Money Moral Dilemma: Should I pay for my excess dust?

pollypenny

Make peace, apologise for the lack of notice and pay for a car wash. It's not worth falling out over.

mummyfrugal

Oh dear, some neighbour relationships can be awkward!

I would not offer to pay for cleaning it, as if he is like neighbours i have encountered before im sure a £2 tesco wont fit the bill and if you offer to pay he will probably pop round with a bill from a full handwash and wax at the dearest place in town.

I would post a note through his door and say that you will rinse off any dust at the end of each day and will only rinse with water so there are no scratches or damage - that way there is no cost to you, no way he can claim for rinsing of water (cant do much more than the rain would) and thats it. - if he complains i would suggest that you say you only intend to remove the dust that has landed and not any further ingrained dirt and that water is adequate.

If there is no hose pipe ban where you are, i would just rinse it off with that and not 'jet' it, if you could have some friend or other neighbour with you at the time when you rinse it, it may deter him from coming out and moaning, and if he does still venture out to moan it makes him look pathetic when someone else is there shaking their head and telling him to get a life.

Good luck living next to this guy!! My nice neighbour has a nice way of describing situations like this.... she calls it 'willy waving'

Mollie-rose8_2

tryfive wrote: »

Offer to chuck a bucket of water over it. (Just plain water, note - no detergent, no scrubbing with a sponge or any form of elbow grease!)

The only reason I can think of for taking photos is for "evidential purposes"

Well, OK, LET HIM SUE!

It'd be worth it just to see him get a verbal slapping from the court - and on top of that it'll cost him about 20 quid in court fees.

By offering a bucketful of water ("mitigation") to swill over it, it's pretty certain he'd lose.

Not knowing the pedantic gumblebunny in question though, it does suggest you've got a problematic neighbour, which implies there may be more problems in store for the future

(Either that, or he's just got a particularly odd sense of humour...)

Absolutley brilliant, 'GUMBLEBUNNY'!!! must remember to save that one......can you imagine the problems they are gonna get from this neighbour in the future....Geez

Alison59

Yes, I think it would be polite and neighbourly to pay to clean his car.

My neighbours had new windows put in and without me even mentioning it, cleaned my car and paid for my windows to be cleaned too. :j

Ian181676

AyrshireLass wrote: »

after all, the next shower of rain will take care of the problem

Probably not. Dry dust can probably be blown off, or rinsed off using a lot of water, fairly easily. A shower of rain may turn the dust into a sticky mess which cannot be so easily removed, as will the morning dew if its been left overnight.

notahappybunny_2

I would think twice about offering to wash his car - would you be admitting liability? Is it all your dust? What if he says you have damaged his car whilst you are washing it? I certainly wouldn't consider taking it to a car wash. If he follows it up I would go and get half an hour's free advice from a solicitor. Citizens Advice Bureau will give you a list of local solicitors who do half an hour free. Definitely don't wash it.

peco

I would agree with those that say you should offer to either wash the car off or pay for a car wash in order to show that your bigger than his petty mindedness and to be a good neighbour.

I believe that he is taking the photos in case there is any damage caused to his cars paintwork.
If the vehicles paintwork is scratched to an extent that it would need repair and he can prove that the scratches were due to the dust from your workings, he may be able to claim damages against you.
It seems pathetic in the extreme, but some people are like that and compare £5 for a car wash against £500 for a paint job.

taj

I cant believe i'm reading this...what a whinging so and so he must be. Whatever happened to give and take?

justruth

You assume that the photos are related to the dust issue; perhaps he is planning on selling the car, which is why he had it all washed in the first place only to find it covered in dust when he came to take the photos?

Here's what you know:

• A little dust will not damage anyones car!
• The neighbour was taking photos of his car, and not your driveway
• he has not actually asked you to pay for the removal of said dust but if he does it's not an issue as already pointed out it won't cost you a thing

You could always go over and ask if the dust was causing him issues as you noticed he was taking photos of the car but could not work out if it was to do with the dust. If it is and the guy's being petty then laugh and offer to rinse it off, and don't feel bad about laughing, it is just dust. It could be that he just had it cleaned then came out to find it covered in dust and sent the pictures to his aunt in the lake district by way of a I'm having one of those days situation.

Let's not assume that he is being passive aggressive, just see what happens next, but definitely be prepared to communicate with him about it.

serious_saver

Just go to your neighbour and thank them for how kind they have been putting up with the work on you drive. Be incredibly nice and guilt them into feeling bad. Or just offer to put it throught the car wash once you drive is finished - it's pointless doing it before as it will just get covered again. 'The Works' in Tescos is only £8 and they currently have a half price deal taking it to £4 (not sure if that is just a local thing).