What’s the scrap value of an old radiator?
We’ve just had 4 replaced. The plumber left the old ones outside the front door saying don’t worry, they’ll be gone in a day or 2. They had the decency to leave a flyer as a calling card, which makes me wonder why they didn’t ask first.
I don’t really mind but as the in-laws have a farm and a load of scrap once or twice a year as an income bump is not unusual, that was my preferred destination.
I can’t be bothered chasing it (much prefer to vent on here) unless someone says they’re worth £50 each or something daft.

Certainly won’t be £50 each.

https://www.handsmetals.co.uk/scrap-metal-prices/

Oh and did you mean the crap dealer drove by?

We have a scrap man who comes round often. He takes a wide range of stuff that the council won’t, and he always asks unless it’s obviously been put out for him and is rubbish and has been there a while. He takes my old car parts, and he will knock and ask if he’s not sure. He has a Cardiff accent and is polite and friendly. It’s a useful service and according to the community Facebook they agree.

I got £65 for 350kg of mild steel pre-cut as you get more if you go to them.
Took a while to cut it all small enough to go in buckets.
Pikey’s were at it like flies round shit… quite a few tried stealing it, just walked up and started to take it in plain view and one set threatened me when I asked them to leave my property.

I take mine to the council tip (ours seems to take anything) and let them get some money for it.
The value of scrap is always low when I’ve taken a trailer load to the merchants… Even when it isn’t!

About 4 quid each. Put it this way if they were worth anything…. Your plumber would have been ” doing you a favour and taking them away”

They went without you having to do anything – and this was a problem?

I’m not sure what connotations the term “pikeys” has, but I wouldn’t describe a dislike of petty theft as “bigoted”. I’m sure most scrap dealers wouldn’t take anything they didn’t generally think was being chucked out, and they do provide a useful service, but there are some that definitely cross the line. Where I used to live where the housing was rows of terraces with a back lane in between, a scrap van driving down the back lane with a bloke stood in the back looking over the high walls to see what was in people’s yards was a regular sight.

FWIW, I wouldn’t expect any scrap men to ask to take something that was left out the front.

I’m not sure what connotations the term “pikeys” has, but I wouldn’t describe a dislike of petty theft as “bigoted”

I posted just a few minutes ago exactly what “connotations” the term has. A dislike of petty theft isn’t bigoted, but associating a common slang name for an ethnic group with petty theft most certainly is.

They had the decency to leave a flyer as a calling card, which makes me wonder why they didn’t ask first.

Because leaving a pile of scrap metal outside your door is a pretty universal sign of leaving it out for the scrap man.

Does the milk man knock?

The flyer is probably just incase you’re going to be throwing out the rest of the rads and any copper pipe.

I don’t really mind but as the in-laws have a farm and a load of scrap once or twice a year as an income bump is not unusual, that was my preferred destination.

Someone up there said £4 each, maybe if they’re some massive cast iron things.

I’ve no idea how the people collecting it make a living off it, last time I took a trailer load it barely covered the petrol. I only went as the council won’t take it!

@Twodogs

I posted just a few minutes ago exactly what “connotations” the term has. A dislike of petty theft isn’t bigoted, but associating a common slang name for an ethnic group with petty theft most certainly is.

You posted while I was writing mine.

I wasn’t aware it was associated with a particular ethnicity either, as @stevextc says – thought it was more synonymous with “chav” (not that that’s an entirely innocent term). Probably best to avoid using it I suppose.

I am pretty sure the people stealing from me were not Romany and I refer to them as Pikey’s because of their actions and attitude

If you wish to continue to post on here I suggest you refrain from using the term on here, it won’t be tolerated.

There are some unsavoury members of the travelling community offering services around here. They seem to have moved on from scrap metal into tree surgery (ish) and roof cleaning. There is one guy that does pop by every couple of months to ask if I’d like my drive re-tarmacd though. Must be old school.

@northwind

You posted while I was writing mine.

no problem 🙂

If you wish to continue to post on here I suggest you refrain from using the term on here, it won’t be tolerated.

Which term ? I used several and all of them are distinct. If it’s the one beginning with P then it has little or no connection to any ethnic group in anyone I know.

