Argument with landlord, HELP

sowajaoxf

Hi,

I need advice on following matter:

I was playing football with my son outs our town houses and unfortunately I broke neighbour window by kicking a ball.

I have notified tenants where they notified landlord. Verbally I have offered repair of the window however neighbour landlord decided to fix it herself. After 1 week I have received bill of 195 EUR !! I gather 2 other quotations with call out etc. and I have received following quotation 125 EUR and 150 EUR. I informed landlord of the house next to me about this and I notified her that Until the response, I will not proceed with payment and suggest her to get back to glass company to revise bill

She got back to me that her solicitor will be in contact with me.

What kind of position is she / I am with matter above?

I have intention of paying of course but I expect fair price.

Please advice

Ted_YNWA

Have you seen any invoice that justifies the 195 they are claimin.

Being cynical but are they adding a charge for his own labour to fix it on top of window itself.

whippet

sowajaoxf wrote: »

Hi,

I need advice on following matter:

I was playing football with my son outs our town houses and unfortunately I broke neighbour window by kicking a ball.

I have notified tenants where they notified landlord. Verbally I have offered repair of the window however neighbour landlord decided to fix it herself. After 1 week I have received bill of 195 EUR !! I gather 2 other quotations with call out etc. and I have received following quotation 125 EUR and 150 EUR. I informed landlord of the house next to me about this and I notified her that Until the response, I will not proceed with payment and suggest her to get back to glass company to revise bill

She got back to me that her solicitor will be in contact with me.

What kind of position is she / I am with matter above?

I have intention of paying of course but I expect fair price.

Please advice

She is entitled to get it repaired herself and once it was a proper company and she has invoice / receipt to show the actual cost of the work you will have to stump up. You did the damage, you pay and remember not all companies will charge the same, not all are of the same quality and sometimes you may have to pay extra to get it done quickly.

Mongfinder General

Ted_YNWA wrote: »

Have you seen any invoice that justifies the 195 they are claimin.

Being cynical but are they adding a charge for his own labour to fix it on top of window itself.

What proof does she have that you did break it?

LegacyUser

sowajaoxf wrote: »

Hi,

I need advice on following matter:

I was playing football with my son outside our town houses and unfortunately I broke neighbour window by kicking a ball.

I have notified tenants where they notified landlord. Verbally I have offered repair of the window however neighbour landlord decided to fix it herself. After 1 week I have received bill of 195 EUR !! I gather 2 other quotations with call out etc. and I have received following quotation 125 EUR and 150 EUR. I informed landlord of the house next to me about this and I notified her that Until the response, I will not proceed with payment and suggest her to get back to glass company to revise bill

She got back to me that her solicitor will be in contact with me.

What kind of position is she / I am with matter above?

I have intention of paying of course but I expect fair price.

Please advice

The landlord may have been required by her insurance to use a certain company and that is the price they charged. Price difference of 150 and 195 is not a massive difference, I understand it's big enough for you to be annoyed but a rough price idea over the phone vs actually coming out and seeing what needs doing aren't the same and it's not so massively different as to think the LL is trying to pull a fast one on you. I assume the work has already been done so there's not really much you or the LL can do about the price now, should have asked for the LL to tell you the quoted price before the work was started.

sowajaoxf

Thanks for quick reply.

Ted_YNWA
Invoice cost was 195 EUR including fitting and call out charge - I got 2 quotes between 125 EUR - 150 EUR - same size and quality double glazed window including call out and fitting cost.

whippet
I agree with you that repair had to be done quickly, however I think it would have being fair to inform me about cost before proceeding. 2 other companies didn't give me estimate - they supplied me with maximum quote, meaning that she choose the most expensive one...

Mongfinder General
One of the neighbour has heard the break and she has spoken with me after... honestly I never admitted, but I tried to be honest and fair to pay.
I informed this landlord that I will cover the cost if other companies will offer similar price, but they didn't

On the top of this she tried to charge me extra 55 EUR claiming that it was windy and dangerous but this is not on invoice, so she is obviously never intended to negotiate...

sowajaoxf

Ted_YNWA wrote: »

Have you seen any invoice that justifies the 195 they are claimin.

Being cynical but are they adding a charge for his own labour to fix it on top of window itself.

Invoice cost was 195 EUR including fitting and call out charge - I got 2 quotes between 125 EUR - 150 EUR - same size and quality double glazed window including call out and fitting cost.

sowajaoxf

whippet wrote: »

She is entitled to get it repaired herself and once it was a proper company and she has invoice / receipt to show the actual cost of the work you will have to stump up. You did the damage, you pay and remember not all companies will charge the same, not all are of the same quality and sometimes you may have to pay extra to get it done quickly.

