Aibu for removing tyre caps (PARKING THREAD!)

[JackieakaBritney]

Background, live in converted 3 flat house for 6 years odd, we are attic flat.

Been here since 2015, bought car 2017, previous neighbour had a defunct car on drive which he moved when he moved out late 2017

Since then I've parked my car on drive at least overnights, during day (pre Covid) was parked at my work, insurance detailed the same.

However since beginning of 2020 we have had two different neighbours move in on the middle floor flat and ground floor flat. Neither of the houses moved in with an existing car

Since the two flats have moved in, there has been an constant influx of visitors (particularly during lockdown) but also pretty much every weekend and these visitors decide to block me in, over a dropped curb. It's not the
Same car each time, it's a rotation of 4 or 5 different ones?

I ignored it to the best of my ability during lockdown as we weren't supposed to really go anywhere but then why is ok for them to block my car in?

Then when restrictions eased my husband put a note on one of the cars saying "illegal to park on dropped curb/driveway. Park somewhere else." This was ignored
The next time a car blocked me in by a visitors there was a note saying.

"If I've blocked you in call...."

Tonight I've come home and I'm blocked in again. Tbh I've kinda lost my rag and taken off two of the tyre aircaps. Aibu??

I am sick to death of worrying about asking neighbours To move their visitors cars during the last year especially when I might need it in an emergency etc and they have been asked for their friends/visotors not block me in previously?

@speakout

You lost me at "curb".

Oh for goodness sake, everyone has tried every other angle of piling onto the OP, so it's left to check the spelling... 

OP @JackieakaBritney you will already know by now that because you dared to share your frustration and the actions you took, you held a red rag up to the bulls of Mumsnet AIBU.

The ones who love to rush forward and impale anyone who does something wrong out of sheer frustration, shows emotion and gets passionate, doesn't spell everything correctly, and leaves themselves open as a result to bullying.

Your mistake @JackieakaBritney was to share the tyre caps story. Because until you shamefacedly wring your hands and tell everyone you were wrong, you will never get a hearing. It will be the usual types saying "WALK OVER RIGHT NOW AND REPLACE THE HUBCAPS". Etc.

Forgetting all that for a min..

How do you want to communicate with your neighbours? It sounds as if they disregard you completely which is why you felt , rightly or wrongly , desperate.

Can you build an understanding and go over and explain calmly why this is a problem for you? Explain why as a driveway it cannot be blocked, and mention that you haven't yet called 101 or the council but will do so if "your guests ignore you" etc?

Give them a clear warning in a polite and non confrontational way, and then call 101 or the council next time. Then notify them that they'll be contacted.

I don't think you've gone through any real assertiveness steps at all before you've gone nuclear.

I've lost so many dust caps over the years. So many. Just considered that actually people have been stealing them haha. I even have a bag of spare ones in the glovebox 😂. I think as you've already been blocked in, you should call the police. This would piss me off. Fine if the visitors parked on the shared drive but to block you in is beyond annoying. Hope you get it sorted OP.

Why don't you just park where they park then (ie across your own drive) since you are the only one who uses the parking space?

Surely they won't notice you've taken the valve caps. What is the point of doing that? I thought you meant hub caps.

How often do you actually use your car? It they're blocking you on your drive every fucking day as you state?

I presume you don't use it for work?

TBH you sound totally aggressive and unreasonable and like you never use the car, so doesn't matter if it's blocked in but just want to make a huge fuss!

Also why did your husband need to put a note on their car? Are you not able to do it yourself?

You sound quite odd and you need to calm down, then go and put the dust caps bs k on the car ... off you go now.

@Ginuwine how does OP communicate with the neighbours? She/he gets her husband to put rude notes on the car!

@SpinachAndMushroom
Criminal damage no less!!
If OP hadn’t mentioned the dust caps, pp would be frothing for bollards, rugby team, all sorts to sort out these CFs.
I’ve never come across the level of hysterical goody two shoes in RL like there seem to be here.🙄

Wow. Just wow.

So you get to have constant use of the driveway? How's that fair? Can you speak to them and set up a rota system? Maybe you have week days but at the weekends their friends can park?

