Was I Right or Wrong.
After my post about philosophical argument, I have a question for you all.
I know legally where I stand. I’m screwed. But I want to know what the court of public opinion says.
So,
I have lived in a rented house in Germany since Jan 2018. This is our 3rd summer here. My landlord is a nice guy. The property managers are with a real estate agency of the rudest, bitchiest people you can imagine.
We have had tons of problems with the house. None of them my fault. Many have caused me serious hardships and I have been very kind and considerate during the troubles. The landlord and I actually seemed to have a decent relationship because I showed respect and concern for keeping his investment protected.
One issue has evaded resolution. An upstairs bedroom has a sloped ceiling with a skylight type window. The shade was missing when we moved in and they said it would be replaced. It was winter, we didn’t care.
Next summer, since german houses have no A/C or ceiling fans, it was apparent that the heat buildup in that room was intolerable. My daughter couldn’t be in there during the day, even with the window wide open, and it was still miserably hot at bedtime since the sun doesn’t set until 10pm or something. We mentioned it, and an incompetent repairman was sent to fix it. He didn’t bring anything. He said he may have a part to do the job at his shop and left. He never returned, but we waited patiently.
The next summer, my wife griped at me about furthering my complaint since the room was terribly hot. I did. The repair man came back with a window shade that didn’t fit and was missing pieces. He said he would go look for the pieces... and never returned.
I’m not incompetent and don’t have patience for someone jerking me around like that. So, I bought some cheap, white, 10mm foam board and taped it to the window. It worked a charm. My kids room was cool and comfortable.
Possibly, the heat difference cause by that board heated the window on the one side and the glass cracked. I reported it to the landlord, explaining that the window shade hadn’t been replaced in years and we had to do something. He referred me to the real estate agents. They treated me like the worlds dumbest criminal and insisted I should pay to fix the window.
I know that I negligently caused a situation that may have broke the glass. I can admit that. But they also refused to fix a problem and caused an entire room of my house to be uninhabitable for several months of the year.
If I was the landlord, I would point the finger at the property manager or the repairman. But, the tenant, who in good faith tried to make a temporary remedy to the discomfort cause by the formers’ neglect wouldn’t be my whipping boy.
What do you all think?
