“Every Day I’ve Sent A $1,859 Request”: People Divided Over How This Woman Is Getting Payback
It’s an awful feeling when someone uses your property without your permission. But it feels even worse if you come back to find your things broken… and you footing the entire bill.
That’s what happened to redditor u/hometowngirll, who turned to the AITA online community to hear their collective wisdom. The OP shared how her neighbor’s kid broke her laptop. However, despite having film evidence of this, the dad still refused to pay up for the damages. You’ll find the full story in the redditor’s own words as you scroll down below.
Bored Panda reached out to parenting blogger Samantha Scroggin, who runs ‘Walking Outside in Slippers,’ for some advice on teaching kids to respect other people’s property and privacy. She was kind enough to share some practical tips and tricks for parents, and also stressed the importance of personal space.
A laptop is an expensive piece of equipment, so it’s a huge deal if someone breaks it
Image credits: Bored Panda (not the actual photo)
A high school student shared how she tried to get her neighbor to pay for the damage that his kid caused
Image credits: Gabby Orcutt (not the actual photo)
Image credits: hometowngirll
The dad was thoroughly unwilling to cooperate
The high schooler was doing her homework out on the deck of her parents’ house. She went inside to get some water, but when she came back, she saw her laptop broken. The neighbor’s kid had gotten inside their yard and was running around everywhere.
The situation seems pretty clear-cut. Especially since the OP has video proof of what happened. However, despite all of this, the kid’s dad refused to pay for the damages. Meanwhile, the redditor’s own parents thought that she shouldn’t keep on pestering the man to cover the costs of a new laptop. They said that they’d pay for a new one, using part of the OP’s college fund.
Naturally, most readers were on the student’s side. A few of them had some very practical advice for her, including that she should take the neighbor to a small claims court about the incident. Others pointed out that it’s not negligence if someone leaves a laptop temporarily unattended on their own property.
It’s absolutely essential to have evidence of the damage done
Though going to court is almost a surefire way to win in this case, it’s always worth trying more diplomatic approaches before resorting to legal help. At the end of the day, if you have a dispute with your neighbor, however that argument might end, you’ll still have to live next to them. (Well, unless you or they move elsewhere.) And living next to someone who hates your guts and is looking to make your life hell isn’t the way to go. There’s enough stress in life as it is.
When you realize that your property has been damaged, one of the first things that you should do is document all of the evidence.
“Evaluate the damage you find and prepare an accurate description of what exactly occurred. Photos of the damage should be part of your documentation. Be sure to include the date and any incidents that took place before the damage appeared. If someone witnessed the damage, get a statement,” The Holm Group explains what you should do in a situation such as this.
Next, you should get in touch with your neighbor. Though it’s possible that they might have damaged your property intentionally, there’s always the possibility that they’re not even aware that something bad has happened. Say, if their child broke something while sneaking into a nearby yard.
If your neighbor is reasonable, they’ll look for a compromise with you
If you’re on good terms, talk to your neighbor in person. Otherwise, send them a complaint in writing, to make it more official. The important thing is that you remain calm, cool, and collected. The more polite and professional you act, the more likely you are to get what you want.
You want to appear firm but reasonable as you enforce your boundaries. That way, your neighbor won’t get all defensive or feel offended. Your goal, essentially, is to find some sort of compromise that works for both of you, not to prove to them that you’re so right and they’re so wrong. How you word your complaints, the tone you use, your body language—like it or not, they all matter.
Show your neighbor the damage and the evidence, and explain the situation. However, if they ignore you or refuse to cooperate, you could ask someone to step in to mediate the conflict. Say, the head of the local homeowners association or a property manager. Obviously, if that goes nowhere as well, you may have to resort to filing a court complaint, as well as filing a complaint with your insurance company. The more you know about the local laws, the better off you’ll be.
