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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To hit it with a hammer?

15 replies

ToffeeSauce · 04/05/2018 14:06

The alarm on the house opposite has been going off for over 24 hours. No one can sleep...me..the kids...even the dog. Apparently they have gone to China and aren't coming back for a week.

Would I be unreasonable to go over there and smash the alarm to pieces with a hammer?

OP posts:
IHateMyChin · 04/05/2018 14:07

No. You should then put the pieces through their letter box!

LadyDuplo · 04/05/2018 14:08

YANBU, but you'd probably get arrested for criminal damage Grin

I'd phone 111 or whatever the non urgent police number for advice

NancyDonahue · 04/05/2018 14:09

Is there a company name on the alarm box?
Ours has a name and phone number. Not sure if they can do anything though Sad

Theknacktoflying · 04/05/2018 14:13

Yip - 101.

Very little the police can do if there is no crime ...

Original poster
ToffeeSauce · 04/05/2018 14:13

111 say that this has to be reported through the council.
Council are not answering the phone (probably sleeping off their post-election-night hangovers).
We called the company whose name is on the alarm and they said we'd have to pay for the callout if they came out!

OP posts:
ToadOfSadness · 04/05/2018 14:16

Go and break in, make it worth while for putting up with the noise.

Original poster
ToffeeSauce · 04/05/2018 14:17

DH and I discussed exactly that Toad!

OP posts:
VforVienetta · 04/05/2018 14:22

Sad to say hitting it with a hammer isn't a guarantee - ours was wired in and had back up battery, it took an engineer 40 minutes on the phone to talk me thru the disconnection, all the time the damn thing was blaring out at a bazillion decibels! Shuddering at the memory.

If you've got a ladder, you could try taping over the speaker vent to muffle the sound a bit...?

billyt · 04/05/2018 14:31

toffeesauce,

First, any responsible alarm owner will have a keyholder (or three.) Also, if you call the Police they will either try and contact a keyholder (if recorded)or call the Alarm Company again (who cannot charge you as you have no contract with them, your neighbour has).

Finally, all alarm systems, if installed by a reputable company, have to programme the sounder ring time to comply with the local Police Authority requirements (usually 20 minutes but can vary slightly). If the sounder continues after that time it is generally because of a main failure where the control panel battery has run down and the separate battery inside the sounder will power the sounder until that battery runs out. The only other reason a sounder 'rings' beyond the programmed time is when the sounder itself has been tampered with.

If the Police or Alarm Company are no use call the council again and request an Environmental Health attendance as the noise is affecting your peace and quiet.

ACurlyWurly · 04/05/2018 15:44

This happened to me years ago, next door neighbours alarm was going for ages but i knew they were on holiday. I called police and they said no crime call council. Council said couldn't help.
An hour later, it was dark and the living room lights were on and I genuinely saw a shadow moving at the back of the house and suddenly thought it could be a real crime and someone was in house so called police again. (turned out it was washing left on the wall mounted line....who does that and leaves it there while they go away!?!?!) However, police attendance made sure the alarm was turned off.

Sparklesocks · 04/05/2018 16:00

Oh god OP I feel your pain, this happened to a house down my street a couple of years ago and the alarm just kept going. It was across the street and despite being a few houses down it was so hideously loud sounded like it was in the house…!

I called our council’s out of hours line for noise/antisocial behaviour about 4am (after I was climbing the walls from fatigue but not being able to sleep through it..) and they logged it, but because they only have a small skeleton team nobody came until the next morning. It was a car alarm, not a house one, and eventually a mechanic came and turned it off by opening the hood and fiddling with the wires. Apparently they are allowed to do this if the sound is deemed an environmental health concern by the council. Can’t describe the relief I felt when it stopped…heavenly..

Anyway a few days later we had an apology note popped through our door from the neighbour – they’d been on holiday and had no idea the trouble they’d caused until they came home and found notes from the council about their car. They posted to them to every house in the street!

Hope it gets sorted soon!!

VladmirsPoutine · 04/05/2018 16:05

Can you not just call the police and say you suspect a crime might be occurring due to the alarm and act all relieved when they declare the place safe but leave of course with alarm turned off. I'm sure that's a crime but what else is there to it other than sit it out.

SergeantCalhoun · 04/05/2018 16:12

So sorry. We had this for well over 48 hours last summer. I called the council re. noise/antisocial behaviour, like a poster above and it was sorted eventually. It was a student house, everybody gone home for the summer. Good luck!

Original poster
ToffeeSauce · 04/05/2018 16:16

My DH is now in the houseboat question! The lady watering the plants turned up and he got talking to her about it... she called the owners and they said to get it turned off by any means possible - he is in there now with the plants lady trying to help switch it off, it hasn’t worked so far...

Ridiculous! But at least they know now.

OP posts:
lhastingsmua · 04/05/2018 16:18

Can you ask the owners to send the alarm company out and they can pay over the phone?

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