Also they've said you can call if you're blocked in. Perhaps they're prepared to run out immediately (you don't know until you've tried) so that sounds like a good compromise.

I'm sure I always used to lose half my caps when refilling at the station (when I had a car )- whoops. I thought they only released air when the valve was pressed.

What a dick move by that driver though!!

Put out some cones instead. Or park there yourself.

If I were you OP I would just park across the drive and block the empty drive then you wont have a problem. If having your own drive to park on is so important to you then you need to buy your own house with a drive.

@JackieakaBritney

You guys seriously need to rethink what a "shared space" is in your fantasy worlds. It's not blocking someone in across a dropped kerb in the middle of a a dead end for starts 🤣 bloody hell and there's me thinking you lot love a parking thread. 😱

The dropped curb area isn't a shared space. The driveway is the shared space.

You aren't sharing it so they've taken it upon themselves to utilise the dropped curb area. They've offered to move if you need them to. It's not random people, it's guests of the people who also have right to access the property

Is it ok that visitors to neighbours are blocking a dropped curb? No.

Is it ok to take their caps off because they keep blocking you in? No.

You're getting aggressive because people aren't agreeing that it's ok to remove the caps of people that block you in.

It's possible to agree that you shouldn't be blocked in AND think your 'revenge' is not ok.

Fwiw I agree with you that a resident has priority over the friends of a resident.

Perhaps you should talk to the landlord or freeholder or management company and suggest that since there is only one space and there is ample on street parking they should have a system where a token rental fee is charged annually and whoever paid the fee gets the space.

@Asherline

Put cones out so you can get out but they can't park there

Arghh not the passive aggressive cones! Has anyone ever not just moved them?

From what OP has posted so far, no one knows whose drive it is, or what basis any of the flat owners have to use the driveway.

It may be one of the other flats owners actually has the right to park and they are annoyed the OP is using the space.

I don't think removing their dust caps is going to have any effect. Is it really something people check for every time they get into the car? I've sometimes had all 4 of them, sometimes fewer. Only ever noticed when actually inflating the tyres and then missing ones have been replaced at MOTs.

I'm pretty sure I wouldn't ever associate missing ones with bad parking and them having been maliciously removed. So I think it was just a bit pointless.

@JackieakaBritney

Ok Huns! You constantly get blocked in by people that don't live at your address then and never get annoyed or pissed off. 🤣

I’d get very annoyed but I wouldn’t do something as stupid as that.

Let their visitors use the drive.

Then you block them in.

Are you unreasonable for being pissed off at being blocked in repeatedly? No.

Are you unreasonable for removing their dust caps? Yes! What on earth is that going to achieve? They're not going to associate their missing dust caps with blocking you in. They probably won't even notice until they next go to put air in.

I'm so confused as to why residents visitors can't use the drive way.... 😕
Was it written in the contract?

I notice the same is happening to the drive opposite.

Have you contacted the police? It's illegal to park across a dropped curb so they might be able to advise.

Alternatively, park your own car on the road and block your own drive.

Irritating, but at least you'll be able to get out.

Please don't put someone life at risk. How would you feel it they - or someone else, was hurt or killed because of your action?

Years ago I had an elderly relative who constantly had people park across her driveway with a dropped curve. She used to call the council each time, watch from her upstairs window, and wait until the council tow truck turned up. We used to get detailed reports from her - especially if drama ensued when the driver turned up just as their car was being towed

The offending party then had the inconvenience and expense of paying the council a fee to get their car back. I don't think the same person ever did it twice, though plenty of different people did it because she lived on a high street next to Woolworths. The council clearly viewed this as a money making scheme because they turned up quite quickly.

Might be worth a go? If they're all the same people word will soon get round.

I’d just park it on the road from now on. That way no one blocks you in and you don’t have to worry about it anymore.
Irritating but worth it IMO.

OP,
When I saw this happen near a school, the owner sat with their hand on their horn until the sheepish person returned.

Could you do this?

Really sticky stickers that you write Please do not park here on the windscreen are also very effective.

Very annoying.