“I would demand that they take immediate responsibility and go apologize for what they did”
“When teaching my kids about respecting the belongings of others, the golden rule definitely applies. Would they want their belongings stolen or damaged? With the answer being no, they should respect the personal property of other people,” Samantha, from ‘Walking Outside in Slippers,’ explained the approach in her family.
“Aside from just items, my husband and I teach our kids about respecting the privacy and personal space of other people. When we are at restaurants, we scold our kids if they peek over into someone else’s table or point at anyone,” she said.
“We live in a two-story house that has a view from upstairs of our neighbor’s yard, and they can see into our yard. We’ve had to remind our kids on numerous occasions to put clothes on outside and not just run around in their underwear. My kids are naturally friendly and outgoing, so they need reminders about setting boundaries and not talking to strangers unless they’re with a trusted adult.”
Samantha also shared her thoughts on what a parent should do if they find out that their child has broken something that belongs to a neighbor.
“If one of my children were to break something that belongs to a neighbor, I would demand that they take immediate responsibility and go apologize for what they did,” the author of the witty and honest ‘Walking Outside in Slippers’ blog explained the best way to react.
“They would need to apologize and replace the item if possible even if the breaking happened by mistake. That’s just common courtesy and human decency.”
Some readers discussed the situation with the student, offering her advice
Most internet users thought that the teenager was completely in the right
Some readers, however, thought that the entire drama could have been handled much better
Love the comment “ ESH stop harassing your neighbor. You've spoken to your parents about it, so let them deal with it from there.” The parents’ solution is to pay for the new laptop out of the OP’s college fund. The parents are utter morons who would happily fine their own child rather than stick up for them.
These "adults" are absolutely ridiculous! Accept your child made did a child thing and broke something, then pay for both the replacement of an equal value laptop AND her time. Stand behind your child and make sure she's compensated properly. Do better!
I can't believe what a*****e out of control children these people raise. WITAF!!
I'm annoyed by the idiot that suggested backing up to a flash drive or similar. This was a piece of work that was in the middle of being written, and will take the same amount of time to recreate. They are not claiming for any other work on the laptop. Whilst the small claims court is likely the correct route, this is problematic to pursue as a minor with parents that won't support the decision. I don't suppose their is a friendly neighbourhood cop who might have a word with the neighbour.
If they are asking $159 for their time as a high schooler this is quite a bit of work. Not just the odd hour missing, it is days of work. They should get in the habit of regularly saving and backing up. And saving to their laptop is not enough. A flash drive is cheap and easily backed up to. Their failure to back up off their laptop is not their neighbour’s fault and I wouldn’t expect a court to allow that to be added to the claim.
Load More Replies... After the child’s parents refused to pay, I think I would have called the police to report the vandalism. Not so the child would be charged, but it would force the parents hands to pay up and maybe the parents would teach the child about consequences of their actions. The last part is doubtful.
WHile this is funny, You’d get more traction filing in Small Claims. The kid trespassed onto your property and damaged an expensive piece of property. And you have video evidence. Should be open and shut case.
Can't file in court if you are a minor, which the OP ie
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And no one is concerned this kid is unsupervised long enough to leave her yard and cause damage and no parent was anywhere in sight even after it happened? She isn't supposed to leave her laptop alone for 2 minutes but they can leave their child alone for much longer than that?
Lol and I thought my parents were jerks. NTA get the money , don't take the vid down . And not quite sure why your parents are acting like @ssholes.
Posting a video of someone else's child is an AH move. I don't care that the neighbor is in the wrong and owes her money. DO NOT PUT CHILDREN ONLINE!!!
I agree. That's a serious safety concern!
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Love the idiot who doesn't know what Mac Pro's cost. It's not a made up number, they are that expensive (some are much more). When the guy pays the full amount, then you can give him the broken one after you wipe it, or have someone wipe it
AITA for wanting more creative articles? BP doesn't want to but says I'm an A and my fellow pandas say I'm not for wanting better content AITA? Please give me attention, fame, sympathy, and upvotes! (The last line was a joke)
Definitely not AITA for wanting better content!
