ski

Here's the story:

I moved into a 2 bedroom with a girl, and we each payed half of the rent upfront for the whole year.

I'm gone on an internship from January to May now.

She wants me to pay for half of the cable/internet bill, even though I'm not there, because she can't afford to pay it all. Is this reasonable to ask??

Here is her e-mail:

>===== Original Message From Kelley <xxxxxxxx@xx.edu> =====
>This sucks, I wish we would have discussed this beforehand. You should only
>be liable for the days that you used the electric, we agree on that. I also
>understand your point about not being here for the adelphia however I
>shouldn't have to pay extra for a service that isn't going to decrease if
>you aren't using it. We signed a lease together and are responsible for our
>part of the bills. Just because you chose to go Lynchburg that does not
>exempt you from a bill that would be the same amount regardless of whether
>either one of us uses it. This is just like rent, our rent didn't decrease
>because you weren't here part of the week. Regardless of whether we use the
>apt, we owe that amount. I know you are paying for service there too but
>you also have responsibilities here. You decided to keep two places,
>therefore there are double the bills. It is not my place to cover you part
>of this bill. We went into this splitting the bills and if you had no
>intentions of paying for adelphia, you should have mentioned it to me. I
>know paying for both sucks so if you want to try to find someone to
>sublease, I will help you find someone. In the past when you left, I just
>paid for the days you weren't here because I didn't want to argue over 10
>bucks but this is going to be 5 months of extra payments. I mean put
>yourself in my position, if I chose to leave and you stayed here, should you
>have to pay for my part of the adelphia? The price isn't going to decrease
>because I left. I feel like I am paying extra for a decision I had no
>control over. That extra bit of money will be hard for me to come up with
>even with the job I'll have next semester, which I know isn't your problem.
>Had I known I was going to be responsible for the adelphia bill, I would
>have mentioned finding someone to take over your lease in the spring. I
>completely understand where you are coming from and I am not trying to screw
>you over but I feel like I am getting screwed. I don't want to argue over
>money because money isn't worth it but I really feel like I am getting stuck
>with this bill unfairly. I don't want us to have bad blood over this, I just
>think this is fair. I can barely afford the adelphia bill now so if you
>don't want to pay half then we can cancel adelphia entirely and ill just use
>the emporium for internet. I'm truly sorry we didn't talk about this
>beforehand and I hope this doesn't ruin anything.
========================================================


I am going to offer to pay 25% of the cable/internet bill even though I won't be there but on some weekends. What do you think?

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ialsohaveadream

She does make a decent point, if only because if you're going to be there on some weekends, I'm guessing that means you won't be renting out your room....so you are basically sticking her with the bill.

I'd either cancel the cable, get someone to rent out your room, or offer to give her at least some money.

Nija

If she's not going to use it, there is no point in having it. Cancel it, I say would be the easiest thing. No bad blood develops with her having to pay or you having to pay for something when you aren't there.

But she is right, in that ya'll should have talked BEFORE you left.

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Jenny

I kind of agree with her. She made a good point... Just because you aren't there, that stuff isn't going to decrease like the electricity & water, etc. I don't know if you should pay half, but I do think you should pay some.

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donnar

I think you should have to pay for it, if it was agree you would spilt half of the bills then it should be that way, I think she is being fair as she didn;t try to get you to pay for utilities

ialsohaveadream

Also, if your roommate is hot, let her know that I've got a newly-available room, and I'd only charge her $250 a month for rent, with no extra charge for utilities.

ski

I've been moving every 4 months for the past 3 years, and I'm exhausted. I decided to keep my stuff there so I can finally stop moving for a little.

My main argument is that cable/internet is ENTERTAINMENT, not a necessity like electricity.

ialsohaveadream

But the cost of that entertainment doesn't decrease, even if it is doing less entertaining. If she wants to cancel it, that makes sense, but it is kinda crappy to leave her footing the bill for it if you'd agreed to share expenses.

ski

No, I understand it doesn't decrease, but we have digital cable, PVR, 40 movie channels, and cable internet. These are luxuries. Dialup and antenna TV is what I lived with for 12 years, it can be done. That's my point. It's not necessary to have a $75/month cable bill, and especially to have all those goodies and expect me to pay it, when she could be getting by with regular TV or even without any TV.

sbp

How much money are we talking about here?

