The email that wasn't sent.

Dear dumbfuckpropertymanagementltd,

Please find attached a copy of my bank statement covering the period 11 August 2006 which shows that the automatic payment for my rent went into your account as usual. Will you please contact your bank and let me know why you allegedly haven't received this.

I must say I am totally gobsmacked that you have never contacted me about this alleged non payment, and that I only found out by accident when I contacted you on another matter. May I remind you that it is your duty and obligation under the act to keep accurate records of tenants rent payments, and if a non payment occurs it is also your duty to take all steps to recover the money within a reasonable time, and to advise the tenant of this, not let them find out inadvertantly 18 months later. Oh, but property management is your business so I shouldn't need to quote the relevant sections of the act to you, however you may wish to have a quick glance at sections 29 and 30 of the Tenancy Act 1986.

I also wonder at the state of your accounting systems. Yes, I know I never completed my Business Studies degree, but goodness balancing a ledger to a bank statement really is kindergarten grade accounting. I'm now wondering who's rent ledger has benefited from my payment.

As you know, I took the time to create a spreadsheet for you to match to your ledger to make it easier for you to find your mistake, and your response to that was to ring me and ask "what it is again that I am looking for?" I have also had to incur expenses getting bank statements from an account that has been closed for over a year.

I would like you to treat this matter with some urgency, but history shows me that no matter how many flags, red exclamation marks or any other bells and whistles that I attach to this email, you will probably not respond in less than a week. So yet again I have set my calendar to go bing in a weeks time to do a follow up with you, a follow up that will include a cc to Tenancy Services.

I'm wondering if this sloppy standard of management is the result of menopause, if thats the case when my time comes it will be HRT by the bucket load.

Yours notveryrespectfully

Rather Disgruntled Tenant.

Addendum 24 hours later: Even though I only sent the very very gentle version of this email I got a response the same day, possibly due to a mention of Tenancy Services though I suspect due to gross embarassment. Yes, they now admit that the money is showing in their bank statement of that date and hadn't been credited to my rent.

This has me squirming because all I can think is "how did they balance, they can't have balanced". I suspect 2 options,

1: Their accounting practices are so slack that the concept of balancing the rent ledgers to the bank statement is totally foreign to them, or

2: They do do a reconciliation which means someone else had my rent credied to their account and now THEY have a problem to deal with.

How can they sleep at night if their numbers aren't all tidy?