Neighbours alarm going off for 3 days

Snoopy1 · 28-03-2016 9:50pm #1

I'm losing the head. I live in a terraced house, and the neighbours house alarm has been going off for 3 days.
It's really loud in my house especially upstairs.
It looks like she's gone away, and I'm hoping it's not all week.
I was working at the weekend and already made several mistakes as I was so sleep depraved
What can I do?

the_syco · 28-03-2016 9:55pm

Does it stop at all, or has it been going off for three days non-stop?

Snoopy1 · 28-03-2016 10:14pm

It's the internal alarm and it's been going off non stop since Friday night

Snoopy1 · 28-03-2016 10:21pm

It's a terraced house, although all metres are read in the front gardens.
Not sure about tampering with other people's property though

Rew · 28-03-2016 10:43pm

There is a battery backup in the alarm no idea how long it would last. Their freezer, fish tanks and the like don't though...

CBFi · 28-03-2016 11:02pm

A power cut once set off my house alarm so not sure that would help. Have you tried ringing the alarm company if the name is on the box attached to the front of the house? Or perhaps a neighbours has their contacts details?

B.A._Baracus · 28-03-2016 11:15pm

Op, you've got two options.

Ring the guards and play the 'concerned neighbour' card. Someone might have broken in or maybe she's on the floor in there after setting off the panic alarm feature (most alarms have them these days) You don't know what's going on in there so play it up. All you know it's been going off for days and she hasn't been seen. At the very best guards can get in contact with a relative or through her job and someone close to her could come out and switch it off.

or secondly, as others have said, if her esb box is handy to access... then flip the trip switch. Most alarms will then begin to beep using battery power. That beep isn't too loud so you shouldnt hear it in your house. Then about a minute later flip the trip switch back. So what ever she has in there (fridge) will be getting power to it. This will knock off some alarms and they will just continue to beep at a low level.
Problem with this is that every alarm is different. You could trip the switch and for it to still be set off using battery power. But it's worth a shot as you won't be causing any damage.

tinkerbell · 29-03-2016 11:34am

Do you know the neighbour's name? Could you track her down on Facebook and send her a message to let her know? Those cheap crappy alarms (usually not even monitored) just keep going until it's switched off - she might not even know it's ringing.

lawred2 · 29-03-2016 11:37am

Just ring the guards... you never know; the house might actually have been burgled

tinkerbell · 29-03-2016 11:39am

lawred2 wrote: »

Just ring the guards... you never know; the house might actually have been burgled

The gardai won't actually do anything. I've been in this situation myself - we just had to try and contact the owner. We called the council too but they can't do anything to switch it off - they can complain to the resident alright presumably but they can't physically switch it off for you. You need to get in touch with the resident.

ED E · 29-03-2016 2:57pm

The council are impotent when it comes to noise issues and the Gardai for the most part wash their hands of it, who normally deals with noise complaints on the rest of the continent. Surely it should be a duty of the police force, albeit a low priority one?

lawred2 · 30-03-2016 8:15am

tinkerbell wrote: »

The gardai won't actually do anything. I've been in this situation myself - we just had to try and contact the owner. We called the council too but they can't do anything to switch it off - they can complain to the resident alright presumably but they can't physically switch it off for you. You need to get in touch with the resident.

makes a joke of having expensive home alarm systems them

Snoopy1 · 30-03-2016 11:37am

It finally went off Tuesday night

MarkAnthony · 30-03-2016 4:06pm

With or without the aid of a lump hammer?

B.A._Baracus · 30-03-2016 4:16pm

Snoopy1 wrote: »

It finally went off Tuesday night

Because that's when she finally got home right?

daveyeh · 30-03-2016 4:28pm

Ear plugs in future

Snoopy1 · 30-03-2016 4:29pm

Yea she must have got home as I noticed she's put the wheelie bin back in the communal parking to reserve her spot.
I did decide to do a bit of hammering late last night, hopefully it woke her up

RainyDay · 30-03-2016 4:47pm

Snoopy1 wrote: »

Yea she must have got home as I noticed she's put the wheelie bin back in the communal parking to reserve her spot.
I did decide to do a bit of hammering late last night, hopefully it woke her up

Is this a managed estate, with a management company involved? If so, you should complain about her alarm, and about her hogging of the communal parking (if it really is communal parking, that is).

moc moc a moc · 30-03-2016 4:57pm

Snoopy1 wrote: »

I did decide to do a bit of hammering late last night, hopefully it woke her up

What are you, a child? Go and speak to your neighbour about her problematic alarm.

