AIBU to not be expected to answer emails at the weekend?

[FrustratedToday]

Awkward conversation with landlord today. An email was sent on a Friday whilst I was at work. I replied on Monday morning. My landlord seems to think that I should be picking up emails at the weekend. I've firmly said that isn't possible, but now I'm wondering if I'm being unreasonable. I have said that a text message if there is anything urgent would be better as I can quickly respond after work. AIBU to think that I should be able to enjoy my weekend without interference?

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. This was my thinking, nice to know there's someone else out there who thinks this!

See previous post

Tradesmen get booked up quickly, it was imo something that required an urgent reply, YABU.

I check my emails several times a day but reply on my timescale. Why do you need to move? That's a bit ott, isn't it?

It's not that I have an issue with them contacting me, just an issue with being told off for not replying until the next working day. (their office is closed at the weekend anyway!)

Some people respond to emails promptly others prefer a phone call. Just tell the landlord which works best for you when they need a timely response

Just tell your landlord that if it's urgent, he needs to text you, and you will do the same. Problem solved.

Yep, did this.

I mean, this. Would you be OK with that?

He's not your boss. YABU.

YANBU at all.

If it was urgent then your landlord should have called you. It clearly wasn't urgent so Monday is fine.

People expect everything instantly these days, it drives me mad.

expect him to use the break clause as soon as he can

So you didn't see the message which is why you didn't reply? And couldn't reply to the email during their opening hours? If that's right, the LL really is a tosser. Even if it's not right they should call you if they need an urgent reply to something. Communication 101 isn't it.

Given I finish work at 5, the email was sent at 2pm so after lunch time and that I work in a place that doesn't allow devices to be used, plus their office closes at 4pm, I'm at a loss to see when I could possibly have replied on the Friday.

You've obviously had a terribly hard day. Sending a hug. 💐

Your thinking is fine if it works both ways. The landlord was trying to get in touch about maintenance of the property and you have a responsibility to cooperate with that. Otherwise why should the landlord respond to you immediately about maintenance issues? If something goes wrong in the property on the Friday evening of a bank holiday weekend, presumably you don’t mind waiting 3-4 days for a response because people shouldn’t have to look at emails at the weekend, right?

i’m not having a spat with my landlord 🤭

sat in my garden answerable to no one regarding my home 🤷

Ultimately, a tradesman is probably improving the property in some way or preventing decline, which is good for you; I'd be as helpful as I could be. This would have taken an fine, or sorry no I'm out, less than a minute, YABU.

It wasn't about essential maintenance though. It was about arranging a visit from a tradesperson for some point in the following week (who are also generally unavailable on weekends anyway).

If it was actually urgent, the landlord should have called. But it wasn't urgent.

how do you know it wasn’t essential maintenance?

Because it was being arranged for some point in the following week. Not essential/ immediate work that needed doing right now.

trades people are notoriously booked up

added to which, whilst might not be essential in the sense the property is going to fall down, it may be essential in order to maintenance of property and they won’t want a problem to get worse

sounds like the kind of responsive LL that many would welcome

Well, any time after 5pm would have done surely. It doesn't matter whether their office is open or not, you've at least done your part as soon as you're able.

I always say that “urgent email” is an oxymoron. The LL is being a bit unreasonable as they had your mobile number and could have called you at any point over the weekend. I wouldn’t give it a second thought. I imagine it’s the agent rather than LL themselves so someone was too lazy to call and then got bollocking for not following up so decided to blame it on you.

I'm a bit baffled by some of these responses since you noted in your post that you would be happy to handle urgent communications by phone/text. If there's a plumbing emergency they should quite obviously call you instead of sitting around waiting for an email to be read, and vice versa.

Email isn't the best option for urgent communication, IMO, and it should be fine for you to specify with a landlord the best way to reach you for time sensitive matters or in an emergency. Presumably they also do the same for you - I lived in plenty of rental accomodations and it was common to have urgent/emergency contact info and then a separate way to reach out about business topics or general questions that could be answered the next business day.

I'd smooth it over and apologize just because it's worth maintaining a positive relationship. But then let them know how best to reach you for time-sensitive matters in the future.

After work hours like a normal person? Honestly OP, what planet do you live on. Your landlord emailed you a perfectly reasonable question, are you so precious that you can't spare, what, 2 minutes to reply to them at 6/7pm on a Friday once you're home from work? The mind boggles.