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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to wish my neighbour wouldn't look in/put stuff in my bin?

52 replies

beansmum · 10/10/2008 10:05

It's not a big deal really but it is annoying me. Neither of us have much rubbish each week so my neighour always goes out (into my garden usually) to have a look in my bin and see if there is room for his stuff too, to save him putting his bin out half empty. I KNOW I shouldn't mind but I might have stuff in my bin that I don't want him to see, I don't use bin bags so it's all loose, I'm not sure what exactly but you never know. I probably wouldn't mind so much but he is generally a bit nosy/creepy anyway. Am I just going to have to put up with it?

OP posts:
MurderousMarla · 10/10/2008 10:06

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

PinkChick · 10/10/2008 10:07

id go out when he's there and ask what he's doing?..then say that you both have bins and you were about to put some..old carpet/broken down boxes etc in yours so can he use his own from now on!

Odd ball! (him)

alicet · 10/10/2008 10:08

He goes into your garden without your permission to put stuff in your bin?!!?!

I would tell him that you don't want him putting stuff in your bin without asking - what if you have stuff you want to put in yourself.

Probaly for the sake of neighbour relations wouldn't say 'get your sticky beak out of my bin you nosy creepy f*cker' but would be thinking it!!!!

Like you say - no problem using your bin if he ASKS and doens't just come into your garden having a nosy

NewspiritsFromOldghosts · 10/10/2008 10:10

I see what you mean but i don't really know how you would stop it.
Or you could retaliate and start filling up his bin

I don't think i'b be too happy with an uninvited neighbour wandering around my garden if he/she already made me uncomfortable.
Is there a gate you can padlock to stop him coming in?

I don't think sharing a bin is the crime of the century but if it's bothering you then stopping easy access might help.

Iklboo · 10/10/2008 10:11

Would you be this reasonable if you were paying the (Big Brother Council) 'too much weight per bin' fine they keep talking about?

You could offer to put his bin out for him if he finds it difficult so you keep 'neighbourly' with him, but him putting stuff in your is too much.

Or you could top trump him and put your stuff in his to see how he likes it?

onager · 10/10/2008 10:11

That is odd behaviour anyway. I wouldn't have that. Also if he filled it up and then at the last minute there wasn't room for yours you'd have a problem.

This is one of those 'british' things where you will feel awkward saying anything isn't it. Is it possible to tie the handles (to stop cats getting in it if you have to explain to anyone else) but as a hint?

Or can you put the bin somewhere it is MORE intrusive for him to go?

Original poster
beansmum · 10/10/2008 10:12

Sometimes he phones me to ask if he can put stuff in, but only after he has checked that there is room. It's silly really, there is nothing private in my garden or my bin, I just feel a bit like he's invading my space. It's not like the bin is just sitting out next to the house either, he has to go through a gate and round a corner to get to it. And I don't really like him much anyway, which doesn't help.

OP posts:
Original poster
beansmum · 10/10/2008 10:14

It IS odd. I don't know what is wrong with putting out a half empty bin.

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alicet · 10/10/2008 10:16

Its beyond unreasonable for him to just go into your garden without asking.

I would put a lock on the gate then he can't. And next time he calls asking just tell him that once your bin is out for collection he is welcome to put whatever he likes into it but that until then you need the space for your own rubbish.

What on earth is the problem with using his own bin anyway? I think this is really strange behaviour tbh

We have asked neighbours if they have space (for garden stuff / recycling) if ours is full but would never look first!

alicet · 10/10/2008 10:17

Doesn't matter if there is or isn't anything private in your garden. It's YOUR garden and he is being out of order.

cupsoftea · 10/10/2008 10:19

Fill your bin - not sure with what - could you put in some ballons or something - just so it's chocker

Gumbo · 10/10/2008 10:19

This would really annoy me. I have a similar problem with a neighbour who's done this to us a couple of times - which prompted me to look for a solution here:

www.wheeliebinlocks.co.uk/

(I haven't actually bought one yet, but may well do so!)