Snoopy1 · 30-03-2016 4:57pm

I'm a single woman.
It's just a row of parking spaces outside the row of houses, and for round the back, no numbers allocated. she just reserves the one right outside her house with the wheelie bin

B.A._Baracus · 30-03-2016 5:14pm

moc moc a moc wrote: »

What are you, a child? Go and speak to your neighbour about her problematic alarm.

And for what reason tho?
Lets be realistic here. For Snoopy1 to get a fake "sorry about that!" then the door closes?

kub · 30-03-2016 5:31pm

Op go and introduce yourself to the neighbour, ask her nicely did she know her alarm had activated?
Then tell her that you had a look around, you could not see anything amiss and that you were thinking to yourself that even if something was that you had no way of contacting her anyway.
The nice approach all works best as she did not set off her system on purpose.

If you two do chat, drop in that she should get her system serviced and get it to comply with EN50131, at least the system will stop activating after 15 mins as per that standard.

RainyDay · 30-03-2016 7:40pm

Snoopy1 wrote: »

I'm a single woman.
It's just a row of parking spaces outside the row of houses, and for round the back, no numbers allocated. she just reserves the one right outside her house with the wheelie bin

Is there a management company managing the estate? If so, you need to talk to them about parking. Or just move her wheelie bin.

Wabbit Ears · 30-03-2016 8:00pm

B.A._Baracus wrote: »

And for what reason tho?
Lets be realistic here. For Snoopy1 to get a fake "sorry about that!" then the door closes?

Thats not being realistic at all,In my expereince most people are absolutly mortified that they upset their neighbour in that way and are extremly apologetic. Just assuming the neighbour is a sociopath who doesnt give a hoot about her relations with neighbours is a bizzare and misguided life view.

If OP says nothing, nothing will be done, this thread was pointless and theneighbour will be blissfully unaware that anything whatsoever happened and not know why her neighbour seems to hate her for some inexplicaable reason.

B.A._Baracus · 30-03-2016 9:17pm

Wabbit Ears wrote: »

Thats not being realistic at all,In my expereince most people are absolutly mortified that they upset their neighbour in that way and are extremly apologetic. Just assuming the neighbour is a sociopath who doesnt give a hoot about her relations with neighbours is a bizzare and misguided life view.

If OP says nothing, nothing will be done, this thread was pointless and theneighbour will be blissfully unaware that anything whatsoever happened and not know why her neighbour seems to hate her for some inexplicaable reason.

You seem to be forgetting something.
How come this woman didnt knock around to Snoopy1 today to ask how long the alarm was going for? Did she hear any noises before the alarm went off? etc. Perhaps then she would say sorry. But she didnt knock around did she? (Snoopy would have said)

No. According to Snoopy, she came in, Switched the alarm off and and put her wheelie bin out. So what is it? she is either too stupid to realise the alarm was potentially going off for days (which it was) or simply doesn't care.

But what would you do?
You've come home after being away for a couple of days. Realise the alarm is going off so you switch it off as soon as you get in the door. Wouldnt you naturally think how long was this thing going off for? a few hours? a couple of days?... well to get your answer you'd ask the neighbour. But you can't say sorry to someone without actually talking to someone... and if you dont really give a toss you're not going to ask.

Mrs OBumble · 31-03-2016 12:09pm

Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity. (Thank you Mr Hanlon).

Some people are just thick.

Go and visit the neighbour, and ask who to contact the next time her alarm goes off.

ct5amr2ig1nfhp · 31-03-2016 12:14pm

Put the wheelie bin in front of her door. It's a hazard being left out. I know from experience that a wheelie bin can do a surprising amount of damage to a car if a gust catches it in windy weather.

Also, as other posters have said, go an talk to the neighbour. Explain the situation and ask for a contact number if it goes off again.