I agree with you that repair had to be done quickly, however I think it would have being fair to inform me about cost before proceeding. 2 other companies didn't give me estimate - they supplied me with maximum quote, meaning that she choose the most expensive one...

sowajaoxf

Mongfinder General wrote: »

What proof does she have that you did break it?

One of the neighbour has heard the break and she has spoken with me after... honestly I never admitted, but I tried to be honest and fair to pay.
I informed this landlord that I will cover the cost if other companies will offer similar price, but they didn't

Mikros

Well you broke the window so your going to end up paying. The landlord is entitled to have it repaired to what they see as an appropriate standard.

Assuming you were provided with a copy of the invoice and it is a reputable company I don't think you have much room to argue on this, especially given the amounts in question. Your costs could be a lot higher if a solicitor gets involved.

Ideally you could have discussed the price with the landlord before the repair was done, but at this stage they are out of pocket €195 and are fully entitled to reclaim it. Suck it up, pay up and move on is my advice.

Mongfinder General

sowajaoxf wrote: »

One of the neighbour has heard the break and she has spoken with me after... honestly I never admitted, but I tried to be honest and fair to pay.
I informed this landlord that I will cover the cost if other companies will offer similar price, but they didn't

Heard the break but did not see it happen. Interesting. If you weren't so honest you may not be asking for advice right now.

hfallada

OP I say there is zero chance of her getting a solicitor involved because if she was in anyway intelligent she knows a solictor will cost a few hundred. One of the reasons she might have got it done herself is that she can write off against her taxes as an expense. She can't do that if you were invoiced and paid for it. It's not like you can ask for her receipt as she can get a new one issued

. I would tell her there is €150 and she can keep the receipt and write it off against her taxes. Meaning she is still better off.

sowajaoxf

Mongfinder General wrote: »

Heard the break but did not see it happen. Interesting. If you weren't so honest you may not be asking for advice right now.

Agreed, I have full intention of paying her and all I did was mention that I didn't expect to be so high... If she would say to me that she checked other companies and they all coming up with same price I would pay... but instead she insisted it was my fault and I have to pay otherwise she will take it further...

It annoyed me so I decided to give her benefit of the doubt... otherwise I would pay... She has not being nice from the start, and all I did was being apologetic...

sowajaoxf

hfallada wrote: »

OP I say there is zero chance of her getting a solicitor involved because if she was in anyway intelligent she knows a solictor will cost a few hundred. One of the reasons she might have got it done herself is that she can write off against her taxes as an expense. She can't do that if you were invoiced and paid for it. It's not like you can ask for her receipt as she can get a new one issued

. I would tell her there is €150 and she can keep the receipt and write it off against her taxes. Meaning she is still better off.

Interesting that you mentioned this because she owns Garage here in Cork, so I guess she works with solicitors a lot... but invoice was to address of the house that she owns next to me, not to her business and this was paid by cash also...

I send her following message:

Following our conversation last week, I have acknowledge receipt of bill with 195EUR for Glass replacement in your house. I found this price higher than expected so I decided to compare cost of invoice to other competitors around Cork. I have called 2 other Companies in Cork area and first two that I called I have received 2 following quotes for double glazed glass replacement 814mm x 576mm
Mallow Glass - 125EUR - including delivery, fitting and all other necessary tasks
DGCork - 150EUR - including delivery, fitting and all other necessary tasks
As you can see prices are significantly different than the one that you quoted me.
I suggest you to come back to NSG and revise this invoice to more competitive amount.
Until the response, I will not proceed with payment.
Thanks.
___________
I guess my question here would be what can she do by involving solicitor? Problem here isn't that I don't want to pay, but I want to pay fair/market price...

Santa Cruz

sowajaoxf wrote: »

Hi,

I need advice on following matter:

I was playing football with my son outs our town houses and unfortunately I broke neighbour window by kicking a ball.

I have notified tenants where they notified landlord. Verbally I have offered repair of the window however neighbour landlord decided to fix it herself. After 1 week I have received bill of 195 EUR !! I gather 2 other quotations with call out etc. and I have received following quotation 125 EUR and 150 EUR. I informed landlord of the house next to me about this and I notified her that Until the response, I will not proceed with payment and suggest her to get back to glass company to revise bill

She got back to me that her solicitor will be in contact with me.

What kind of position is she / I am with matter above?

I have intention of paying of course but I expect fair price.

Please advice

The owner of the property is entitled to employ whoever she wishes to repair her property. This is the same situation as people at fault in road accidents demanding that the car be repaired at a garage of their choice. It doesn't work that way. If she wants to go the legal route so be it. You are liable to pay. There's no obligation on her to employ the person you recommend.

longhalloween

<SNIP>

Just give her 195 in an envelope.

