Hello reddit!, Im 24F from the UK and I’ve recently moved back home to live with my mentally unwell mother 45F.
Since moving back I have been making her home more livable and functional since she has let it go down hill since I left 5/6 years ago for uni, which means im throwing alot of stuff away. During the time away we got new downstairs neighbours (we live in an apartment of 6 flats) who consist of a man and woman roughly about late 20’s-early 30’s and their child.
Initially I had no issue with them but my mother realised they had some of our garden furniture in their part of the shared garden (they did not ask to use any of it). My mother asked to get it back (a chair and our bbq) they were fine with giving the chair back but insisted the bbq was their own. Which we both doubted since they look the same and ours is nowhere to be found. It was winter anyway and we just said forget it and left it at that.
Recently I have been noticing they have been using our bins (we all have our own green and blue bin at the front of the apartment with our house numbers on it apart from theirs which has no number), and have been putting normal house hold waste in our blue bins (recycling only) as well as our green (general household waste). I wouldn’t care about the green bin being used if it was the night before trash collection but it never is and they overfill our bin while leaving theirs just filled to the brim, which is honestly just rude. Our trash only gets collected once every two weeks and it means I have to put my trash in other bins the night before collection because both of mine are overfilled with trash that isn’t even all mine. not to mention the recycling bin men wont accept our blue bin (obviously) as it is filled with trash they’ve put in it. They also leave random trashed old furniture outside that’s been there for weeks and dont even put it out the front when its bin day for the men to even try to take.
Honestly ive had enough of it. our bin always being overfilled and having their furniture trash spread around it which makes it look like its our mess and I don’t want the rest of the apartment assuming we are making it look like that.
So I’ve ordered some rope padlocks for the bins and I’m going to drill holes into them to make sure they cant put anything in our trash anymore. we will be the only ones with padlocked bins in the apartment so idk if people will think its rude to lock our bins or not, I’m just sick of not being able to use them properly.
Do you think I’m justified in this? I want to avoid confrontation and just not have to deal with this anymore.
Thank you!
Ps I’m dyslexic so if this is a bad read I apologise.
lock your bins mate. thats literally your property and they’ve been taking the piss for ages.. overfilling your stuff, contaminating your recycling, leaving furniture everywhere. you dont owe them a conversation about it either. padlock em up, live your life, zero guilt. they’ll figure their own bins out real quick
**(NTA)**
This, but make sure you’re allowed to drill holes in the bins. Ask your waste management company first. There may also be special locks made for this purpose.
And go get your BBQ back, OP.
ur not the ass.your bins are your property, and it’s not your job to manage your neighbors’ trash habits.Locking them avoids confrontation and protects your recycling and space without you having to argue constantly.If anyone asks, you can just say it’s for proper use and hygiene; that’s reasonable and fair.
NTA – speak to your local authority if shit continues. I’m not big on contacting authorities over small stuff but if your mum is vulnerable and it escalates it would be best to protect her (and you). Hope you also have support for her MH.
So NTA. I had this problem numerous years ago. My husband at the time got sick of our neighbor putting their trash in our bin and leaving theirs empty. So he dumped all their trash into the back of the neighbors truck one night. Never happened again. A lock is a better way to go!
NTA – the second hand glee I get imagining their parasitic asses have to deal with consequences are making me actually wriggle
They already stole your bbq. NTA
NTA and if you’re renting, do you not have a landlord that you can contact about them? If you own, is there not something like a homeowner’s association you can report them to? Hopefully you have one of those options because this sounds ridiculous. Make sure you padlock both bins so your recycling can be picked up properly. Also don’t forget to unlock them before trash night haha
Take your bbq back & chain it up so those thieves don’t steal it again. And keep the bins locked.
I locked mine for a while. Was a pain and I eventually took it off, but it did solve the problem.
NTA
NTA. Lock your bins.
NTA, you are allowed to put locks on your bins
NTA
But just buy wheelie bin locks, they open when the bin is upside down in the truck so you don’t have to remember to unlock on bin day. Also report the to your landlord or building management. They sound like the kind of people nobody wants to house because they cause trouble. And wrote your name on your belongings outside.
NTA. Lock your bins but I would also report them to the landlord or council (I believe that’s a UK thing?) for leaving the junk/furniture out.