The tale of the bent mailbox key

Hey All... I think I'll start with a bit of an update to my last post.. my best friend, who I appear to have lost, has been found... apparently he went back to Nova Scotia and neglected to tell me that he was leaving... oh well.. it's not the first time he's done it... probably won't be the last either... I just wish he'd realize the crap he puts me through when he does that... I mean, I already lost one friend after she went missing... I don't really want to do it again... the nightmares brought on by the worry aren't all that fun either...
Ok.. onward and upward, I guess...
A question for you all.. Say you move into a new apartment... it's a nice apartment, good location, nice neighbors... and you generally like the place.. however, when the landlord gave you the keys, you noticed that the mailbox key is a little bent.. you don't think anything of it until you try to get your mail.. you leave it for a bit because it's not that big of a deal.. you didn't put in a whole lot of change of address forms yet anyway... when the landlord comes to retrieve the rent, you mention the key.. you show it to them, and they look back at you and ask how you bent it... trying not to get too agitated, you ignore the question, and ask what can be done... they say that they'll look and see if they have another key, but if not, you have to pay for a new lock on the mailbox.. they take the key and are gone... a month later, you still haven't got a key for the mailbox... and by now, the months bills are probably sitting in there and you can't get to them.. is there anything that a person can do to rectify the situation without going head to head with the landlord??
Two more days till Halifax... I'll ask again for you guys to keep your fingers crossed that my surgery doesn't get cancelled again....