AZURES3 Posted February 14, 2009 Report Share Posted February 14, 2009 (edited) Guys I have lived in the same house for the last 13 years in a very nice road with very nice people and neighbours. Unfortunately the old lad next door died last October and her family decided to rent the property. The road is well known for being a great place to live with good quality people. The new people moved in about 6 weeks ago and from day 1 it was clear they are not going to be great neighbours. About a week in to them being there the flower bed that separates the 2 driveways and houses, their property I must add, looked like an ashtray. As the days progress the level of fag buts is disgusting. The fag buts then started to appear over my driveway and it was clear that the mother was smoking at night and then flicking them out of the window. They started to then appear at the end of our driveway too where she must have been flicking them out of the back bedroom window, classy :mad: They have obviously rented the house as a non smoking rental but surely an ashtray and a dustbin is normal. To make matters worse the other day I came out to find 2 fag buts on the roof of the wife’s car, they had about an inch of ash on them still so required polishing to remove the burn marks. We put it down to an accident, although I was far from happy. I have since discovered that the person smoking out the window is her 14 ish year old son. He looks a right tw&t and when we come in from being out for the night will be hanging out of the window smoking with his head phones on. I started parking the car further up the driveway, we have a longish 5 car length driveway that goes between the 2 detached houses. This morning I have come out to find 2 fag buts on the roof of my wife’s car and a few more on the driveway. All of them would have required the kid to have lent out quite a bit and aim for the car etc. So what do I do, it might sound trivial but the summer is not far away and things could get much worse. My wife is very worried about me doing anything as she feels the little tw&t may make out life hell whilst they are here. We have recently had a lovely baby and she is worried about any responses. 1) Speak to the owners who we have spoken to a few times when they used to visit their mum who lived their. Ask them to speak to the letting agency but not to mention we have reported the issue. 2) Call the letting agency and ask them to sort it out. 3) Knock on the door and ask them to be more careful with how they dispose of the fag buts. 4) Do nothing to avoid any childish retaliation and accept the UK is a shi&hole these days where chay kids have no respect for the law or peoples property. HELP AZ Edited February 14, 2009 by AZURES3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saab Posted February 14, 2009 Report Share Posted February 14, 2009 Hmm a very tricky situation. The fact that they treat their own home/garden badly is annoying but not a great deal you can do about that. However you might want to have a quiet word with the landlord (the letting agent will probably let you have his/her contact details) and it quite likely that they will get them to clean up their act. Now as there has been damage to your property I think you only have two options here. Firstly you could ignore it and attempt to park your car where something like that is less likely to happen. The other option is to confront the people if it happens again. You would have to handle this quite carefully but it should be possible to deal with the issue face to face. Most people are quite reasonable and you might find that their parents are horrified to find out what their son has done, and they will probably put a stop to it, particularly if there is clear evidence. Assuming that this works I'd suggest you try and maintain a fairly amicable relationship with them. On the other hand if they start being difficult about it I'm afraid that you will have no option but to go in hard. If you feel confident about confrontations you could try standing your ground and having a blazing row, or threaten to call the police, and call them if necessary, also tell them you will taken them to the small claims court over the damage, and again you could actually do that - it only costs £30 and you can it online. I can understand your wife's concern because these options will mean that your relationship with your neighbours will be beyond repair. Its a difficult situation - good luck in trying to get it sorted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cuprabob Posted February 14, 2009 Report Share Posted February 14, 2009 This is a very tricky one and I agree that most people are reasonable except when it comes to their children in which case they lose all rationale completely. They firmly believe their kids have a halo above their head and wouldn't do such a thing. They must be aware of what's going on as they can't be blind to the fag butts. Tread very carefully and good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busby Posted February 14, 2009 Report Share Posted February 14, 2009 It is an awkward situation but doing nothing is not an option imho. It depends on what type of character you are as to your first port of call. Personally I'd be knocking on the door, being extremely polite and asking if I could talk to them about a couple of things. "Not wanting to appear a pain in the ar5se but......" type of conversation. You will be