I'm a simple emigrant and I earned 165 euros by not being lazy

In our building the elevator has broken down three times already. And each time at the worst possible moment. And don’t roll your eyes here, as if every moment isn’t convenient for me. And if so, what would you do about it? The first time, we invited our cousin with her husband and two little kids. We had invited them a hundred times, but for the first time everything finally lined up, and they really came! And we gave them a surprise: the elevator doesn’t work. We stuffed the kids’ pockets with a year’s supply of diapers and the rest of the baby gear that comes with children, and spent the whole weekend going up to the fifth (sixth) floor. That’s still a good thing — they were in a car, so we didn’t have to haul the stroller. The second time we left and asked a friend to water the plants. Naturally he could also just hang out with us. He was already looking forward to those evenings with pizza by the TV, or on our balcony (which, by the way, he helped build). We bought him pizza there and his favorite alcohol. We hid, waiting for him to text us something like “wow, thanks you’re cool!” From his first visit we really did receive a message — a photo of a sticker “defect” on the elevator. By the way, we returned with suitcases bigger than me and also hauled them all up the stairs splendidly. Then relatives with sore knees also came to us — and we all jumped up and down together like mountain goats. The last time happened in July. We left for Prague for five seconds, returned — and had already managed to break the elevator again. For a whole month it didn’t work; we couldn’t stand it and filed a complaint, saying something like, “AND NOTHING we climb to the top here every day, week after week.” We didn’t plan to do so much sport anyway! A month later, I’m walking with a bag of cherries from Lidl, and there the repairmen are poking around. In a burst of joy I asked them, would you like me to bring you cherries, dear ones? They politely declined. Then I talked with a neighbor about it; she laughs and says she did the same thing! So, for these inconveniences in Germany there is Mietminderung (митминдерунг) – a reduction in rent if a substantial defect appears and it affects quality of life. By law, you don’t even need the landlord’s consent. That is, you can simply transfer a smaller amount of money yourself. If the problem has just appeared, of course it’s better not to do that, but to start with simple communication with the landlord. If there is outright ignoring or resistance, then you need to carefully read which defect “how much is it worth” and transfer the reduced rent, with a comment like, “10% less because the battery isn’t working, we sit like icicles all together as a family.” Our complaint they considered for quite a long time, but that’s okay. In the end they refunded us 165 euros, and I decided I would write them another complaint and remind them of past sins. Maybe they’ll pay for those too! 😏 #curiosities #useful