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trashcanman

Neighbor swaps their used trash can for your brand new one, WWYD?

Michael Lamb
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago

So I have been in my new build house for about 3 weeks now. We built in an infill lot, where some land was subdivided and sold. As a result, we have a common driveway, and a location where everyone(9 houses) puts their trash cans out for pickup. We bought a brand new trash can for this house, a nice robust one from HD that cost $80. Unfortunately, we were not able to buy all the numbers we needed to put on there before we put it out for pickup the first time. We did not even remove the labels from the side of the can.

We got home later than everyone else did that day, and were the last ones to retrieve our can. I noticed that the can that was left was an identical make and model to the one we had just purchased, but had aged and had some minor wear and tear, and was not clean on the inside. The labels on the side were curling around the edges, and all scrapped up. It was clearly not our new can.

So, I'm thinking two identical cans, the other guy picked up ours by mistake, since we did not have any numbers on it. We had both left the labels on. So after a week goes by, I expect to see our new can put out, and then reclaim it. Well, our new can shows up, with the labels removed, and duct tape placed on the side of the can with numbers written on it(not our numbers). It appears to me that they recognized they had a new can, and decided to claim it for themselves, leaving us with their old dirty one.

I haven't met or seen these people yet. Their house is maybe 100 yards from mine? I already have a very negative opinion of them. We're not talking trailer park community here, these homes are in the 500K range. I'm the only new house, and these other neighbors have all been here for at least 5+ years.

How would you handle this? I know its a very petty thing, but I feel like I am being taken advantage of by my new neighbor, and its getting me worked up.

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