Karma darling,
Long time no see …
I don’t wanna be a bore but really, really, where are you when one needs you?
Bad things happen to good people, that’s what everyone says, assuming of course “THEY are” the good people. My thought though is that if everyone is “good people” who are the “bad people”? me maybe …. the world’s one and only “bad apple”
I hate my Landlord:
My landlord sports – read SARCASSTIC here – a “fashionable”[1] hairpiece. Now Istanbul is Like the capital of hair implants and all hair thingies – excuse my ignorance – so I was pretty puzzled as to why is he strutting around with the equivalent of an artificial grass mat on his head. I’m not puzzled anymore though, being the beautiful, stingy soul he is, it’s probably a DIY.
Although I wholeheartedly despise the guy, I won't claim he's Satan incarnate. And i'm also not assuming/claiming that I’m “the good people”. But i can rightly say two things: first that what he did – gonna spill the beans in a second – is horrid. And that I wish him harm for it, but no more, no less than the harm he inflicted upon my guileless Yabancı[2] self.
I’m gonna make this short
Some fun facts first:
- Finding a flat in Cihangir Istanbul is pure agony. It’s like the most crowded neighbourhood on planet earth and everyone I meet is looking for a place, which begs the question: where are the ones who actually have a place?
- Prices have soared especially with the political conflicts (not to offend anyone) so if a year ago, a tiny weeny apt was let’s say 2000 TL at the most, it’s 12000 now. No kidding, it’s THAT BAD!
- And you don’t just pay rent. You pay the equivalent of a month’s rental to the middle-man (even if he was hypothetical and you found the apt on your own like I did), and a deposit, which I know is refundable but ain’t cute when you are short on cash.
- SO, If/ when/ if you find a rabbit hole, claw on to it for dear life.
Yaaaay, I found me one:
Not the bestest flat on the block, still under construction, and way over my budget (my budget was bullocks anyway)
Another fun fact:
3 months and the building is unfinished still. Thing is, my sweet-heart of a landlord rented the whole building to refugees who understandably were in no place to make demands, not to mention had to pay more. He also seemed to have developed completely deaf ears ever since he got his money.
To seal the deal we agreed to sign the contract, make the payment but move when the flat is liveable. My landlord – let’s call him Vahhap – promised to speed up the process so that I can move in within a few days. One major issue was the gas, and since Istanbul will be witnessing the most vicious snow storms in more than a decade, gas was beyond important.
The promised Monday came, I left the room I’ve rented, it was snowing heavily, but i dragged myself and the luggage to my new haven in the city I so longed to live in. Enter the house, no work was done, no gas, floors were flooded, windows open, the lot. I was ANGRY - I ain’t cute when I’m angry - I called Vahhap ready to slit his throat. Undeterred he asked that I allow him 3 more days. Because there’s nothing I can do now I swallowed my fury and rushed to the nearest café’ and started the dreaded last minute search for a cheap room. NOTHING. I had no choice then but to book a room in a nearby motel where I’ll be paying literally 25% of my rent. I wanted to cry because money is an issue, yet I told myelf “this too shall pass”.
Three days later, I’m inside my new flat and ditto! they never touched a thing, actually no one has set foot inside the building I had to connect the electricity and water. Called Vahhap, same promises but now instead of 3 days it was a week.
The snowstorm now in full force, and in no way I could afford one more night in any hotel, I stayed. I got myself a used electric heater and “settled” in. I will not go into details about the freezing water, the shivers, the pain …etc all I wanna say is that Vahhap kept stalling for the entirety of that month. But and this is the big but here, he assured me that because he didn’t deliver the house as promised he won’t be charging me rent for the entirety of that awful period.
One month gone, gas finally connected, flat still un-finished - I gave up on that by then - and I get a message from my kind landlord demanding the rent. Puzzled, I try to refresh his memory, reminding him of his promise. So what does he do? not only he claims to have no idea what I’m talking about but also demands that I pay him 2500 TL extra for the delay (as per contract)
Because reasoning/ fighting/ threatening didn’t work I decide to completely ignore the guy, he won't be seeing a lira from me . What ensues next is a series of electricity/ water cuts and harassment.
I’ll spare you the details of how I tried – and failed – to deal with the ordeal because I did eventually pay him. I’m sure many will call me an idiot, others will blurt “but why didn’t you …”. Yet that’s what happened, I’m not happy with it, I also don’t believe I handled it all that well, but I did the best I could at the time considering my circumstances.
So again, I hate my Landlord and I wish him harm, but no more, no less than the harm he had inflicted upon me.