Someone parked on my drive

[Redadmiralflyer]

Moved into my property on Friday. We have a driveway to fit two cars.
The person before us was elderly and didn't have a car so neighbours visitors frequently parked there. One of the neighbours gave us a private parking sign that's yellow. We stuck it on the hedge at the side of the driveway. So far so good.

Today I come home from work and find a car in my drive. I assume it's one of the neighbours cars and I'm really annoyed. I sit and watch out the window and finally appeared a salesman who got into the car and he sat on the phone for ten minutes. My car was parked next to his so he knew I was home. I couldn't believe he still sat there on the phone.
I lost my shit and came out and pointed at the sign and shouted can you not read! He drove off.
Was I unreasonable for shouting at him even though there was space on the drive? Dh was at Ikea and on his way back with furniture so I wanted part of the driveway clear to allow him easy access to house.

I'm not confrontational so I feel bad for shouting. Just to clarify he was some sort of sales person who had walked over to the next street so wasn't just nipping into a neighbours house.

YABU for waiting and then shouting.
Why not just go straight out and calmly ask what he thinks he's doing parking on a private drive? Not dramatic enough for MNing it?

Oooooh now this is exciting. A whole shiny new parking thread. I literally can't wait to see if CF comes back tomorrow

how would a salesman have known it was a free for all on your drive

does he sell ofteen round there

Next time block them in, no need to shout just as easy to guilt trip them with a polite 'oh sorry but I didn't know where to park as I was unable to access our property'

Penguin bollards are SO last season! try the latest fad - kid bollards lol www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/09/03/creepy-traffic-bollards-cause-outcry-residents/

Guaranteed to freak out any CF and resolve your problem asap

Why did you even wait ten minutes, he was parked on your property? I swear I do not understand these kind of threads.

I'll see your penguin bollards and raise you ...

Don't google "creepy new bollards" or you will have nightmares [shocked] They are not only blue, they are red and green ones too!!

No diagram no sympathy.

string plastic chain across the entry, and hang your sign on it.

red and white is eye-catching, you can change to white once your neighbours have learned their lesson.

A Squire 660 padlock is big and weatherproof, you can paint it red and white as well.

www.screwfix.com/p/jsp-plastic-barrier-chain-5m-x-6mm-white-red/24520

5 metres for £7, bargain

chain

Haha FUNM!

There is a school in Windsor on the route to LEGOLAND which has bollards like that. Get's me every time!

Why wait and then go out and shout? As soon as he appeared you should just have went out and politely told him to move off your drive and not park there again.

You could be like Farmer Giles from Viz

"Get orf moi laaaand!" and stand there with a pitchfork

Yabu to wait 10 minutes. Id manage one second and go in or the kill whilst walking downdriveway. 🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧

On the contrary to several posters' opinion, I can understand why you gave him some time to leave without causing a fuss.
Having said that, I think you would have been perfectly within your rights to park across the back of his car, and then walk in the house and not answer the door for some time!

Aw. I miss GetOrf.

DontMakeMeShushYou I nearly crashed the car the first time we drove past that one! I really thought it was a child about to run into the road.

I second a chain until the CFs get the message, then perhaps invest in a stealthy stinger strip to catch and persistent offenders.

I'd have took him a cup of tea (just to be sarcastic) and told him to bugger off !

I cannot fathom what possesses people to think that they can just park up in other people's properties. It just wouldn't occur to me to do it.

It happens to us in a minor fashion - tiny carpark, people who don't live any where near pull in to take phone calls etc then just owl face at me while I indicate to pull into my own space.

The watchers

We live in a tourist town where the car parks are inadequate and expensive, and other parking hard to find and only for one hour. We have an area in front of our house which can fit two cars, or three if they squash up a bit. It's our front 'garden' and obviously private.

Tourists and cfs park in there often. At first, dh would be incandescent, but after 12 years of cfs parking there orlkng us in/out, even he doesn't bother as long as we don't need to go anywhere. Just leans on the horn or blocks them in if he can't get in. DD and I tend to ignore them.

You should put up a sign with charges and go and demand money from them jux.

Is it really so hard in these situations to swiftly deal with it, with a calm professional attitude and a no-nonsense tone? Even if you have to fake it?

So often the people who proudly state 'oh I hate confrontation' end up being unreasonably aggressive (or passive-aggressive) because they've let something escalate in their minds and explode.

That's not hating confrontation, it's being very bad at it. And like everything else, it gets learned by practising it rather than avoiding it.

Writing this makes me realise I have a special smile for these situations. It gives the impression that I expect to be listened to and my requests followed, and that I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt about being civil. I leave room for their actions to be a genuine mistake, but make it clear that it's a courtesy that only happens once.

I suffer from diagnosed anxiety myself, but I calculate that this approach will save me loads of stress in the medium and long term.