After I left my studio in Lausanne the agency gave me a huge bill, 700 CHF. It's a place for students so it's a crazy amount. They charged me for everything they could throw at me. I managed to get it down to 275, which was for: replacing a stove filter, replacing a chair and whitening the walls.

Two months later and I still haven't got my deposit back (more than 3000CHF). Also, I know they haven't even replaced the chair or painted the walls. They seem to be charging me to make some money without actually fixing it. Does anyone know if that is legal? And 2 months waiting, isn't that beyond reasonable limit either?

Finally after a lot of unreplied phonecalls and emails they are telling me now that they will send me a letter that I must sign and return, agreeing to pay a 'forfait' for the paint job. I think it's a smart trick so that I agree I'm not actually paying for having the walls painted but just for the forfait. Does someone know if there is anything I can do about all of this, a place to go to or complain?

Your first post and you want help?

Join ASLOCA

http://yellow.local.ch/fr/q/Lausanne....html?rid=5g4c

true, i joined earlier but had nothing to contribute really.
i tried to keep it a short question, just to know if this practice sounds legal or not.
joining ASLOCA is perhaps not really worth it for this amount of money plus all the time and energy spent fighting an agency (in french) always feels like wasted effort.