WIBU to shout at neighbour rummaging through my skip?

[Bobthebobbin]

Moved to a new area and managed to fall out with a neighbor already.

I came home the other day to find an old man rummaging through my skip and a pile of "treasures" on the floor that he was helping himself to.

I asked him why he was on my property and what he was doing, he said he needed a few bits! He then proceeded to turn his back on me and carried on sorting through the skip. DP was at home but the man did not knock or ask to remove anything.

I said he can't just come on to my property and help himself to whatever he likes without asking. He said it's in the skip so fair game.

Things got a bit heated and I shouted at him to get off my driveway.

I am furious but also shaken up by an attempted burglary when we first moved in so perhaps that experience is colouring my view.

Genuinely cannot tell if IABU.

Did your dp not notice someone was rummaging around a skip on your driveway? Yabu if he found something to sell or reuse I would have let him have it ad you were going to chuck it anway. However, he was rude and you sound like you were already annoyed or pissed off anyway.

It's waste that you no longer wanted so I think you overreacted...

The old boy should have knocked/asked permission but may be embarrassed of his scavenge habit (most aren't), there are people who recondition items these days and I think it is much better than landfill.

Maybe the attempted burglary and seeing him do this after just moving in contributed to your reaction...

Not the best of starts in the new house / neighbourhood...

When are you moving again? lol

It’s a skip !!!
That’s what people do !!!
He should of asked but it will mean you can
Get more in it
Thank him

He should have had the decency to ask.

Everyone goes through skips. It's quite normal and middle class in UK.
No one goes through bins. That's very different.

Everyone goes through skips. It's quite normal and middle class in UK

Now that is rubbish

I'd be raging!!!

Would he have treated you like that if you were a 6"4 huge rugby playing guy??

Would he fuck!!

Cheeky fucker! How dare he come on your property!

I don't care he's old, he should have some fucking manners!

* MacBlank

To all those saying you are bei g unreasonable, fuck you! No seriously......

The first rule of skip salvaging, is asking permission. THE FIRST RULE. Especially when it's on someone's drive/garden etc. It's you drive past and no one is around, and the skip is in the road, and it's not.obvs turn that's different.

I have never, and would never dream of going through someone's skip, without knocking first, and asking permission.

Plus, TECHNICALLY, once anything enters the skip, it is the PROPERTY of the skip owner.

So you saying, if I put something outside my home it's ok to.come and.grab it without asking if its ok first? That item may be.iut while I rearrange stuff, or for collection for a friend. Unless there is a note sayiNg.... Help yourself, then it's THEFT.

THIS IS THEFT, plain and simple. Without asking permission he is stealing, plus it's rude not to ask.

Ive skip salvaged a few times over the years, but.you always have to ask first. How do they know you haven't just out something in there while you sort stuff, just to keep it out the way‽

I'm still shocked at how many on here are so willing to.commit theft, and then have a go if questioned

You can be arrested for stealing from a.skip
Well firstly - Fuck you too
Secondly - big shouty cap person, THE FIRST RULE🤣 Who knee there was a rule book for skip scavenging - and you know the FIRST RULE 🤣🤣
And, what’s with the big caps TECHNICALLY, there’s nothing TECHNICALLY about it, My 8yr old over uses Techically all the time too. You don’t need TECHNICALLY - of course the contents of a skip belongs to the skip owner, the point is that it is discarded, unwanted goods, rubbish, that’s why it’s in the skip and yes the old man could have been polite and asked but he was only rummaging through a bit of junk ffs. Get a grip.
“THE FIRST RULE”🤣🤣🤣

I actually think it's sad that you would be angry that he was reusing stuff that otherwise would needlessly end up in landfill. It's not like we aren't all aware of what we needlessly waste, you can give it to second hand shops, or use Freecycle/Freegle or local groups on Facebook to give items away.
In our quite big for a village, the only time anyone gets a skip is for building work. If you have something you no longer need and the weather is good, it's left next to the gate, otherwise we have a community page to give stuff away on.
I genuinely hate seeing waste and ok maybe he should have knocked but you're really over reacting to someone doing their bit for recycling.

DameXanaduBramble

Everyone goes through skips. It's quite normal and middle class in UK

Now that is rubbish

No - that is true!
I live in a very middle class part of London on a ’naice’ street and you can put anything outside your door here and it’s gone in 10 minutes - I mean literally anything - bits of wood, mugs, broken chairs - gone.
Leave that stuff on a council estate and it will stay there. It’s weird but oh so true.

What Gogolego said

YANBU op. If the skip is on your property they should knock and ask.

If it's on a public road ( and therefore not clear whose it is) then I'd say it's fair game.

