Neighbor filled my trash can. Furious. Long vent.

[bcla]

Well, a few times my parents have placed a one month hold on their garbage service and then asked me to stuff their bags in my can. However, that's not an annoying neighbor.

Around here we pay per can for regular trash - at different rates for 20/32/42 gallon. However, recycling and green waste are unlimited. If someone was walking in the neighborhood and needed to dispose of something small, I wouldn't complain if it was properly tossed in my can. Not if it was a neighbor with too much trash.

 

[China Expat]

Wow! This takes the cake. No words.

 

[anniemae]

I sympathize. I had a neighbor who was an absolute terror! We lived at the end of a long private drive. I would stand with my children at the community mailbox for the school bus. He came by one early morning and accused me of throwing water bottles in the grass. I explained that it wasn't me, but I started to find used water bottles in my mailbox. My husband was away on business and I didn't want to confront the neighbor, so I just would take them out each morning and toss them into my recycling.

I guess my lack of reaction started him adding trash to my trash container. Since we lived in the country there was no city/county trash service, so our trash was managed with a waste company. Trash pick up was pricey, so I started having to bring my trash to the the county dump rather than leave my container out to be filled by this nut job.

Weeks go by and the neighbor knocks on my door one day. He said he came to apologize because he found out I wasn't lying after all. He actually said he came out the last couple of days and hid in the woods to see who was leaving the water bottles. He discovered it was actually the newspaper carrier who was dropping the bottles in the grass. He said he had watched us a few days to be sure and he was sorry because we were not the litterbugs after all.

This was just one my tales about this crazy neighbor. We actually looked into a job transfer to give us an excuse to sell our dream home. It was a terrible feeling to be living next to someone so toxic.

Please tread lightly, things can escalate very quickly.

This made me giggle. I know it's not funny, and is actually scary and creepy, but it's like he's apologizing.....kind of. It's like "thanks, I think?"

 

[indygirl99]

LOL! I know. I know. But I absolutely love a sparkling clean and organized fridge.

Can you come to my house?

 

[BigAlsGal]

Yep, people think my my business dumpsters are free to use as they please....

Oh that just burns my butt! One week there was no room for my business trash because one of those fly-by-night fireworks tents decided to throw every box they had away in my dumpster.

 

[Flight]

At this point I can only shake my head of disbelief at the sense of entitlement that many seem to have.

Your neighbor is nuts.

 

[aprilgail]

I would have just dumped them on her steps and left. I am amazed at some of the trash laws someplaces- pay per can? Won't take with the lid open? I can put six cans out if I want, add a bunch of trash bags next to them and a couch and they take it all- its the same price for one can as for 10 lids, no lids, lids up, lids down-doesn't matter. 4 times a week the truck comes, twice for regular garbage/trash, once for garden waste, and once for cans/papers.

 

[barkley]

The thing is, if you just had a one-time extra bag, from a party or cleaning out a closet or something, I bet they'd let you if you asked! I bet the OP would have let the neighbor, too - if she had room and the lady had asked. It's the sneaking it in and then getting all angry about it that's the problem.

we serve this purpose for several of our neighbors-it's a standing invitation but they never fail to call and ask first.

when we moved here and realized what a pain it would be to schlep the garbage company receptacles (we have to use theirs b/c they are a certain type their trucks can auto pickup) all the way down our long graveled driveway we opted instead for a small dumpster. we could have the garbage company place it more closely to our house and then THEY drive all the way down the driveway to empty it.

select neighbors have an open invitation to toss stuff in if it's going to be too much for their cans to hold (often after a neighborhood party) but they always call first.


what ticks me off are the people from the nearby city that think nothing of taking their dead Christmas trees and dumping them just off the road on people's private property. I guess their attitude is 'there's already dead fallen pines on the property-what's the harm with one more'. um-the natural dead fallen pines existing on people's private property aren't strewn with tinsel and flocking which blows off and makes a mess (and the tinsel can choke birds and other little critters) or busted light strands and rouge ornament hooks which can fall off and cause the property owner tire damage

 

[Nancyg56]

I would have just dumped them on her steps and left. I am amazed at some of the trash laws someplaces- pay per can? Won't take with the lid open? I can put six cans out if I want, add a bunch of trash bags next to them and a couch and they take it all- its the same price for one can as for 10 lids, no lids, lids up, lids down-doesn't matter. 4 times a week the truck comes, twice for regular garbage/trash, once for garden waste, and once for cans/papers.

