Landlord & repairs question

dancingqueen

Our "new" dual cooker (hob-gas, oven-electric) has two broken knobs on it. They appear to be of cheap plastic quality and we have contacted our landlord regarding replacements.

It took the landlord a week to respond (this is not the norm from our landlord - usually we have a same-day response) and the response was of the "looking into it" category... how long is reasonable to be waiting?

#1 gas hobs gone unfixed could be leaking gas.. (we do switch the cooker off at the wall when not using it)
#2 we don't have a carbon monoxide detector

bigneacy

A broken knob will not leak gas.

Get a carbon monoxide alarm- they dint cost much, you can buy them in a €2 shop. You & your family's lives are not as important as sticking to your principles.

dancingqueen

bigneacy wrote: »

A broken knob will not leak gas.

Get a carbon monoxide alarm- they dint cost much, you can buy them in a €2 shop. You & your family's lives are not as important as sticking to your principles.

Thanks for your input.. the fact that the knobs do not control the flow of gas any longer (one is completely gone, and the other is on it's last legs) mean that if used and breaks in use.. the flow of gas can then not be turned off meaning the cooker is then unusable.

djimi

At the very least you should expect the landlord to inspect the issue within a couple of days at the most. The time expected of the repairs depends on what is required to get the job done I guess.

If its just the knobs that are broken then I dont see that there is any issue with leaking gas to be honest. Even with the knob broken you should be able to turn off the gas for that ring.

Also, expect the landlord to question why two knobs are broken off the cooker, especially if it is relatively new.

dancingqueen

djimi wrote: »

At the very least you should expect the landlord to inspect the issue within a couple of days at the most. The time expected of the repairs depends on what is required to get the job done I guess.

If its just the knobs that are broken then I dont see that there is any issue with leaking gas to be honest. Even with the knob broken you should be able to turn off the gas for that ring.

Also, expect the landlord to question why two knobs are broken off the cooker, especially if it is relatively new.

They are light little plastic fittings that shove onto an allen key shaped spike. I am questioning myself, how they break so easily.

bigneacy

dancingqueen wrote: »

Thanks for your input.. the fact that the knobs do not control the flow of gas any longer (one is completely gone, and the other is on it's last legs) mean that if used and breaks in use.. the flow of gas can then not be turned off meaning the cooker is then unusable.

I understand your concern but as me and the poster above said, and broken knob just isn't going to leak gas. Also- switching the cooker off at the wall does nothing to gas flow, it justs cuts off the electric supply to the unit.

Yawns

Get a pliers so that it can easily be switched on and off with no hassle. You can get cheap ass ones in a €2 shop that will be fine for that. Get back in touch with the landlord and see if he has found replacements yet. It has probably slipped his mind or maybe he thinks it's not a big deal to you and you could wait a bit longer. A simple text should suffice. If it's a new cooker, I'd be wondering how it broke so quickly.

bigneacy

dancingqueen wrote: »

They are light little plastic fittings that shove onto an allen key shaped spike. I am questioning myself, how they break so easily.

This sort of fitting can easily be sourced yourself for less than €5 (same as a bulb). I know it's not your responsibility but I myself generally do the smaller jobs myself- gets done quickly and keeps landlord and myself on good terms.

djimi

dancingqueen wrote: »

They are light little plastic fittings that shove onto an allen key shaped spike. I am questioning myself, how they break so easily.

You should be able to turn the knob still by hand, or with a pliers if it came to it, but either way the actual knob should still be working.

dancingqueen

It is literally a square metal peg that sticks out - not turnable with fingers, we've tried

I have been reading reviews on this particular model since the issue, and most comment on the flimsy knobs, with reports of them breaking off being very common

djimi

Print out what you found online and have it ready to show the landlord. There is a good chance they will try and blame you for breaking the knobs; I know I would!

dancingqueen

djimi wrote: »

Print out what you found online and have it ready to show the landlord. There is a good chance they will try and blame you for breaking the knobs; I know I would!

Wow thanks! Why would anyone want to break cooker knobs? Stupid remark to make

Yawns

dancingqueen wrote: »

Wow thanks! Why would anyone want to break cooker knobs? Stupid remark to make

You'd be surprised. Imagine you area landlord. You buy a new cooker and shortly after you're told 2 knobs are broken. Some would think it was done on purpose. djimi is jsut highlighting this, he's not insinuating that you did break them.

As I said, get a pliers in the mean time for your own use and get onto the LL about it.

dee_mc

I don't think djimi is suggesting you broke them deliberately dancingqueen, probably suggesting the LL might assume unreasonable force was used seeing as he probably hasn't used the cooker himself? I think it's a good idea to have the info printed, as back-up in case the LL suggests the problem is your fault.

djimi

dancingqueen wrote: »

Wow thanks! Why would anyone want to break cooker knobs? Stupid remark to make

It doesnt matter a jot whether or not you wanted to break them or broke them intentionally; accidents happen but even if you broke them accidentally (and Im not saying that you did) then the landlord would be within their rights to expect you to pay for them to be repaired. Its quite unusual for something like that to just break on its own, especially on a new appliance.

the_syco

Are we talking new new, or new to you (and possibly "new" from a 2nd hand shop)?

valleyoftheunos

Its poor form by the LL to leave you hanging on this long but small things like this are often the biggest PITA for a LL. From their perspective its a lot of effort for a couple of crappy plastic knobs, which actually might not be easy to get hold of quickly.

Having said all that, they should get it sorted but it might take a while.

quietsailor

These types of cooker knobs are available on EBay or Amazon, you can easily order them yourself if your nervous about not having them.

Try searching for "cooker knob your cooker name" and see what comes up. The LL might not be used to looking for these kind of things and if you have a ready source of them for him/her might buy them quickly