GrapefruitMoon · 10/10/2008 10:20

I'd be putting a lock on the gate....

Sounds like he may have some mental health issues tbh (or at least a lot of quirks!)

I was really cross a few weeks ago when someone dumped around 10 bin bags just outside my house (it was bin day) plus several carrier bags of plastic bottles next to my recycling bin. The bin men wouldn't have taken the bottles for recycling if they were just in bags and no way was I undoing the bags and putting them into my (already full) recycling bin. So I'm afraid I added them to the pile of normal rubbish

TsarChasm · 10/10/2008 10:21

Stick an big sign in the lid. 'Oi Trunky! Use your own bin!'

cupsoftea · 10/10/2008 10:22

great product gumbo - wonder how it opens when tipped in the lorry - expensive though

cupsoftea · 10/10/2008 10:23

Wonder why his bin is so full? If he has mental probs he may just need to change his habits - find another bin to fill.

Gumbo · 10/10/2008 10:25

Not sure how it works. I think they'll suddenly get a lot more popluar if/when we DO start getting charged according to the weight of our bins though!

There's a couple of other similar products around...

www.binlock.com/product.php

alicet · 10/10/2008 10:26

Why do people think it is acceptable to put their rubbish on your drive / by your bin when it's not acceptable to drop litter in the street? Surely this is the same thing on a bigger and slightly more organised scale?

One year someone dumped their Christmas tree on our drive during the nights and by the time we saw it it had been out in full view on our drive for a couple of hours meaning that we couldn't dump it anywhere else as people would hav epresumed it was ours. It was doubly annoying as we had spent the day before chopping ours up and taking it to the local tip!!!!

Small things really in the wider scheme of life but this sort of lack of consideration for others really gets on my tits

Original poster
beansmum · 10/10/2008 10:26

He's old and eccentric (and creepy), but I think he's fairly sane. I will tell him that I will need to fill my bin each week as I'm doing a big clear out and getting rid of a lot of junk. which is true.

He used to have a key to my house for emergencies. I had to take it off him when I came back from a holiday to find my front door unlocked. He had no good reason for being in my house, when I asked he said he was just checking up on the place. So I think he has different ideas about private property than I do!

OP posts:
Original poster
beansmum · 10/10/2008 10:27

cupsoftea - his bin isn't full, it's empty! He doesn't us to put two half full bins out when we could just put out one full one.

OP posts:
cupsoftea · 10/10/2008 10:30

A bin lock as suggested sounds good plus would change your locks as well. We have a difficult neighbour (garden boundary situations) and it's hard work sometimes. Good luck

JuneBugJen · 10/10/2008 10:33

Really irritating thing to do as its so petty and yet would get on my wick.

Think you need to say that perhaps DD/DS and yourself were frightened by hearing someone in the garden and could he not do it again and if he wants to continue this arrangement to knock on your door (LIKE ANY NORMAL PERSOSN WOULD!!)

alicet · 10/10/2008 10:35

Junebugjen thats a good plan.

I still would be tempted to get a lock for the gate though.

Maybe you could then just tell him you;ve put a lock on your gate as you think someone's been getting in your garden and has he had the same problem?

soultaken · 10/10/2008 12:31

beansmum - do you live with a man?. The reason I ask is because your neighbour sounds like a creep of the highest order and a bit bullying and I can't imagine him doing that if there was a man there.

Although I live in a very similar area to my sister, she - as a single mum - seems to get huge amounts of shit heaped on her and this never seems to happen to me.

Original poster
beansmum · 10/10/2008 12:34

I don't live with a man, I'm not sure it would make any difference though. I don't think he's a bully, just weird. He has lived alone for far too long and has forgotten how to behave. I feel a bit sorry for him actually. Not sorry enough to be happy about him snooping around my bin/garden/house though!

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