This is still a hypothetical situation at the moment for me as it stands. I’ve saved enough money to fully furnish an apartment (studio/1B) and ideally don’t want to pay for things I don’t want/need.
Is it rude to tell your pred you don’t want their stuff?
If they do leave large furniture/appliances behind what’s the best way to dispose of them?
11 comments
It’s not rude. Just be upfront about it so they have time to sell it to someone else, throw it away, take it to a resale shop etc.
You may inherit some appliances (fridge, stove, washing machine) that are actually owned by your contracting organization. You’re kind of stuck with those.
Its not rude. Just be honest. Its ESID but your CO/BOE could help you get rid of things you don’t want left behind by your pred. Its not guaranteed but it wouldn’t hurt to ask. Also if you have fellow JETs in your placement, I’m sure they will know how to get rid of stuff.
Appliances in your apartment could be owned by your CO/BOE, so double check with your pred, who owns what. Because if your CO/BOE owns the appliances, you might not be able to get rid of it unless they’re broken and such.
Be honest and be FIRM. Say no and mean no. Don’t even waiver. Some of the shit that they wanted to pawn off on me was the nastiest grossest stuff I have ever seen. I said no and I meant no. Even if they pushed. I cannot emphasize it enough. Stand your ground.
Some examples were: moldy mattresses, completely trashed microwaves, dust and bug covered christmas trees, and more
It’s not rude and if my successor told me to get rid of stuff, I would. I would probably advise to keep some of it though (like the kotatsu or fridge) because they’re legit in good condition. However, that’s really up to them.
Unfortunately, garbage and disposal of large items is even more ESID than JET, as that falls within municipal jurisdiction. My town’s waste program is very different from even the town next to us. I remember asking my supervisor about disposal of some small appliances my pred left behind in poor condition and she admitted she had no idea because she lived in another town.
Mine didn’t sell anything. He just left it all which was great. Didn’t spend hardly anything on new items.
I threw stuff out on large trash day months later if there was something I didn’t want.
Not rude at all.
Really decide if it would be useful for you down the road. You’re starting a whole life from scratch. While a kotasu and heater may not seem reasonable to have in the summer, they are great in the winter. My pred left months before I came so I was left with the bare basics that my school owned and a few items my pred did decide to leave. It was not fun buying a lot of the things I needed brand new (we didn’t have a lot of second hand shops near by and I didn’t want to haul things up a mountain). I’m thinking if I would have come sooner I would have appreciated inheriting some of that stuff, but if course not all. There’s some stuff I might upgrade later on that they left, but it’ll do for now until I feel financially comfortable doing so. I mean I could now but I’d rather use the money on traveling and going out. I’m young everything doesn’t need to be new, but there are things I would want not used (ie pillows, bed, anything that can’t be scrubbed or disinfected well/easily) just my personal standing on that. So I understand if you don’t want to inherit things along those lines.
However there’s also the flip side if you take the items. As nice as some preds may seem they can stick you with a bunch of low quality and broken items if they don’t want to bother getting rid of them. I had more than one friend who’s Pred was bragged about by everyone about how nice they were, but took advantage of (my friends) their successor being clueless and new to living on their own and just leaving them with a bunch of broken items, so they didn’t have to get rid of them themselves. (And they made them pay for some of these items) Thank goodness one of them stood up for themselves and shoved the stuff back in their preds hands (I don’t know if money was paid or refunded if it was) and said this is junk I’m not taking it, you’re not giving me your trash pretending that it’s treasure. So keep that in nice too. By all means not all preds are like this so keep that in mind.
Also depending on where you are you might have to drive your garbage to a dump. ( it may be the reason they want to give it to you, as in the case of one of my friends) Some cities don’t allow for large item pick up, so if you don’t have a way to transport it that might be a hassle. And see if your school has an ALT storage. They may be willing to store some of the items you don’t currently need or think that a jet down the line may want.
You may not get a choice. My apartment and almost all of the furniture in it are owned by the boe. Whether or not your pred makes you may for the non boe stuff depends on the person. No one in my area askes their sucessor to pay for stuff (other than cars). It’d just be plain wasteful to throw out all this perfectly good dishware
Many won’t ask you to pay at all and will just leave it. Just take it and use it and save money
I don’t think it is rude. Just be upfront and let them know as soon as you get in contact with them.
Nevertheless, even if you have enough to furnish an entire apartment, remember the moving fees that a lot of stores have. They can be quite expensive if you don’t live in a big city or near one.
Not rude at all. It completely depends on their living situation and whether their CO wants them to clear out the apartment or not before leaving.
If your pred asks you to pay for things, I’d say it’s perfectly fine to refuse it. It’s nice coming into an apartment that has the necessities but it’s also awful coming into an apartment already full of junk.
If you would not like anything your pred has, just tell them that and hope they clear it out. At the end of the day, it’s the CO’s judgement on whether the apartment needs to be empty or not.
However, if your pred is offering to just leave some things behind free of charge, I would recommend just taking some of the necessities to save some money. Having a washing machine, working stove and refrigerator upon arrival is great. This is coming from a during covid JET who didn’t have the option to talk to their pred.
Depending on the situation, they might have to leave stuff behind. As in, there might be furniture in the apartment that is owned by the BOE (which is the case for me). There also might be stuff left behind by your predecessor’s predecessor. Or predecessor’s predecessor’s predecessor. It sucks, but it happens. It’s definitely worth asking though.