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AIBU?

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Original poster

To think my sellers are utter wankers

126 replies

TossACoinToYourWitcher · 23/03/2020 14:14

We are supposed to be moving today. In a chain of four. We exchanged a few weeks ago and completed at lunchtime. Handed our keys over to the buyer of our house and our removers drove to the new property whilst we headed into town to wait for our sellers to drop off the keys.

Got a call from the removers. The fecking sellers have only just started moving out. They are doing it themselves with one van and apparently waited until they got their keys before beginning to load the van up. Muppets.

So now our removers are complaining about potential overtime and suggesting if there is too much of a delay they will need to go home and come back tomorrow, leaving us with the possibility of trying to find a hotel during a flipping pandemic.

They have caused no end of problems since we started this process, including causing a three month delay.

AIBU in thinking that they are utter wankers. DH is currently having to help them load up their van.

OP posts:
crimsonlake · 23/03/2020 15:58

I feel your pain as it happened to me too.
I sat waiting for 2 hours for the sellers to turn up with the keys at the estate agents. They kept saying they were on their way. Eventually they handed over the keys and when we arrived at the property they had a small van and had hardly started moving.
I got out of the car and began to challenge them...all I can say is that you cannot argue with stupid. There were several of them and they became instantly aggressive. Since I was not actually moving my furniture in that day I told them to be out by 8pm and went home to return the following day praying that they would be gone.
The next time I move I will instruct my solicitor to make absolutely sure that the sellers know that they have to be packed and ready to move as soon as the transaction has gone through.

EL8888 · 23/03/2020 16:04

I agree the advice here:
-DH to stop helping them, they made it this way and he needs to concentrate on your stuff
-phone solicitor and get compensation for movers etc
-try to get a locksmith
-sellers better start getting their stuff into the garden or if no garden onto the pavement

Wankers. Who does this on today of all days?!

midsomermurderess · 23/03/2020 16:06

Your husband is helping. Put down your phone and help him.

EverythingChanges321 · 23/03/2020 16:10

Help them move more quickly by putting their stuff into the garden.
The house belongs to you now and they’re in your way!

Lefkosia · 23/03/2020 16:10

Yabu to move house during this pandemic. Do you not watch the news? It's not life as normal. You're putting everyone at risk.

Give it a fucking rest

WhatTiggersDoBest · 23/03/2020 16:12

OMFG. Our sellers did this when we bought our house (which we've just sold and are now stuck in a rental until this all blows over) and it's so rude. They've had months to sort their stuff out. We just started moving our stuff in and left them to sort themselves out, and we called the estate agent to tell them what had happened and what stuff they'd left in our house. Tell them if they don't GTFO of your house, you want the keys to their new house and you'll live there until the coronavirus abates. Wink

ProfessorSlocombe · 23/03/2020 16:15

Get them to empty the house into the garden!

The OP will have become an involuntary bailee for the vendors, and thus has a duty of care for their possessions. Generally in English & Welsh law two wrongs do not make a right, and the OP is only entitled to claim monetary relief for their expenses.

Devlesko · 23/03/2020 16:18

We are living in a state of emergency, your sale is going through, be it slowly.

Happygirl79 · 23/03/2020 16:19

That is really dreadful but you never know what they'll do until its to late.
The house belongs to you the minute you legally complete the sale
Charge them for any costs you incur

EL8888 · 23/03/2020 16:20

@ProfessorSlocombe but they are now trespassing into OP’s house?! It isn’t their house anymore

EL8888 · 23/03/2020 16:21

@Devlesko yeah it’s going through slowly as the people they bought the house off are morons and selfish?!

AuntImmortelle · 23/03/2020 16:24

Yup they are arseholes. Same thing happened to us last house move but one.

Removers told DH to go in the house and move their stuff on to the pavement outside or our removal men would leave with our lorry load of stuff for the weekend. I was heavily pregnant (of course) so that's what DH and by brother and the removal men did. Literally dumped their shit on the pavement and then moved our stuff in. The idiots were doing the one tiny van loading and driving there and back bollocks and had only started at midday because their idiot adult children didn't want to get out of bed. This was 13 years ago and still makes my blood boil!! Angry

ProfessorSlocombe · 23/03/2020 16:26

We are living in a state of emergency

No we're not. If we were, the government would have declared it as such. In which case the OPs rights under common and contract law might be affected.

