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Caught in the Act!

(61 Posts)
sunseeker Tue 16-Apr-19 14:02:03

As I am planning to downsize I have been having a good clearout. My lovely brother in law came on Monday to clear the garage (DH was something of a pack rat). A skip was ordered and half filled before he had to go home, planning to come back in the next couple of days to finish.

I left home this morning to go shopping, on the way I realised I had forgotten something so turned around and drove back home - only to find two neighbours halfway down my drive with arms full of rubbish which they intended putting in the skip - they had obviously waited until I had left the house! I pointed out I still had lots to put in the skip and didn't have room for their rubbish as well!

inishowen Thu 18-Apr-19 11:43:29

How cheeky of your neighbours! We've had it the other way round. We were getting a new kitchen and the old one was in the skip. A man with a van knocked the door and asked if he could have it. We were more than happy to let him find a use for it. I think he had a contact with the skip people so he knew where to look for skips.

Jaycee5 Thu 18-Apr-19 11:28:41

I think that Councils should have 'skip days' when they put out a skip in different locations. It must cost them as much as dealing with fly tipping does.
They work on the basis that making it difficult to chuck out rubbish means that people will have less but there is little evidence of that. A bit like their old policy of making parking difficult in residential areas so that we will all get buses, even in places where there aren't any.
Some skips now have covers on and for what you have to pay it seems like a good idea. People could still lift them up but it would stop some.

Sheilasue Thu 18-Apr-19 10:23:55

Flaming cheek, ask them for half of the money towards the skip.
I do have a friend who did a course on upholstery and was out with her husband and saw an old chair sticking out of a skip. They did knock and ask if they could have permission to take it though.

Aepgirl Thu 18-Apr-19 10:17:11

I understand this is quite a frequent occurrence. People seem to think that a skip is for everyone, not just the person who has paid for it.

I’ve also seen people taking stuff out of skips, but at least this is recycling.

Riggie Wed 17-Apr-19 20:17:17

We had one neighbour who asked about one item and said yes. The scrap dealers took it the next time they were round. And they asked if they could empty it, I guess because we were outside when they came.

I did skip dive a new carpet offcut last year as it looked just right as a runner for our utility room (and was!) but generally theres never anything interesting!!

DanniRae Wed 17-Apr-19 19:13:38

Nannyxthree - That's on the youtube clip above!

Nannyxthree Wed 17-Apr-19 17:11:38

I think Victor Meldrew had a car dumped in his skip!

Matron Wed 17-Apr-19 15:43:34

I remember working with a colleague on night duty who had just had a skip delivered. By the time we had finished our long tiring shift my friend found her skip piled high with other neighbours rubbish. She had to wait until her next nights off to order (and pay) for another skip and keep guard over it!

DameJudyClench Wed 17-Apr-19 12:49:06

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bl5us_7Myyg

leyla Wed 17-Apr-19 12:45:07

We've got one coming at the weekend. I am a skip virgin - don't know what to expect. I shall keep an eye on the neighbours though - I think we will fill it with our crap!!

fizzers Wed 17-Apr-19 11:34:00

If anything else turns up in your skip that you know isn't yours , well , I'd have to dump it in their garden

harrigran Wed 17-Apr-19 09:16:25

When we had our refurbishment done we had a skip outside the door for weeks, the scrap men used to arrive early in the morning to recover any metal or anything useful. I am sure that bathroom fittings went very quickly, I was amazed that anyone would want a second hand toilet.
We now have CCTV round the perimeter so would make interesting viewing if we had a skip, probably a bit like an episode of One foot in the grave ?

GrannyGravy13 Wed 17-Apr-19 08:57:44

I came home to find a white van parked across my drive and 2 men in our skip raking through the rubbish and picking out what they wanted!!!!!

DanniRae Wed 17-Apr-19 08:17:29

I do wonder how many people reading this thread are thinking "Oops I put some stuff in a neighbours skip recently........but i'm definitely not going to say so on here?" shock

Anja Wed 17-Apr-19 08:17:27

Very similar to what I did gilly. Oddly enough we still had people ringing our bell and checking it was OK to remove stuff.

gillybob Wed 17-Apr-19 07:31:47

Skips are VERY expensive everywhere I think. It’s one thing taking stuff out sunseeker (great that leaves more room for rubbish) but very different someone putting their rubbish in !

When we cleared my late grandmas bunglaow we ended up hiring a skip and put a big sign on it saying “feel free to rummage and take whatever you like” as we knew one skip would not have been enough. We were very lucky and even had passing cars pull up and take stuff which was a win win situation. I would have been furious if anyone had put anything in it though, I’m sure it cost over £200 !

Riverwalk Wed 17-Apr-19 07:15:29

Namsnanny grin

When we were doing up a house the builder put a load of rubbish out front on the paved garden, to be collected the next day. Sure enough overnight a broken toilet appeared atop the rubble!

sunseeker Wed 17-Apr-19 06:18:47

BradfordLass It is rubbish - many journeys have been made to various charity shops - I don't think many charities would be interested in half tins of paint, pieces of wood, dust sheets and old electrical equipment amongst everything else!

BradfordLass72 Wed 17-Apr-19 02:49:49

I just hope it really IS rubbish and not something the local charity shops might benefit by.

When I cleared my Mum's house (although she wasn't a hoarder) I asked Hospice if they wanted to come and get things and they did, most gladly.

The local Methodist OP shop said to me afterwards, 'I wish you'd asked us as well!'

Mycatisahacker Tue 16-Apr-19 21:44:05

Cheeky buggers! You take out of s skip but not put in!!! So so rude

phoenix Tue 16-Apr-19 18:27:38

What a damn cheek! Skips these days are pretty expensive (well they are around here in North Devon, had to get one when we were having a clear out at work, I remember I thought "HOW MUCH!" when I was getting the quotes!

I think especially bad that they were sneaky about it, might have been different if they had had the courtesy to knock on your door and ask.

M0nica Tue 16-Apr-19 16:31:15

We had that problem when we moved into our current house, and the skip was on an access road, not the road itself and as we do not have close neighbours, and it was certaainly not the two immediate neighbours, the dumpers (dumpees?) could have brought the rubbish they were dumping in our skip 100 yards to reach it.hmm

lemongrove Tue 16-Apr-19 16:11:51

I think it’s very common sunseeker that people do this, as I have heard friends say much the same over the years.
Anja that notice you put on is a good idea and may make others think twice ( unless they have no shame at all.)
Since hiring a skip is expensive it must be very annoying when others slip things in!

lovebeigecardigans1955 Tue 16-Apr-19 15:21:45

Cheeky blighters! I hope they said sorry and turned tail with their rubbish.
That's nice, glamma - some people are still polite.

glammanana Tue 16-Apr-19 15:19:12

Absolute cheek of them I hope they where suitably shamefaced.
Last week a neighbour in the next Road completly gutted their kitchen including pots and pans dishes etc and a young lady who had moved in opposite asked if she could help herself and was invited to take what she needed,the girlwas starting fresh in her HA house and she was delighted with what she got for free,when talking to the homeowner the next day she told my husband the young new neighbour kindly bought her a bunch of flowers as a thank you.