebridean said:

Come on people - seriously - 3 months for the OP to get a working fridge is in nobodies world “in a timely manner” surely? I know there are folk on here who are landlords - but seriously, you’d treat your tenants like that? 

I'm a LL and if a fridge or other item of white goods goes wrong I simply call the local Euronics dealer and ask them to supply a replacement equivalent to the current model.  They can usually do next day, or a week worst case.  The longest time can often be the shop agreeing a date with the Tenant.

That will be to remove the old appliance, supply and install the new appliance.

MyRealNameToo

Chief_of_Staffy said:

And who the heck schedules a visit and gets quotes for a fridge? What does that even mean? Fridge breaks, check if you can get the part (20 minutes), if not you order a new fridge. Two days later, there it be. When my gas cooker failed I ordered a new one, got a plumber in to disconnect the gas, took delivery of the new cooker, had the old cooker taken away, got the plumber back to connect the gas, in 48 hours.

I did and our landlord did. 

I'm not a fridge engineer, no idea if the fridge has stopped working if it's a £100 or £600 job. Engineer comes out, diagnoses what's wrong with it and gives you a quote for fixing it.  In the case of the landlord's fridge it was needing a new compressor and then obviously a regass but that was much less than the cost of a brand new fridge. 

I mean I wouldnt describe it as "getting a quote" but thats the OP here not the Landlord necessarily. I'd call having an engineer look at it. I guess in the first instance where the door fell off it is more of a quote as the problem is obvious but if its repairable or not requires someone more qualified to look at it... I'd have still called it an inspection or similar rather than a request for quote but would expect a quote out the back of the process. 

35har1old

MyRealNameToo said:

Chief_of_Staffy said:

And who the heck schedules a visit and gets quotes for a fridge? What does that even mean? Fridge breaks, check if you can get the part (20 minutes), if not you order a new fridge. Two days later, there it be. When my gas cooker failed I ordered a new one, got a plumber in to disconnect the gas, took delivery of the new cooker, had the old cooker taken away, got the plumber back to connect the gas, in 48 hours.

I did and our landlord did. 

I'm not a fridge engineer, no idea if the fridge has stopped working if it's a £100 or £600 job. Engineer comes out, diagnoses what's wrong with it and gives you a quote for fixing it.  In the case of the landlord's fridge it was needing a new compressor and then obviously a regass but that was much less than the cost of a brand new fridge. 

I mean I wouldnt describe it as "getting a quote" but thats the OP here not the Landlord necessarily. I'd call having an engineer look at it. I guess in the first instance where the door fell off it is more of a quote as the problem is obvious but if its repairable or not requires someone more qualified to look at it... I'd have still called it an inspection or similar rather than a request for quote but would expect a quote out the back of the process. 

Was it furnished or unfurnished  rental?
Was the fridge mentioned in the tenancy agreement?

G21

Thanks everyone !

We are renting unfurnished but the fridge and all the white goods are included in the contract and says landlord is repsonsible for

biggest issue was being told to wait two weeks twice for temperature to settle. We knew this wasn't right and kept asking in email why but the estate agent insisted it was standard practice. 

We first lost a food shop when the door fell off as everything went off. Then again after we restcked everything after it broke after four days and then the same thing the second time.

We asked for a £50 reduction for one month which the landlord said no to. 

Our estate agent has been trying to get through to Hotpoint the fridge company all week and can't reach them to arrange a new delivery and we have been told to put icepacks in the broken fridge to see if that works or just to eat frozen food 

m0bov

I doubt Hotpoint sells direct and they use contractors for repairs. Again on a brand new fridge I doubt the manufacturer gets involved. This is just a fridge, not a complex boiler system. Does the manual for the fridge say wait two weeks? Why is the estate agent a white goods expert??

I think there is a process for withholding rent, research that and use that to pressure the ll. Or order your own fridge and claim the cost back.

ReadySteadyPop

G21 said:

our fridge/freezer door fell off in July (fridge was bought in 2008) and it took 3 weeks to get a new one as landlord wanted new qoutes. We got a new fridge and within a week the fridge section was not cold. we got told we had to wait two weeks for the fridge temperature to settle and they would call a technician.

the technician then wasn't available for another week and they had to call the manufactor which then took another week. They repaired a part which worked fro 4 days and then broke again. they then asked us to wait two weeks again for the temperature to settle which it didn't and the tecnician said they would replace the part. a week goes by and the part is out of stock and they agree to replace the fridge. another week and the estate agent says they will chase them and the manufacotr forgot to request it ? they were then supposed to call us today to arrange and we can't get through.

we asked for a small rent reduction or food voucher as we have lost several food shops, can't keep any fresh food since july and have to buy food at work everyday. Landlord said no

surely we are entitled to compensation as landlord is saying we should get compensation from the fridge company and nothing to do with them

any advice appreciated

Just buy your own replacement fridge, take it with you when you move, far far less hassle.

m0bov

ReadySteadyPop said:

G21 said:

our fridge/freezer door fell off in July (fridge was bought in 2008) and it took 3 weeks to get a new one as landlord wanted new qoutes. We got a new fridge and within a week the fridge section was not cold. we got told we had to wait two weeks for the fridge temperature to settle and they would call a technician.

the technician then wasn't available for another week and they had to call the manufactor which then took another week. They repaired a part which worked fro 4 days and then broke again. they then asked us to wait two weeks again for the temperature to settle which it didn't and the tecnician said they would replace the part. a week goes by and the part is out of stock and they agree to replace the fridge. another week and the estate agent says they will chase them and the manufacotr forgot to request it ? they were then supposed to call us today to arrange and we can't get through.

we asked for a small rent reduction or food voucher as we have lost several food shops, can't keep any fresh food since july and have to buy food at work everyday. Landlord said no

surely we are entitled to compensation as landlord is saying we should get compensation from the fridge company and nothing to do with them

any advice appreciated

Just buy your own replacement fridge, take it with you when you move, far far less hassle.

But the op is paying for the use of the fridge. But I agree getting your own would solve the immediate problem.

theartfullodger

Landlord sounds like a greedy idiot (I'm a landlord). Sympathy!

Which country please (eg NI, Wales????)  In, say, scotland there is a formal legal "repairing standard" that could be checked against.

Move.  This landlord doesn't sound like he'll get better.

It's such a shame tenants don't require references about landlords from previous tenants, you know, like landlords think they are entitled to.

Good luck.