posted
I just paid $113-ish for guys to fix my microwave and reset the outlets it had been running on-- they said the damage was caused by a short in the wiring in the apartment we JUST MOVED TO.
posted
That's no good! Any chance you could get your landlord to pay for the repairs, since the damage was caused by shorts in the apartment's wiring?
Posts: 5879 | Registered: Apr 2001
| IP: Logged |
quote:Originally posted by ludosti: That's no good! Any chance you could get your landlord to pay for the repairs, since the damage was caused by shorts in the apartment's wiring?
We'll see.
For now, we put a surge protector between the newly-working microwave and the plug. And KPC will call tomorrow about the rest of it.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
KQ - tell the landlord that you will have to deduct it from the rent. When people need to make repairs, or something happens as a result of something that was the landlord's responsiblity, that usually works.
Posts: 66 | Registered: Jan 2006
| IP: Logged |
posted
There're usually legal requirements before you're able to do that. Read up on the rental laws in your state.
Posts: 15770 | Registered: Dec 2001
| IP: Logged |
quote:I just paid $113-ish for guys to fix my microwave and reset the outlets it had been running on-- they said the damage was caused by a short in the wiring in the apartment we JUST MOVED TO.
That's a strange problem description. "Short in the wiring" is often shorthand for "something was broken and we don't want to try to explain it to you."
I wouldn't expect an actual short in your wiring to damage a microwave in most cases. Could you get a more technical description of the problem from the electricians? Ask them what, specifically, was shorted. You've got three wires going to your outlets - "hot", "neutral", and "ground". A short would mean that two of those wires were touching each other somewhere. A complete description of a short would be more along the lines of "The insulation on the wire in the wall behind the stove was torn, causing hot to short to ground."
If you can get a more detailed explanation, I could probably tell you if it really was a problem with the apartment wiring or not, and how you could approach your landlord about it.
It would also be helpful to know what component(s) in the microwave was damaged.
Posts: 3275 | Registered: May 2007
| IP: Logged |
posted
"tell the landlord that you will have to deduct it from the rent."
I dunno about your state in particular, but you can't legally deduct such repair costs from your rent in most states. You'll still owe the money, plus any late fines stipulated in your rental contract. Such reasons for late payment or non-payment of rent are still grounds for the landlord to kick you out. If the landlord doesn't go along with your desire to be compensated, you pretty much hafta win your case against the landlord in small claims court to get your money back.
Admittedly many states/counties/cities have regulatory bodies that can put a great deal of pressure on misbehaving landlords, but they are often headed by landlord-favoring administrators. And when they aren't, they're underfunded to the point of having to rely on being mediators between landlord and renter, and not on picking up the legal expense of bringing a case against the landlord.
posted
No, we're not going to deduct it. We're going to ask if they can be nice and come look at the wiring in the wall, and then we're going to ask (if there's something wrong with it) if they can be nice and reimburse us for part or all of the cost of our microwave (I know what component was fried and the entire circuit did indeed short out-- they had to reset it before the outlets started working again, but they are just appliance technicians, they did not, of course, look at the wiring itself, but it is not uncommon in this area in buildings of this age for the wiring to have been done improperly and for it not to be properly grounded or installed. It is also not terribly uncommon for the owner to have gone in and messed with it himself and/or hired an unlicensed contractor to fix it if something previously went wrong.)
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
| IP: Logged |
My guess is that the microwave just chose this time to die. Appliances can and do spontaneously fail and if the failure is one that results in shorted circuits, you can expect the breaker to pop. A gradual build up of dust or moisture or a bit of jarring during the move may have been the cause but it's not always apparent what the specific cause is, especially if the parts burned up.
It won't hurt to have the wiring checked out, but there's a good chance that they aren't going to find a problem. Unless this is a large place with a super/electrician on staff, an inspection is going to cost the landlord money. He might ask you to pay for it if no problem is found.
This sort of back-and-forth between landlord and tenants can be nerve wracking which is part of the reason I don't think I'd ever want to be a landlord. I'd feel like a total tool asking my tenants to pay for something like an electrical inspection, but should I have to pay for the inspection if the problem was with the tenant's appliance and not with the wiring?
Posts: 3275 | Registered: May 2007
| IP: Logged |
posted
We priced microwaves; for one of comparable size, power, and features it would have been about $75-$85 more to buy a new one. We recieved this one as a gift so it had sentimental value as well.
But honestly we might have replaced it if the technicians had worked the way they were supposed to-- we were told that the service call would be $40, they would look at it, and tell us what the cost would be and ask whether they should go ahead before fixing it. Instead, they came, tested things, and fixed it without ever asking whether we wanted it fixed or not. We will not be using this repair service again.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
There's always a cost benefit analysis I guess. What do you feel you gain from a $400 microwave that you don't get from a $75 one?
Posts: 11265 | Registered: Mar 2002
| IP: Logged |
posted
kq, I had a nightmare repair experience with my dryer, that cost us far more than the dryer was worth in taking time off work because the repair folk had to come back 3 times, even though our out of pocket cost was only half of the cost of a new dryer.
After that I've been very leery of repair services. My mother had an regular appliance repair guy when I was growing up who was wonderful and trustworthy, but that seems rarer and rarer.
We recently purchased a new stove, because I *wasn't* going to pay for a repair service to come in, and I determined that given the symptoms there were two parts that possibly could be broken. The first part would have cost $75 without labor and the second $250, and the actual value of the stove was less than $300 anyway. So we just sucked it up and got a new stove.
Posts: 11265 | Registered: Mar 2002
| IP: Logged |
posted
We had an excellent appliance repair come and fix our fridge when it broke. We wanted to use them this time-- but they don't do microwaves, only large appliances. Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
| IP: Logged |
quote:Originally posted by BannaOj: There's always a cost benefit analysis I guess. What do you feel you gain from a $400 microwave that you don't get from a $75 one?
That's an entirely different (yet valid) discussion. In our case, much of the expense was because it was an over-the-stove model with a vent fan and such. Those start out being significantly more expensive than equivalent counter top models. It is also very large, which is important for our large family. The $75 microwaves aren't as big or as powerful.
I'm not kidding myself though, we could have got everything we needed for at least $100 less. I have a problem with spending extra on bells, whistles, and novelty. I'm working on that. Posts: 3275 | Registered: May 2007
| IP: Logged |
Printer-friendly view of this topic
![[Frown]](frown.gif)
![[Blushing]](graemlins/blushing.gif)