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Everyone that said ESH is TAH. The neighbor would look like a bigger AH for trying to sue a teen for harassment.
"Should have". Would/could/should/might . . . have--never, never "of". Never.
Like one comment said, go to a repair place and get a quote. If they say it's completely unrepairable then get a quote for a replacement. Go talk to the neighbour with the *proper* quote not just a plucked out of the air one. Let him know you'll be taking it to the police and to small claims court if he's unwilling to come to a mutually agreeable settlement. Maybe said settlement is $100 a week till it's paid off. Get that agreement in writing and give receipts to track the money they pay. Obviously if they don't agree or fail to honour an agreement go to the police. In fact it might be worth talking to the police right away - tell them you don't really want to press charges but need it to be on record.
This is why we have a thing called liability insurance. Exactly for stuff like this if your kid or pet breaks something big they'll settle it.
Yeah, because minors all have that market knowledge & option to buy liability insurance on their own personal purchases. /s
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I recommend the extremely radical treatment of “don’t click on the link when you see the title involves the acronym AITA or the phrases ‘asks if they’re wrong’ or ‘wonders if they’re wrong’, or similar”. It’s a little-used treatment and is not very popular, but it guarantees a full cure from Annoyance-itis. Joking aside, yes, BP has been stealing and reposting a lot of Reddit/Mumsnet “AITA” articles lately, but that’s because BP is a soulless, talentless listicle website with no ability to generate content of their own. That being said, obviously I’m still here XD But I do love interacting with my fellow Pandas, so there’s that.
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I'm calling BS on this story. I don't think it's real.
Depending on exactly what broke about the laptop, they may be able to get warranty coverage since it's only 6 months old. Even if they have to pay, a new screen is not that crazy. I'd bet they could have gotten things sorted out in a matter of days if they took it to an apple store. Also, neighbor might be more willing to pay a $200 repair bill or whatever it would be, rather than replacement cost.
I'm on the Fence on this. his laptop dropped, but was it smashed to pieces, where nothing is recoverable? a cracked screen is reparable, Etc. this is like some one bumping into your car or breaking the window of your house and asking them to buy you a new car or a new house. also last work? how? work is saved online in a cloud or Hard Disk, you can just extract that with another computer or your cellphone I do believe that the neighbor should pay, but i feel like OP is sucking every cent and taking advantage of the situation, leaving a very bad taste in everybody's mouth
'Sucking every cent' - they worked hard for project, wtf do u mean by taking advantage of the situation? You don't happen to be the neighbor now, do ya? Just because your live isn't hard doesn't mean anyone's isn't.
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Love the comment “ ESH stop harassing your neighbor. You've spoken to your parents about it, so let them deal with it from there.” The parents’ solution is to pay for the new laptop out of the OP’s college fund. The parents are utter morons who would happily fine their own child rather than stick up for them.
These "adults" are absolutely ridiculous! Accept your child made did a child thing and broke something, then pay for both the replacement of an equal value laptop AND her time. Stand behind your child and make sure she's compensated properly. Do better!
I can't believe what a*****e out of control children these people raise. WITAF!!
I'm annoyed by the idiot that suggested backing up to a flash drive or similar. This was a piece of work that was in the middle of being written, and will take the same amount of time to recreate. They are not claiming for any other work on the laptop. Whilst the small claims court is likely the correct route, this is problematic to pursue as a minor with parents that won't support the decision. I don't suppose their is a friendly neighbourhood cop who might have a word with the neighbour.
If they are asking $159 for their time as a high schooler this is quite a bit of work. Not just the odd hour missing, it is days of work. They should get in the habit of regularly saving and backing up. And saving to their laptop is not enough. A flash drive is cheap and easily backed up to. Their failure to back up off their laptop is not their neighbour’s fault and I wouldn’t expect a court to allow that to be added to the claim.
Load More Replies... After the child’s parents refused to pay, I think I would have called the police to report the vandalism. Not so the child would be charged, but it would force the parents hands to pay up and maybe the parents would teach the child about consequences of their actions. The last part is doubtful.