To be perfectly clear I define this P term purely by specific criminal* behaviours and those behaviours require some sort of name in order to differentiate this behaviour from specific ethnic groups or people choosing a specific nomadic or semi nomadic lifestyle for anyone that still thinks there is some sort of connection. I don’t believe there is – what I believe there are specific criminal elements who are associating themselves by way of convenience having spotted an easy way to commit crimes and get away with it and this negatively impacts both people of a certain ethnicity and people who simply want a semi-nomadic lifestyle regardless of ethnic origin.
(* as distinct to civil… )

Unless there is a term for this specific criminal behaviour it is impossible to say that one is not the other… and some or all the people who were stealing from my drive were most certainly not of the ethnic origin and given their van had a local business address** very unlikely to be semi-nomadic either.

I’m actually pretty confident of their ethnicity of one set due to the language they spoke amongst themselves and my reluctance to mention it is because I don’t think their ethnicity had anything to do with their criminal behaviour.

thought it was more synonymous with “chav”

Another migrating term … again defined by some behaviour and dress code of wearing what might be considered designer labels whilst acting in general anti-social ways.

At a stretch I might associate the origins with people of Danish descent but if I’m half up to date has been replaced in the younger generation by new terms describing the same people.

He takes my old car parts, and he will knock and ask if he’s not sure. He has a Cardiff accent and is polite and friendly. It’s a useful service and according to the community Facebook they agree.

does he have a waste licence? What does he do with whatever bits aren’t useful to him, pay to have them disposed of or sling them in a hedge?

oldtennisshoes

There are some unsavoury members of the travelling community offering services around here. They seem to have moved on from scrap metal into tree surgery (ish) and roof cleaning.

They probably aren’t members of a travelling community.
and “recently” there are suddenly lots of tree surgeons, gardeners, handy-persons, gutter cleaners etc. due to so many people out of work. Specifically on scrap metal the likelyhood is its someone local as they need to have built a relationship with the local scrap recyclers to get a half decent price.

I’ve had countless leaflets all posted with local addresses for all of the above.

To be clear there is no discussion for why you use the term Pikey, if you use it on here we will take action.

Anyway scrap iron is worthless.

does he have a waste licence? What does he do with whatever bits aren’t useful to him, pay to have them disposed of or sling them in a hedge?

I think the business model is usually to take lots of small amounts of scrap (radiators, car parts, etc) that people leave out for them as it’s not worth the effort individually and take them to the scrapyard to weigh in. They’re not going to waste time picking up stuff that isn’t scrap metal.

Not even 100% sure you would need a waste licence for that? The law says “buying and selling”, if you’re just picking up litter from the roadside that people have left out, does that constitute buying?

Not even 100% sure you would need a waste licence for that?

https://www.gov.uk/scrap-metal-dealer-registration

Drac

To be clear there is no discussion for why you use the term Pikey, if you use it on here we will take action.

So what is the preferred term for people who steal from your drive/garden ?

Anyway scrap iron is worthless.

Obviously not as I got £65 that almost pays for a new damper for my Pike forks…

“So what is the preferred term for people who steal from your drive/garden ?”

thief

So what is the preferred term for people who steal from your drive/garden

I propose:

Stealers
N’er do wells

There are loads of options available that don’t make you sound like a total knob.

I’m not sure who the OP is annoyed with…the plumber? himself? The people that did him a favour by moving the stuff that was left outside for that very reason?

Either way, defending the the use of a pejorative term is one thing. Defending it after it has been pointed out it is a slur is just ignorance. And saying ‘when I say this word I’m not talking about the people that the word is widely considered to be referring to…I’m talking specifically about people that steal stuff’ is a real stretch. Would you refer to n******* or p**** and when challenged, claim you meant ‘people that steal stuff’?

Thought not. As molgrips and others have pointed out, it’s lazy and offensive.

Anyway, I suspect this thread will be locked by the time I press submit.

I got £2 for 3 of them about 8 months ago. Van full of copper piping made trip worth while.

Obviously not as I got £65 that almost pays for a new damper for my Pike forks…

I thought it was steel you sold?

Hmm. So people are actually unaware that the P word refers to an ethnic group, and assume it simply means ‘thief’ because that’s how everyone talks about that particular group. That’s racism in action, folks.

In the film ‘Snatch’ from 20-odd years ago they are very clearly an ethnic group so I don’t think I’m just making this up.

So what is the preferred term for people who steal from your drive/garden

Thieves, scumbags, scrotes, criminials etc. Plenty more words to choose from.

Aside from the cultural ignorance:

I got £65 for 350kg of mild steel pre-cut as you get more if you go to them.
Took a while to cut it all small enough to go in buckets.