In fairness, it's your fault and you admitted it. Is it really worth 45 euro for all the extra hassle and bad blood?

sowajaoxf

Santa Cruz wrote: »

The owner of the property is entitled to employ whoever she wishes to repair her property. This is the same situation as people at fault in road accidents demanding that the car be repaired at a garage of their choice. It doesn't work that way. If she wants to go the legal route so be it. You are liable to pay. There's no obligation on her to employ the person you recommend.

I totally agree that she is entitled to employ anybody that she wants, but as in the road accident both parties need to come to mutual agreement before proceeding right? For example if you scratch my Audi and without notifying you I will go and get it done in Audi garage, you will see bill for 2000EUR where you know you could go to another place and get it done for 500EUR... ? This mutual agreement would have to be done prior to repair - and if you could proof that quality for 500EUR is same as 2000EUR I wouldn't mind... well I would but we are not talking about OEM / none OEM repair standard...

All I am trying to say that 2 other quoted came back lower for same service - replacement of double glazed glass, so before proceeding to repair I think I was entitled to know about cost...

I might be wrong of course

Meauldsegosha

sowajaoxf wrote: »

Interesting that you mentioned this because she owns Garage here in Cork, so I guess she works with solicitors a lot... but invoice was to address of the house that she owns next to me, not to her business and this was paid by cash also...

I send her following message:

Following our conversation last week, I have acknowledge receipt of bill with 195EUR for Glass replacement in your house. I found this price higher than expected so I decided to compare cost of invoice to other competitors around Cork. I have called 2 other Companies in Cork area and first two that I called I have received 2 following quotes for double glazed glass replacement 814mm x 576mm
Mallow Glass - 125EUR - including delivery, fitting and all other necessary tasks
DGCork - 150EUR - including delivery, fitting and all other necessary tasks
As you can see prices are significantly different than the one that you quoted me.
I suggest you to come back to NSG and revise this invoice to more competitive amount.
Until the response, I will not proceed with payment.
Thanks.
___________
I guess my question here would be what can she do by involving solicitor? Problem here isn't that I don't want to pay, but I want to pay fair/market price...

The landlord paid cash so why would she ask them for a revised invoice for a lower amount? OP you are just going have to suck it up and pay the full amount.

sowajaoxf

longhalloween wrote: »

Don't be petty.

Just give her 195 in an envelope.

In fairness, it's your fault and you admitted it. Is it really worth 45 euro for all the extra hassle and bad blood?

Of course, and I have intention of paying it, but she didn't give me opportunity to discuss this matter, she made it clear in rude way that I have to pay otherwise she take it further.

Problem is not 195EUR - she send me invoice for 195 EUR claiming in text message that I have to pay 250EUR because was windy and dangerous for somebody to come up... but repair company did not put this on the invoice, so as rude as she was to me even if I would pay her 195EUR she will still proceed further with solicitor because I owe here 250EUR...

sowajaoxf

Meauldsegosha wrote: »

The landlord paid cash so why would she ask them for a revised invoice for a lower amount? OP you are just going have to suck it up and pay the full amount.

I asked here to revise invoice to amount that can match other quotation so I can pay.
She can revise this by coming back to repair company claiming overcharge... but I guess this is her problem, I raised this issue before paying her, she should have done this same.

Arthur Beesley

Mongfinder General wrote: »

What proof does she have that you did break it?

The first post is fairly clear. And it sounds like the OP has some integrity.

sowajaoxf

Mikros wrote: »

Well you broke the window so your going to end up paying. The landlord is entitled to have it repaired to what they see as an appropriate standard.

Assuming you were provided with a copy of the invoice and it is a reputable company I don't think you have much room to argue on this, especially given the amounts in question. Your costs could be a lot higher if a solicitor gets involved.

Ideally you could have discussed the price with the landlord before the repair was done, but at this stage they are out of pocket €195 and are fully entitled to reclaim it. Suck it up, pay up and move on is my advice.

Of course she is entitled to repair but this is glass we are talking about and other companies offer same appropriate quality as the other one that she choose.

Ideally of course I was expecting to get cost of repair before proceeding, but I did not receive this until after the repair. I offer to repair this by organising repair company myself - not by some friend - but by authorised firm including outcall etc. but she decided to do herself which she is entitle to but I repeat - I was not informed about estimate before was too late.

How they can reclaim something that I didn't agree to? I agreed verbally on repair, but not on the price. I am just trying to find fair solution here, but she has been extremely rude from the start...

195 is only half the story - she send me bill for 195 with text message mentioning that I have to pay 250 because was windy and cold outside? Seriously?
but I repeat invoice only stating 195

athtrasna

I can't see how the landlord can force you to pay anything. They can sue you (at a large cost) but without witnesses who will swear to having seen it, a case would be difficult to prove. It may have been your fault but you have no obligation to pay. Because of this I don't understand why the landlord is pressuring you to pay the higher amount. It may have been a case of her not phoning around and getting the first company to do the job, however any business standard would be three quotes. Perhaps if she had been paying without any hope of reimbursement she would have been fussier. I would be inclined to average the three quotes and pay her that, without any admission of liability. The alternative would be not to pay anything.

