A couple weeks ago, late on a Friday night I came back to find my lock completely inoperable - without thinking I called a locksmith after trying to jiggle the key for about 15 minutes. Panicked, I neglected to contact the super. The locksmith replaced the cylinder, complete mechanism and charged me for an emergency visit. The locksmith also explained that all this work was necessary because the... [more]
A couple weeks ago, late on a Friday night I came back to find my lock completely inoperable - without thinking I called a locksmith after trying to jiggle the key for about 15 minutes. Panicked, I neglected to contact the super.
The locksmith replaced the cylinder, complete mechanism and charged me for an emergency visit. The locksmith also explained that all this work was necessary because the internal mechanism had failed due to age and normal wear and tear. All in all it cost a whopping 650 dollars.
I'm trying to figure out if there's any way to get the landlord to reimburse me on these costs. It seems they should as they're responsible to furnish an apartment with functional locks amongst other necessities. But I don't believe I can legally force them as I didn't contact the super ahead of time.
At this point, I have the old lock (and can point out where it failed) and the invoice from the locksmith explaining that the lock was inoperable due to the internal failure.
I contacted the management company the next Monday to explain the situation and figure out how to get reimbursed and after following up a couple times by phone and e-mail finally received a response this past Friday stating that the costs were my responsibility "as the lock was previously in working order." The reaction didn't surprise me, but since I felt I've been a pretty good tenant, I thought they might be a bit more understanding.
Anyone have any thoughts or suggestions?
Much appreciated.
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Response by rkerrnyclon
over 12 years ago
Posts: 39
Member since: Aug 2011
yikes..Is this not a good example of NYC absurd pricing. How much are the parts worth? How much is a reasonable rates for this guy's time?
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Response by falcogold1
over 12 years ago
Posts: 4159
Member since: Sep 2008
Push,
You have been baptized!
Nothing makes you a real New Yorkers like getting fucked by a locksmith.
Your landlord will most likely congratulate you on your new status.
This town has a steep learning curve.
Cost of education.
Fogetaboutit.
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Response by lucillebluth
over 12 years ago
Posts: 2631
Member since: May 2010
i've been in that situation before and they won't reimburse because you didn't call the super first. not what you want to hear now, but depending on the relationship you have with your landlord, they would have either sent the super to poke at the lock and then call the locksmith himself, or taken you at your word that the lock doesn't work and needs to be replaced. the latter happened to me recently with a garage lock, landlord said to just call a locksmith and subtract that amount from next month's rent and include the receipt when i send it. but they won't just reimburse you for the money you spend on the place without checking with them.
"yikes..Is this not a good example of NYC absurd pricing. How much are the parts worth? How much is a reasonable rates for this guy's time?"
Calling late on a Friday night, expecting the guy to show up within 30 minutes, regardless of what HE might have been doing (possibly sleeping) ... yeah, a $500 service call rate is quite reasonable for most NYC professionals.
Deal with it.
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Response by hol4
over 12 years ago
Posts: 710
Member since: Nov 2008
nycmatt is union so of course you'd expect that response...
no $650 is not normal.. there are 24/7 locksmiths in my name who make the 'emergency' call under $300.. happened twice, on 2 diff apartments..
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Response by hol4
over 12 years ago
Posts: 710
Member since: Nov 2008
24/7 locksmith in my "nabe" not name
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Response by NYCMatt
over 12 years ago
Posts: 7523
Member since: May 2009
"no $650 is not normal.. there are 24/7 locksmiths in my name who make the 'emergency' call under $300.. happened twice, on 2 diff apartments.. "
Good for you. Care to share their contact information for the cheapskates on the board?
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Response by hol4
over 12 years ago
Posts: 710
Member since: Nov 2008
apparently your doormen/super doesn't like you enough to share.. no union on union love, what gives broooo?
or you're incapable of a simple yelp search..
but aren't you in wash heights or uptown? does that make you a cheakspakte too? join the club :)
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Response by REMom
over 12 years ago
Posts: 307
Member since: Apr 2009
forget about your landlord reimbursing you since you didn't contact the super. this happened to me. Afterward, I called a couple of different locksmiths for estimates on the same work and found out my emergency locksmith had ripped me off. I called the emergency locksmith back and told him I was reporting him to the Better Business Bureau and he agreed to reduce the price to the market rate.
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yikes..Is this not a good example of NYC absurd pricing. How much are the parts worth? How much is a reasonable rates for this guy's time?
Push,
You have been baptized!
Nothing makes you a real New Yorkers like getting fucked by a locksmith.
Your landlord will most likely congratulate you on your new status.
This town has a steep learning curve.
Cost of education.
Fogetaboutit.
i've been in that situation before and they won't reimburse because you didn't call the super first. not what you want to hear now, but depending on the relationship you have with your landlord, they would have either sent the super to poke at the lock and then call the locksmith himself, or taken you at your word that the lock doesn't work and needs to be replaced. the latter happened to me recently with a garage lock, landlord said to just call a locksmith and subtract that amount from next month's rent and include the receipt when i send it. but they won't just reimburse you for the money you spend on the place without checking with them.
http://streeteasy.com/nyc/talk/discussion/28184-paid-for-emergency-expense-take-out-of-rent
"yikes..Is this not a good example of NYC absurd pricing. How much are the parts worth? How much is a reasonable rates for this guy's time?"
Calling late on a Friday night, expecting the guy to show up within 30 minutes, regardless of what HE might have been doing (possibly sleeping) ... yeah, a $500 service call rate is quite reasonable for most NYC professionals.
Deal with it.
nycmatt is union so of course you'd expect that response...
no $650 is not normal.. there are 24/7 locksmiths in my name who make the 'emergency' call under $300.. happened twice, on 2 diff apartments..
24/7 locksmith in my "nabe" not name
"no $650 is not normal.. there are 24/7 locksmiths in my name who make the 'emergency' call under $300.. happened twice, on 2 diff apartments.. "
Good for you. Care to share their contact information for the cheapskates on the board?
apparently your doormen/super doesn't like you enough to share.. no union on union love, what gives broooo?
or you're incapable of a simple yelp search..
but aren't you in wash heights or uptown? does that make you a cheakspakte too? join the club :)
forget about your landlord reimbursing you since you didn't contact the super. this happened to me. Afterward, I called a couple of different locksmiths for estimates on the same work and found out my emergency locksmith had ripped me off. I called the emergency locksmith back and told him I was reporting him to the Better Business Bureau and he agreed to reduce the price to the market rate.