Old house owners being a pain

[Moaningturtle]

We completed on our house in mid November. It started in the day of completion when she was still in the house 3 hours after completing moving stuff out, and then left a load of stuff in the garden to come and collect another time. It was annoying, especially as the clutter in the garden made our moving in harder, but it we were accommodating and polite.

Then the packages started arriving all the way up to Xmas, including a few which we missed delivery of that weren’t named so we had to go to the collection office to get packages that turned out were not for us! This got a bit more annoying. Then her partner (who wasn’t even joint owner) messaged me informing me that UPS will be delivering a very important package that day and could I make sure I sign for it!! On that occasion I told him no, I was sleeping and can’t get up to answer deliveries (I work nights). It happened to come while I was awake though so I dutifully took it to a requested neighbours house.

Then he messaged me asking me to contact Virgin Media and take over his contract!! I said no thank you very much, we have our own broadband sorted. He seemed a bit miffed as I assume he now has to pay for the remainder of the contract.

All a bit annoying but we put up with it. But the latest instalment is that we’ve had Virgin media knocking on our door demanding we give back their equipment. Now, they did leave a router plugged into the wall which I assumed they didn’t want as why would they leave it in a house they had sold? So I put it straight in the garage….I think? It’s possible it went to the recycling centre with other electronics we were getting rid of. If it is in the garage it’s way way way back there behind all the stuff we haven’t yet unpacked/general garage crap. And now the previous owner is WhatsApp-ing me about finding it for her as I assume she’ll be charged.

I know it all seems like small stuff and I should probably just do it, but I work at night then sleep for 4 hours before picking the kids up from school and the whole clubs/dinner/homework/bath time/ bed time routine. Then I’m back at work!

At what point can I stop being obliging and just block them from my phone? Or am I being petty here?!

Virgin cannot not take any action whatsoever. Block them and don’t respond and don’t accept any more parcels!

@Goatsaregreat

Remember OP - the card the postie leaves for missed parcels should have a name on it. Not your name? Ignore it.

She said that they had had cards without a name and only found out at the sorting office that the parcel was not for them.

OP, I agree with all previous payers that you should just block and ignore and there is absolutely no risk of you being on the hook to Virgin Media. So you can put any the lights if searching for the router out of your mind.

However one thing confuses me- you say that your husband probably kept it and put it in the garage. If anybody was going to be looking for it, should it not be him? Why do you, with your night shifts and 4 hours’ sleep, feel that this is on you?

I’m really hoping that it is because your DH is sensible and has refused to look for it because he knows that it’s not your family’s responsibility. Can you get him to block them since you have issues with conflict/confrontation?

Typos galore- “previous posters” and “put any thoughts of”.

Your next reply to her should be fuck off snd do your own life admin. She’s really taking the piss.

Forgetting to notify someone your address has changed is one thing, but these people are ordering stuff to your address!! Even if they forgot with the first package - why are they still doing it? This would be ringing alarm bells, this is deliberate now and needs to stop. Not sure what they are up to by why would you do that?

Blimey, I would have laughed at them and then told them to f off!! Cheeky buggers.

You need to remember that responsible adults
would have sorted all of this with the move.

Their deliveries should already be coming to the correct address. Those few that were sent early right around the move should be covered by a redirect and if one or two slipped through that is where kindness on your part comes into play. One or two. Or if they are like me and get a ridiculous number of deliveries and know a move is pending, they could have switched to a privately rented mailing address (they do accept courier deliveries) for the period around the move so all packages and mail could have been delivered there and it would have been seamless.

They should have contacted the broadband provider before they left the house and gotten everything sorted and equipment returned. If they didn’t and they have to deal with charges, that is their fault. There was probably even something in their contract that let them cancel if they were moving and the service couldn’t be transferred to their new address. This is entirely their fault for not putting it on their moving checklist.

@SenecaFallsRedux

Once again, I am astounded at the way house sales are handled in England. (I'm assuming it's England as I know it's different in Scotland.)

There are lots of things we don't do well in the US, but property transfers is not one of them. In my state (and I think in most states), the buyer does a walk-through the day before, or sometimes the morning of, the closing of the sale. This is to make sure that the house is vacant and in the condition specified in the contract.

The only time I ever had any contact with sellers after closing was when a seller's cat disappeared while they were moving out. Happily, she (the cat) showed up at the house a few days after we moved in; we called the seller who came and got her.

Moving is stressful enough without having to go through what OP has. You have gone well above and beyond for these sellers, OP. Time for some quite enjoyment of your new house.

I did a ‘walk-through’ in London shortly before completion, because despite having stipulated that the place should be cleared completely, I had a fair idea that the vendor was going to leave a load of old crap for me to get rid of. Sure enough, he had. Including a manky old sofa. Completion was delayed by 24 hours until he got rid of it all. I was buggered if I was going to pay someone to take his junk away.

I hope this helps you OP and anyone else similar.
When we moved here we are 5 minutes walk from old house and the people we bought off are 5 minutes walk round the corner.
So easy to pop round with letters etc.
we, as you do , pay to have our mail redirected for 3 months.
Now everyone involved are lovely decent people.
But once our redirect mail ended nothing was ever passed on (apart from some medicine the Gp still had the old address even though we had told them)
I'm sure they get the odd bit , as we got a Christmas card this year 10 years on.
They were lovely, decent people but did not pass the mail on - ever.
So please don't feel bad.
They need to pay for it to be redirected.
( I did take the Christmas card round as the couple are totally lovey and well into their 80's).
Good luck!

