To think our neighbors have swapped them while we were out?

[Stigofthedump90]

I’m not sure if I’m being paranoid or not but I’m really upset.

We have had our current NDN (terraced) for about a year and they are really scruffy. Our front gardens don’t have a boundary, and they leave their bins at the end of them full time. Can’t really do much about this, but the thing is, they don’t always put stuff in black bags. I’ve seen the sons just lift the lid when they are off out and put food wrappers etc straight into the bin. It does get annoying especially when they leave the lid up and wind blows their crap all over our garden and path. I do just generally grit my teeth and move it though because I don’t want to confront them and have a falling out.

Today was bin day so I wheeled ours out before I went to work. When I got home and went to put them back, I noticed that the black one really really stank. So I lifted the lid and there was a load of loose rubbish at the bottom, with food wrappers of things we don’t eat and a whole Tupperware container that looks still to be dirty with food. There are maggots all over everything and it’s jusy disgusting. It made me gag. But the the bin has our number sticker on! I feel like I’m going mad because it certainly wasn’t in that state this morning.

I feel like I can’t go round though because they will just deny it and I have no proof - it looks like our bin! Is it unreasonable to ask them if they’ve swapped them around?!

I don’t want to have to clean it and keep the waste for another two weeks until bin day again. They obviously didn’t accept the stuff that wasn’t in a bin bag. I can’t even get to close to it it’s so horrible.

I have NO idea what the reasonable course of action would be here! Does anyone have any advice?

I'd pour a load of hot water into it to loosen the grime and then tip the contents into their garden in the dead of night. Then have the bin you now have professionally cleaned and decorate it with paint/stickers/whatever all over so it isn't a case of just peeling off a single sticker if the CFers try it again. No point confronting them as all you'll do is make them hostile to you, they aren't going to admit to doing it!

sinkgirl what are you on about? The bin cleaners can do loads of bins per hour!

Of course they can, but given this is a thread about a disgusting maggot-infested bin containing putrid rubbish, the thought that some poor bugger is cleaning out shit like this for £2.50 is just soul destroying. How many can they do an hour do you think? Five? Ten? Fine if they have loads of customers on the same street, not so great if they’re travelling a lot - do you think the people cleaning out filthy bins are making minimum wage?

Someone cleans wheelie bins for £2.50? That’s awful.

£2.50 per bin. The cleaning consists of power hosing the inside of the bin for about 3 seconds. They gather a load of bins together (5/6/7/8) and blast them in one go. £20 for 30 seconds of blasting and then wheeling them back to where the belong. Then onto the next lot. They just follow the bin lorry around.

get a pressure washer on it and you can stand a distance away

My parents have had this problem, my dad is very neat and tidy and washes the bin out pretty much every time it is emptied, there’s also a strict rule about everything being in a bin bag. The next door neighbours who aren’t bad people at all (been their neighbours for 25years) are not clean bin people. They accidentally mixed their bins up when they brought them in (their numbers had worn off). It was pretty clear when my parent’s opened it and there was rubbish still welded to the bottom that it wasn’t their’s. My dad stressed for 2 weeks over it about how he’d get his precious bin back. He just swapped them back next bin day.

I suggest if the bins are kept out the front you wait until they are emptied again (or if there isn’t much rubbish in it now) you sneak out and swap them back. Get some paint and actually paint on your number. Job done. Don’t go cleaning their bin, that’s silly.

Swap them back in the middle of the night?

swap the bins and put your own sticker back on. and next time write your house number in oil paint

you can in some circumstances get a special lock from the council to stop others using your bin.

Please tell me you reported this to the council? They must be pissing themselves laughing next door. Why would you clean it just to keep the peace?! They'll be very interested to see how much they can get away with now

Obvs just swap them back. Paint your house no in large sign on it.

I got fed up with wheelie bins going astray so I made a massive stencil with my house number and street name on and then used car spray paint to permanently I'd my bin. Yeah I had to clean someone else's shit out if my bin once but it doesn't bloody happen now!

