Rented flat, no refrigerator for a fortnight despite reporting it three times. legaladvice

Hi r/legaladvice.

Our fridge died on us two Sundays ago. After attempting to reset the thermostat etc, I reported it to the maintenance team that takes care of our flat.

They turned up and said it just needed defrosting, and then it would work again. I explained​ that was not the case, as the compressor had stopped working, but said I would defrost it and let them know if it worked, but that I strongly suspected it would not. Begrudgingly, they agreed, and said they would have to order another. I said I'd certainly appreciate it.

Spoiler- it didn't work.

Another member of the maintenance team was in the block the next morning, and I told him the fridge was definitely broken, and asked him if another had been ordered yet. He said he didn't think so, but would chase it up for me as soon as he got back to the office. I thanked him.

I waited a week before contacting them again by phone, when they said, in an agressive manner, that they "hadn't ordered one, as [they] hadn't heard from me".

I managed to keep calm, and repeated my request for a new one to be ordered, then hung up. That was nine days ago, and I have heard nothing more. Luckily, we have a neighbour we were able to store our frozen foods with before they defrosted.

This is not the first time we have been messed around in this manner; the maintenance team are reliably surly, unhelpful, and attempt to shift blame onto the tenants. The last time our fridge stopped working, they simply unplugged one from another flat and brought it into ours (the one that has just died). They now claim that fridge was brand new when they brought it in, even though it was iced up, dented, and they told me they brought it from another flat.

Frankly, aside from the inconvenience and expense of going without fresh foods for over a fortnight, I am entirely sick and tired of being treated like a fool.

I would like to use this incident as leverage to get out of our tenancy early, but have no concrete proof that I have spoken to the maintenance team other than call logs on my phone.

In the UK, if that makes a difference. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Submitted April 11, 2017 at 12:21PM by hamb_on_rye http://ift.tt/2outVEj legaladvice