OP, just in case you missed a couple of comments earlier - please get your locks changed if you haven't already.

@SenecaFallsRedux
I'm glad the kitty turned up.

Even if you had wanted a Virgin Media service you could not have taken over his contract. He needed to move that to his current address, or cancel it.
Virgin can be unreasonable and pushy at times,. They wouldn’t accept that I had cancelled my contract until the new owner wanted to move his service over and couldn’t do so.
My router was old and I was advised that they did not need it back.

But whatever happens neither Virgin nor the previous owner should be involving you in this matter, it is for them to sort out between themselves.

@NotSorry

Perhaps leave Yoko Ono out of it as the woman is knocking 90 and deserves som peace

The cheek of some people never fails to amaze me! When we bought our house 5 years ago they had left all sorts of shit behind, the garage was rammed with broken paving slabs etc. We contacted our solicitor and they told her to move it immediately, she wanted us to leave our garage open and she would take a bit as and when she could! We flatly refused and told her to get it shifted immediately, she had to pay a man and a van to come and take it.

A few months later we had a knock at the door from our neighbour who was still in contact with the old owner, they had asked her if she could retrieve some paint they had left in the garage and now wanted! I was speechless at her cheeky fuckery and told neighbour who agreed completely but had promised she would ask. I told her to let old owner know we had to get a skip in to Chuck all the shit she had left in the cupboards after her man and van had cleared the garage and she was lucky we didn’t charge her for it. Never heard from old owner again.

Just tell your old owner to do one they are taking the pee now

Well done on the assertiveness training OP. Perhaps it will be a gain you can thank the CF previous houseowners for.

Note: If you get to the mail office to collect a parcel and it is not for you... don't take it! It is annoying to have had to go there but no need to add looking after their mail to the list of irritations. (They will learn to re-direct once it becomes inconvenient to them.)

What a cheek!

I’d message to say

No more parcels, no more corespondents and anything else needs to go through their solicitor as it’s become ridiculous

But today she messaged saying that I needed to put it in the bag provided

Nope you don't need to do anything.
Not your problem.
They should have found out what to do about the Virgin contract before they left and made sure they took the router with them so they could return it.
If Virgin contact you again just tell them that it's nothing to do with you. The contract was with the previous owners.
Block the previous owners. You don't owe them anything

Refuse to take any parcels for them. Any mail or parcels that do get left can be sent back - not at this address.
Again, not your problem.
Don't be so nice! If they were concerned about parcels and mail they would have ensured that they set up a redirect and they would have been careful when ordering stuff to make sure they entered their new address.

Can't stand people who are so lazy and/or tight to deal with their own shit and then expect others to pick up the slack for them.
I don't go on like that and I expect others not to. If they choose to be like that it's their problem if parcels and important mail goes missing or if they get charged by Virgin for the missing router.

@Moaningturtle

Thank you all, I am feeling more assertive already. I think the trick is to talk myself into being pissed off. The rare few times I’ve shown assertiveness have all been in a bit of a blind rage, I end up shaking afterwards but ultimately feel much better as I’ve stood my ground!

Well done.

"nursing her wrath to keep it warm" (line from a Burns poem)

They are Cheeky Fuckers. Don't let them get away with it. Do not go hunting in the garage for the VM box - it was the vendors responsibility to look after it, andif they left it behind they have effectively lost it and will have to pay VM a fee. Not your problem.

Do not receive any more post or parcels for them or facilitate their CFery in any way.

They're unbelievable to expect you to do any of this wtf! I'd say in future make sure your parcels go to your address and further contact with Virgin must go through you, Goodbye & block them, Jesus what weirdos!
Some people just take the absolute piss.

Oh lord no no no . I moved out in September and paid for my post to be redirected . Also updated my new address on all online accounts and let couriers know that i had moved too in case some things had my old address. I think i had one letter go there in the 1s week of moving. Also helped the new owners with contacts for bins, the school etc. That's about it now. What these people have done is so cheeky. Refuse everything, hand back their post to the postman. Block their numbers. Lord some people have no shame

I would never give my phone number to people I’m selling or buying from. That’s why you have estate agents and solicitors.
No more conversations- block.
Any Mail - write not at this address and put back in the postbox .

Absolutely horrible for you.

We bought our house from a guy who was selling his mother's house as she had died. On moving in day we had to phone his estate agents to ask for the keys, apparently he was at work. He was told that the money had gone through and the house was ours now. We finally got in to find the dishwasher in the middle of the kitchen surrounded by carpet underlay soaking up the water he'd caused by not disconnecting it properly.

Found out that the garage was half full of his mother's furniture, apparently he'd been selling it on the internet. He was told that he had two weeks to move it. Turned up two months later asking for the garage key was told we had given it all to a local charity.

I don't understand why everyone keeps telling you to tell Virgin to get lost, OP. As I understand it, you told them when they turned up that you knew nothing about their stuff and are the new owner and they've left you alone subsequently. It's the previous owner who is making a fuss about this.

regarding reasonable I think forwarding the odd thing for a few weeks is helpful occasionally things slip through Royal mail redirect especially a few christmas cards, if someone genuinely forgot to take something that was theirs and asked me about it iwithin a few weeks I'd let them collect it but no to parcels etc etc and certainly no to taking over their contracts , they could move virign to their new address, if Virgin genuinely can't supply new address they have to refund let them exit contract you are not responsible