We rent, and our sink hasn’t been fixed in 14 days

[Lollipop51]

A few weeks ago, our sink was becoming clogged. We were attempting to take the plug hole out when the plug hole got stuck. We have no access to a lever, it is a sealed unit.
We tried all the advice to free it, but none worked.

On Thursday 28th August I logged this online with the maintenance form on our estate agents website.
I received a voicemail about it on Friday 29th August, the lady asked if the sink is clogged and whether the plug hole is stuck. I rung her back an hour later and left a voicemail to confirm.

On Tuesday 2nd September I had not heard anything more; I had to follow this up and I called the number again. She answered and said she will inform our building manager.

On Thursday 4th September our building manager emailed us to say that the landlord has now been contacted to obtain permission for a plumber to come out.

On Monday 8th September we had heard nothing so I sent an email asking our building manager for an update.

She said “Your landlord has now provided approval for a plumber to attend and resolve the issue. The company will be in touch with you directly to arrange a convenient appointment.
We appreciate your frustration and are pleased that approval has now been given. Please note that if our plumber attends and determines the plug is stuck due to any fault of your own, you may be liable for the call-out charge.”

It’s now Thursday - 14 days later - and we still have heard nothing. Our bathroom sink is completely unusable and we are using the kitchen sink for everything which is unhygienic.

We have tried to deal with this calmly but I feel like it’s becoming a bit of a joke now. Our contract clearly states that dealing with matters within a reasonable time frame is part of the landlords duty.

Do I take this further? And how?

Forgot to add, we don’t have contact details for our landlord. I requested these and our building manager emailed us this
”all communication and arrangements are managed through ourselves on behalf of the landlord, so there is no need to contact them directly.”

I’d get a plumber out.

At some point...stop paying rent. Usually forces them into action. When queried refer back to issue.

Keep nagging OP.

Message them and ask how you can make a complaint. Also check the details of your contract on arranging repairs

It's your responsibility not your landlords. Why is you blocking your sink then attempting to dismantle it their problem?

Take the time to read your tenancy agreement.

It sounds like you will be liable to fix it anyway as you have caused the damage by trying to solve the problem (please forgive me if I'm wrong that's how I have read your post) so I'd just call a plumber and get it fixed.... in future if your sink gets clogged the orange Mr muscle is great stuff.

Well, this is exactly what you wanted, why complain now. As renters, you wanted to live in property which was managed by a faceless entity, you wanted high rents and anonymous maintenance firms.

You all supported the banning of private Land Lords, and the shutting down of cheap, locally managed properties.

This is the reality of those decisions.

It's your responsibility not your landlords. Why is you blocking your sink then attempting to dismantle it their problem?
I agree. As a landlord, I would have said it was for you to arrange and pay for it to fixed as it is your negligence that caused the problem in the first place.

We rent. Our bathroom sink became clogged. Didn’t even occur to me to contact the landlord because it wasn’t clogged before and we’ve been living in the house. It stands to reason our use of the sink caused the clog. Mr Muscle drain gel started moving it a bit but this from Wilko’s managed to completely unblock the sink. I now use it regularly just as maintenance.

https://www.wilko.com/en-uk/joie-chameleon-green-drain-cleaner/p/8084141

I feel like I have a similar plug is it the one that you press down to close, then press down again to reopen? They aren’t great and after ten years often seem to get stuck especially if water in sink. I’ve found that if you empty the sink it’ll work. I have a little portable carpet cleaner I use to suck water out but cup and towel would do. If not I’d take off u bend and empty waste pipe. If that still doesn’t work the equipment is faulty rather than any clogging and shouldn’t be charged plumber call out fee.

As an aside, where are you? You have a legal right to the landlord's name and address in most jurisdictions.

Where does it say they deliberately caused damage?
I read this as the tenant having a sink with an integral plug and the mechanism for the plug has failed.
The EA and landlord have already agreed it's their job to fix otherwise they would have told the tenant to sort it out.

Incredibly bad advice to stop paying your rent.
Don't do this or your LL can take action to have you evicted.

Where does it say they deliberately caused damage?
It doesn't have to be deliberate. OP said I was clogged. The should have used other methods to unclog rather than attempting another method that ended causing damage.

Do you know the OP? You seem to have made a lot of absurd assumptions about the OP and their circumstances, and renters in general.

Ah yes I missed the bit where the plug got stuck in trying to fix it.

The EA and landlord have agreed to sort it out so it must be something they feel falls under their remit to fix.

Don't do this. There are procedures landlords and tenants are suppose to follow.

OP - I don't understand exactly what has gone wrong. Is the drain blocked or is something actually broken? If the former, pour boiling water down the drain. Next try drain cleaner.

If the latter, the next step would be to email the estate agent with a formal complaint.

Your first line of action with a blocked sink drain was to remove the plug hole?! Blimey, Mr Muscle (specifically the foam) might have been a less drastic attempt.

I rent and would have tried this first & would have only called the agent if this failed after a good few goes at it. My house is 250 years old and often suffers with blocked sinks or at least, build up and slow drainage. I’ve not called the agent about this in the 6 years I’ve lived here.

I would expect to be charged for the call out and the kit to replace the damaged sink in your circumstances.

Not necessarily as the OP has said they might be charged a fee if it comes down to something they’ve done. So sounds like they’ll fix it regardless but the cost will lay with whoever is responsible, that might be the OP, if the plumber sees it that way.

Another vote for Mr Muscle.

Don't do this, it gives grounds for a much easier eviction process should they ever want rid of you.

I'd say keeping a sink or drain clear is part of normal household maintenance. Every so often a drain or plug hole needs a bit of unblocker liquid or foam down it to keep it flowing.

I'd class it as normal cleaning, the same as periodic oven cleans, window cleans etc. It's the tenants' responsibility.

Call a plumber or a drain company and get it sorted. Yes you'll have to pay but you could have probably got it all sorted within 48 hours if you taken responsibility yourself to begin with.

Don't stop paying rent because you've blocked your sink. That could lead to a whole lot of problems for you and would be completely unreasonable.

The correct way to deal with a clogged sink is to pour down sink unblocker, nothingneeds to be dismantledto do this! Why were you trying to remove the "plug hole" (do you mean the plug)?

I'd prepare yourself to pay for the plumber, as this sounds like a lack of routine maintenance/cleaning plus damage you've caused.