<p>My son had a roommate who trashed his half of the room. Luckily his RA was familiar with the situation and only fined the roommate for the damages. I hate the communal charges when your kid isn’t guilty, but I understand why they happen. And it’s true that if they didn’t charge you, you’d probably just get charged via higher housing costs the following year.</p>
<p>I get that this is a matter of principle type of thing, but save your effort. If you let it annoy you the ■■■■■■ win. Don’t let the ■■■■■■ win. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>$1.39? Yeah, that’s some lesson. Now they can’t get that McDonalds cheeseburger they’ve had their eyes on. </p>
<p>I thought the worst was when my DD’s college, SUNY Binghamton, was soliciting donations from the parents (who were paying tuition!!!)</p>
<p>^^ both my kids’ colleges do that. I was initially surprised that they’d do that but apparently it’s pretty common.</p>
<p>Most schools do that.</p>
<p>OP…just keep in mind that your son’s registration for the next term will be put on hold if that fine isn’t paid.</p>
<p>Thanks, thumper1. It’s coming out of the $250 damage deposit that was charged to S2’s account when he moved in spring semester. The remaining balance will be refunded.</p>
<p>I realize it’s silly to gripe about $1.39, but I never expected the damage deposit to cover anything other than his room. I’ve learned his school is sometimes vague about their policies. </p>
<p>I notice DS has been charged with a small amount (like 1-2 dollars) of library fees or fines every year or semester. We even do not bother to ask DS what the charge is. With the COA several orders higher than this, it just does not matter to us.</p>
<p>In son’s (mine also eons ago) school the dorm bathroom housekeeping is typically done by students- usually a work-study job. Could be the person living next to you. But of course the drunken vomiter won’t think of that…</p>
<p>So there was $139 in damages that somebody has to eat. </p>
<p>You feel that is too small to bother with, what is a reasonable cut off. $200, $500, $1000? Even at a $1000 in damages my first thought would be its only $10 why are they bothering me. Then I would realize that it is $1000.</p>
<p>Dreadpirit, since you put it that way, now I’m not sure exactly where the damage occurred. I assumed it was on his floor only, which is occupied by 100 students. But the building houses 600 students and its kitchen/lounge is on my son’s floor, so it’s accessible to all its residents. So maybe it’s actually $1.39 x 600, although that amount seems excessive. I think I’m going to email the RD or Housing for clarification, even if it does sound petty, because I’d like an idea of where his financial responsibility for damages begins/end. </p>
<p>wis75, the students are responsible for cleaning their living areas, including the bathroom. And provide their own toilet paper and cleaning supplies. I don’t think it’s to be cost-effective, since S1’s state school provides cleaning AND toilet paper. Rather, I think it’s to teach them responsibility and accountability, but it’s unfair being held accountable for high traffic common areas over which you have no control. Unfortunately, life is unfair. </p>
<p>The biggest laugh I got from my son’s OOS public U was a $.12 for printing. Of course, the printing of the letter and the postage cost more.</p>
<p>I agree with you, OP, that it is the very definition of being “nickled and dimed.” Sure it is not a big deal to pay, but seriously, is it really something the school can’t just absorb? Isn’t there normal wear and tear expected? </p>
<p>I once paid a similar very small amount for an auto repair and was at first thrilled the bill was so small. But then later thought about why the mechanic charged me at all. I decided he was a cheapskate. I moved away from the area, but would have definitely had second thoughts about going back to that shop.</p>
<p>The point is not whether or not the school should absorb the charge (of course it could). The point is that these kids will be living in Sophomore housing next year, and after a summer of hearing Mom and Dad whine about the trivial charge for damages, will be much less prone to trashing next year’s dorm vs. last year’s dorm.</p>
<p>It’s a deterrence. It will work for some kids- they will remember that graffiti, using a fire extinguisher as a party prop, spray painting a bulletin board, or whatnot, comes with a cost. Not today- but after the year ends and the parents see the vandalism charge. It won’t work for others- either because the parents don’t care, or because in the grand scheme of things, trashing property that doesn’t belong to you is part of their MO.</p>
<p>I grew up near a university and remember students urinating on street corners and into our bushes after hockey and football games. Some kids just don’t care.</p>
<p>I hear ya OP - for a while my auto dealer service dept was putting stuff on the bill that made me angry - it didn’t amount to much but they should be rolling that stuff in and note itemizing it on my bill “shop towels and wd-40” good grief</p>
<p>I thought my son’s schools should take back his econ degree when he told me to keep an eye out for his security deposit return check for that dump he and six kids rented. I wish mine had stayed in school housing. What was wrong with that nice, clean on campus apt, I have yet to figure out. I would gladly be nickle and dimed for damages to that place. It was near pristine when they moved in. That off campus …shack, how they could have made it worse without burning it down (and that might even have been an improvement) I don’t know. But, yes, they did not get their security deposit back, and I was not about to help them legally go after the slum lord.</p>
<p>I don’t like it when school bills me $1.39 for something, puts a hold on me at school not allowing me to register, get transcripts, etc., and then when I go to pay the $1.39 with my debit/credit card I find out the school charges an additional handling fee of $10 for using a bank card. I mail a check or go pay in person to avoid paying the handling fee.</p>
<p>Get used to this as it happens frequently and it generally has nothing to do with your own room but either damage on your floor, common areas anywhere in the building, the laundry rooms and so on. . We were once assessed $50.00 for a broken window pane on door entrance to older d’s junior year dorm building. </p>
<p>Actually we would have liked to have charged both colleges for all the manual cleaning we had to do when we brought d’s back to school second semester junior year after semester abroad. Older d moved into the above mentioned dorm in a room that consisted of a large common room with kitchen area but no real cooking facilities, two bathrooms and a series of six individual rooms. Two or more of her friends had lived there and left for spring semester abroad. She and other friends who were returning moved in. Others were staying but hadn’t yet returned as we were the first of all move-in’s to arrive. Good thing we had brought rolls of paper towels and Fantastick and cleaning supplies - we needed to use them. When younger d returned from her semester abroad she moved into specialty theme housing for upperclassmen and DH hunted down a vacuum cleaner somewhere and personally vacuumed two large common areas in which dust had accumulated inches thick as apparently had been unvacuumed the entire previous semester or so it appeared. It would disgust everyone here if I described the state of the kitchen which was left uncleaned with dirty dishes in the sink for those leaving for Christmas vacation as well as vermin/rodents attracted to those dirty dishes. This definitely prompted a call to Residential Life whose only response was to offer to see if there might be a vacant room in some random dorm somewhere on campus and that they would report it to the Director of Res Life assigned to specialty housing which was actually a reclaimed fraternity house on campus. The room in which she was moving into with a girl she somewhat knew contained totally empty closets and dresser. Empty because her choice of storing her clothing was to pile everything randomly on the floor and step over the various piles. The good thing was this girl never slept in this room once the entire semester. She only dropped by to retrieve clothing from one pile or another or to watch House reruns in between classes and use her sewing machine while she did so. </p>