AIBU? My neighbour thinks I’ve stolen their garden bin.

[SukiTake]

My neighbour (let?s call them X) is accusing me of trespassing in their garden and of stealing their garden bin , which seems like a bit of a to me as I think I am entitled to have it. Before I go blowing my top unnecessarily and making a fool of myself about all of this, tell me, AIBU? Here are some facts:

? We shared cost of the collection service pretty much 50/50 over a period of several years.
? X told me at the end of last year that they no longer wanted to share the bin.
? It was just sitting in their garden unused this year.
? I asked X about it and they said it was going to be collected and no we couldn?t have it.
? I phoned the council and found that everyone who had a waste collection bin last year was given the bins (when they were rented prior to that), as the council was changing their admin procedure for them.
? I offered to buy the bin from X, but I didn?t tell them how much I was going to offer, X didn?t name a price, and I have since changed my mind and don?t think I should pay X for it. I consider that the bin was purchased when we first went into the arrangement with them.
? X doesn?t want to use the bin or share it with me, so it seems right to me that I should just take it and use it. So, when they were on holiday I did just that ? went into their garden and took it. I haven?t paid them anything for it because I don?t see why I should. They don?t want it.
? I wasn?t trespassing in X?s garden because they had my bin, and so it is my right to go and retrieve my goods.

I?m not BU, am I? My neighbour, X seems to think I am. WWYD, oh wise and lovely people? I haven?t ?stolen? it, have I? Apparently the council has told X to report the theft of their bin by us, and us trespassing in their garden to the police!!

[piratecat]

i am so so confused. you both paid £80 each for the bin itself?

and now it's been in your garden unused, so they want to use it because they DID pay for half of it in the first place??

please answer

[HeffalumpTheFlump]

Ok you have to answer now, you are bringing up Eric's wheelie bin issues and pirate cat is getting all confused and upset.

[piratecat]

thanks for the support (grips arm rests)

[ImagineJL]

If you aren't using your bin, where are you putting your rubbish?

[ImagineJL]

And if you really don't want it, why don't you sell it to them for half what you jointly paid for it?

[EricNorthmansFangbanger]

Oh a reverse AIBU? I should have read the whole thread before posting

[Dancealot]

But the £80 you spent was mostly for the collections over the last year. The actual bin is worth £25. That means if they own half they owe you £12.50! You have said you don't use it anymore but they do, stop being so tight and let them have the bin!

[DrHolmes]

You say you spent £80 on it, but that was when you had to rent it and presumably they also spent £80 on it? If it is rented then it was not yours or theirs, you just used it as a service. Now the council changed their policy they have left the bin there but someone needs to use it.They pay the £25 a year charge so they get to use it.
YABU.

Unless I have that wrong?

[WhereDoAllTheCalculatorsGo]

People get very emotional about wheelie bins. We don't have a green waste collection where I live. My neighbour fly tips his green waste in the woods.

[SukiTake]

Sorry about the slow reply. I was catching up on some sleep (teething baby), then went out to enjoy the sunshine for the afternoon and had a drinkie or two in the pub.

diddl - when I entered in to the arrangement with them we weren?t buying the bin. Just renting it. The bin was given to all account holders at the end of last year. The bin is mine. It has a serial number on it. The collection contract is in their name using my bin.

Kobyashi no, it?s not theirs. I?m not actually sure exactly how much they paid me for the rent of it and collections over the years. It?s something like £75 or £80. They might just be able to argue that 50% of it is theirs. (and imagine and dance) They offered to buy it off me and they have now changed their mind. That seems petty and childish to me. They should give me £12.50 at least if they want exclusive use.

So, at a push, they might be able to claim half of it. This whole issue is the last (I hope) in a long line of unsociable behaviour that I have been on the receiving end of over the past 18 months which is why I?m so pissed off by it, and I?d like an end to feeling crapped on.

Some fabulous, creative ideas here ladies. Thank you. Really made me laugh. So, the plan is to start off by disguising bin with moustache and glasses, then a while later, decorate it with some God Squad graffiti, including tambourines, then install a grim reaper jack-in-the box around October for Halloween and finally move on to the concrete and glue options towards the end of the year.

BTW, I notice no one is bothered by the trespassing issue?

gladbags I?m going to get some industrial strength glue. I will send you the left overs so you can fulfil your childhood dream.

digerd I think you?ll find answers either above or further up thread. I hope your gashes heal up. Lucky you getting a free wheely bin. Where are all you lucky people if you get free bins?