WHile this is funny, You’d get more traction filing in Small Claims. The kid trespassed onto your property and damaged an expensive piece of property. And you have video evidence. Should be open and shut case.
Can't file in court if you are a minor, which the OP ie
Load More Replies... And no one is concerned this kid is unsupervised long enough to leave her yard and cause damage and no parent was anywhere in sight even after it happened? She isn't supposed to leave her laptop alone for 2 minutes but they can leave their child alone for much longer than that?
Lol and I thought my parents were jerks. NTA get the money , don't take the vid down . And not quite sure why your parents are acting like @ssholes.
Posting a video of someone else's child is an AH move. I don't care that the neighbor is in the wrong and owes her money. DO NOT PUT CHILDREN ONLINE!!!
I agree. That's a serious safety concern!
Load More Replies... Love the idiot who doesn't know what Mac Pro's cost. It's not a made up number, they are that expensive (some are much more). When the guy pays the full amount, then you can give him the broken one after you wipe it, or have someone wipe it
AITA for wanting more creative articles? BP doesn't want to but says I'm an A and my fellow pandas say I'm not for wanting better content AITA? Please give me attention, fame, sympathy, and upvotes! (The last line was a joke)
Definitely not AITA for wanting better content!
Load More Replies... Everyone that said ESH is TAH. The neighbor would look like a bigger AH for trying to sue a teen for harassment.
"Should have". Would/could/should/might . . . have--never, never "of". Never.
Like one comment said, go to a repair place and get a quote. If they say it's completely unrepairable then get a quote for a replacement. Go talk to the neighbour with the *proper* quote not just a plucked out of the air one. Let him know you'll be taking it to the police and to small claims court if he's unwilling to come to a mutually agreeable settlement. Maybe said settlement is $100 a week till it's paid off. Get that agreement in writing and give receipts to track the money they pay. Obviously if they don't agree or fail to honour an agreement go to the police. In fact it might be worth talking to the police right away - tell them you don't really want to press charges but need it to be on record.
This is why we have a thing called liability insurance. Exactly for stuff like this if your kid or pet breaks something big they'll settle it.
Yeah, because minors all have that market knowledge & option to buy liability insurance on their own personal purchases. /s
Load More Replies... I recommend the extremely radical treatment of “don’t click on the link when you see the title involves the acronym AITA or the phrases ‘asks if they’re wrong’ or ‘wonders if they’re wrong’, or similar”. It’s a little-used treatment and is not very popular, but it guarantees a full cure from Annoyance-itis. Joking aside, yes, BP has been stealing and reposting a lot of Reddit/Mumsnet “AITA” articles lately, but that’s because BP is a soulless, talentless listicle website with no ability to generate content of their own. That being said, obviously I’m still here XD But I do love interacting with my fellow Pandas, so there’s that.
Load More Replies... I'm calling BS on this story. I don't think it's real.
Depending on exactly what broke about the laptop, they may be able to get warranty coverage since it's only 6 months old. Even if they have to pay, a new screen is not that crazy. I'd bet they could have gotten things sorted out in a matter of days if they took it to an apple store. Also, neighbor might be more willing to pay a $200 repair bill or whatever it would be, rather than replacement cost.
I'm on the Fence on this. his laptop dropped, but was it smashed to pieces, where nothing is recoverable? a cracked screen is reparable, Etc. this is like some one bumping into your car or breaking the window of your house and asking them to buy you a new car or a new house. also last work? how? work is saved online in a cloud or Hard Disk, you can just extract that with another computer or your cellphone I do believe that the neighbor should pay, but i feel like OP is sucking every cent and taking advantage of the situation, leaving a very bad taste in everybody's mouth
'Sucking every cent' - they worked hard for project, wtf do u mean by taking advantage of the situation? You don't happen to be the neighbor now, do ya? Just because your live isn't hard doesn't mean anyone's isn't.
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