The grumpy thread

[SambaS]

If I could find an angle to implement the Housing Association - I am in direct contact with my Housing Officer's manager due to the problems in the past.

 

Have the Housing Association been negligent in their duties?

 

Allowing the place to be both vacant and paid for by Housing Benefits?

 

I went with this direct to my Housing officer and her Manager:

 

 

Julie/ Sharon

 

Surely (HOUSING ASSOCIATION) has been negligent in allowing XXXXXXXXXX to be unoccupied since December 2012 and, I assume to be paid for by Housing Benefits. And then allow the tenant to return 7 months later, and/ or sub let it to a friend, who is now having a party.

 

I want this sorting and fast.

 

I do not care what Mr XXXXXXX or his mother may have told you. Flat X has been completely unoccupied ALL YEAR.

 

He has not "returned on an evening" at all.

 

In fact his mother may have called round four times or so in the year and that is it other than XXXXXX on occasion, a tenant of the other block of flats.

 

This really is not on and I DO NOT want a repeat of last year, especially as I have just started a new job.

 

I lost my last job as a manager partly due to the problems I had with noise from downstairs.

 

I would like to go to bed now, I am tired. But I cant.

 

I expect (HOUSING ASSOCIATION's due diligence would involve NO LESS than taking the keys back, informing the benefits agency and possibly the Police. Am I right?

 

Thank you and I apologise for the abruptness of my email but I am certain you can understand, if you cant please come and live here, be kept awake ALL night and then try and do your job.

 

[Lord Sterling]

Sorry to hear of that Samba. Be careful about loosing your temper though. I did today and as a result lost my job (although it happend outside of the workplace with someone who doesnt work there) and the Police may be involved. Suffice to say its actually blown more out of proportion that it actually was.

[warren t claim]

Work grump. To fund the start up of Warcraft Tyre Company I'm having to slave for 15 hours a day tramping in a truck. Yesterday I was in Bristol and tonight I'm stuck in a side street in Hull. Fuck knows where I'm going to be sleeping tomorrow. I'm living an unhealthy life of too many cigs, cups of coffee and Pot Noodles. The company I'm working for actually has a waiting list of people wanting to do this for a living! I'm going to be so fucking glad when my two weeks of solitary confinement are up and I can go home.

[maxpower]

Samba if they have been sub letting then the H.A. should reclaim the flat, though this requires proof.

i had kinda the same problem with my son's H.A. who wanted his flat as they had said it was being sub letted. but i got the H.A. to check with the power companies gas/elec and it showed no top- ups for usage had been made for a year so nobody could have been using the flat so we won the right to keep the flat...... so that might be a way that you can go to prove that the flat hasn't been occupied since dec 2012.

and record the level of noise from the flat and give that to your H.A.

 

perhaps even mention that you will air your grief and their lack of helpfulness in the local rag.. may also make them do something.

 

good luck... nothing worse than fuggin inconsiderate noisey neighbours.

[SambaS]

good idea thanks, 4am still no sign of quiet

[Cavcraft]

Why don't you try and find the phone number for the person at the housing trust/council/whatever responsible for the property, then everytime you get woken up by your neighbours, ring them (housing person) up and tell them?

 

We had an alarm that constantly went off round here and managed to find the person who owned the property's home number. They clearly CBA doing anything about said alarm (or the fact we were losing sleep) so everytime it went off I rang them no matter what time of night or day. They very soon got pissed off by this (to our delight) and they came and fixed the alarm.

[alf892]

Isn't it the enviromental health bods at the council that sort out noise? I think they have the power to seize the equipment used to make the noise............I am sure I have read about this sort of thing in the local rag.

[Lankytim]

Every time there's a big party can't you just ring the rozzers?

[Rocket88]

Wait until they're out, and superglue the front door lock up. And keep doing it...............

[daveb47]

Just went round shops to get a jar of marmite...nearly 6 ferkin pounds,

Crazy price but i gotta have me toast and marmite for brekky.

[Richard]

I believe the rozzers just refer you to the council if you complain about noise.

[hairnet]

dont turd the letterbox - marmite

[plasticvandan]

samba,i had a similar problem when next door was being rented.several years of constant noise,banging music (wouldnt have minded a bit of Queen,stranglers or supertramp but not the computerised shit they were playing)

and the constant smell of jamaican woodbines.in the end i stuck a notice on their door advising them that if it didnt stop immediately i would be calling the police to investigate the various vehicles that would turn up for 10 mins then dissapear again,the constant noise,and the "wierd smell" that came from their place. They left 3 weeks later.

[SambaS]

actually they all smoke weed and for 7 months i have been free of the smell of shottie water permeating through my kitchen sink and bathroom sink. shottie water is the water from a bong... it smells really terrible.

 

I've just been woken up by noise and music.... after managing to get to sleep at 5 am

 

I have sent 4 emails to my housing officers manager and as of yet had no response. I may drive up and demand they do something.

[theorganist]

Just read this thread for the first time in a long time and would like to send my best wishes to Nigel and to his wife, I hope things improve quickly.

 

I am sure the police can do something about noise if it is after a certain time. There was an incident in our street years ago when there was a loud party in the early hours of the morning. A neighbour called the police and they did come and whatever they said did the trick.

 

To be honest if you make a nuisance of yourself to the police, i.e. ring them every time your are woken up they will may do something.

 

Then again just got this from an environmental law website:

 

 

What can the police do about noise complaints? Noise nuisance is generally treated as an environmental health matter, to be handled by the local council. The police can deal with a complaint if the noise amounts to a breach of the peace, or where it is associated with threatening, violent or other anti-social behaviour. In very serious cases of anti-social behaviour, the police and local councils can work together to seek anti-social behaviour orders (ASBOs) against residents causing alarm, harassment and distress to others.

