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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to not want the meter man to wander round my garden.......

28 replies

lottiejenkins · 05/07/2011 13:15

My electric meter is down the side of my house. I live alone(when ds is at residential school) I am of a nervy disposition due to various things....I do now have a very loud dog.
This morning i looked up from what i was doing and saw a man i didnt know wandering round the garden.Bumble (dog) jumped into the bay window and made a racket! I went out and asked him what he wanted and he said he was reading the meter. It wouldnt take a minute to knock on the door and tell me what he was doing would it?? I did see his badge when i went out but couldnt see it when i was loking out of the window! I quite prepared to be flamed for this,,,,,,,,,,AIBU???

OP posts:
Danthe4th · 05/07/2011 13:29

I moaned the other day because our meter man decided to knock to tell me he was reading the meter, he hadn't bothered before. So I suppose they can't win!!

kreecherlivesupstairs · 05/07/2011 13:45

It would have been good manners. Unless he was stealing cuttings from your plants, YAB a little U.

Insomnia11 · 05/07/2011 13:59

They should definitely knock on the door to tell you they are reading the meter.

Original poster
lottiejenkins · 05/07/2011 16:14

Thanks for your responses. Its interesting to hear different sides!

OP posts:
Mollymax · 05/07/2011 16:19

Was he walking to the meter, or walking across your garden. If he was just going straight to the meter, reading it and going, I do not think he needs to let you know.
You have written it as though he was walking all over your garden. Which he should not be doing.

FoxyRevenger · 05/07/2011 16:21

Probably if he does this during working hours he won't bother as so many people won't be in.

YAB a bit U

Sorry Smile

usualsuspect · 05/07/2011 16:23

YABU

he was just doing his job ..it would take him twice as long if he knocked on doors as well

reelingintheyears · 05/07/2011 16:29

It wouldn't bother me unless he was nekkid.

Then i would get all flustered.

MassagesDeclinedByNetmums · 05/07/2011 16:33

I wish my meter was outside Wink

takethisonehereforastart · 05/07/2011 16:37

He ought to knock, for his own protection if nothing else.

He doesn't know if your dog is friendly or not and he ought to be prepared for dogs to be out in the garden.

If he just goes wandering in to gardens without at least trying to let the people who live there know he's there then he's bound to meet an agressive dog sooner or later.

BabyYoureAFirework · 05/07/2011 16:48

I can't believe how many of you would be ok with a strange man letting himself into your back garden! (and that's not a euphemism Wink )

I'm not a nervy person at ALL, but I'd be pissed off if some random guy was wandering around my garden when I wasn't expecting it!

usualsuspect · 05/07/2011 16:59

Hes a meter reader doing his job,not a random person

surely if your meters outside its a common occurrence

BabyYoureAFirework · 05/07/2011 17:06

My meter is in my back garden - both of them are - that doesn't give people carte blanche to wander in and out as they please without knocking!

Original poster
lottiejenkins · 05/07/2011 17:11

He wandered to one side of the garden, then to the other, by the time i got out there he had found it!!

OP posts:
OddBoots · 05/07/2011 17:11

If it is something that is likely to un-nerve you in future too maybe call your utility company to see if they will install a smart meter? Or maybe move to using first utility or similar who offer them as standard?

lesley33 · 05/07/2011 17:13

I would prefer the meter reader not to knock on my door. If I am in during the day, I am usually busy doing something and I would prefer not to be interrupted. It woulda lso take him much longer to do his job if he knocked on everyone's door and I am assuming like most people he will have targets to meet. So if you are unhappy you should take it up with his boss, not him, as he is probably just doing what he has been told to do.

Fuzzled · 05/07/2011 17:22

Luckily my meters are accessed at the front of the house, but previously I have had them at the back of the house.
To my mind, if the meter is accessible without entering a private area (back garden/through high gate/areano visible from street) then no, the reader doesn't need to knock. However, if the meter is in a private area, then it should be common courtesy that they knock to let you know.
You could be sunbathing naked for all they know! Wink

chillistars · 05/07/2011 17:29

which makes me wonder, small children could be playing in the garden and you might not want him in there, you could have pets on the loose (rabbits, etc). And, for that matter, are they CRB checked like so many unexpected occupations require nowadays?

usualsuspect · 05/07/2011 17:32

I really don't think theres a need to CRB check a meter reader

good grief, the worlds gone mad

Original poster
lottiejenkins · 05/07/2011 17:48

I wouldnt go so far as to think he needed a crb......... Just a polite knock on the door!

OP posts:
chillistars · 10/07/2011 17:06

I don't either but I am often meeting people in my line of work and they say that they have had to get a CRB check and I've thought how ridiculous it is - I wouldn't have been surprised if a meter read had to have one.
I don't think that they should have to have one.

chillistars · 10/07/2011 17:07

usualsuspect, I quite agree about the world going mad - with regard to CRB checks anyway!

InTheNightKitchen · 10/07/2011 17:11

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Niecie · 10/07/2011 17:12

We had a meter reader round a couple of weeks ago who did knock on the door. Just as well because if he hadn't the whole back gate would probably have fallen on him as it was broken and had come away from the wall (it has been fixed now). If he hadn't knocked I could have ended up being sued for injuries!

It is a bit annoying that he knocked but at the same time the window cleaners wander in and out the garden at will and have scared the life out of me on several occasions so a knock is probably better than that.

ratspeaker · 10/07/2011 17:33

Would it be possible to put a lock on the access gate to the garden if it bothers you that people could just walk in
Or a lockable gate futher up the side of the house?

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