[SA] Plumbing Invoice
Not sure if this is the best place to share this but looking for some advice on an invoice my partner and I recently received from our landlords agency.
My partner and I are based in SA and have been living in our current rental for about 5 months now, and in the span of that five months our bathroom has been flooding anytime we take a shower. The water comes up out of an open drain hole in the floor. I noticed recently when using the laundry sink that the same happens in there. We've had a plumber come once before to unblock the bathroom, and it worked for about a week then went back to it. My partner and I put off requesting another invoice because of our busy schedules and only recently put in a request.
Yesterday they came, fixed it, said the whole system had been blocked and that the pipes were eroding (or something) and it needed to be replaced. I get an email today saying my partner and I have been invoiced 400 dollars to reimburse the owner for the issue because the plumber found a build up of fat and grease in the pipes and that my partner and I were 'not to pour grease and fat down the kitchen drain'. Which we haven't been doing, at all.
I realise there's probably absolutely no way to contest this. I'm just baffled that we're being blamed for something that has been an issue in this rental since day 1 and was likely caused by the previous tenants. I can't tell you how many times a random object has floated up onto the bathroom floor from the drain.
Regardless - is there any way I can argue against this charge, or at least get the cost down a little, seeing as we've been sent the entire invoice for the whole service and not just the kitchen/main drain. Thanks.