You can have your bin professionally cleaned for about £3.- which is one option. Or you can phone the council and ask their advice? Or buy a new one and use that indelible/UV marker pen to claim it as yours? Or install a RING doorbell which records any motion in the area up to 60ft (I think) and will send you the video...........
I don’t think it’s unreasonable, I’d be chewing my nails down past my knuckles (I believe punching is more successful with stumps!). Do what you can and try to laugh at their pathetic lazy lives. Good luck xx

Swap them straight back and get a bin lock in future and paint your number on the bin too. They can sort out their own filthy bin,not your problem.

Bin wars. Don’t get me started. We have had our lovely green bin swapped and our new paper recycling box pinched on a number of occasions.

I did notice, though, that our binmen are not a bit respectful of the bins and throw them back at any adjacent property with abandon. Maybe the OP’s binmen are responsible for the swap.

They are easily hosed out, though and bleach can be added.

Personally, I would go with the idea to swap them back and paint your number on the underside of the lid.

I think maybe your dislike for your neighbours is stopping you thinking clearly? These 'grubby' neighbours decided after a year of living by you to carefully peel off your bin stickers and put it on theirs becuase after being dirty for a year they suddenly cared and wanted a nice clean wheelie bin? I live in a cul-de-sac and I always have rubbish that isn't mine in the bin? As you live in a terrace and the bin is at the front on bin day I assume it must be worse? People always chuck stuff in bins, I stay at home all day and even then I opened the bin the other day to a bucket!

As @Isthisreallylife says you can get your wheelie bin cleaned for a couple of quid. We have ours done every fortnight. Probably less stressful than getting engaged in wheelie bin wars with the neighbours.

Probably using your bin too I’d do as others suggest bleach it jet wash it paint numbers on get a bin lock so they can’t put stuff in it and put it away from their boundary do you keep it out the front always if you have a garden space you could get one of those bin stores and put a lock on it either way confronting people like that will only make the situation worse believe me I’ve been there if they have the mentality to behave that way they won’t believe they are doing wrong so won’t change one good thing though is at least they do put in in the bin my NNDN has bags of dog poo in her front garden I’m just grateful it’s bagged up but the recent sun shine makes it pong I’m just looking forward to them moving on! Good luck

I would etch something like your name on the inside once it's sparkly and clean so there is no chance they could swap them again. Maybe get a bin lock so they can't dump stuff in it either. Good luck!

The bin men swapped one of my wheelie bins by accident. I knew because the label looked different (no address though) and it smelled. Also, a cat began sitting on it. Bin must have belonged to the cat's family.

Our neighbour took our bin once- I knew this as theirs had a broken lid. When I next saw him I said ' Our bins have been swapped- next time the bins are collected we can swap back'. He acted shocked that they had been swapped- and it could have been an accident- however he can be a bit of a sly neighbour and they would have noticed their lid as they already had 2 bags of rubbish in it the same day it was collected. I also pointed out our number on the front in permanent. marker (I had had it deep cleaned couple of months before)
It happened again at some point and I just went up their drive and swapped the bins.
It is crazy but think a lot of people are precious of their bins! I know I am :)

I think it’s more likely that someone has shoved a packet in your bin as they went past, right at the bottom and you’ve not noticed and put a bag on top.
Maggots - I missed a collection and had to wait 2 weeks - bin was crawling with maggots, I put bottles of bleach in but the resilient little blighters crawled right on through it! The only think that seemed to kill them was Fairy liquid ( other brands of washing up liquid are available).
It was gross but put on your rubber gloves and get it done - I think you’d be able to tell if they’d swapped stickers but maybe paint your number on (Gold calligraphy of course) just in case.

If you’re cleaning it yourself, you need Jeyes fluid - it kills everything. Smells quite strong but is brilliant against maggots, bacteria etc.
You also need to paint the inside of your bin lid with your house number on.. don’t confront them!

Also, a cat began sitting on it.

brilliant!

I use a big black permanent marker on ours..no way can get them mixed up.