Skip taken while I was out

pokerwidow

I got a skip from a local company on the 19th of April. It was delivered at 7:30 in the morning and the driver requested that I leave the money under the mat for him. He never said when he would be back (on the phone the night before he left the skip) nor did anyone mention collection times when I ordered the skip.

Anyway when I was out today someone came and took the skip. I rang the company the minute I got home and they said someone would ring me back. This guy did and said that he was trying to ring me today and yesterday. We have an answer machine, no message left. He said that it was common sense that someone would be finished with it in two weeks. I said I wanted my skip back and he said it was emptied already. Then he said he didn't know when they would be in the area again. Finally, after me threatening the small claims court he said the skip would be here tomorrow and I could only fill it half-ways (it was already half-full).

Then he said that this was a complete abuse of power. I asked what he meant and he said I know you are a Garda. Now I am not, but some of my husband's family are. Then after a bit more arguing he hung up on me:eek: .

Anyway, I am afraid now he wont drop the skip. My husband is taking 2 days off work to finish our tidy up. I am livid. Any advice greatly welcomed.

Maccattack

Fill it up with paint tins and fridges.ie the stuff your not supposed to.

He will be fined when he tries to dump it.

Deny it was yours....

knighted

in fairness to the company two weeks is a long time for anyone to have a skip out on hire -its a loss of revenue to the company if they have to wait till u are ready to give it back -if i was him i would tell u to take me court as i dont think u would win it -as for him mentioning abuse of power -he must have previous knowledge of ur family or know them in some way to make a comment like this -all in all i think u got a good deal in getting the skip for two weeks as most people who post related questions on here cant get them away from there houses quick enuff

pow wow

knighted wrote:

in fairness to the company two weeks is a long time for anyone to have a skip out on hire -its a loss of revenue to the company if they have to wait till u are ready to give it back -if i was him i would tell u to take me court as i dont think u would win it -as for him mentioning abuse of power -he must have previous knowledge of ur family or know them in some way to make a comment like this -all in all i think u got a good deal in getting the skip for two weeks as most people who post related questions on here cant get them away from there houses quick enuff

Yes but if you're not familiar with the ins and outs of skip hire and the guy never said when he'd come back for it, you might assume that you could have it for as long as you wanted (not months obviously but you know what I mean) and then call them to collect it. Perhaps there is a little ignorance on the part of the hirer but even so....the skip company are hardly being professional about it.

There isn't really a whole lot you can do except use it when it comes and hope they come back for it. And never use that company again!

knighted

ellscurr wrote:

Yes but if you're not familiar with the ins and outs of skip hire and the guy never said when he'd come back for it, you might assume that you could have it for as long as you wanted (not months obviously but you know what I mean) and then call them to collect it. Perhaps there is a little ignorance on the part of the hirer but even so....the skip company are hardly being professional about it.

There isn't really a whole lot you can do except use it when it comes and hope they come back for it. And never use that company again!

well i think common sense should prevail here -two weeks -plus he was nice enuff not o wake the person early in the morning when he left it -its a business not a service that can wait around untill ur ready to fill the skip -

Tipsy Mac

2 weeks, what was he doing the Cisteen chapel?

In fairness why didnt you order it when you needed it, no point in loading a bucket of sand into it every day for a month and expecting the Skip company to be without one of their skips. Normally any skip I've had I've rang them back after a week to take it away and even then I have it too long.

pow wow

knighted wrote:

well i think common sense should prevail here -two weeks -plus he was nice enuff not o wake the person early in the morning when he left it -its a business not a service that can wait around untill ur ready to fill the skip -

Hey I'm not disagreeing! I'm just saying that if you'd never had a skip before you might not think that - that's all

pokerwidow

Well thanks for your opinions. My main point is that the company did not contact me and took away my half empty skip, which I paid for in full.

As for the length of time I had the skip, there is another skip in our estate longer than mine and they are still filling it.

And just for the record it was in our driveway, not on the road.

Noelie

I remember when Skip companies would only let you have the skip for a day maybe two at mostand they would be coming to collect it.

What size skip was it that you'd gotten anyway?

peepsbates

Maybe they arranged or paid to have the skip longer,
but why would you not ask when he dropped the skip, when it would be collected?
two weeks is pretty reasonable imo

loyatemu

have him arrested.

MOH

knighted wrote:

in fairness to the company two weeks is a long time for anyone to have a skip out on hire -its a loss of revenue to the company if they have to wait till u are ready to give it back -if i was him i would tell u to take me court as i dont think u would win it -as for him mentioning abuse of power -he must have previous knowledge of ur family or know them in some way to make a comment like this -all in all i think u got a good deal in getting the skip for two weeks as most people who post related questions on here cant get them away from there houses quick enuff

If the skip company didn't give any indication on any time limit for the hire of the skip, and then took it back without any prior warning, I'd say they wouldn't have much of a leg to stand on in court. It's them that's disorganised, can't expect the customer to know how long they're supposed to have the skip for. Even asking to have the money left under the mat sounds very weird.

Sponge Bob

2 weeks is normal enough but the skip company obviously had the wrong number and should send a mini skip for the weekend as compo

Archeron

I reckon that the fact that they are dropping one back for you to half fill is very fair. Skip companies normally specify that you have 3-4 days to hang onto a skip for, so two weeks is a long time. I appreciate that they didnt specify that to you, but you didnt ask either, so its a bit of give and take. Commercial companies who have skips on site all the time have to pay rather expensive rental fees as well as disposal fees, and you'd be amazed how much it costs to actually manufacture a skip.

And as for filling it with paint, thats just silly. Skip contents dont go straight to the dump, they go to waste transfer stations where the skip companies try to recover as much as possible for recycling as they can. I've seen firsthand the effects of a skip loaded with paint can have, and you can end up shutting an entire crew of people's job down for the day while the mess is cleaned up and it can also pose a health and safety issue. I'd just learn from it and move on, as being petty by deliberately causing damage will benefit no-one.

Cabaal

two weeks is plenty, I don't see anything wrong with them taking it after 2 weeks, there been more then fair in this situation.

mcaul

If you got your skip from a reputable skip company there would have been a contract with it.

With A1 the contact stipulates a 2 day maximum except by agreement. . "HIre period is for a maximum of 2 days (unless otherwise agreed in writing) and notwithstanding the foregoing, it may take up to a maximum of 7 working days for the Company to collect the skip." - Same with Thorntons.


BTW - as to another poster, if you left a fridge in the skip or any other hazardous materials or over fill it the skip company would simply refuse to take it away and contually charge you additional fees - as per their t&c's.