A mum who approached her upstairs neighbours to ask if they could “keep the noise down” was left stunned after receiving a “sarcastic” response. The woman, who lives with her “elderly parents” and two children aged three and five, had endured ongoing noise from the flat above, including “laughing and shouting, and doors being slammed repeatedly” starting at 11.30pm.
On the night in question, the noise “didn’t seem like it was going to stop”, prompting her parents to wake up feeling “worried”. The mum said she was “also worried” that her children might be woken by the disturbance. As this “wasn’t the first time” and she had dealt with “quite a lot of noise from them throughout the night on previous occasions”, she decided to speak with her neighbours and “politely ask if they could keep the noise down”.
Neighbour’s blunt reply
But she had “barely started explaining” and had “only managed to mention the door slamming” when her neighbour “cut [her] off” and said: “If the door slams, it slams. We are upstairs so the noise will come down. We also hear your children upstairs.” The neighbour then said “good night sarcastically and shut the door”.
The mum was stunned by the interaction and branded it “very rude”. She took to Mumsnet to seek other people’s opinions, writing: “I wasn’t aggressive or confrontational, and I wasn’t demanding complete silence. I just wanted the noise to be kept down because it was nearly midnight and it had already disturbed several people in my home.” She asked whether the response was “rude and unnecessarily defensive” and weighed up whether to approach the neighbour again.
Mumsnet users weigh in
In the comments, fellow users shared their thoughts. One said: “I probably would just leave it now. Until the next time. Nothing you did was wrong. She was probably just p***ed off at being called out. Don’t overthink this.” Another advised: “I have a similar problem with a neighbour and every time it happens I log a noise report. It’s the only thing that works as evidence even though it’s tedious.”
The mum replied: “I am also worried in case I go back and it escalates as she doesn’t seem like the person to listen. She just got very defensive.” Someone else commented: “I think most people would get defensive if a neighbour went round and complained about them. She mentioned your kids - do they make a lot of noise and disturb them? If so, maybe a bit of tolerance both ways wouldn’t go amiss.”
Facebook response
When Mumsnet shared the post on its official Facebook page, one person responded: “Yes they are inconsiderate a***holes and they are probably being deliberately so. I would try to move and never live underneath anyone (or next to them) frankly if you can in any way avoid it. There’s a big difference hearing children in the day and shouting and slamming throughout the night. In the meantime start a noise log. You can always raise a noise nuisance case, but your relationship won’t improve if you do.”