Meauldsegosha

sowajaoxf wrote: »

I asked here to revise invoice to amount that can match other quotation so I can pay.
She can revise this by coming back to repair company claiming overcharge... but I guess this is her problem, I raised this issue before paying her, she should have done this same.

But the company she used didn't overcharge. They charged what their rates were for the work. You may have found companies that had lower rates but the landlord didn't use them. So you should pay the €195 because that is what it cost to repair the window you broke.

sowajaoxf

athtrasna wrote: »

I can't see how the landlord can force you to pay anything. They can sue you (at a large cost) but without witnesses who will swear to having seen it, a case would be difficult to prove. It may have been your fault but you have no obligation to pay. Because of this I don't understand why the landlord is pressuring you to pay the higher amount. It may have been a case of her not phoning around and getting the first company to do the job, however any business standard would be three quotes. Perhaps if she had been paying without any hope of reimbursement she would have been fussier. I would be inclined to average the three quotes and pay her that, without any admission of liability. The alternative would be not to pay anything.

And that's the point I tried to make to her, I told here that bill was very high, she then became very rude, so I obtained to additional quoted:
Her Bill 195EUR including delivery, fitting and lot
My other 2 quotes were 125 and 150 (same service, big glass companies in Cork)

Bare in mind she is not my landlord, she owe house next to me that I broke window... Only somebody heard the incident, but I am not denying that I didn't do it, I just wanted to pay fair price

sowajaoxf

Meauldsegosha wrote: »

But the company she used didn't overcharge. They charged what their rates were for the work. You may have found companies that had lower rates but the landlord didn't use them. So you should pay the €195 because that is what it cost to repair the window you broke.

This was my problem, that I didn't agreed at this point...
I expected her to obtain at least 2 other quotations and compare them. I also feel that she should informed me about this before proceeding, I didn't agree to that repair at price which is exceeding 30%-50% competitor range...

The_Morrigan

Ok Folks I've had to delete and edit a few posts there as they quoted/referenced a nuked post.
Advocating or alluding to property damage is not tolerated here.

Morri

funkey_monkey

If she was a decent type of person she would have realised that you offered her a fair and reasonable resolution. However, if what you have said it indeed true, I would do nothing for a while anyway.

Next time you speak to her offer her an amount to settle the dispute - take it or leave it.

There are laws and she may be technically in the right, but if she was genuinely spoofing you in regards to the wind charge I'd have no respect for a person like that and would refuse to be walked over - especially when I showed integrity at from the outset of the problem.

Stand up for yourself here - if what you are saying is genuine then she deserves nothing for trying to scam you.

sowajaoxf

funkey_monkey wrote: »

If she was a decent type of person she would have realised that you offered her a fair and reasonable resolution. However, if what you have said it indeed true, I would do nothing for a while anyway.

Next time you speak to her offer her an amount to settle the dispute - take it or leave it.

There are laws and she may be technically in the right, but if she was genuinely spoofing you in regards to the wind charge I'd have no respect for a person like that and would refuse to be walked over - especially when I showed integrity at from the outset of the problem.

Stand up for yourself here - if what you are saying is genuine then she deserves nothing for trying to scam you.

Thanks for your understanding, this is exactly how I feel, I tried to discuss with her this matter but all what I got from here was "you don't want to pay? you don't want to pay?" I have assured her that my intention is to solve this in fair manner...

That's what I did - I informed there that until she finds better price - meaning 250 or 195 down to fair price, I will not proceed with payment. I don't expect her to match 125 but I expected her to meet me half way between 150 and 195 but she doesn't have intention to do so.

After I told her I got following message:
"Please do not contact me anymore on this matter. My solicitor will be dealing with this from now on"

the_syco

sowajaoxf wrote: »

After 1 week I have received bill of 195 EUR !!

If there's a phone number on the bill, ring them and ask how much would it cost to fix "identical damage", and see what they say?

goat2

you would be better off paying her asking price,
if solicitors come into it, you will have a far bigger bill,

i was in a road traffic accident, the other was in the wrong, they wanted to take my car to a garage i was not familar with,
i told them it was going back to where i bought it to be fixed, it was two yrs old, i felt insulted that they should name the place it should be repaired, it angered me there and then,
i sent it to the main dealer and it was fixed to my satisfaction, their insurance paid up at time,

the moral to this story is,
you will only anger her more by trying to get people she do not want fixing her window,
she is entitlet to have whomever fix her window, not be told who should do so, irrespective of money