Repairs to flat / laptop missing
Good friend of mine rents something they call a flat or so the landlord calls it that. Well anyway the shower packed up then the light and the sockets would not work in the bedroom and then down to one socket in the lounge area.
I said it sounds like a place from hell.
Well from what I am told he contacted the landlord and said x, y and z was not working and that he had not done anything and that he had checked the consumer unit ( fuse box ). The landlord said ok he will get somone out as quick as he can to see if he can put things right although not sounding to posative on the phone.
All of 3 hours later this scruffy looking oik turns up with a falling to bits tool box, tattoos all over his arms and smelling like a pikeys wellington in the middle of summer. He assured him that he had been sent by Mr Tight-Git the landlord to try and sort out the problems my friend was having.
From what he tells me after some time there ( and having all the windows open - the smell )this person had joined up the sockets and put a bigger fuse in the shower and lord knows what eles he had bodged up along the way.
Well then my friend tells me that later that day he went to turn his laptop on to do some work and to his amazement it was no where to be seen. He checked all the normal places and checked to see if it was not covered up by any washing or a towle or something silly. Yet no where to be seen. He knew full well that it had been on his desk. He even telephoned all his friends as a precaution to see if it was there.
Now this laptop only seems to have gone walkies when this dodgy looking oik has come to do the various job or from the sound of it various bodge ups.
Now what is the best bet here. Telephone the landlord up and explain what would seemed to have happend or go straight to the police and report. Now this friend of mine dose not want to cause hassle but just wants his laptop back as it has got all his work on it and other various projects he is working on.
I think he is already talking to the landlord about it but I know he is frightend that the landlord may give him notice to leave the so called flat.
If anyone has any suggestions then do feel free to reply to this post.
iswim2011
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When my friend turns on his laptop he can't get to the windows home screen?
my friend come to my flat because he can't get get his laptop on i thought i might be able to get it working but i can't get it working to its just he can't get to the windows home screen it says windows failed to start . a recent hardware or software change might be the cause to fix the problem:
1. insert your windows installation disc and restart your computer
2. choose your language settings and then click next
3. click repair your computer
if you do not have this disc contact your system administrator or computer manufacturer for assistance.
file:\windows\system32\drivers\cqzrq.s…
status: 0xc0000225
info: windows failed to load because a critical system driver is missing or corrupt.
but he has not got the windows installation disc
Have you tried:
Start computer.
Press the F8 key before windows starts booting.
When the Windows Advanced Options menu appears, use the arrow keys to select Last Known Good Configuration (your most recent settings that worked), and then press ENTER.
If that does not help, try getting Windows XP (Home, or Pro, check windows sticker on the back of the laptop) disk image, just search for "Windows XP Home SP3 ISO", download and burn it to CD using burning software like nero or CDBurnerXP.
Put In CD and follow as instructed.
Just make sure you download correct version (Professional or Home) as stated on back sticker.
This is what the police is for!
I would suggest that your friend could telephone the landlord and explain what is wrong. This way your friend may not have to get the police in straight away and not cause any upset with the landlord and the tenant. It could not do any harm to make enquires.
You could ask yourself has this person taken things from other peoples properties before and they been only small and no one noticed and maybe if it is the case has this person got to greedy and to confident thinking he wont be caught. If they have a good landlord then I see no reason why they could not ask there handy person with knowing them and deal with the in the form of giving them a p45 and the landlord going to the police with you.
If the landlord is a bit on the bent side then may be it is just a straight forward case of go dierctly to the police and let them take it into there hands. This person could be known to the police for all anyone knows.
The landlord can not kick your friend out as I am sure he would do the same if something of his went missing.
So at the end of the day your friend has the option of try the internal approach and see where that gets if no joy go direct to the local police station.
It would be a good idea if they know the serial number of the laptop and if they have a receipt for it as a proof of purchase and ownership.
veggarden1980
I know I paid a lot of money for my laptop and have lots and lots of stuff on it and if that went missing I would be up the creek without a paddle. I have got stuff backed up but still there is things you have just started working on so yeah I can understand your are upset about loosing it and dont want to upset the landlord but at the end of the day if that was in your home and would seem to have left your home when the trades person left then just get on the phone and get pc plod round.
The landlord may not know this has happend and he or she would be pleased if the thief was caught with your good as he may have had stuff go missing over the years and not been able to prove it.
Hope you get it back and good luck.
Mouse4u1
Mouse
Sorry to hear about this.
Well, the stuff that needs to be repaired should be your landlord's responsibility, as i can't imagine a contract that would not make him fix the issues. My own landlord is not the best, as he sometimes takes days to get someone out here to fix stuff. But, I know that my contract states that he has to fix everything that gets broken, so we're on the same wavelength.
The laptop... well, I have never had this happen, and if you can pinpoint when the computer went missing, I would get the contact info of the repair guy from your landlord. He should help you with that at least.
It is definitely worth it to file a police report, just for the documentation in case this becomes a bigger issue.
steve
Hello,
I am not happy to hear about your bad luck. Of course, you should go to the local police station, and file a report. I don't know if you will get your laptop back, because even if the police do investigate the handyman, they may not find anything.
I would not recommend getting angry at your landlord though. If you call him up and demand something, he may not be so eager to help you in the future. I think you should tell him about the situation, and he might decide to help you out with the police report and maybe even replace the laptop. Give it a try.
Next time, just be careful with your stuff. Handymen can sometimes not be so handy.
Cass
Man. Sorry to hear about this mess. Cass, you seem to be taking a soft approach to this. I mean, depennding on what kind of laptop the OP has, it could be very pricey, and losing it could mean the end of his ability to study.
The OP must go to the police station immediately so they can try to find this computer before it goes too far.
I had my laptop stolen once too, although it wasn't the landlord's fault. I left it in a coffee shop, but when I got home I realized it was gone. I went back to the cafe, but someone had taken it already.
Now, I basically take my computer with me everywhere I go and keep my keys inside the case so I always remember it.
Jeffrey
Yeah that is a pretty raw deal with the laptop.
I would do what Cass is suggesting there. That is contact the landord and explain the situation and may be state that you are not pointing the blame directly but that the thing only went when the handy person came round and would he clarryfi that the tradesman did as you are going to the police about it and more so if it is one of these branded ones I know some of them are over 2K which is not cheap to replace.
So yeah nice approach and then the local police station.
Mark
It sounds like all these nice people have got it in one go.
Try the nice approach and then the police station. May be your landlord will be forward coming and give you the details of the trades person if not he will have to give them to the police once they are envolved.
Good luck
Alexender
Hello eveyone on here who replied to the original post I put up.
I have been in contact with my friend and they have gone for the nice approach and it turns out the landlord got all shirty / ratty down the phone about it. They told me that they had explained everything in great detail and well in the finish they just said thank you and bye.
So they picked the phone up once again and rang the local police station. They have been out and taken all the details they needed and will be contacting the landlord for the details of the trades person.
So that is all I know for now it is in the hands of the police could take ages as I guess this wont be a major case to solve.
Thanks again to everyone and if the site owners are reading. Excellent site it is really great. I keep finding new things out all the time then wonder where the day has gone but never mind as that is what a really good site dose so I would say you have got it right. Have a gold star - full marks.
Marcus