[SambaS]

The Police were reluctant to come out, fobbing me off to the council, I said well if you aren't willing to do something I will, and was promptly told then I would be arrested.

 

I complained as high up as I could get within my housing association and they said they had had this trouble from the police before and actually they should come out, once the 2 got talking I was actually helped and the police would attend, the music would go down for ten minutes, ten back up again.

 

My hammer and telling them to fuck off back to Northallerton worked wonders... for 7 months.

[SambaS]

Just this second got this back:

 

 

 

Many thanks for your emails, I am sorry to hear you are experiencing these problems. Is the music still going on now as I have a Housing officer who can come over now to witness this.

[SambaS]

 

 

Are you happy for us to come over now?

[SambaS]

shame they didnt come at 4am when the music was loud

[autofive]

try recording the noise on audio or video add a bit of noise (i.e talk over the top of it) to give a yardstick of the volume

 

keep a diary of the noise, then tell your landlord you are thinking of moving because they have failed to provide an environment that you can live in.

[plasticvandan]

the weed thing can be something you can use as leverage,after all,its illegal,and they prob wont want unwanted attention.

I recorded the noise,filmed them,noted reg numbers etc,the more you have the better.

[SambaS]

My housing officer came round and the music was "acceptable" for the time of day............ then he turned it up and she got out her notepad and took things more serious.

 

Score 1.

[HillmanImp]

The council should fit some noise monitoring equipment if it is persistant. This will fit to the point in the building where the noise is coming from and will detect the volume and type of noise and log it.

 

Mutha Imp's next door neighbours boiler was borked and was making a huge banging noise in her garage which is attached to my Mums living room wall 24hrs a day. The neighbour did not care as she could not hear the noise in her house so my Mutha Imp called in the council who fitted the box, decided that the noise was too much and served an order on the old dear next door to fix or replace the boiler.

[HillmanImp]

shame they didnt come at 4am when the music was loud

 They were probably ripped to their tits at another party.

[myglaren]

I have Amazon Prime, which means I get 'next day delivery'. Which means I get it delivered four days after ordering it.

Also agree on the 'guys' thing - my dad or mum has never called me and my brothers 'guys' thank God, but I've heard it used loads by 'modern parents'. Horrible.

I use the cheapskate delivery option (free)

My order placed on Tuesday night was delivered this afternoon

My son uses Amazon Prime, works nights and is always in bed when his stuff is delivered 

 

Commiserations Mr. Bickle, hope it all turns out well.

[sporty-shite]

Best wishes from Sporty Towers for you, Nigel. Hope Mrs B pulls through.

 

My grump for today? That old chestnut, car buyers.

 

Got the Celica on C&C for £2500 with 12 months MOT. Bloke phones last week, wants to view. Arrives here, starts picking faults and saying it needs MUCH more doing to it than it really does. Then starts on the "what will you take?" lark. Told him he could have it for £2000 if I didn't MOT it, as I haven't actually put it through test yet. He umms and aahhs, then starts with the "I Don't want to insult you" shit when I ask him what he wants to offer. Then says he'd only want to pay £1200. I was surprised how polite I was, but suffice to say, he didn't leave with the car.

 

Today, I miss a call at work, then get a text. "Have you still got car, what will you take?" 

 

Replied, telling them to come and see the car, then we can talk money. Get a reply, "my mate saw it last week, he told me all about it".

 

My reply: "if your mate saw it, he will have told you what I'll take"

 

His reply "£1400, I can buy tonight"

 

FUCKING HELL.

 

So I calmly and politely reply, "you know how much I want, if you don't want to make a serious and NEAR offer, please don't reply"

 

"What about £1500?"

 

I didn't reply. I really think this car is going to end up back in my garage for another few years,

[Cavcraft]

That's the run of the mill these days sadly. Had similar stupid offers for some of my bikes and I just remind them that I clearly stated 'offers invited when you've seen it, please don't embarrass yourself by asking my best/bottom/lowest price'. They still do of course so they either get it with both barrels or I ignore them.

 

I strongly suspect these two bob, penniless morons usually end up with either nothing at all or something shit.

[Station]

How can a lowest insurance quote for a 50bhp 850cc 700kg car worth £300 with the 32 year old driver having no claims for 6 years be £1300?

I was expecting £300 - £400 max - it doesn't make any sense

[Station]

If I see a car with ONO on for example, I've always avoided awkwardness by negotiating the price beforehand. I hate renegotiating in person, and I hate buyer picking minor faults which were outlined in the advert (paint needs work - "it needs a respray!"). I can feel my urine start to boil thinking back over some of the sales I've had.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

These celica buyers sound like they have some potential, but are operating like rank amateurs. This ‘what will you take’ stuff is nonsense of course. You have told them you’ll take £2000 and their offer started at £1200, they’ve bothered to inspect it and have obviously been chewing it over all week and then upped their ‘valuation’ to £1500 so they seem interested at least. (Notev of course that’s them asking if you’ll take 1500, which is different from them offering you £1500). Would you actually meet them half way at £1750? I don’t know anything about the celica so I’m not commenting on its value there. If so, and they ring up any more, tell them to stop arsing about and just come round with some cash in their pocket, and you’ll try to thrash out a deal there and then. That’s a sort of ‘test’ for them and also a way to tell them you’re up for dealing with them. If they actually bother turning up I reckon you’ll be 95% of the way there. If that’s too much commitment for them, they are messers.