They went through my skip!

[IncognitoUsername]

Is this a thing? We have a skip outside as we have been doing some decorating/clearing out. I heard a van outside the house which seemed to have stopped so I looked out and two blokes were rummaging in the skip! I went downstairs to ask what they were doing but they had just left. I noticed some metal items had gone out of the skip.
Is this normal? Do people just drive round looking for skips to have a nose in? I’m not bothered by them taking stuff out but surely it would have been polite to ask?!

My parents were having a new kitchen fitted but were keeping their sink as it was fairly new. Somehow the message didn't get to the contractors and the sink was put in the shop. Dm noticed only a short time later but someone had already taken it!

Perfectly normal. It'll be scrap metal dealers. We had them too. They took some old racks from the oven and other metal stuff.

That made me laugh! Dd2 was getting rid of an old Aga that the previous home owners had left. They couldn't give it away and had to pay an exorbitant amount to have it taken away. It was very heavy. Couldn't imagine someone just throwing it into their van.

I've told our local scrap dealers about fly tipping (cookers, fridges etc) and they've removed it promptly - no need for the council!

When we moved into a new house and had a skip for outside works, our workman disappeared for a bit. Turns out our new neighbour had commandeered him to take stuff out of her garage and put it in our skip! Double bollocking issued.

It would really piss me off if skip divers made a mess

Also, the OP seems to be getting a very hard time for no reason - they asked a question, they didn't express any attachment to the rubbish!

We put an old dishwasher on our drive just next to the front door, at 2pm on a Sunday as we couldn't get a slot at the recycling centre until the next day. By 4pm it was gone. It was partially hidden by my car too. We live in a no through road so not much passing traffic.

That happened to us although the dishwasher only lasted about a hour after we put it out at 7 a.m. I would have given it to anyone who knocked on the door but instead someone chose to trespass on our property..

Years ago there was quite an amusing conversation on Test Match Special about how skips reach a kind of natural level.

I think it was Jonathan Agnew who had a skip. He was annoyed to find that someone else had dumped some stuff in the skip. The following day that stuff was gone. Then some more stuff arrived, then left! Apparently this kept happening. The skip never got fully filled or emptied.

It's technically illegal but as most say - useful because it clears more space

We've gotten a lot of garden furniture from items left on the side of the road before

Watch enough antique shows and you'll see a few finds which people spotted in skips

It's a thing. If you've chucked something out, where's the problem of someone taking it?

Totally normal, it’s being thrown away, that’s why it’s in a skip!
I had a guy ask me and then bring me
flowers and I thought that was very weird 😂😂😂😂😂 it was obviously being thrown away so why would anyone need to ask?!

wish I had the courage see nice things sometimes. wish it was like abroad where leaving unwanted items outside for people to help themselves

I'm just glad it's less stuff going to landfill.

Well this has been a thing for years.

I dont get it, why would anyone call the police?? Its rubbish! You dont want it, and can fill your expensive skip up with more shite! Lol

Sorry I think YABU. Youve thrown it away, you dont want it, its headed for landfill unless someone helps the planet out a bit and re uses it, be grateful for their help and for goodness sake dont see it as theft and phone the police (who i imagine have serious crimes on their books) ...you haven't been mugged afterall, youve literally been wombled!

I too am more than happy when people do this and it would be annoying if people knocked to ask. It's rubbish - save it from landfill!

The Real problem with ' skips' is neighbours taking it upon themselves to dump all their rubbish too, so you pay to remove their junk inadverantly. If people are taking some of your rubbish ,surely it leaves more scope for your own dejunking.
Maybe you was embarrassed at the state of the messy junk. If youre upset because you really wanted the stolen items then why discard????? I really cannot see your problem .

We were having a new kitchen installed. The old one was in the skip. Two men asked if they could have it. We were happy to see it go. I wonder if the skip drivers tip their mates off.

We had the opposite problem - people adding all and sundry to our skip! Even after our builders would put a tarp over it at night, we'd wake up to suitcases, lawnmowers etc being piled on top. Even worse, someone decided to pile their entire old carpeting on our front garden as our skip was full!

Fair enough. Wouldn’t bother me. But I’d hate anyone putting their rubbish in my skip that I’d pay for!

Skip/dumpster diving /freeganism. There’s many channels devoted to it on YouTube. It is a “thing”.

Happened to us recently. Someone asked DH if he could take one thing - sure. Next thing two blokes hopped out a van and stood inside it for ages picking things out and flinging to each other.

If you no longer wanted it and were discarding it, why didn't you put it out by your gate or on the footpath? A household item left on your property is arguably an attractive nuisance.

Normal here. Some people actually leave the metal stuff by the side of the skip.