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?!

I wouldn’t have a problem with it- anyone in need enough to be diving through a skip is welcome to my rubbish! They would probably be disappointed though.. if I have anything I think someone might want I put it on our local ‘whisking’ facebook group to see if someone wants it for free. I get prompt free pick up and they get their item for free. Everyone wins.

The skip man makes his money by charging me a fortune... do you get your skips free?

I put a broken dishwasher on the street for collection (as arranged and paid for with local authority). It had gone in 10-15 mins. Unfortunately it was too short notice for me to get a refund for the uplift.

I was grateful when someone took a huge metal electric awning from outside my house. It was there for a week then one morning it had gone!
I thought I was stuck with it for life, I'd contacted scrap metal dealers and they weren't interested, council wouldn't take it as a paid for 'special collection" because it had a motor.

My skip has been used by most of the street for their rubbish despite me putting a note on the skip in capital letters not to use it

I don’t think I would ever hire one again tbh

ive had people take stuff out of mine too, which is fair enough but using it for their own rubbish absolutely not.

I’ve been gifted a whole Hornsey crockery set from a friend who skip dives. I love it!

If your gates are closed I think it’s actually horrendous, if open then personally I think they should ask but like someone said more room in the skip!!!

I think ours is far enough down our drive for people to not put stuff in.
Am not being precious at all, just didn’t know it was a thing and thought people should really ask before coming on to the drive and just taking stuff.

Totally normal. We just leave stuff out for the rag n bone man too

Yep very normal.
I always have everything ready to go whenever I need a skip.

If not then you're going to be dealing with people rooting through it or loading it up with their own rubbish.

The antiquarian booksellers Sotherans is currently relocating - they were declared to have “the best skip ever” by one of the happy skip divers

Honestly get a grip. Call the police because somebody's taken your rubbish? 🙄

You have to be joking? You would actually call the police for this? 😂😂😂

That's what I always think. It's a win win isn't it.

Worse is other people filling up your skip with all their rubbish, leaving no room for your own.
Or even just dumping their old furniture on your drive, hoping you will put the stuff in your skip.
All this happened to my son recently, when he had some building work done.
However, with regard to the OP's post, someone asked if they could have something from his skip. He was quite happy to do so.
However, he had to stay elsewhere while the work was being done, so would not always have been around if people kept knocking on the door.

Putting their own stuff in your skip is much more annoying as far as I'm concerned. Skips aren't cheap and if it means you need another one that is a real problem.

Yep. Normal.

If people removing stuff irritates you just wait until you get up in the morning, look out of your window and see people have put stuff IN your skip! Yep that happens too.

What an absolutely ridiculous attitude. OP, pull yourself together - you have thrown this stuff out! It’s good that it might get reused rather than going to landfill and they are making more room in the skip for you, meaning you can throw more stuff out that you would otherwise have been able to.

Yes, it's always been a thing but it's polite to ask first.

Someone said no to my DH once when he asked to take a door or planks of wood or whatever it was. Fuck knows why, she was chucking it out.

Yeah I actually didn't think that people rooting through it leaves you more room for your own stuff so that was a good point made by PP's.

But I just always have everything ready to go.

@OhmygodDont our council used to do a version of that too. It got stopped because councils had to separate out items for recycling and not send all of it to landfill, so they couldn't just chuck wood, metal, foam sofas etc. in together.

It’s polite to ask but it’s increasingly common that people don’t ask anymore.

I think if it's on the property you absolutely should ask. My builders put some items in the skip when I was at work that I had specifically told them not too. It was only luck that I got home in time to rescue the items before someone decided to help themselves. If a skip diver asks, at least there's an extra "layer" to be sure it's not wanted.

I was emptying out my parents’ house and had a massive skip in their front garden.

A couple of guys turned up and took loads of the metal. It was handy as it freed up a load of space.