But no such declaration means the OPs rights and vendors liabilities remain, unless a specific act of government has made them impossible to comply.

The only material fact is it will be difficult to commence legal proceedings with the courts closed. But that's a separate issue.

ProfessorSlocombe · 23/03/2020 16:26

@ProfessorSlocombe but they are now trespassing into OP’s house?! It isn’t their house anymore

As I said, two wrongs do not a right make. Whilst the OP is totally at liberty to put the vendors belongings wherever they like, they also have a duty of care (did I not say this ?) over them. It's what being an "involuntary bailee" means. (Did I not say that too ?).

The law school classic example was a workman who leaves his tools in a customers house ...

However the customer (and OP) are then entitled to seek redress (i.e cash !) from the tradesmen (or vendor) to cover their liability.

tillytoodles1 · 23/03/2020 16:31

We moved house once and they'd left the keys with some neighbours who then went to work. I was nearly in hysterics by the time they got home. Well she, he was a long distance lorry driver and was away for days at a time.

TheArchSorcererofContwaraburg · 23/03/2020 16:35

Make sure you change the lock barrels, whatever you do. No way I'd be paying to stay in hotel due to their laziness. When this happened to us we just moved all our stuff in round theirs and completely ignored them. That house had a garage so we started putting stuff in there as well. We'd bought it from a couple and they were tutting about how rude we were we acted like they weren't there.

BeamerTown · 23/03/2020 16:42

This happened to us! A 5 bed house and they were loading things into cars and small vans. They made noises about coming back the day after to pick things up - we started moving our things in regardless and told them anything left on our property - because it is your property - post 5pm would be ours. Suddenly lots more friends of theirs were able to help - we got some dodgy looks from them but it didn’t matter. It meant that the place was left in a right state and they left some broken furniture but at least it was ours!

I second the fact you need a locksmith tonight/ tomorrow - we changed our locks immediately and went to stay elsewhere while the house was being painted. We got a call from the painters the next day to tell us that they had locked the house up and came back from lunch to find a man (who fitted the description of the sellers son to a tee!) trying to get into the house with the old key. He was challenged by them and legged it. Please change your locks!

EL8888 · 23/03/2020 16:44

@ProfessorSlocombe l wasn’t suggesting they touch their stuff -it is their problem after all and OP needs to concentrate on their own belongings. But the sellers should be getting their belongings out ASAP surely

Yogawoogie · 23/03/2020 16:44

What a nightmare @TossACoinToYourWitcher hope it’s sorted soon! You’ll be all cosy in your new home before you know it Flowers

ProfessorSlocombe · 23/03/2020 16:48

l wasn’t suggesting they touch their stuff -it is their problem after all and OP needs to concentrate on their own belongings. But the sellers should be getting their belongings out ASAP surely

Undoubtedly !

OP (or their solicitor) should also be thinking about a reasonable figure for damages.

EL8888 · 23/03/2020 16:48

@TheArchSorcererofContwaraburg classic. Did they not get the hint that they weren’t meant to be there, that’s why you were acting like you weren’t there

Anyway, must dash to borrow my VW Golf l recently sold. I need it as the trains are playing up. Oh, wait a minute.....

Next property l buy l am definitely changing the locks. Previous property the last owners kept on letting themselves in for days afterwards. Ex-h (then husband) wouldn’t let me calm the police Hmm

EL8888 · 23/03/2020 16:49

Calm = call

EL8888 · 23/03/2020 16:51

@ProfessorSlocombe can they claim stupidity compensation alongside damages?!

Honeyroar · 23/03/2020 16:52

Start coughing and blowing your nose next to them. That might speed them up.

JudyCoolibar · 23/03/2020 16:53

Yabu to move house during this pandemic. Do you not watch the news?

@Bookoffacts, this is a four-link chain transaction, meaning that to cancel the move would require unravelling at least four different contracts, to say nothing of associated mortgages etc, and buggering up the lives of several people. Contracts would have been exchanged around four weeks ago.

Do you not have any concept of how house sales work?