Blocked in

Cuchulain · 2 Sep 2008 at 11:53

Yesterday morning I woke up to find workmen in the process of digging a huge hole in the road in front of my drive for some gas pipeline or other, unfortunately this meant I couldn't get the car out to take my son to the babysitters so we ended up going over and back in a taxi.

Now, they've not finished the work yet but I managed to get out this morning and park my car in front of my drive, obstructing any work they need to carry out today.

Do I

a) Be petty and tell them to get bent for costing me £15 in taxi fares yesterday when all they had to do was let me know prior to digging a massive hole in the road.

b) Pretend I'm not in if they knock the door, also very petty

c) Move the car when they ask but point out the error of their ways

d) Just move it and say nothing.

It'll be obviously be 'd' but I'm still rather ****** off about the affair

jpmonkey69 · 2 Sep 2008 at 11:55

find out which contracting company is doing the work and make a complaint. If you got a receipt for your taxi journey, then maybe they'll refund you.

MrFunex · 2 Sep 2008 at 11:56

Suppose you could write to the company (enclosing a receipt from the taxi if you have one) and ask them to cough up.... doubt you'd get anything tbh.

Confronting the workmen probably wont give much satisfaction either. Just treat yourself to an extra beer tonight and forget about it.

I wouldnt leave the car in the way if you value its paintwork.

TurboMonkey · 2 Sep 2008 at 11:57

A)

and tell them to ram it. ****ing road monkeys.

MrFunex · 2 Sep 2008 at 11:58

TurboMonkey said:
A)

and tell them to ram it. ****ing road monkeys.

another intelligent post :rolleyes:

Cuchulain · 2 Sep 2008 at 11:59

jpmonkey69 said:
find out which contracting company is doing the work and make a complaint. If you got a receipt for your taxi journey, then maybe they'll refund you.

Not sure on the contractors but the work is for a company called Firmus Energy, I'm not really bothered about the expense (not sure why I mentioned it even) but I'm just amazed that they could be that idiotic.

wildman · 2 Sep 2008 at 11:59

Do a Basil Fawlty and threaten to insert a large garden gnome into them

Cuchulain · 2 Sep 2008 at 12:10

wildman said:
Do a Basil Fawlty and threaten to insert a large garden gnome into them

LOL

RoleyBirkin · 2 Sep 2008 at 12:13

Fawlty Towers. Class.

Avalon · 2 Sep 2008 at 12:18

Depends, did you consider that it may actually be urgent gas works and they've either had to litrally do it there and then or the fact that if it's normal street works they will have given notice ages ago and if they're any good probably put a letter through the door to remind you weeks ago ?

Either way it's highly unlikley the workmen outside your house will have anythign to do with notifications but i'd be tempted to ask them how long they'll be working and if they could let you know if they'll be obstructing your drive so you can move the car so you can take your son to nursery.

steve45 · 2 Sep 2008 at 12:20

i'd say C.
if that was me i'd be having words, park it in a position where you wont get blocked in, if they ask you to move, kindly explain its parked there because the car was blocked in yesterday without prior warning and that you'd be happy to move it.
but remember that they are only doing their job and doing it with as little effort as possible

.
so any common sense or reasoning is probably gonna fall on deaf ears anyway.

Cuchulain · 2 Sep 2008 at 12:27

Avalon said:
Depends, did you consider that it may actually be urgent gas works and they've either had to litrally do it there and then or the fact that if it's normal street works they will have given notice ages ago and if they're any good probably put a letter through the door to remind you weeks ago ?

Either way it's highly unlikley the workmen outside your house will have anythign to do with notifications but i'd be tempted to ask them how long they'll be working and if they could let you know if they'll be obstructing your drive so you can move the car so you can take your son to nursery.

It's not urgent gas works/maintenance, it's provisioning work. We had notification of it being done last month, we made sure we could access our car during that work. Yesterday however was a complete surprise to everybody in the street, it turns out they never bothered finishing off last month and decided to come and connect the pipes to the main yesterday.

BigglesPiP · 2 Sep 2008 at 12:28

loki101 · 2 Sep 2008 at 12:47

Cuchulain said:
We had notification of it being done last month, .

there's not a lot you can do then, that letter is their get out, but they may pay the taxi money out of good will. a knock on the door would not have gone amiss tho really.

Cuchulain · 2 Sep 2008 at 12:50

loki101 said:
there's not a lot you can do then, that letter is their get out, but they may pay the taxi money out of good will. a knock on the door would not have gone amiss tho really.

You misunderstand, we had notification that work was commencing for a few days at the beginning of August. This work took place and ended on the day it was supposed to.

They then suddenly show up on the 1st of September and decide to do a bit more.

loki101 · 2 Sep 2008 at 13:08

ah ok then well as long as the letter was not opened in it wording, they most definatly do have something to answer to. If it was a council contractor then it would be a lot easyier to complain as they have strict rule on keeping residents informed.

Mr Footlong · 2 Sep 2008 at 15:33

Although for the £15 you might wonder if it is worth the hassle, the fact is that they have inconvenienced you, done unscheduled work and put you out. I think you are perfectly entitled to have a moan. I would have expected them to have a couple of bits of wood/metal to cover over quickly and let you get out!