All a matter of perspective, I guess.

Some might call it some really shitty luck, having to break into your third floor apartment through the balcony after the latch on the sliding door somehow engages itself and locks you out.

Others might consider it mighty fortunate, getting stuck out there barefoot and barely dressed but making it back in without cutting yourself to the fucking bone in several places.

We'll see if they try to make me pay for the repairs.

Wow. You really are an angry guy!

Does your pussy, prissy phone have a CAMERA?

Hey, I tried to be gentle, dammit. I didn't just throw a chair at it or anything. What I did was jam my heavy metal grill spatula between the glass and the frame until I could flip the latch. The inner pane shifted over without breaking, but the outer one cracked and shattered.

What do you mean "try" to make you pay for repairs?

How is this anyone else's responsibility to pay for?

Well, there's a thousand bucks or so for a new door at Lowes.

Sorry Mr Landlord, I didn't mean to jam the metal spatula into the door until I breaks. I also didn't admit to it on the interwebz!

Got to say, congratulations in not getting your feet ripped up. Those shards would be a real bastard

Because it's not my goddamned fault their old ass door hardware fucking locked me out, that's why. There was no abuse or negligence on my part to result in me being locked outside at night, three stories up. Why should I have to pay for that? Was I supposed to fucking sleep outside until this morning, so I could flag someone down to call the office? Or maybe I shouldn't be venturing out onto the balcony without a phone, set of keys, and a motherfucking rope ladder? Take some night classes in undetectable burglary techniques?

Admit it - you had a desire to act out the Diehard scene with Bruce Willis walking across broken glass.

yikes.

What were you doing going outside of your apartment barely dressed and closing the door anyway?

I considered climbing down like an action hero. Still had no keys to get back in. Also, I was in my underwear. So I woulda been the half-dressed, barefoot (and muddy. it's been rainy lately) guy wandering into the Kwik-E-Mart at night to use their phone. IF I didn't break my damn neck climbing down, IF Apu didn't call the cops on sight, and IF my buddy still has the spare key I gave him, maybe I could have avoided ugly consequences, here.

T-shirt and boxer briefs are adequate to get some food off of the grill, the door gets closed to keep the cool air in, and I should not have to fear the goddamned door locking itself.

Yes it is a matter of perspective. Yesterday morning I got a whooper traffic ticket, 300 dollars worth. All because in a split second decision I didn't "trust my guy" and chose wrong. And this is right before the start of bow hunting on Saturday! It was a last minute reminder to always trust my instincts. Some might call it coincidence, but we'll see.

Also putting things in perspective - better getting nailed by the cops than the game warden!
A cop can't keep me out of the woods and totally ruin my season.

Would you consider, I don't know, checking the hardware before leaving?

(This post edited massively to comply with GR rules; specifically, avoiding all discussion of malleable concepts of personal responsibility once it gets, you know, personal.)

Don't give me that crap.

I use that door all the time. It is unreasonable to have to inspect that stupid latch every time I walk through, and it should not be possible to lock yourself out with it anyway.

Things wear down and break over time. Shit happens.

The latch failing is not anyone's fault, and certainly not the landlord's responsibility to pay for it. You're the one who smashed the fucking window. Sheesh.

I agree. But if it wasn't obviously broken and in need of repair, the landlord wasn't negligent in failing to fix it beforehand. If it was, it's negligent to use it as if it should work, instead of insisting on a repair and taking precautions while it's still broken.

If it's so badly designed to make that possible, it should be used with caution.

Sorry, but sometimes bad things just happen. They can happen to you without your fault, but that doesn't automatically make them someone else's fault.

Hardware failures are the owner's responsibility. That's normal wear and tear that happened to have unfortunate consequences this time.

Because a mechanical failure in hardware I do not own forced me into that position. There was no viable alternative.

Nor was I negligent for using it in good faith.

There was nothing obviously wrong with it. The latch still looks fine.

You are not going to gin up some bullshit rationalization for why I should have to thoroughly inspect that latch every time I walk through a sliding glass door to make sure it won't do what no reasonable person should ever be expected to anticipate it doing.

Without demonstrable negligence or wrongdoing, the responsibility lies with the owner to fix the property. Did they bill me when the valve cartridge in the kitchen faucet broke on me? No. Did they bill me when the blower motor in the A/C failed? No. Both happened when I was using them, and both could have been prevented if I performed an expert preflight check beforehand. But that is a bullshit expectation and you know it.

This thread properly belongs in the Red Room, because it's a classic example of how the viewpoint of a particular poster (who shall remain nameless) changes when something personally affects him.

Umm, yeah, the hardware isn't to blame any more than you shutting the door all the way and hard enough to have jarred it into slipping.

and yeah, you probably should've slept outside rather than breaking the window by attempting to jimmy it if you didn't want or expect too pay for the damages you caused. don't go shifting the blame and bill onto your landlord because you fucked up.

Perfectly consistent outside your obvious trolling tactics. :yawn:

The door needs to be shut all the way. I did not slam it or in any way mis-use the fucking door in a manner suitable to your strained desire to suggest I was somehow wrong for opening it, walking through, and shutting it. If it requires more attention than that, there is a problem that I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR SOLVING.

Now we're getting into some serious stupidity. Either perform a GM-Certified inspection every time I walk through a door, sleep on the balcony waiting for someone to walk by, or pay for the damages necessary to circumvent a malfunctioning door.

No. Just fucking no. Part of what I pay for is not being responsible for the upkeep of the building hardware. That malfunction and every consequence thereof are the responsibility of the owner.

Come on UA, get this thread moved into the RR. It could be comedy gold & i suppose can allow us all to have a proper discussion on the responsibility of owners on upkeep of property v potential misuse by tennents.

You mean so you can troll and flame like a proper 13 year old internet badass?


Pass. I posted this outside the playpen for a reason. What I need is more of the weasely ratfuck lawyerballing bullshit I've gotten so far, to prepare me to duke it out with the leasing agency. You'll just have to conduct yourself like an adult if you want to play.

Cant believe your calling anyone an internet badass!

Also, i think you should try and stay civil since youv posted the thread in this room.

Anyway, if your rental car breaks down, the company pay for it. If you smash the car then either you or your insurance stumps up.

Maybe a better analogy, if you get locked out your rental car, either due to mechanical failure or your own stupidity, do they expect you to take a hammer to the windshield?

If the alternative is sleeping outside in my underwear on a work night or making a hazardous climb down some rickety fucking balconies? Yes. Absolutely.

And it's dishonest to throw "or your own stupidity" in there to imply that I was somehow negligent in using a simple fucking door in good faith. If it requires more attention than normal operation, it is faulty.

I agree that it has to be done, Im not sure however if the rental company is responsible to pay for the damage you caused in such a situation.

Its not dishonest at all. Others have claimed in this thread you locked yourself out. I covered both bases to keep the analogy relevant. You will notice i went with mechanical failure first.

The damage was the result of something beyond my control, namely a malfunction of their door. It would be different if I'd injured myself and demanded they pay $100,000 in medical bills or something, but all I'm asking is that they fix their shit.

As long as we're outside the RR, all I have to say is this: In my eyes, the landlord has to fix the latch, and you have to replace the glass.

Based on the bullshit conditions you stack up. Perform detailed inspections upon every use of a sliding glass door.