able to tell from their first reaction if they care or not. If they do then they'll help sort it out and if not you need to step it up a gear. You need to be prepared to sacrifice the chance of having a nice relationship with them if you take this path but I would be pointing out that one way or another (police involvement, letting agent, etc) it is going to stop. Personally I'd be prepared to sacrifice that chance of getting on ok with them but you may not. If that's not the road you want to take then I would go to the landlord and the letting agent. Both of them will not welcome this situation - especially the landlord who should be putting pressure on the agent about their vetting procedure, etc. If smoking in the property is against the rental terms and they have a kid hanging out the windowm smoking then that needs addressing. Call the police and social services too - they might be interested as to why the parents are happy for the kid to be smoking in the house! Than landlord and agent won't want local residents upset with their choie of tennant so should do the dirty work for you. Good luck buddy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muppetboy Posted February 14, 2009 Report Share Posted February 14, 2009 Definitely take action. Last year my back garden started looking like an ashtray, turns out the babysitter next door was flicking her fag butts over the fence... At first I just let it be as I was a kid once and did lots of smoking on the quiet but it got so bad I spoke to the lady next door, just a quiet polite word and it's never happened since. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
byron13 Posted February 14, 2009 Report Share Posted February 14, 2009 Def say something, even without the car issue it's just plain bad manners to dispose of cigs like that (and i smoke) Be polite, you achieve nothing by being cross and confrontational. If the ignore your polite request then go to the landlord. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scooby_simon Posted February 14, 2009 Report Share Posted February 14, 2009 Do you know the following or can you find out... Do the parents KNOW the lad is smoking 1, If NO, can you have a chat with the lad on the side and suggest that he NOT throw the butts on your car (with the implied threat) of grassing him up..... But do it in such a way as to suggest you are doing him a BIG favour. "look son, I'm sure you did not MEAN to get the butts on the top of my car or all over my drive and garden; I'm sure, if you are not carefull, that your parents are going to work out that THEY did not put them on top of my car, and they could be very dis-chuffed if they work out that it was you. So far, I have managed to polish out the marks; but have YOU any idea how much a re-spray would cost and what your parents would say if they got the bill...." 2, If yes, then the only real option is to talk the the Lad / and parents and ask them to stop, but probably via the letting agents if you get now joy; you want/need it to stop..... As others have said, be very carefull...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZURES3 Posted February 14, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 14, 2009 Thanks for the advice guys. The parents do know he is smoking as you could not miss all the fag buts on the front garden and their driveway. I am going to see how things go over the next few weeks and most likely call the landlord who we sort of know as she used to visit their mum who loved next door, we got on with her very well indeed and always exchanged Xmas presents etc. Will keep you posted but it is so frustrating when you live is such a nice road and have had such great neighbours each side for so long. AZ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lesK Posted February 15, 2009 Report Share Posted February 15, 2009 Talk to the owners, it's their house and I'm sure they wont want this happening to it. I own a house I rent out and if you told me what was happening I would be onto the letting agents immediately telling them to sort it. What I would also do is keep a record of what is going on, it's always worth having proof. If it was my house they would only get a couple of warnings then out, there's always someone else who'll rent.(eventually) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bfc1912 Posted February 15, 2009 Report Share Posted February 15, 2009 Talking to the landlord/agent is a bit like squealing to the teacher. Simple communication is what is getting less and less in this country, so many things could be nipped in the bud much earlier. Just have a word with them next door something along the lines of; I'm wondering if you could help me? I keep finding cigarette buts in my garden and recently ones on my car that have left marks I've had to polish out. None of us in the house smoke but I noticed your son does. If it is him could he please just be careful? If they don't agree go to the landlord/agent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sponge Posted February 19, 2009 Report Share Posted February 19, 2009 Check out this forum. Neighbours From Hell in Britain It's used by many people with problems such as these. You might be able to get a few suggestions, a different perspective, on the matter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nelson_R32 Posted February 22, 2009 Report Share Posted February 22, 2009 Personally I would build up a rapport with them