Halls

silenceisfoo

So the apartment that I am living in was inspected as was everyone else's today by the staff in Halls. They seem to be under the impression that things in our apartment need to be cleaned and are dirty that just are not dirty. Apparently our freezer has to be de iced. There is literally no ice in it. I was wondering if this is just a standard thing they say to everyone as they have stated that we may have to pay up to 100euro to have their staff clean it.
Are they just looking for money or am I missing something?
and for the record it is all postgrads in the place and it is not dirty by any means. One of the people is a serial procrastinator and scrubs the apartment every 4 days. Kind of funny if it wasn't kind of psychotic.

EuropeanSon

If they just told you stuff like "de-ice the freezer" and "hoover the floor" and other fairly mild rebukes (though possibly in a stern tone, but only because some of them are sad little people who enjoy their power trips), then that means you're fine, you don't need to do a thing, you passed.

timmywex

They are actually being serious most of the time yeh.

Theyll be back in exactly 7 days though so just make sure its clean then for that day and youll be grand.

amymak

I'm in Halls too, and based on the last inspection, the de-icing of the fridge and freezer is something that they say to everyone. So I wouldn't be too worried about it. And also, I was talking to people who were there when they came back for the follow-up inspection and apparently they take a very brief look around for that one so I wouldn't be too worried.

icedtea

Ours is today, cleaned it last night to a perfectly reasonable standard, not in their eyes though I'm sure........

silenceisfoo

Spoken to a few people. Seems even people with non operating freezer have been told to de-ice the freezer.

Namlub

Our re-inspection was at 11 pm on Halloween night, shnakes. But yeah, the're serious about the little things but once it looks like you've made any sort of effort to remedy what they've pointed out you'll be fine, think the whole paying money to cleaners thing is just a last resort.

Histie

They may be lenient this time, but be careful when you leave for the last time; when they say they will charge you, they mean they will deduct money from your deposit, and once you leave you won't have any chance to rectify things so they're enthusiastic to find faults at that stage.

Lisandro

Do you know this from personal experience, Histie? On a side note, although not strictly relevant to Halls, I have heard of landlords charging tenants (through deductions from their deposits) for residues that were there before they moved in, which is why some people advise bringing a camera to take pictures before moving in. The point is that charges sometimes enter in sneaky manners, which is why to be safe, I imagine Histie's advice is well worth following.

Histie

Yes, when I left Halls, they used every excuse they could to deduct money from the deposit.

ChloeElla

We got deducted crazy money from our deposit for absolutely stupid things - Marks from blue tack on the walls, etc, which were there when we moved in. We were charged for leaving a TV in Halls though it actually belonged to them, the security guard dropped it up to us & said he'd take it back. We got about €100 each back

Histie

ChloeElla wrote: »

We got deducted crazy money from our deposit for absolutely stupid things - Marks from blue tack on the walls, etc, which were there when we moved in. We were charged for leaving a TV in Halls though it actually belonged to them, the security guard dropped it up to us & said he'd take it back. We got about €100 each back

That is harsh. Is Halls covered by the PRTB? Could you have taken a case?

ChloeElla

Histie wrote: »

That is harsh. Is Halls covered by the PRTB? Could you have taken a case?

Unfortunately we had no proof that the walls had already been marked, etc. Just so future students know, they are crazily bad at giving back deposits!

silenceisfoo

That is frustrating. My walls are manky and I am determined to get my full deposit back. I notice the staff have a general attitude that it is good enough for "a student". Went down to reception to report a fault and a security guard spent the entire time on the phone to a friend telling him about his broken oven. Repeatedly looked at me, turned his head away and said nothing was happening in work. I was quite obviously waiting to speak to someone. In the end I walked away.
I have never lost a deposit in a single place I have lived in and I will not be losing it here either.