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Original poster

Binmen have stolen valuables from infront of house - anyone had this?

101 replies

anon122414 · 27/05/2020 20:54

Title says it all really! The binmen came onto our property today and took a box of exercise equipment and a mirror (both which were left in front of the garage) but you need to walk about 10m down the drive past our cars to get to it. We leave our bins on the pavement for them.

Anyone had this happen and know what I should?

OP posts:
SpillTheTeaa · 27/05/2020 22:16

I don't think you can be sure it was them. You didn't go outside straight away afterwards.

TerrapinStation · 27/05/2020 22:18

I wouldn't expect anyone to assume something I'd left in front of my house was fair game. Round here it would be obvious if something was up for grabs as it would be left on the pavement quite clearly not on the drive or by the front door.

There are loads of houses where the front garden is an absolute tip but no-one would think it was unwanted stuff

Original poster
anon122414 · 27/05/2020 22:18

@Clemmieandareallybigbunfight

You left it at the front of the house. It looked like trash. They trashed it.

This is your fault not theirs.

I guess the question before we even reach that point is... should they have even been on my property? Especially in the time of corona?
OP posts:
HoneysuckIejasmine · 27/05/2020 22:18

So, you did put the wrong bin out, or no?

Legoandloldolls · 27/05/2020 22:19

Most bin lorries have CCTV for their own protection. I would check if that's the case for your area

Original poster
anon122414 · 27/05/2020 22:19

@TerrapinStation

I wouldn't expect anyone to assume something I'd left in front of my house was fair game. Round here it would be obvious if something was up for grabs as it would be left on the pavement quite clearly not on the drive or by the front door.

There are loads of houses where the front garden is an absolute tip but no-one would think it was unwanted stuff

Thank you! I absolutely agree. What kind of a country do we live in where we are led to presume that we are unable to leave anything at the front of our properties for fear that it will be taken?

Unfortunately, 99% of this thread appear to live that way!

OP posts:
OtterBe4 · 27/05/2020 22:21

You saw them come and take the other bin, did you see them then lift the other items? If so why did you not say something?
TBF you’re a bit daft leaving stuff sitting out on an open driveway, hardly that valuable to you or you’d put them away.

TitianaTitsling · 27/05/2020 22:21

Here people are leaving lots of stuff outside in their front gardens for people to take. . Same here, plus where would they have put it if taking for nefarious purposes? No room in the cab and in the truck? Would it not get covered in rubbish?!

fiftyandfat · 27/05/2020 22:22

Where I live, if you want rid of anything, put it outside your front door. It will be gone very quickly.
I wouldn't leave anything outside my house if I wanted to keep it.

LittleBearPad · 27/05/2020 22:23

Why were valuable items left outside your house. How odd.

Original poster
anon122414 · 27/05/2020 22:25

@OtterBe4

You saw them come and take the other bin, did you see them then lift the other items? If so why did you not say something? TBF you’re a bit daft leaving stuff sitting out on an open driveway, hardly that valuable to you or you’d put them away.
Not to be rude but I find it a bit daft that people genuinely purchase houses (for hundreds of thousands of pounds) and willingly accept having the freedom to leave whatever they like ON THEIR PROPERTY taken away from them. Very interesting to me.
OP posts:
Original poster
anon122414 · 27/05/2020 22:26

@fiftyandfat

Where I live, if you want rid of anything, put it outside your front door. It will be gone very quickly. I wouldn't leave anything outside my house if I wanted to keep it.
Where do you live and do you have any nice flower pots outside your house? I could do with a few
OP posts:
TheGinGenie · 27/05/2020 22:26

Same @fiftyandfat it's quite a convenient way to get rid of things sometimes Grin

Deadringer · 27/05/2020 22:27

I still want to know why you ate saying the stuff was stolen when it appears to have been taken in error.

maras2 · 27/05/2020 22:27

littlebearpad
It was a 'property',not a house don'tcha know Wink

Deadringer · 27/05/2020 22:27

*are not ate

AnneElliott · 27/05/2020 22:27

It would be odd here - binmen only take your bin if it's on the front of your property and absolutely closed. They don't take anything by the side or on top and would never go and collect a bin from your drive.

I'd suggest calling the council. They may have thought you were offering them (but I'd never assume that unless I'm the items were on the actual pavement)

thatsallineed · 27/05/2020 22:28

Why was valuable stuff left outside in the first place?

Original poster
anon122414 · 27/05/2020 22:31

@AnneElliott

It would be odd here - binmen only take your bin if it's on the front of your property and absolutely closed. They don't take anything by the side or on top and would never go and collect a bin from your drive.

I'd suggest calling the council. They may have thought you were offering them (but I'd never assume that unless I'm the items were on the actual pavement)

These are my thoughts exactly but I appear to be the only one along this train of thought in the thread.

Binmen have traditionally only taken the bins left on the pavement and nothing else. Seems strange that they wondered onto the property to voluntarily take other things.

OP posts:
fiftyandfat · 27/05/2020 22:31
Grin London. I definitely wouldn't leave any nice flower pots out. My neighbour was complaining about the council charge to take her old washing machine away. I was amazed she was considering paying anyone. I told her to put it outside her front door. ( We have short driveways). She was sceptical, but it was gone an hour later.
slashlover · 27/05/2020 22:32

Our binmen are currently taking extra items with the general waste (when there's room) because the recycling isn't happening at the moment and they don't want fly tipping.

Where do you live and do you have any nice flower pots outside your house? I could do with a few

You'd expect flower pots in a garden though.

TorysSuckRevokeArticle50 · 27/05/2020 22:33

You left a load of stuff in cardboard boxes at the front of your house on bin day. It's really not a surprise that the bin men took it.

They've been great round here, taking bulky items because the council is unable to offer bulky item collections and the tips aren't open. They took a mattress and some furniture for next door last week which they wouldn't normally do.

It was foolish of you to leave things outside.

WhenItIsOver · 27/05/2020 22:34

We have had stuff taken from the front garden but not by the binmen. There are people calling themselves 'gardeners' that blast leaves into the road and cut hedges etc. and I saw them load one of our items into their van and drive off with it. Assume they took the previous item too. There are people that drive round looking for stuff to take, it is more likely to be them.

If we want to give something away it is the done thing here to put it against the wall, on the pavement side, not in the front garden.

I have also seen binmen leaning into bins and removing items on a collection day after a holiday week. They had a fair heap in the cab of the truck. I watched them as they went down the road, rooting around, shouting to their mates, putting it in the cab, then going to the next lot of bins. Fair game I suppose but never seen them take stuff from the garden.

ProseccoBubbleFantasies · 27/05/2020 22:35

If it was a blue bin day, why didn't you put your blue bin put?

If you had, and then they entered your property you would have sufficient grounds for complaint. But it sounds like they were doing you a favout

fiftyandfat · 27/05/2020 22:36

I don't think our bin men would pinch anything. They throw the bins all over the place, but I don't think they would intentionally steal anything.