I once made a man put back a whole lot of steel back into my skip (on my drive) under threat of calling the police. If he'd have asked, I would have let him have it. Instead I made him take it all off his van and back in the skip where he found it. Manners cost nothing.

Toomuchtrouble4me Tue 25-Feb-20 21:32:23

Everyone goes through skips. It's quite normal and middle class in UK

I live in a very middle class part of London on a ’naice’ street and you can put anything outside your door here and it’s gone in 10 minutes - I mean literally anything - bits of wood, mugs, broken chairs - gone.
.......
That is so true! It happens here. Some people must be really good at mending things.

I think what is annoying most people about this thread is the fact that the op shouted at the man. That was so unnecessary and, frankly, extremely vulgar. I wonder what sort of area she lives in where neighbours shout at each other. In all my seventy years I've never shouted at, or been shouted at by, a neighbour. For such a small transgression it was totally over the top - but perhaps she's a shouty person by nature.

@Bluerussian I think the fact that she's just bought her first house is the explanation there.
She's a 'grown up' now so think that excuses being unnecessarily rude to strangers.

You had a man going through your rubbish and you shouted at him? Cos what’s better that it goes to landfill, wow pathetic level 10

When we moved I had a huge clear out and decided to hire a skip. I kept chucking stuff in and it kept disappearing. I was delighted, I reckon I probably got another half skip worth of space for free. Scrap people were always going through it and so did neighbours and various passerbys. It was on our drive and we didn't mind at all.

Round here anything you leave out is usually gone by the end of the day.

Our kitchen chairs came from a skip ( did ask though)

He trespassed on your property so YANBU

Hmm, I would have been ok with this, as long as he didn't leave things in a mess on the ground.

Officially you are meant to ask if it's ok to take stuff from a skip and he was rude to continue after youd objected but you could have been friendly and got know your neighbour who is recycling treasure/crap you were going to send to landfill. When you approached him you didnt know he hadnt asked your DP so YABU.

I would have been glad to know someone could get use out of the stuff.

DP and I decided that we wanted a house for our money rather than a flat, so we moved areas. I am wavering on and regretting this decision to be honest. I feel constantly on edge here.

It's a shame you didn't think of being pleasant to your neighbours, rather than shouting at them and saying he couldn't have stuff you had already thrown out then, as having a good relationship with neighbours can be the making of a home.

Sorry that you had such a horrible experience of the attempted burglary soon after you moved in OP. That’s no doubt put you on edge.

Can you increase security measures to make you feel better? Since we installed CCTV and accompanying warning signs it made me feel hugely relieved and safer.

The neighbour should have asked, but when we had a skip last year people did help themselves and I was quite pleased to know things were being reused.

We have fallen out with neighbours in the past and it was a horrible experience. These days I’ll do almost anything to keep things sweet with the people we live closest to. If you can bring yourself to apologise it will be worth it in the long run. Having neighbours you can trust helps with security too.

I once made a man put back a whole lot of steel back into my skip (on my drive) under threat of calling the police. If he'd have asked, I would have let him have it. Instead I made him take it all off his van and back in the skip where he found it. Manners cost nothing.
What???
I've worked out what's going on here. Some people are snobs and can't bear the idea that other people can make a bit of a living out of our waste.
@AnneElliott that guy could have got that steel recycled and made himself a few quid, all without any cost to you, but you prevented it because "manners cost nothing"?! Are people really this spiteful?

OP @Bobthebobbin forget about the technicalities of the law a minute. Option A) let a man recycle some of your waste, save himself some money, save you some skip space, potentially reduce landfill use, all while keeping friendly neighbour relations. Option B) fly off the handle, "he turned his back on me on MY property"... Fishwife is an understatement! Have some grace, some class! Frankly, neighbourly respect and goodwill has to be earned.

I live in SE London myself and in your shoes I'd have made a new friend. But then I get on with lots of my neighbours and they often take out my bins for me and even sweep my drive when they do their own. Always collect my parcels for me. A guy down the road did some tree surgery for us for free last year. Do you think I told them to stay off my property the first time I saw them 😂
Go apologise to the man. You could be living a happier life.

Knucklehead101

Did you also shout “get orf my laaaaaand’ and wave your pitchfork at him?

Yes

I love peeping in skips but if on a drive way I would ask if I wanted to take stuff out, if it's on a street then I just take bits...I have got mountain of wood for my fireplaces this week..saved me ordering more logs at £70 a bag. I once pulled out 2 suitcases jammed with Clarice cliff and Susie cooper China about 20 years ago so always have a quick nose if I pass one !!

How about finding out who he is and apologising to him. He is re using stuff you don’t want and keeping it out of landfill.
No need to fall out with people unnecessarily.