Put yourself in her position.

Frankly I'd pay half the bill, cancel the bloodly thing and be done with it.

$37 is chump change even for a college student. Maybe sell off one of those free items that were gotten from doing a conga.

ski

I'll pay this month's, half of it ($37), but should I cancel it and let her decide what to do? It's in my name, so I could.

Is this a better option than paying 25% of it and keeping it in my name?

CynJon

Dialup? Surrender your geek papers to Welfareloser on your way out...

Seriously though, it does sound like the cable/internet bill could be trimmed down to a reasonable, basic level. Any amenities above and beyond that would be solely on her if she chose to keep them. If, say, the basic cable/internet bill came to $40/month, then I could see the two of you splitting THAT amount. If you were both living there and sharing these services you wouldn't BOTH be on dialup (realistically), since a second line would most likely be close to the same cost as splitting broadband.

But she is right in that this is something that should have been discussed up-front.

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kei2

Since it's flat rate, you should pay half. If she wanted you to pay ELECTRICITY or something, you'd have more of an argument.

Yossarian

pay something like a third of it, but also discuss with her it would be cheaper to just goto basic or something

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oblongmelon

She has a valid point. If you discussed splitting the bills before you moved in with her-then hopefully your word stands. Does she use the cable? If not-pay your portion of the bills so they are current then shut the damn thing off. Who needs all those cable channels? Aren't you people in school? Don't you need study time? Why do you keep moving?

BrewMaster

cancel it. save both of you a few bucks.

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Ladogaboy

If you agreed to split bills and the room won't be rented out while you're not living there, then you definitely should pay half. It's not her fault that you decided to move out before the lease was up. Otherwise, it should be canceled.

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YanksFanRy

If you want it there I think you've got to pay half. If it's okay for it to go - cancel it.

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revil

put it on hold. its a 5$ fee and lasts about a half year if i remember it correctly.

Emqtee

I am going to go with the others and say pay it. Or go with the option of having it disconnected. Either way you are getting off pretty easy. If you had signed a lease you would be paying half the rent or having to find a person to sub let.

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cheapie

pay half and or cancel it. that way when you start back up you can get the freebies they offer to new subscribers.

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ialsohaveadream

It's funny how you titled this "Unfair roommate", but the opinions are nearly unanimous that it's you who is the unfair roommate.

ski

It was never agreed that we split the bills, but she makes it sound like I'm breaking a promise.

I think I'm going to research how much basic cable and internet is, then tell her I will pay half of that, but I refuse to pay for digital cable, PVR, and movie channels. What's unfair is that she expects to have all these goodies and get half off.

WhiskeyPapa

Yes, she is unreasonable to expect to get all the premium stuff for half price. BUT, you moved in with a girl, and this is what you get.

You can cancel it or refuse to pay half, but if you do, you'd better be looking for a new roommate. Things are going to get really icy around there if you don't pay $37 a month. So icy, you'll be feeling it in Lynchburg.

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Jcranmer

I may have missed this, since I read this post rather fast, but even if you didn't make a promise, have you been paying half of this bill all along?

If so it sounds like the right thing to do is keep paying it, or cancel it as most of the other's have said.

Jeffbx

Yup, I agree with most others - pay half or cancel.

welfareloser

another voice added... she signed up for bill-sharing with a roommate through a certain date. just because you chose to be elsewhere and not use the resources you agreed to split doesn't mean you get to stick her with the full bill.

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Hopper1

Did you read the whole email she sent you? It says she is willing the cancel the cable if you don't want to pay half. Did I miss something? So pay half get it current and cancel it. This should have been worked out before you left.

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avlena

just cancel it. if you're you're under contract, then you should pay it because of all the reasons everyone else has outlined.

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ski

Thanks guys, especially Hopper1. I was so frustrated that I wasn't reading everything clearly. I plan to pay half of the current bill (which will provide service for 1 more month), and cancel in a few days to save all the mess. Again, thanks for everybody’s input! Crisis averted (I hope).