What do you think of this rental situation

[nat7878]

We rent and one of the power points had been sparking when it was being used. I had a double adapter in it and wasn't sure whether it was coming from that or the power point. As it sparked quite badly the last time I touched it I didn't want to touch it again (I am home alone with my daughter as my husband works away) so I contacted the agent via email and asked her to arrange an electrician but specifically asked to speak to the electrician before he comes to verify whether it could likely be the adapter, as if it was, then that is my issue and knew I would be liable for the cost and I would of just waited for DH to get home to look at it. When I spoke to the electrician he advised the problem would be stemming from the switch as that is the power source not the power adapter.

The electrician's side kick came and looked at it and advised it was in fact the adapter and when I said I was surprised as the other electrician said it wouldn't of been he said that that's not always true. Fast forward a week and the agent as sent me the bill for $132.00.

I feel this is neither the landlords issue or mine and that the electrician is liable as he probably just wanted the job. But WDYT? Am I at fault somehow?

 

[amiaow]

In reality, the electrician needs to have a look at the powerpoint wiring to actually see if it is the problem- I don't think it's something that can be diagnosed over the phone. Given that your adapter that was faulty, I'd pay the $132 and be done with it.

 

[vbplease]

I feel this is neither the landlords issue or mine and that the electrician is liable as he probably just wanted the job. But WDYT? Am I at fault somehow?

But it was your issue - the faulty adaptor. He did his job and fixed your problem, not sure what the problem is? You're defence is over the phone advice that turned out to be wrong..

Also, have a looky at this.. why not to use double adaptors.
http://www.testtagmelbourne.net/2010/12/01/double-adaptor-danger/

 

[jaycee]

Not sure how easy it is to know for sure without looking, maybe the electrician said / meant most likely it's not the adaptor (?)

 

[kathryn d]

Had you tried it without an adapter?
That would have been the first thing I would have tried.

Other than that, since it was your adapter, you will need to pay.

 

[BMan]

i would of removed the adapter and seen what happened first
if it continued to spark then got an electrician in asap

seems to me your at fault since it was your adapter, you have to foot the bill

 

[lizzie]

As a landlord, I learnt eary on to advise the tenant to "test" their electrical appliances first before calling the electrician ... such as when a fuse keeps blowing, I'd tell them to unplug everything and then plug one thing back in at a time until the fuse blew ... then try unplugging everything again and just plug in that one appliance ... if the fuse blew that's your potential culprit.

They then had the option of getting the appliance checked or the fusebox. 99 times out of 100 it was the appliance.

 

[Perp]

I understand your frustration, because you tried to avoid unnecessary expense, but I don't think you did quite enough to prevent an unnecessary call-out. Specifically, you could have taken out the adapter and checked if there was still a problem with sparking. I agree that it was an unfortunately sequence of events, ie getting phone advice that a call-out was necessary for the outlet, and then it turning out to be the adapter, but really, as others have said, it's not reliable to troubleshoot over the phone like that. The only person who could have prevented the call-out is you - by removing the adapter and realising that there wasn't a problem. But you chose not to do that.

Therefore, regrettably for you, your expense.

 

[Deltaberry]

Tell your heartless landlord to replace it right away or you'll take him to VCAT.

 

[softmonkey]

You were right not to touch the live adapter again. You can turn off circuits at the power box to allow you to unplug it safely. You can double up on the precautions by using a non conducting stick to push it out of the socket. With your DH away a lot it could be good to make a plan to build up your confidence in troubleshooting these kinds of problems.

 

[Jaggannath]

I understand your frustration, because you tried to avoid unnecessary expense, but I don't think you did quite enough to prevent an unnecessary call-out. Specifically, you could have taken out the adapter and checked if there was still a problem with sparking. I agree that it was an unfortunately sequence of events, ie getting phone advice that a call-out was necessary for the outlet, and then it turning out to be the adapter, but really, as others have said, it's not reliable to troubleshoot over the phone like that. The only person who could have prevented the call-out is you - by removing the adapter and realising that there wasn't a problem. But you chose not to do that.

Therefore, regrettably for you, your expense.

I like the way you've expressed this Perp. Should have come onto the boards before calling nat, I could have made a few suggestions to help