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Forces sweethearts

If you have a family member in the Royal Navy, RAF or army, find support from other Mumsnetters here.

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Original poster

I may swear in this thread I am angry

25 replies

saltire · 26/06/2007 12:47

Two weeks ago was supposed to be the march out on our old MQ. DHE refused to do it because cleaner hadn't done it properly.
So it was re-scheduled for today. Here's what happened. The nhouse got new windows and doors at the start of the year. All the windows locked, BUT there wasn't a key for every window. I questioned this with the foreman of the contractors doing the windows, and he said "All the lockes are hte same, so you don't need a key for every window, as you could lock them all with one key".
DHE are claiming that there should be keys for every window, and they want to chrage us for new window locks for Every window in thehouse. We also got new front and back doors and got 3 keys for each one. 1 each front and back door keys were given to the cleaner. A contractor also picked up keys to do a job. Now there is only 2 sets of keys instead of 3. DH can't contact the guy who was looking after the keys for us because he is in Devon, his dad is dying. Also his old sgt is out now and has moved. I am so bloody stressed by this. The bill already stands at £307 because the cleaner couldn't get the carpet leaned proerly so we have been billed for it, and now they want to charge us for new locks for all the window and the front and back door

OP posts:

Original poster

saltire · 26/06/2007 13:22

Dh has spent his entire lunch hour on the phone to Scotland trying to sort this out!. The contractor says he handed the keys into the guardroom, so they have been put somewhere and no one can find them

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Original poster

saltire · 26/06/2007 13:39

I'm talking to myself aren't I? Just texted 2 mates who lived on the same estate. One was given a key for every window, one was given 5 keys the same as us, but the contractors have no idea who got a full set of window keys and who didn't, so it's my word against theirs

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Aero · 26/06/2007 13:42

Was there no kind of inventory when you moved in?

Tortington · 26/06/2007 13:42

if its the same key for every window - cant you get some cut - ditto - house keys?

Original poster

saltire · 26/06/2007 13:43

Yes, but the windows and doors were put in at the start of this year, so not on inventory. When we moved in we had 2 each front and back door keys, and no window keys as winows didn't lock. When we left, we had 3 each front and back door keys and 4/5 window keys.

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My3Girls · 26/06/2007 13:48

Do DHE still have their own cleaners. They did mine after I marched out, for around £150 back in 2003.

RE the keys do you have any pals in the quarters near you who also had theirs done who can also state to DHE that they were only provided with the same ammount of keys as you??

madge7 · 26/06/2007 13:53

Saltire, if there is no inventory then they cannot prove that you were given them!! Stick to your guns and dont pay it !!!

Original poster

saltire · 26/06/2007 14:02

custy, we don't have the keys. The keys are in Scotland, now in the hands of the DHE, as are the window keys. They claim they can't get new keys cut - in case someone has stolen the original keys and breaks in - so they need whole new locks fitted. One friend has only the same amount of keys as us, whereas another friend says she was given a key for every window.

my3girls. There are 2 options availiable now, you can apply to the DHE "opt in clean" which we were quoted around £300, or you can get your own cleaner in. The cleaner we got claims on her adverts that "all houses cleaned to march out standadr,, no extra cost to customer". She never came round for a pre-move assessment,so as far as we are concerned it's her fault that the carpets not clean, not ours. However DHE are charging us for a new carpet.

Madge, we tried that argument with them ,but they said that we (or rather DH) signed a licence with them

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MamaD · 26/06/2007 14:06

I agree with Madge - make them PROVE you had more keys. certainly don't pay up. Get HIVE involved if necessary.

It makes my blood boil when DHE do things like this - because you can bet your arse that the new occupants of your qtr will get same carpet, and just have the stains or whatever noted on march in - so where does the bloody money go?

The last time they tried this on with me I said ok, and started to pull the carpet up in front of them. The DHE guy went mad but I said that if I was paying for it I was taking it. It helped that we had just had the whole of my mums home recarpeted for just under a grand so I knew that £300 was more than a cleaning bill. I even offered to recarpet the room myself rather than pay but DHE bloke said we 'wouldn't be able to get the correct style' (wtf? - it was a box standard plain blue carpet)

IN the end we didn't pay as the DHE had 'forgotten' that the carpet was due to be changed later that year so 'waived the fee in a show of good faith' lol

madge7 · 26/06/2007 14:06

how about trying, well the license predates the windows........... you cant magic these things can you?

Blandmum · 26/06/2007 14:09

saltire. friends of mine were 'fined' for things like re-painting jobs that were never done. DHE are not the most reliable of organisatios.

Sympathy, sympathy, sympathy March in/out is a PITA

Getting the HIVE involved is a good idea

MamaD · 26/06/2007 14:11

with the cleaners - why can't you get DHE to send the bill to the company? Or pay up but get the money back yourself.

