Help! Advice needed before I lose my mind!

[emx]

If it is an older building, go into the stairwell and find their power meter and flip the switch off.

But I find the best solution is to constantly getting the Police to visit, and as others have suggested use the online noise complaints form so you get a record and a case number, keep quoting this number when you contact the Police, with enough Police visits things should settle down.

[Renotommy]

When they start up again, I would play some Chinese Opera music loud. ....especially those with women singing at the top of their lungs. Chinese Opera must be one of the most irritating noise that Westerners can endure.

My next door neighbors in the USA are Mexcians and love to play loud Mexcian music at all times of the day, but when I turned up the Chinese Opera, it worked everytime. Wben they turned off their music, I turned off mine afterward to make sure they knew what my intent was.

You must let them taste their own medicine, the so-called "eye for an eye" method, if police and politeness didn't work.

[kjfarr]

Brilliant brilliant!

Am going to buy a load of golf balls and some Chinese opera CDs forthwith...

Thanks all - you've cheered me up!

[tonyaki]

All of these ideas are inspired, thank you!
This one:



and the fog horn idea made me laugh out loud and spill tea over myself...now everyone in my office thinks I'm a nutjob!

Thanks Sigga for the links - really helpful stuff.

You've all renewed my faith in Geoexpat as a source of good advice and info!

Except for tonyaki, who really shouldn't be surprised if his/her neighbour goes for the headbutt/slap option...

I thought you were telling me to go headbutt them... :P

[tonyaki]

I also like the marbles, the treadmill and the power switch idea...... I've already hung up a sandbag so i can make their floors and ceilings shake!!!! Which brand treadmill makes the most noise?

[Shaunyr]

Hello all - I'd really appreciate some advice / opportunity to vent from my fellow Geoexpatters as we've got a noisy neighbour situation.

Basically, we've got a western couple who have just moved into the flat downstairs and are seemingly going through a messy breakup/relationship crisis/alcohol-induced period of insanity. This involves screaming at each other, throwing things at each other and then reconcilitory music played at 90 decibels in the middle of the night to which they sing along (usually something softly romantic and melodic like The Prodigy or The Chemical Brothers, as it was through the bedroom floor at 5am today.)

We've had the police out a few times and have reported it to our landlord who's contacted the building management on our behalf, but so far, no joy. Also tried the good old 'banging on the door to ask them to shut up' but as they are utter b******s, this has had no effect whatsoever.

Also a worry is that we're the only other gweilos in the building and as the screaming is all in English, I've been getting some funny looks in the lift lobby the last few days. (Think I need to learn the Canto for 'It's not me, I'm not a crazy mental freak, I promise!')

So the upshot to this rambling post is - is there ANYTHING else I can do to make this stop? Or do I just have to wait til my lease runs out in September and leave?

Any advice gratefully welcomed as I've spent my weekly grocery shop budget on espresso and even as I type this, am probably developing a rage-induced ulcer...

Thanks!

I really sympathise with you. I was living opposite a UK pakistani family in Harbourview Horizon with the little brat that lived there screaming (and I mean really going for it) at all hours and then the husband or some other tribe member shouting the oddsd at anywhere between 1 am and 4 am....obviously keeping us all awake. The mainlanders and locas seem to accept it but its really awful and especially when one is busy and really needs good rest.

I would have said call the Police as most management/landlords dont give a rats arse...

Hope it gets better for you, I really do.

[kjfarr]

UPDATE:
Well, we're still calling the rozzers out at a minimum regularity of once a week, and our neighbours have now added loud shagging to their growing list of noise crimes. I suppose it makes a change from listening to them beat the crap out of one another whilst listening to techno, but certainly no the more pleasant for it.

So I'm wondering, how many times do you have to call the police out before they will actually take more serious action? They are wasting a vast amount of time in banging on my neighbours' door and I would have thought that they'd be as bored as I am of my 3am phone calls, and be on to stage 2 of the 'shutting people up' plan? What powers do the police have in this situation? Does it take a court order? I've tried asking them myself on the phone, but got a very vague ‘we are monitoring the situation' response.

I guess now would be the time to bring out the big guns and have a baby, as I really can't be any more sleep deprived and the screaming might drown out the hideous noises...

[shri]

Can you call the nearest police station and perhaps ask for the superintendent (I think thats the rank of the person in charge of the district?).

[kjfarr]

Thanks Shri, good idea.

It's very frustrating that this is still an issue despite having involved the police. I kind of assumed it would be done with reasonably quickly, but my neighbours are clearly lunatics so don't seem bothered by the threat of leagal action!

[twitceh]

>> You've all renewed my faith in Geoexpat as a source of good advice and info!

Hope you still stay faithful when the cops have locked you up for assaulting your neighbors

It'll probably a little bit less noisy though...