Can a lone, older woman indulge in a 'fucking tradespeople!' tirade?

[SerenityNowInsanityLater]

I've had scaffolding left up. The company was fabulous when I needed it put up. Taking it down though has been another story. I became their storage.
Calls, messages, emails, all ignored, left unread.

So, this morning, I sent a final text: Thanks so much for sending the guys around. They're dismantling it now. Great stuff! I'm making them coffee!

How fast did the company call me? I barely hit send when they were blowing up my phone.

I hate that I've had to resort to manipulative tactics. I've had to lie and make a huge fake drama in order to get this company to remove their scaffolding.
I'm about to put my home on the market and the last thing I need is to become a scaffolding company's long-term storage.

The scaffolding will be coming down today. Result. Yes. But I feel like utter shit. I hate lying. Hate it. I hate that the guy couldn't just deal with me in a respectful, professional, direct, honest manner, And I hate that I didn't deal with him in a respectful, professional, direct, honest manner in the end. God knows, I tried.

It's really upset me, the whole thing. More than it should.

I don't know if this is a rant or what. But these are the moments when I find being a lone, older woman kind of hard. Maybe I'm making a thing out of this. But I do feel so much more aware of how much I need to protect myself from being taken advantage of.

Oh no. When they called this morning did you admit there weren't really men there? So now they're not bothering?

Why on earth do you feel bad about it? It's genius! I would be feeling like the cat's pyjamas if I had pulled that one off! 😀

I've a question ... if scaffolders left it up and it was still up a few weeks later despite being chased to get it , say it happened to get "taken" by a scrap metal type person, is there any comeback on the householder?

Ahh sorry OP just read your update

This is what I'd do.

I think it was a genius move. Sounds like it was scuppered by your neighbour. What a dick.

I would honestly just let it be known that it's scrap for the taking. If it's anything like where I live, it'll be gone in half an hour.

Probably wouldn't advertise on gumtree cos that's traceable back to you. But let your dodgiest neighbour know. Or maybe put it on your local fb group, innocently saying, the scaffolding company don't want it, I wouldn't care if someone came and got it for scrap...

I would be tempted to post an advert on GumTree after emailing them with:

It has been x weeks since you were due to remove your scaffolding from my building. I have contaced you on several occasions but you have not collected your belongings. I am no longer willing to have this on my property and will be making arrangements to have it removed. You have 24 hours to remove it before I offer it to elsewhere.

I empathise with your frustration. I just chased again a waste company that were suppose to be collecting a dismantled old wooden shed by today at the latest. Managed to get hold of boss eventually and “he’s sorry but forgot to put me in the book, in the pub now and will be there tomorrow”. Guys coming to put new shed up tomorrow morning, so I’ve had to delay them. Argh!

PS.. Neighbour down the road can keep you informed.

Thanks for the tip. Genius.

That's brilliant! Well done you

Nothing to do with sex or age. I'm male and have had tradespeople regularly taking the piss since I moved out of my parents house at 20 years old

Bloody hell, the scaffolders have just turned up to take the scaffold down. Yeh! Sending MN witchy vibes to you OP. Hope yours turn up very, very soon.

DH and I have long since concluded that scaffolding firms deliberately leave their scaffolding up to save storing it, judging by the number of houses that it seems to be left on long after work has been done.

I wouldn't be scared of them if/when they eventually turn up. I once challenged some scaffolders who were erecting scaffolding on the house next door to mine. To start with the scaffolding was put up on a Friday when we had gone away for the weekend. When we returned on Sunday, we discovered that it overhung our garden - no prior consent had been requested. Site manager got a call immediately and lied saying he'd inspected it and it wasn't over our garden. I suggested he return and check that out. He did and it did. It also didn't have any netting or kickboards on it so if a trade had dropped something whilst working at height there was no protection for us. Site manager agreed he'd sort that - I agreed he could have his scaffolding over our garden for 1 week max!
Later that day scaffolders turned up and started putting up more scaffolding (not mentioned by SM). I shouted up and asked where the netting and kick boards they were meant to be putting up were. The reply "don't know anything about that luv". So I politely suggested that he get on that mobile phone he'd been so fond of using and "find out" - and in the meantime he'd better not put up any more scaffolding. In spite of the effing and jeffing that had been evident prior to our "chat" he scrambled down off the scaffolding like a pussy cat, duly obliged and then they disappeared forthwith. They returned the following day with the required netting and kickboards! I very much doubt they'd really confront a lone woman of a certain age!

"So, do I put an ad in Gumtree for free scrap metal? "If you can take down scaffolding, you can have it." Apparently, they line up for it!"

No! Don't do that. Flog it to a rival builders/roofers - "buyer to dismantle". Scaffolding is worth quite a bit.

Don't worry. Once it's been up 12 years, you can claim squatters rights

If this is really common then it would be great if part of the payment was withheld until the scaffolding was removed - an incentive to behave well.

It could be built into the contract.

Are you in the SW OP? Scaffold boards are worth their weight in gold for building raised beds on allotments. Have van, can collect :)

They came! They dismantled! They left!! They didn’t smash up my windows out of vengeance. Though I was just arriving home when I saw them and turned to walk up another road as if ‘I don’t even live here! I’m Witness Protection, me.’

I should have walked right up to them and pulled out my phone to call them and say, “Oh my god! Some scrap metal collectors are taking down your scaffolding. Get here! Quickly!” while looking directly at them. Just take this experience to the maximum level. Just go ALL the way to nutsville with this. Start with crazy. End with crazy. But no, I just sorta skulked around until they left, then rolled up to my fed up daughter waiting at the front door wearing her typical are you done being weird for today look of disgust. She just rolled her eyes and exhaled, “Bro (I’m Bro when she’s really cheesed off with me). Calm down. They didn’t destroy the house. Shall I get your straitjacket?”

Nobody died. Yay! 😆
But what’s weird is I cried. Not a big, drippy sob. Had a tender sniffle. Life, just these small, silly things like the scaffolding staying up, feels hostile and big some days. It all used to roll off me. I feel so emotionally porous. I think I’m just getting weirder with each passing year. 🥺
Maybe if I didn’t lie this morning, I wouldn’t feel so broken now. I asked for it! But… the scaffolding is down. 😁
And you lot are just a beautiful bunch. Thank you, from my heart, my army of beloved MNers, for fighting the good fight alongside me! We live to fight scaffolders another day! Where the fists don’t work, there’s always knees or Gumtree scrap metal ads. ❤️

That is absolutely genius!!! Go you!!

😀Hooray!

Hahaha love this, good for you! That and I have fallen over a loose piece that's fallen on the ground, only sure fire things to set a firework under their butts.

Result, go you

“Emotionally porous”….. I’m taking that! This is meno me to a T 🥴💪🏻

I'm so happy for you OP, they're utter tossers and I totally get the waste of emotional energy that goes into worrying about all this stuff. We've had a horrible builder experience so much that I even dream about the situation, it's just horrible. So pleased for you xx