Moan about Letting Agent

alibongo42

I'm a landlord, and several weeks ago I got a call from my letting agent telling me the washing machine had broken down, and was it ok to send out a repair man? Of course this was fine, and I expected to hear some news after the repair. On calling the agent a week later, they said they didn't have the bill yet, and didn't know what the problem had been, but it was now fixed.

Today I received my monthly statement from the agent, showing a repair bill for just over £20. I'm guessing, but that sounds to me like a call out charge for a very trivial matter. On calling the agent today to clarify what the repair had been, they didn't know and said they'd have to call the repair company to find out.

Question is, if they don't know what the repair was, how do they know I should pay for it and not the tenant? Having been a tenant myself, I know that if I caused the problem (bra wire, coins in pockets etc.), I had to pay for it myself.

Am I being unreasonable in thinking the agent isn't doing their job properly?

50plusabit

I agree the letting agent should know what the problem was, in order to deceide who is liable. I also agree that suck a small amount must mean something easy, and you should get a copy of the invoice with your statement.
But..............£20 please a typical landlord reaction !!!!!:eek:

alibongo42

Thank you for your reply. However, there probably wasn't any need to comment on the small amount and my reaction.

Yes, is is a small amount, and yes, I can afford it. However, I employ a letting agent to do a job, and I hardly think the monetary amount is the point.

SquatNow

You are ignoring the fact that the time you have wasted trying to find out is worth more than £20.

On being told it was only £20 you reaction should have been "cool that's cheap thanks bye".

Bungarm2001

HATE to do this, but I agree with Squatnow

If I was told 20 quid for a washer repair I would be over the moon. :j

HOWEVER your LA is showing a fairly worrying lack of both knowledge and concern over what the repair was and therefore whose fault it might have been. I am stunned that both the reason & cost + vat wasn't on the invoice in detail. As far as I'm concerned, the details should always be available even for such a trivial amount.

We have a working arrangement with all LA's; any repair or callout that is likely to be over 50 quid HAS to be verified by us before they can go ahead...unless of course it is a real emergency. If we didn't do this, we could be ripped off left right and centre by the LA and/or their appointed handyman (and have been in the way distant past when we were green and trusting...!)

We do almost all our own repairs anyway, but sometimes it isn't worth the petrol, time and effort and we let them go ahead.

We ALWAYS find out exactly what the fault was asap tho...