Good things only happen when we keep fighting against bad things

What I am going to tell you here is a true story from my recent experience. I’ll make it short just to show the main points and come quickly to the conclusion without mentioning all details that unnecessarily need further explications. The story has come to an end so it is meant to be an inspiring message rather than a topic to debate (but I’m always open for it if you want to argue with critical points).

I left my old appartment that I’d lived for 3 years on the last day of February, 2021. The manager of the student residence (run by a private company) came to check the room state, and he noted on the state of affairs (l’état des lieux de sortie) that there were some traces in the microwave and a broken hinge of the fridge door. He said the only concern was to replace the fridge with a new one but they (the company) would see the real cost in 1 month, when they would send me the final calculation of costs and deposit. One month later, I was shocked to know that they billed me a new fridge with its shipping cost, and even more, a new microwave with also its shipping cost (Pic. 1). Problems are:

1. Agree that the fridge was damaged (not broken ! It worked fine with the broken hinge.), but the fact that they made the decision without noticing me in advance is kind of forcing. And, they wanted me to pay all related costs (shipping).

2. The microwave is marked as stained to clean but they forced me to buy a new one and plus, pay its shipping cost.

3. There are some other costs relating to linens and furniture that need only some cleaning (I did cleaning to return them to their initial states when I moved in) but again, they charged me for all remplacements.

The total amount of charge wasn’t incredibly huge but it was annoyingly unreasonable. This is why I decided to send them a complaint letter to set another deal: I would pay only half of the fridge cost and not the microwave (few hundreds of euros in total, which is the most costly part), with a hope that they would listen and try to work out on this dispute. Otherwise, I would bring this to a court (with the French public agency ADIL - L’Agence Départementale d’Information sur le Logement, and civil court if needed).

They didn’t reply my first email in May, but a letter that I sent by post as the last warning before bringing it to the court, 3 weeks after sending (with a confirmation). They partly agreed to what I proposed, that I still need to pay for the microwave, but these costs are divided by a half, and promised in advance that a cheque will arrive in the next several days (Pic. 2). However, things didn’t end here yet. I needed to send them another letter of reminder after waiting for 1.5 month without seeing the cheque. Until then, they replied me quickly (by email) and made a precise promise that the cheque would come on xxth (the exact date) of August, 2021. Finally, the weekend of that due day, the cheque has come (Pic. 3). Case closed !

This achievement would not have come if I had not had supports from my beloved Laurent. He was with me since the beginning and I have learned:

1. That I should fight for it so that big companies won’t usually make use of “small” people or foreigners who may lack of certain understanding on this thing or tend to be easy going with this kind of dispute.

2. That the company partly agrees to my proposal proves that their act wasn’t legally right at first, that I had the proper reason according to laws (I checked with ADIL, while the company checked with law articles) in order to avoid the abuse of housing deposit.

3. That my voice should be backed up with proper French writing and enough information to make my point clear and strong.

This result is not really a big victory in life but it has an impact on my way of thinking. I love this saying: “The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people.” - Martin Luther King Jr.