In our town we have thse big bins that the garbage tuck can hoist into the back with a pair of clamp things, If you fill more than one can you can order another from the town. WE have no restrictions in regards to the lid being open, but I can understand why an HOA may have them. My DH pitches a fit if I stuff too much in and the lid isn't closed because if some of the bottles or boxes in the recycle bin fall out, they are left tile one of us gets home.

OP- In our neighborhood I will sometimes see someone tucking a bag in a neighbor's bin first thing in teh Mornign on garbage day. For us, it's not a big deal, but in your circumstances? I woudl nto be happy.

 

[MIGrandma]

I would have just dumped them on her steps and left. I am amazed at some of the trash laws someplaces- pay per can? Won't take with the lid open? I can put six cans out if I want, add a bunch of trash bags next to them and a couch and they take it all- its the same price for one can as for 10 lids, no lids, lids up, lids down-doesn't matter. 4 times a week the truck comes, twice for regular garbage/trash, once for garden waste, and once for cans/papers.

We have a dumpster here on the farm which we and 4 other related families use. We call the trash service when it gets full and they come and dump it for $30 each time. There are 4 lids and if one or all 4 are open just a bit that's okay, but if it's really overfilled they will charge $15 extra. And if there is a large item like a couch or TV or appliance that is another $15 as well. It generally only needs to be dumped every other month.

 

[Chocolate Cake]

I would have just dumped them on her steps and left. I am amazed at some of the trash laws someplaces- pay per can? Won't take with the lid open? I can put six cans out if I want, add a bunch of trash bags next to them and a couch and they take it all- its the same price for one can as for 10 lids, no lids, lids up, lids down-doesn't matter. 4 times a week the truck comes, twice for regular garbage/trash, once for garden waste, and once for cans/papers.

I like our rules because it does keep a nice curb appeal. I don't think I would like couches and multiple trash bags lining the street twice a week. And I have no problem closing the lid of my cans if someone else isn't throwing their garbage in there

 

[Bilberry]

This doesn't apply to your situation but we had a problem with a couple trash dumpster. They were located at a grouping of buildings, where we all shared the large dumpsters. Our buildings were also located along a well trafficked road with the dumpsters in sight from the road. People seeing the dumpers while driving by would take advantage stopping and unloading all kinds of trash. It was a problem for all of us for the room it stole, but also caused concern for liability. We didn't want to be blamed if anything illegal was being thrown out. In the end we put up warning signs, surveillance cameras, and a fence around the dumpsters. That helped some, but problems remain.

 

[sunshinemelody]

Been there, done that. We pay for trash quarterly around here. They pick up on Wednesdays. I don't put my trash out till early Wed morning. Awhile back, I walked out to put another bag out, and found 2 white bags (we also use black), with our trash. I opened one and saw the name and address of a new guy across the street. I picked up the bags, and put them on his porch, figuring he would get the message. The next week, the same thing happened, only this time there are 3 bags, and 2 boxes of crap. I again put his stuff back on his porch. The third week it happened and I was ticked off. I printed out a letter, telling him that around here we pay for our trash pick up, and you aren't allowed to 'share' with neighbors. I left him the name and # of the trash co. and told him if I found his trash over here again, I would be taking it up with his landlord. I put all his trash right outside his back door, so he had to trip over it if he wanted to get by it, lol.

