I should also say that overall, if give these guys a B- as far as tenants. They pay on time every month, and they aren't calling all the time. It's just we've has a series of WTFs with their calls recently. And we do try to keep them happy (you may recall the story of the crazy neighbor).
But I don't want to be a pushover either. And I think we've hit a point too far. Tearing apart a fridge. I'm afraid it is in the replacement category, and to get a fridge as nice as the house/kitchen demands is $1200+. Which is damn annoying.
If they were stellar tenants in every other way and this was the first incident, I would suggest you fix it and pay for it to keep them happy. Given the other info in here, I would put it on them.
Post by thatgirl2478 on Jul 2, 2015 11:37:38 GMT -5
This sounds like accidental damage - which they should still be responsible for. I have never heard of shelves just spontaneously pulling out of the sides of a fridge.
Oh, and are you sending a repair person over to evaluate the damage? I gotta say, I think an independent contractor can probably ascertain whether it just fell out. This reminds me of when I was about 20 months old, stripped my clothes off during my nap, and told my grandmother that my clothes fell off. (Not that I remember, it's just family lore.)
Post by vanillacourage on Jul 2, 2015 13:39:18 GMT -5
If you think you'll just have to pay for a new fridge AND you're confident they broke it due to mis-use, I'd be tempted to just not repair it. The fridge still works, they just have one less shelf.
If you think you'll just have to pay for a new fridge AND you're confident they broke it due to mis-use, I'd be tempted to just not repair it. The fridge still works, they just have one less shelf.
This is one option. I'll know more tomorrow after the repair call. I may just tell them their options are pay for the repair/replacement or live with the damage.
carrotsmakemefat - I didn't assume it absolutely was the kids. I just did offer there are kids as one possible explanation. It's human caused, that part is clear. Kids or adults.
Y'all have made me feel both better and worse. Better bc clearly I'm not going crazy in my belief that they are very rough on things. But worse bc I kinda feel like a pushover for the sinks.
I promised an update. The good news, it's totally fixable. They were a bit melodramatic with the "ripped off" part. And the pic they sent made it look far worse. $15 for some supports. It didn't destroy the side wall of the fridge like I suspected.
I should also say that overall, if give these guys a B- as far as tenants. They pay on time every month, and they aren't calling all the time. It's just we've has a series of WTFs with their calls recently. And we do try to keep them happy (you may recall the story of the crazy neighbor).
But I don't want to be a pushover either. And I think we've hit a point too far. Tearing apart a fridge. I'm afraid it is in the replacement category, and to get a fridge as nice as the house/kitchen demands is $1200+. Which is damn annoying.
How hard is it to find quality tenants in your area? If you had given them a grade of A or A-, I would say just pay for it to keep the good relationship. But B- tenants I could go either way. If this is the last straw for you, go ahead and bill them.
Do you have a scratch and dent appliance place near you? I have these in all of my rentals and they save me a lot of $$ when replacing appliances.
I would replace the fridge for otherwise good tenents who typically care for things. For a tenent who broke things regularly due to irresponsibility, I would feel differently, but if this happened to one of our tenents, I would either fix it or buy a new fridge. You can't really prove they are negligent. Sorry.