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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To not want to pay for my tenant to have a doorbell professionally installed?

84 replies

QuintessentialShadow · 10/09/2008 12:15

I probably am

She wants a professionally installed doorbell.

BUT, she is really high maintenance and a pain in the proverbial behind, and the number of requests she has had, such as repaving the front of our house at our cost, is just making me really annoyed.

I told the agent that she could pick up a wireless doorbell kit in B&Q for less than £20. I will hapilly reimburse that.

BUT I AM NOT going to have an electrician come out and install a doorbell, drill through my front wall, have it wired to the mains, no sire!

AIBU?

OP posts:
misdee · 10/09/2008 12:16

YANBU

why does she want it 'professionally installed'?

my one which is wired into the mains is rubbish!

Hulababy · 10/09/2008 12:18

YANBU

Uriel · 10/09/2008 12:18

YANBU.

We have a wireless doorbell, works perfectly.

hanaflower · 10/09/2008 12:19

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

masalachameleon · 10/09/2008 12:19

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

chopchopbusybusy · 10/09/2008 12:20

Sorry, but LOL at professionally installed doorbell.

Just say no or she will be demanding that you send round an electrician every time she wants to switch on her kettle.

Mutt · 10/09/2008 12:20

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster
QuintessentialShadow · 10/09/2008 12:21

I had a wireless doorbell, I had very cleaverly stuck it up outside by our front door using velcro!

Very clever idea until some neighbourhood kid nicked it...

I guess she wants it professionally installed because she cant be arsed to do anything for herself? She wanted my dh to reshuffle furniture prior to her moving in, and him to mow the lawn for her once he was on a trip to London, and lots of other little minor things that I when I was renting was perfectly happy to do myself rather than sulking to landlord weekly.

OP posts:
ManxMum · 10/09/2008 12:22

B&Q wireless one, about £10 AND she can choose her own tune!! Mine has the 'Under the sea' song from 'Little Mermaid' - classy huh!!

Mutt · 10/09/2008 12:23

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster
QuintessentialShadow · 10/09/2008 12:24

mine could just do "ding dong". untill it was nicked. I mean, who nicks doorbells, fgs!?

OP posts:
LittleMyDancing · 10/09/2008 12:25

our tenants wanted a handyman to come and fit a bolt to their bathroom door as they had managed to break the old one. We had no problem buying the darn thing, but paying a handyman £50 an hour to screw it on? Seemed a bit

DP went round and screwed it on himself in five minutes flat.

they looked surprised at how simple it was.

OneBoyOneGirl · 10/09/2008 12:25

YANBU - i am a tenant and have never asked my landlord for anything, although know i probably should sometimes, if it was me and it was something i wanted then i'd just check it was ok and do it myself anyway.

LittleMyDancing · 10/09/2008 12:25

tell her you suspect her of nicking it and selling it down the market.

RubyRioja · 10/09/2008 12:26

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

PrimroseHall · 10/09/2008 12:27

She sounds like a pita.

As long as she has some kind of doorbell/knocker thing then she is being completely unreasonable.

I rented privately for years and would decide whether I wanted the property based on what it already contained. I'd have thought lawn mowing was in the t&c of her contract as something that SHE had to maintain herself. My old tenancy agreements used to have ridiculous clauses in them, like me having to wash the windows outside weekly ... even though they were 3 stories up .

Unless you're desperate to keep her as a tenant then I'd refer her to her contract when she makes these requests.

Original poster
QuintessentialShadow · 10/09/2008 12:27

Yup, she wanted a handy man out to come install a lock on the bathroom door. Fair enough, people need locks on the bathroom door (we didnt!), but could she not purchase a hook and catch (or something, you know what I mean) in B&Q and do it herself?

OP posts:
Earlybird · 10/09/2008 12:28

Is there a working doorbell there now? If not, think she's probably justified in asking for one. Shouldn't think it has to be professionally installed though.

Is your dh handy, and is it something he could do?

Original poster
QuintessentialShadow · 10/09/2008 12:30

Semi desperate to keep her. She has an 18 month contract, been there since june. Will sell the house when she moves out if the market improves.

Which is why I want to try and accommodate SOME requests, and reimbursing the wireless kit is a "sign of goodwill" on my behalf.

I did not let a handyman come out and fit locks on her doors.

OP posts:
Original poster
QuintessentialShadow · 10/09/2008 12:31

EarlyBird, we live abroad, that is why the property is managed by an agency. So, dh cant do anything.

OP posts:
Earlybird · 10/09/2008 12:31

Oh - and don't think she should be asking for a specific sort of doorbell. Any sort that works and can be heard should be fine.

Is it a high end property? Think tenants in those sorts of properties (and paying high rents) are probably more demanding and expect more.

onager · 10/09/2008 12:31

I got one yesterday from my local Wilkinsons. £9.99 same as this one but it has two bell units so you can position one upstairs etc.

Two screwholes so you can fix the button to the door. I managed that even though me and DIY don't mix as a rule.

greenandpleasant · 10/09/2008 12:32

QS, I don't think you're unreasonable about the professional installation of a doorbell - though the tenant might be within her rights to ask you to make "improvements" to the property rather than do it herself. Though why she needs a doorbell at all is another matter, can people not just knock?

I've just spent a fortune on getting 2 radiators fitted with thermostatic valves, at the request of my tenants, one was in the hallway so not like in a bedroom (all other rads in house already have them). Felt a bit put out but it is a corporate let and they pay a fortune in rent - so I rethought it and felt that actually they were entitled to ask for this given what they pay. Might be a way of you looking at it on this occasion, do they pay enough rent to justify some of their requests?

PrimulaVeris · 10/09/2008 12:32

YANBU, she sounds a loon

We have a similar wireless one piece of p**s to install. I didn't realise anyone had 'professionally installed' doorbells nowadays. Utter bolleaux

PrimroseHall · 10/09/2008 12:33

Before I signed a contract for a new home I'd ask the landlord to sort anything that I couldn't live with/without. Not ridiculous requests, but things like locks on bathroom doors or a shower attachment if there wasn't one. Some would comply and some wouldn't and that finalised my decision on whether I wanted to live in their property.