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How to handle this one re workmen?

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  • miss_independent
    miss_independent Posts: 1,191 Forumite
    edited 11 April 2016 at 10:56PM
    KiKi wrote: »
    Don't forget that depending on the layout of your house, floorboards can run across different rooms and therefore you hear the creaks even when someone's in another room.

    Perhaps he realised the loo had no door and hoped you had an ensuite.

    Rude to go into your bedroom (if he did)? Yes.

    Otherwise a total overreaction and I doubt it'll happen again. :)

    KiKi

    Thanks Kiki. The floorboard thing is a good point but the bathroom is not close at all to where I heard him. It was the opposite side of the upstairs of the house. I'm sure the creaky floorboard couldn't be as long as that!

    Looking for an ensuite is a good point that I wouldn't have thought of. Could be valid but surely all you would need to do is pop your head round the door and not walk all the way through the room, right to the far side where the window (and that bloody creaky floorboard) is? Unless he was considering pooing out the window lol. I could hear him up in my room for definite wandering around. Gives me the creeps.

    I wish now that I'd legged it up the stairs rather than going to look for him downstairs and hoping it was my Dad who was in my room. I knew in my heart of hearts that my Dad wouldn't just wander into my bedroom.
  • Person_one wrote: »
    You'd never actually deny somebody permission though, would you?

    Of course I wouldn't! I'm not that cruel that I'd want to see a grown man/woman pee their pants....or worse!
  • That certainly explains your reaction but it does lead me to think that it's your problem, not theirs.

    Yes it is my problem. But I also think its extremely rude to wander around people's upstairs or to use the toilet in someone's home without asking.
  • Person_one
    Person_one Posts: 28,884 Forumite
    Tenth Anniversary 10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Of course I wouldn't! I'm not that cruel that I'd want to see a grown man/woman pee their pants....or worse!

    Then why expect them to ask for permission? Doesn't make sense.

    You know they can use it, they know they can use it, why the performance?
  • Person_one wrote: »
    Then why expect them to ask for permission? Doesn't make sense.

    You know they can use it, they know they can use it, why the performance?

    Well, I don't know about you, but if I'm in a strangers house and I want to use their toilet, then I always ask permission. To me it's good manners, and it's rude not too.

    If someone who is downstairs just starts to wander upstairs without my permission, then I'd find it a bit strange and a bit rude.

    Any workman I've ever had in to do a small job and who has wanted to visit the bathroom has always asked "alright if I use your loo love?"

    Some people might not grant permission for whatever reason. Some people are funny about strangers using their bathroom. But what it's really about for me, is someone having respect for you and your home.
  • *Robin*
    *Robin* Posts: 3,364 Forumite
    Tenth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker Stoptober Survivor
    edited 11 April 2016 at 11:26PM
    Well I completely understand why miss_independent was freaked out..

    The idea that a random workman would decide to use his employer's en-suite when he discovered no door on the upstairs loo - which he had absolutely no excuse to be using anyway as there was a perfectly good guest toilet downstairs, is at best creepy, but much more likely to be suggestive of criminal intent, ie he was actually looking for stuff to pinch from her bedroom!

    I would have challenged him straight away OP, while your parents were present. If his explanation was in any way unconvincing he'd have been given whatever he'd earned up to that moment and shown the door with an instruction never to darken it again.

    Mind you, he'd have had to have a pretty good excuse for not turning up when he was expected - last Friday - and expecting to re-schedule at half an hour's notice.

    Sorry, but it all sounds dodgy. Hope you've checked that all your small, high value possessions are still where you left them this morning, OP.
  • missbiggles1
    missbiggles1 Posts: 17,481 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Well, I don't know about you, but if I'm in a strangers house and I want to use their toilet, then I always ask permission. To me it's good manners, and it's rude not too.

    If someone who is downstairs just starts to wander upstairs without my permission, then I'd find it a bit strange and a bit rude.

    Any workman I've ever had in to do a small job and who has wanted to visit the bathroom has always asked "alright if I use your loo love?"

    Some people might not grant permission for whatever reason. Some people are funny about strangers using their bathroom. But what it's really about for me, is someone having respect for you and your home.

    In an ideal world it's good manners but I tend to employ tradespeople based on their skills and reliability rather than their manners.
  • In an ideal world it's good manners but I tend to employ tradespeople based on their skills and reliability rather than their manners.

    Well yeah, me too. I still feel it's polite though for anyone (not just workmen) to ask if they want to use my loo.
  • ibizafan_2
    ibizafan_2 Posts: 920 Forumite
    I've been Money Tipped!
    We recently had our central heating system replaced, including all the pipes. The two men were in the house, either one or the other or both, for four whole days, and in every room of course. I never heard the loo flush once and I'm pretty sure I was there all the time. Not sure how they didn't need to go, as they drank plenty of tea, but I'm glad that they didn't. I'm always squeamish about workmen using the loo, although of course I would understand if they needed to. Perhaps they waited until their lunch break to nip home, as they both lived locally. However, my house is always tidy, and knowing they would be in every room, I paid special attention to what was left out, but this was mainly for the terrible dust which was caused by the drilling.
  • FBaby
    FBaby Posts: 18,374 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Yes it is my problem. But I also think its extremely rude to wander around people's upstairs or to use the toilet in someone's home without asking.
    You've summed it up in this sentence. Yes, it was rude. Yes, there are rude people around all the time, and yes, it got to you because of your lacking confidence.

    In this situation, I would have gone up, and upon seeing him in my bedroom, I would have calmly asked if there was a reason he needed to be there. He probably would have muttered something about using the bathroom and I would have said that was fine, he could use the one next to it, but I would have appreciated him asking me first, with a polite smile. End of, move on.
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