Snoopy1 wrote: »

Yea she must have got home as I noticed she's put the wheelie bin back in the communal parking to reserve her spot.
I did decide to do a bit of hammering late last night, hopefully it woke her up

Butters1979 · 31-03-2016 12:24pm

If you're the type of person who hogs a communal parking spot with your wheelie bin, then you're self centred and ignorant enough not to even think about the affect your alarm might be having with your neighbours.

Flatzie_poo · 31-03-2016 12:50pm

Butters1979 wrote: »

If you're the type of person who hogs a communal parking spot with your wheelie bin, then you're self centred and ignorant enough not to even think about the affect your alarm might be having with your neighbours.

The type of person who allows someone hog a communal space with a wheelie bin has something to answer for too here!

Butters1979 · 31-03-2016 1:39pm

Flatzie_poo wrote: »

The type of person who allows someone hog a communal space with a wheelie bin has something to answer for too here!

No not really. If you have to confront someone because they're being a d*** then they're being a d***. Not everyone feels comfortable doing that and they shouldn't have to.

This isn't a toddler or a dog. The 'but you're allowing them to do it' argument doesn't fly.

Wabbit Ears · 31-03-2016 1:57pm

B.A._Baracus wrote: »

You seem to be forgetting something.
How come this woman didnt knock around to Snoopy1 today to ask how long the alarm was going for? Did she hear any noises before the alarm went off? etc. Perhaps then she would say sorry. But she didnt knock around did she? (Snoopy would have said)

No. According to Snoopy, she came in, Switched the alarm off and and put her wheelie bin out. So what is it? she is either too stupid to realise the alarm was potentially going off for days (which it was) or simply doesn't care.

But what would you do?
You've come home after being away for a couple of days. Realise the alarm is going off so you switch it off as soon as you get in the door. Wouldnt you naturally think how long was this thing going off for? a few hours? a couple of days?... well to get your answer you'd ask the neighbour. But you can't say sorry to someone without actually talking to someone... and if you dont really give a toss you're not going to ask.

yea, Mrs OBumble answers that one quite well.

bizzare and saddening way of looking at the world you seem to have there Mr Baracus

B.A._Baracus · 31-03-2016 2:02pm

I would agree with both Butters and Flatzie above.

On one hand, you should not have to say anything. No one wants to saying "here, what are you bloody doing?" to a neighbour and maybe falling out. Life's too short. Besides you might need a favor sometime.

But on the other hand give an inch take a mile. Personally, I wouldn't care too much about someone trying to claim a communal parking spot. But if I was annoyed with an alarm going off for days and I didn't even get a knock on the door to either ask how long it was going on for / sorry about that. Then yeah, I would be annoyed. Words would have to be said.

Wabbit Ears · 31-03-2016 2:49pm

It is a bizzare view that its better to build up resentment for your neighbour rather then just say it to them because of a presumption they are not going to care.

Her neighbour reserving a spot does not make her a bad person or unapproachable. It really doenst say an awful lot about her one way or another and the writes and wrongs of doing that are debatable.

Nice touch on the old school 'posting seniority' card, hadn't seen that on boards in years!!! I do enjoy the classics.

Seanachai · 31-03-2016 2:50pm

Snoopy1 wrote: »

It finally went off Tuesday night

That's a serious disruption, it happens where I live once in a while and it's very irritating. I've been lucky the last few times as I've had to go down the country. There needs to be legislation to clarify who's responsibility it is and what action can be taken.

Dial Hard · 31-03-2016 5:43pm

B.A._Baracus wrote:

On one hand, you should not have to say anything. No one wants to saying "here, what are you bloody doing?" to a neighbour and maybe falling out. Life's too short. Besides you might need a favor sometime.

You do realise there's a world of difference between a friendly word with someone and "Here, what are you bloody doing?", right???

Flatzie_poo · 01-04-2016 8:39am

Butters1979 wrote: »

No not really. If you have to confront someone because they're being a d*** then they're being a d***. Not everyone feels comfortable doing that and they shouldn't have to.

This isn't a toddler or a dog. The 'but you're allowing them to do it' argument doesn't fly.

No, not really, you don't have to confront someone to do this. You simply walk outside, and remove the wheelie bin from the communal parking space...

Neighbours alarm going off for 3 days

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