View Full Version : Was I wrong?
The other day, in my house minding my own business, I happened to look out of the front window and saw a man working away in my garden. He was doing something to the BT box in the ground and his van was parked nearby. So I went out and, to give him the benefit of the doubt, asked if I had not heard him knock. He said he didn't knock. I said don't you think it would be polite to ask before coming into my garden? He seemed rather surprised by this odd notion and apologised but I felt it lacked a certain conviction. I then asked what he was doing (thought this fairly reasonable in the circumstances) and he said my neighbour's phone had a problem.
So that's all right then :confused .
I know about the right to roam but isn't this taking it a bit far? Perfectly nice polite man, parted on good terms, no harsh words. It just seemed a bit odd.
I think you were quite right.
But what is a BT box doing in your garden ?
Phone lines go from house to Pole then to a green box located on a public footpath.
At least thats how i thought it worked, unless there is something different in your case.
Course you weren't wrong!
Its important to be vigilant and not unreasonable to expect common
courtesy.
Perhaps it is not easy to tell which garden belongs to which house?
That's the case where I live, and the fact he could accesss your neighbour's supply from your garden suggests it might be the same
for you.
Even so, if in doubt..it wouldn't have hurt him to knock your door!
I think you were quite right, badger. He was working on your property, without your permission, although perhaps he felt that wasn't needed?
Is the BT box on the edge of your garden and the street/pavement? :confused or adjoining your neighbour's garden?
I'd have thought the polite and considerate thing would be to let you know what he was doing....before he started...it wouldn't have taken much time or effort, would it?
It annoys me when workmen do this sort of thing. It's ignorant mainly but it also shows lack of respect for the property of others.
Maybe he was shy, or didn't want to disturb you as he only expected to be there a couple of minutes, or he was in a hurry.
All the same I agree with where you're headed - he could have be a vandal or someone up to no good - he should have knocked really.
p.s. the second mouse doesn't fare any better than the first with the number of traps I've set :evil (and it's peanut butter, btw LOL).
Couldn't be any question of him not knowing he was on my property. For some reason the box is inside my fence, he had to come through my front gate to get to it and there's only my house in my garden which is fenced all round. Doesn't even adjoin the neighbour - there's a track in between.
Oh and BTW, everything about BT cabling is a bit weird up here but at least it works - sort of, slowly. I shouldn't have said that - talk about tempting Providence :roll:
P.S. this mouse loves peanut butter so won't be visiting emb
p.s. the second mouse doesn't fare any better than the first with the number of traps I've set :evil (and it's peanut butter, btw LOL).
[lol] ROFL, emb123.....
Suppose all you could do is complain to B.T!
However as you seemed to get on fine with the guy in question, you might want to make a general point of it.
North Rhins
24-Apr-07, 19:34
Of course you were right Badger. It’s called common courtesy. I’m afraid it’s a rather an old fashioned, outmoded concept these days Words like please and thank you cost nothing although you wouldn’t think it.
Lolabelle
24-Apr-07, 23:10
Nobody is game to come into our yard with Miss Lola & Mr Kruger in residence. I can't even get them to come in when I am at the door. Big dogs are great... Um except for the big poo's they do all over the place. :lol:
DeHaviLand
24-Apr-07, 23:16
If there is a box on your property then BT probably have wayleave over the area where the box is sited, therefore he wouldnt need your permission. Check your title deeds. He still could have give you the courtesy of knocking though.
Why would you be wrong? If I saw some guy I didn't know in my garden I'd be straight out asking him what his business was! BT were in my garden at New Year fixing my neighbours line and cut me off in the process! A week at New Year when you need the phone and internet. Ho Hum such is life. Got £6 compo tho:roll:
I think your right to ask him what his business is.
I would expect anyone entering the boundries of my property to ask permission especially when I have a 2 year old playing in the garden. We have a rentokil man come every so often. He always knocks and asks permission even though he is all of 30 secs and probably would have never notice him.
No way were you wrong. Just because the person he is doing work for knows who he is doesn't mean he doesnt have to let YOU know what he's up to.
No you have every right to have someone ask for your permission to enter your property... Anyone who enters ours does it at there own risk, if the rabbit dont get them the kids will....You should see the workmens faces when they come to do work and they have 5 squeaky little voises asking him "what you doin" over and over again....They get the job done and then leave.You can see the relief in the faces as the noise goes away....
the council did this to me last year i had 3 of them digging up my garden! they were looking for a drain & came to my door ranting that i must of covered it over! they then had the cheek to ask if i was making tea for them!!
If there is a box on your property then BT probably have wayleave over the area where the box is sited, therefore he wouldnt need your permission. Check your title deeds. He still could have give you the courtesy of knocking though.
That's an interesting thought. I have an electricity pole for which I get paid wayleave (all of about £7 a year!). Do BT pay for wayleave? I had not realised before that the box in my garden was connected to my neighbour as there's another one just outside the bottom of my garden and I thought his came from that.
Tell you who else has come in without permission - voles, hundreds of them. Never seen so many holes in my life. What with them plus electric and telephone cables plus run-off from septic tank, shouldn't be surprised if the whole lot collapsed one of these days. Must be like the London Underground down there.
Thanks all for your support. Nice to know I wasn't over-reacting.
I think you were quite right.
But what is a BT box doing in your garden ?
Phone lines go from house to Pole then to a green box located on a public footpath.
At least thats how i thought it worked, unless there is something different in your case.
Seabird, May I ask how the phone line gets from the pole to the green box as I was led to believe it was by going through underground cables buried in peoples gardens out onto the street then through pipes under the road/pavements to the green cabinet but at least thats how I thought it worked unless there is something differnt in your case.
P.S. Badger, you are not wrong he could have had the decency to advise you he was there even if they do have a "wayleave" to enter you garden.
Yes I'm sure it all goes underground but having said that, everything is different in my case. Had a lovely time ages ago with Scottish Water when they were trying to persuade us to take out insurance against leaks etc. Their leaflets included a nice picture of a tidy suburban house with a neat front garden and the main outside stopcock in the pavement by the gate just where it ought to be. So I phoned them up and said 'scuse me, have you ever been in the country? I mean you would think, wouldn't you, that Scottish Water would have some idea about Scotland? I explained that mine was way past the end of my front garden, which is pretty long, and then down the track - think it's about the 10th post. We did mark it at one point because it's completely overgrown and I wouldn't want to have to find it in a hurry.
The point is that the cover they were offering was from the outside stopcock to the main one inside so I felt it only fair to point out that in my case that's quite a distance. Well, goodness me, that fair put them in a tizzy. They got their lawyers onto the case and it went on for ages. Can't even remember now where it ended up except that they assured me if there was a leak they would fix it. The other side of the stopcock is their responsibility anyway.
Such fun living in the wilds.
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