To not want to give back these shoes?

[daffalicious]

My daughter went on a school trip a month ago with walking boots bought the day before so brand new. She has worn them a couple of times since.
Tonight I recieved a text from another parent saying that we have his daughters boots.. they are exact same and bought new for the trip but a size smaller.
I checked and it's true we have the smaller size (I insisted on buying the bigger size even though they needed insole and extra pair of socks!)
Of course we should swap back..BUT the dad says they have been searching at school but can only find 1 of my daughters size.
So it sounds as though his daughter has left the boots at school the past month and now 1 is lost.
AIBU to not want to return the pair my daughter is happily wearing to have 1/ none?! Especially when we have walks planned and I cannot afford to buy another pair!

When people say on here they received a text from another parent do they actually mean a f.b message?

@Owlsintowels Really good example from an adult point of view. I like your way of thinking Owls - it makes complete sense.

Well done ok. Glad you found the missing boot.

Our boots had definitely been worn throughout the month
So the boots weren’t returned in similar condition to the ones you handed back. I’m curious as to where people draw the line regarding handing stuff back? Should you accept the swap a month later when your boots have been wrecked and you’re swapping a good pair for a ruined pair? I’m afraid I’d still have asked him to replace the boots due to their condition.

SagAloojah

Yes, and unsurprisingly they’re all hiding now

Still here, still don't know the full story, Do you?

Yes the Dad was a dick but the OP "And drove out of my way " virtue signals what she did.

And your point is? Why shouldn’t she “virtue signal”? She had right on her side.

Alsohuman

And your point is? Why shouldn’t she “virtue signal”? She had right on her side

My point is that we still don't know the truth (and never will)

as for "right on her side" her DD has been wearing someone else's boots for a month, the moral high ground is hardly hers,

You shout have left them at school for him to collect next year!

And the other child, not only wore OP’s boots, but lost one of them. If that’s not taking the moral low ground, I don’t know what is.

Alsohuman

You missed
'according to the OP' and part of that is way down the thread.

IMO neither come out of this well.

Can't see that the boots you've just handed back fitting her for long seeing as though she's worn your larger pair without noticing for a month.

Could be sweet justice...

Both girls came home from the trip with a pair of boots - yes ? If this is the case then you should give the boots back when the other family have a pair to hand back to you. They can’t expect you to hand over a pair of boots if the other girl has lost one of your daughters’. Excuse the very obvious pun but what would the other family do if the boot was on the other foot so your daughter had lost one of the other girls’ boots and was now expecting them to hand over the pair. The swap was accidental, the loss was careless. Simples.

But the other boot found was a size three was it not? So OP has her DDs boots back, but boot-dad now had a pair of size 3s when his DD's were a 2.

I would DIE laughing if a month down the line the dad posts on here about a girl who reaslied her size 2 boots are not hers and now wants her boots back, but oops, she lost one. Que five thousand posts to the dad of GIVE THEM BACK. That would be the sweetest karma in the world 😂

*cue

And this is why schools bang on about writing names in property!

What Joxer said.

Pretty astonished that you think theft is reasonable.

You have two issues here and you are mixing them up.

(1) You are currently in possession of someone else’s property and refusing to return it. Whatever your justifications are, this is STEALING and if they want to pursue you in a small claims court you’d have no boot to stand in.
(2) The other family have, potentially negligently, lost your daughters boot and you are entitled to redress if they were at fault.

So, you need to find out whether the other family lost your daughter’s boot and whether they were negligent. If they were, you should return the other daughter’s boots and ask for payment for the lost boot. If they were partially negligent then you should ask for a contribution towards a new pair of boots.

If they weren’t negligent, then you need to suck it up and return the boots. Tough cheese. So you first job is to find out whether the other family is responsible for the loss of the boots.

Might seem obvious, but isn’t in line with the law of the land.

You need to return them or you commit theft. Ask the school for an explanation

@Mrspenfold123 do RTFT.

Wow... toughie.

The problem is, the boots aren't yours but I agree, say "I'd be delighted to return them as soon as both boots are returned to me, thanks so much for informing me of the mix up" and leave the ball in their court.

You sound reasonable, they may not be so be prepared to lose out.

Whatever the situation, you should give them back. They aren't yours.

She’s given them back, people!

So what about the fact that there were three different sizes of boot?

It amazes me that, in a thread where there is obviously an ongoing saga with updates, people respond before they have read the full thread. I can only presume that they didn't notice the thread continued to another page ...