Eric OMG your neighbour is a complete nutter!! I don?t know who I?d prefer as a neighbour. I hope you sort your wheely bin ishoos. Maybe we could workshop them out together?

Piratecat I hope you are feeling less traumatised now. Would you like to join the workshop with me and Eric?

Dr There?s no obligation for anyone to use the bin.

WhereDoAllTheCalculatorsGo perhaps wheelie bins should be banned for the health of the nation?

It?s my bedtime. I will sleep a lot better tonight though. Thanks for helping me work out my angst. I won?t be fretting about this tonight, which is great.

[diddl]

How strange.

Weird that they can have a collection contract without a bin!

[cumfy]

"Your neighbour" should contact the police. :)

[Bogeyface]

By the way if you paint "Jesus Loves You" on your bin, no-one steals it. This I learnt on mumsnet.

Wouldnt work here. I have a super sized recycling bin, twice the capacity of the normal ones as there are 8 of us living here. It has been stolen 3 times, the most recent time we only realised when the bin men knocked on the door after they saw our neighbour nip out and pinch it at 6:30am as it was emptied. They were the born agains who spend every weekend door knocking :o

Clearly thick as fuck too, as we are the only ones on our street who have a big bin, so it isnt as if we dont always know who pinched it!

[ThisIsYourSong]

We have to pay for recycling bins here. It does lead to a bin stealing issue. Everyone writes their address on the bin with a permanent marker. If you don't brand your bin, you do so at your peril.

[digerd]

OP Just read on our council website, that in the autumn this year they are introducing more kerb recycling measures. Plus mentioning the cost to them.

Am now all excited at getting a new wheely bin, < how pathetic, should get out more> but they have changed what goes in what, and I shall be all < old addled brain>.

[ZenGardener]

Wait, they paid collect fees for this year even though you told them you didn't want to share anymore? Or did they pay it before you said you didn't want to share any more?

I'm trying to read the OP the right way around.

I think it is a little shady to say that even though the neighbours paid half of the rental fees then they have no rights over the bin as it automatically goes to the person who filled out the paperwork.

I think you should have decided earlier as the other neighbours use it more then the bin goes in their garden and they can empty it more. It would have saved the resentment a bit.

I think if you wanted sole rights over the bin you should have paid them the 12.50 for their half of the bin and refunded any money they paid for collection fees this year. As it was your decision to end the bin-share.

If they wanted the bin they should have offered you 12.50 pounds but it seems perhaps relations have soured somewhat. Perhaps they thought you were tormenting them with the empty bin.

I think it is strange to say you were arranging for the council to come and collect it. I assume the council weren't going to refund the 25 pounds so you were effectively planning to give away something your neighbour has paid half towards and still wants. Why not just give it to them? That would be the nice thing to do. Give the neighbours the bin and let them pay full collection fees.

It seems you want to use the bin a little but don't want to pay full price for it.

I'm thinking way too much about other people's bins...

[digerd]

I think the moral to this story is DO NOT SHARE WHEELY BINS.

[DrHolmes]

Who paid the 25 quid for this years collection service OP?

[kungfupannda]

I don't understand this.

You both paid the same amount to rent the bin. You decided you didn't need the bin anymore, but that they couldn't have it.

You want to return the bin to the council rather than let them continue using it - even though you haven't paid any more for it than they have.

The rental thing no longer happens - instead, people have to buy a bin for £25. But this didn't apply when you had the bin - so neither of you own it, you just both rent it.

Is that right?

If so, then I'm not remotely surprised they have come and taken the bin. They have just as much right to it as you do. They must think you are being completely bonkers!

If not, I'm not sure I understand who paid what.

[kungfupannda]

Just re-read it. So everyone who previously rented the bins has now been given one free - is that right?

So why should they pay you for it? You didn't buy it.

[digerd]

DrHolmes

The neighbour has always paid it and still does, OP said,as the collection contract is in neighbour's name and not OP's . not

[KobayashiMaru]

I still don't see it. Did you pay for the bin in the first place?

[digerd]

I was loving this thread, but now it's got tedious, and my brain is beginning to boggle. Heard of "drip feeding" but this is "confusion drip feedind" .

[digerd]

feeding - brain's given up

[DrHolmes]

I am just hoping it was a wind up thread!
I'm actually angry on behalf of the neighbours. Just give them their sodding bin.