How long did you spend cutting it all up? And what sort of tools did you use? Did you do this outside?

What’s the scrap value of an old radiator?
We’ve just had 4 replaced. The plumber left the old ones outside the front door saying don’t worry, they’ll be gone in a day or 2. He was right, the pikeys drove by and had them. They had the decency to leave a flyer as a calling card, which makes me wonder why they didn’t ask first.

are you sure the plumber doesn’t ask them to pick them up?

The connotations are numerous but I think very few people under 70 would associate this with a ethnic group.

You would be wrong.

How long did you spend cutting it all up? And what sort of tools did you use? Did you do this outside?

Quite a while due to weather and the big saw and angle grinder not liking getting wet.

It’s a major operation getting the big saw out and back…. and not remotely possible for me to drag 350kg inside but £65 is £65….

As above, it’s a common term.

As for the rads, you would probably have spent more in fuel getting them to your in laws and back, they’re worthless, let the metal man take them.

They’re not going to waste time picking up stuff that isn’t scrap metal.

Washing machines are mostly concrete by weight but still have a load of steel and motors.

So people are actually unaware that the P word refers to an ethnic group, and assume it simply means ‘thief’ because that’s how everyone talks about that particular group.

There is no simply means ‘thief’ … and snatch shows the irony. One set of petty criminals using it to describe another”

My understanding has nothing to do with Snatch (as you say a 20yr old film) and everything to do with the type of crime. We have “proper words” for confidence tricksters, burglars, shoplifters, fencers etc. etc. but not one for the specific theft that people then say “they did you a favour mate” or “why are you complaining it wasn’t worth much” ..

This might be a crap term due to a ironic quote from a 20yr old film but there is a huge gap unless you know a better term for “theft that will get classed as petty and we’ll just pretend we thought it was abandoned”.

Washing machines are mostly concrete by weight but still have a load of steel and motors.

So your point is to do with the amount of concrete wash8ng machine weights littering rural Britain.

Oh wait, there’s not.

(FWIW the value is in the drum, they’re a high grade of stainless and worth £8-£10).

unless you know a better term for “theft that will get classed as petty and we’ll just pretend we thought it was abandoned”.

Ooooh tricky… Petty opportunistic thief?

You know if you’re going to troll you should really try not to be so shit at it.

You also need a licence to collect other people’s scrap, usually called a carriers licence.

https://www.gov.uk/register-renew-waste-carrier-broker-dealer-england

Anyway scrap iron is worthless.

Currently £200/tonne including a skip and collection.

Incidentally, it’s value turned negative for a couple of weeks last April/May.

Ooooh tricky… Petty opportunistic thief?

Perhaps the opportunistic but the petty is the bit I take issue with.

You know if you’re going to troll you should really try not to be so shit at it.

One troll is someone else’s balrog …

Petty is a very poor term… nicking a sandwich from a shop or something but that’s shoplifting.

Having a bike nicked might be petty to some (more outside STW) but not to others.
Local FB is full of “you shouldn’t have locked it at the train station – what do you expect” type comments. Not to mention the opportunistic (IMHO) often implies some fault on the victim and/or “why you making such a fuss” along with no obvious way to actually get the item back.

There is also the connotation that the thieves just randomly stumbled on this “opportunity” which can also be and IMHO usually is false… I’ve watched the “scrotes” going through neighbouring gardens in a planned manner but other than confronting them there is nothing you can do… its hardly just radiators it can be gardening tools etc. and the answer will always be “oh we thought it was being thrown away”… Its not IMHO the same as some drunken “chavs” nicking a garden gnome they saw after the pub/nightclub closed….

The “scrotes” who steal bikes form the station are on camera… pictures posted show they can’t even be bothered to wear the covid mask they have round their chin to even try and disguise their identity presumably because they know noone will do anything as its “petty”

Quite a while due to weather and the big saw and angle grinder not liking getting wet.

That -plus fuel…… I think I’d have let them come get them for free and not cut them up and transported them for free for 65 quid that isn’t really 65 quid when you factor in all what your outlay was in time and tooling

My friend used the term pikey to describe a thief. We were all like ‘thats not very cool’. Turns out he didn’t realise what it meant. Apologised and hasn’t used it again.

It’s ok to be ignorant. But if it’s explained to you and you continue to use racist language then you are a bigot.