Forward to this past summer. I was out doing yard work, and this guy walks over and hands me a bucket filled with black walnuts. He said why are your walnuts across the street in our driveway. I said what do you expect me to do..direct where they fall and roll to?, I couldn't believe he was asking me such a stupid thing. He says well you did it with my trash. I said your trash was your trash, we pay for pick up. You can't help where leaves or walnuts fall off a tree. We are on the high side of the street, so of course they are going to roll across the street since it's pitched down? He walks away and says well don't let it happen again??? Some people are just plain looney!

LOL

 

[KatheeME]

Well done, you handled it perfectly in my opinion!

 

[cabanafrau]

I would have just dumped them on her steps and left. I am amazed at some of the trash laws someplaces- pay per can? Won't take with the lid open? I can put six cans out if I want, add a bunch of trash bags next to them and a couch and they take it all- its the same price for one can as for 10 lids, no lids, lids up, lids down-doesn't matter. 4 times a week the truck comes, twice for regular garbage/trash, once for garden waste, and once for cans/papers.

I've been trying to figure out the reason behind the open lid ban and realized the HOA probably set it up that way to prevent trash from being blown around the neighborhood and animals easily getting into open trash. I guess looking at it that way makes some kind of sense.

What I haven't been able to understand is, what happens if you have too much trash one week to be able to fit all in your container, or if you didn't know who put theirs in, overfilling your container and it didn't get picked up because of the open lid? I can foresee being perpetually trying to catch up getting rid of trash without overfilling your bin, but constantly having old, smelly trash hanging around. Kind of defeats the purpose of trying to keep critters away.

 

[Annadesu]

Two suggestions, since this person does not seem to be reasonable.

1) Set up a camera that faces your trash area, and just hit record when you're not home. Keep the camera around so you can catch them when you are home. If they do it again, take the footage to the HOA, or police.

2) Put some sort of lock on your trash can. Only take it off when you're putting something in, or when it's time for trash pick-up.

It seems to me that this person was more angry about being caught, and told they couldn't do something they wanted. Cue angy 2 year old tantrum, but coming out of an adult. Sometimes, you just have to take charge. lol

 

[mefordis]

Ugh. What a horrible interaction. You were of course in the right, however, I think I would have just stuffed my trash on top of hers and sucked it up. I think I would have been less upset doing that than having the confrontation and now the lingering tension between the two of you.

She should have apologized and said she thought it would be okay. She was caught doing something she had no right to do.

 

[lifesavacation]

I've been trying to figure out the reason behind the open lid ban and realized the HOA probably set it up that way to prevent trash from being blown around the neighborhood and animals easily getting into open trash. I guess looking at it that way makes some kind of sense.

What I haven't been able to understand is, what happens if you have too much trash one week to be able to fit all in your container, or if you didn't know who put theirs in, overfilling your container and it didn't get picked up because of the open lid? I can foresee being perpetually trying to catch up getting rid of trash without overfilling your bin, but constantly having old, smelly trash hanging around. Kind of defeats the purpose of trying to keep critters away.

We get fined by the trash company if our lids don't fit securely on top. No overfilling or it costs us double.

 

[sunshinemelody]

Ugh. What a horrible interaction. You were of course in the right, however, I think I would have just stuffed my trash on top of hers and sucked it up. I think I would have been less upset doing that than having the confrontation and now the lingering tension between the two of you.

She should have apologized and said she thought it would be okay. She was caught doing something she had no right to do.

A lot of PP have stated this and that's not the way to go when you pay for your trash to be picked up. It teaches the neighbor that you condone their behavior when in reality you don't and shouldn't. Get the confrontation out of the way and the neighbor wants to act like they're in their terrible two's then so be it.

Sometimes being passive aggressive isn't the way to go.

 

[mom2rtk]

We get fined by the trash company if our lids don't fit securely on top. No overfilling or it costs us double.

Ouch.