before you mention these issues. Try and engage in conversation when you meet each other on the drive etc. When you do bring these issues up use the "I'm not trying to make a big deal of it, but..." line. They'll feel a little more guilty as they know you on a personal level Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZURES3 Posted March 1, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2009 Things seemed to get progressively worse since my last post. I decided to call the landlord who I know and just asked how long they were here for etc, She explained it was a year but was horrified to hear what was going on. She mentioned they have a 2 way 6 month get out clause not sure what that exactly means but think if after 6 months either party is unhappy they can give a months notice. I told her to leave the issue with me to deal with at this stage as I didnt want to have any unwanted backlash, she fully understood but said she was going to walk past the house to see for herself and if she was unhappy, speak to the agency. It came to a head on Friday night, I had a stinking hangover, went out Saturday morning to get something from the wife's car. Found 2 fag buts on the roof with lots of ash 3 on the driveway next to the car, pencils and blue tack on the roof and to top it off some food next to the car, looked like it had been spat out. Whilst I was nursing my head my wife decided enough was enough and went and knocked on the door, she placed it nicely and said hi sorry to bother you etc but..... The mum said sorry it must be the kids I will have a word with them and make it stop. So time will tell over the next few days. Thanks for you ideas and advice. AZ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chick Posted March 1, 2009 Report Share Posted March 1, 2009 Good luck, hope it all ends amicably ..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZURES3 Posted March 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 2, 2009 Well that was a success 2 more fag butts on the roof this morning AZ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redrob Posted March 2, 2009 Report Share Posted March 2, 2009 What about having a word with the police, seeing as they dont seem to give a shi7, surely this must amount to damage of property or some such law. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chick Posted March 2, 2009 Report Share Posted March 2, 2009 that is soooo rude and must be very annoying. Makes you wonder in what capacity their brains are functioning:mad: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeNobody Posted March 2, 2009 Report Share Posted March 2, 2009 If you're not already doing it, make sure you get photos of the fag butts on the car at least, and any marks they leave. Best to have the evidence should you need it at a later date. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZURES3 Posted March 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 2, 2009 If you're not already doing it, make sure you get photos of the fag butts on the car at least, and any marks they leave. Best to have the evidence should you need it at a later date. Yeah started to make a note of the mr meaners and will start to take relavant pictures :mad: AZ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiser647 Posted March 3, 2009 Report Share Posted March 3, 2009 Sounds like a first class lot of peasants you have next door. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonC Posted March 3, 2009 Report Share Posted March 3, 2009 It came to a head on Friday night, I had a stinking hangover, went out Saturday morning to get something from the wife's car. Found 2 fag buts on the roof with lots of ash 3 on the driveway next to the car, pencils and blue tack on the roof and to top it off some food next to the car, looked like it had been spat out The little smoking sh1t obviously knows what strings to pull to get to you. Understandably you're livid with the situation - I'd want to teach him a lesson. Perhaps, ask the mother if she will accompany you if you have a word with him one-to-one, politely, to see if that gets through to the little fecker? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mac Posted March 3, 2009 Report Share Posted March 3, 2009 Kill him with a tray. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZURES3 Posted March 19, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 19, 2009 Hi guys Well its been nearly 3 weeks know and no litter or fags in sight. It would appear that the lady has 2 younger children and the kn** who was doing the throwing was a babysitter. I am not sure if she has sacked him or told him to behave but no more chav leaning out of the window smoking and all the fag buts were removed from the flower bed that partly sepeartes the 2 houses. The summer time will tell but things look better AZ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiser647 Posted March 19, 2009 Report Share Posted March 19, 2009 Excellent! She obviously decided the smoking babysitter was maybe, just maybe setting a bad example for her kiddies. Good news. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bfc1912 Posted March 19, 2009 Report Share Posted March 19, 2009 I know it sounds like work for you when they were to blame but how about thanking them for sorting it out? The small things tend to go along way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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