If cleaning company plays up then just make sure you tell EVERYONE not to use them. They only make money out of pads, so to piss one off is a SERIOUS mistake (and they know this)

madge7 · 26/06/2007 14:14

Do you know what the stain was Salty?
(cringing now, hoping for nothing too naughty!! )

Original poster

saltire · 26/06/2007 14:17

Thnaks MB for sympathy. DH is livid and feels they are taking the piss cos we are so far away. I have been in touch with the HIVE down here. She has been great, and is putting me in touch with the lady who deal with Naval housing for their welfare/families organisiation,who will contact me this afternoon, since we don't have Airwaves any more.

MamD, the DHE have told us "we will send a bill to a collection company who bill you. You can then claim on your house insurance". Why should I ahve to though, it's not my fault the cleaner didn't get it clean, and if she had done a pre-move out assessment, then she could hav epointed out if she felt that she couldn't get the carpet clean.

Unfortunatel we can't lift the carpet to take with us, as we are in the south of England and the MQ is in Scotland.
I am so angry, I just want to call them up and rant and rave, but know that won't do an6y good.

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Blandmum · 26/06/2007 14:19

can dh's CO do anything?

whoops · 26/06/2007 14:19

Re window keys - I went to Timpsons to get a new window key cut for work and they pulled them off the peg as they told us they were standard keys

Scootergrrrl · 26/06/2007 14:22

Just write disputed across the march out report. Apparently that then drowns them in paperwork.... and sometimes they go away!

Original poster

saltire · 26/06/2007 14:26

madge, we aren't sure what the stain was, but DH's ex colleague who was doing the march out said that the DHE commented on the fact that the carpet had a stale smell, as though it had been overwet at some point and it had rotted the carpet/floorboards. Again, not our problem, we got a proffesional cleaner in, if she made the carpet over wet then that's not our fault either. Also the carpets are cheap rubbish anyway so that could explain a lot.

MB, I'm going to wait and see what the navy housing woman says to me. By all acounts DH's new CO isn't up to much!

Also, angry about this as well. We had a barrack sotres table and chairs (we always have as we just never got round to buying our own). I always kept a waterproof cloth on it, because we had children and i childminded. The barrack stores guy says that the table has had all it's varnish taken off it, and it is scratched as though it has been cleaned with a scourer. Well it wasn't like that when we left, so we are trying to decide if the cleaner did it out of spite because we told her that she had to go back and clean again, or if again they are taking the piss because we are so far away

I'm just so fed up with all of this, none of it's our fault, we have done what we were asked to do.

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Blandmum · 26/06/2007 14:29

damn, re the CO. I asked because DH has bee chasing up a housing prob for one of his guys for a while now......

The cleaners seem to have gone downhill since I was in L. When we were there the march out tended to go without a hitch as the cleaners really knew their stuff.

Mind you a mate of mine was fined £5 for having a fly in a light fitting.....it had flown in and died post end of clean/ pre march out.

I have also seeen them insist of a march out clean, and then rip out al the kitchen and bathroom fittings, filling the house with dirt and dust

Original poster

saltire · 26/06/2007 14:34

A woman I know who left the same time as us was fined £200. They had been told it was due for a repaint, and they had to take all the picture hooks out and fill in the holes. DHE said that they were fining them because the "holes were filled in with filler in a different colour to the walls and it was noticeable"

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littlelapin · 26/06/2007 14:38

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster

saltire · 26/06/2007 14:44

We did that when we moved in here, LL. The carpet in the kitchen diner has black stains where it joins the lino, it has red stains under the radiator, none of the doors shut properly, the downstairs toilet door swings open, and to lock it is difficult. There are cracks in the woodwork.

And then people like Pan come along and criticise us and says we get "perks"(amongst other nasty things he said which I won't go into) Huh.

I've been feeling crap any way and today has just made me feel even worse

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emsieloo · 26/06/2007 14:51

I hate march/move outs

We moved last August and DHE tried it on with us. They said that the carpets had stains (after being cleaned) and that there was rust on the draining board.

The woman doing said we were to be billed for these things even though we were leaving the MQ in a better state than we took it over in.

Luckily we did a defect list (which they had conveniently lost their copy) and had our own copy of it still so she had to take our word for it and not charge us a penny.

Am dreading ever having to move again, I really hope you can get it sorted.

Debs67 · 07/07/2007 00:51

I do sympathise. What about your house contents insurance? Ours covers us specifically for any fines levied on march outs. We once got a big bill for a carpet - much more than the carpet was worth, but the insurance paid up.

Leati · 07/07/2007 01:10

I live in the US. It is not uncommon here for landlords to keep your deposit. I have been fortunate in that the last couple of landlords I had were large complexes that weren't really interested in keeping your deposit unless you really messed up. But if you rent from a smaller landlord it is nearly impossible to get your deposit back, I once had a landlord charge me $200 for a stain inside the oven. And I never used the oven(before I had a family). Here if you want your money back and the landlord refuses then you would have to take them to court and it would be dragged out forever. It really wouldn't be worth the deposit in the first place so most people just don't try.

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