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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think my friend has taken me for a mug?

601 replies

PenAndPaperback · 02/02/2021 19:02

Back in December, I made an online listing for my 2018 MacBook on Facebook marketplace and received a ton of 'lowball' offers or people asking me to drive an hour plus to deliver it to their place. A friend of mine messaged me, telling me that her current laptop had broken down and that she's having trouble finding work because of that (she's a freelancer).

She asked if I could 'sell' it to her first and that she'd pay it back in instalments after paying off her kids' stuff etc, before telling me that she would get back to me because she had to calculate everything. She eventually came up with a payment plan that lasted almost 2 years and I told her that I'd just give it to her as I didn't need the money and that if I were to bring it in for 'trade-in' I was told that I'd get basically nothing for it anyway.

So I dropped it off in her mailbox, and I thought that that was that. Fast forward to last week, she was sending me screenshots on her computer, and it was on a Windows laptop! I asked her in a semi-joking way, oh, did the MacBook spoil and she said that no, she's just using her old laptop and that she's using the one I sent her for 'storage'. If I had known she didn't really need it I definitely wouldn't have given it to her!

I'm not going to ask for it back, of course. But AIBU to be a bit miffed off by all this?

OP posts:
Flickoffboris · 02/02/2021 19:05

Seems a bit off, how much were you selling it for?

SpudsandGravy · 02/02/2021 19:06

I'd be miffed. Sounds to me as though she'd definitely taken advantage of your generosity.

ILikeToMoveItMoveItILikeToMove · 02/02/2021 19:08

It does seem cheeky because you gave it to her thinking she was in real need of it. But at the same time you gave it as a gift so I think once a gift is given you have to accept it is the other person’s choice what they do with it then.

Original poster
PenAndPaperback · 02/02/2021 19:09

Seems a bit off, how much were you selling it for?

£450. Knocked a bit off cause there are minor scratches on the outer casing but still works perfectly, running the latest OS etc. People were messaging me asking me to sell it for £80!

OP posts:
Beseigedbykillersquirrels · 02/02/2021 19:10

Hmm, are you sure she hasn't sold it? She was cheeky for asking you to accept a two year payment plan in the first place and it was kind of you to give it to her.

Thepilotlightsgoneout · 02/02/2021 19:12

Yeah, I’d be miffed as she lied to you. Which means she has some ulterior motive...

Duckberg · 02/02/2021 19:12

I bet she sold it.

StillCoughingandLaughing · 02/02/2021 19:14

Yeah, she definitely sold it.

littlepeaegg · 02/02/2021 19:14

Sold!

AOwlAOwlAOwl · 02/02/2021 19:14

i bet she sold it too

TitusPullo · 02/02/2021 19:16

This would leave a bad taste in my mouth regardless of the “ethics”’of gift giving. It would really taint the friendship for me.

BigBadVoodooHat · 02/02/2021 19:17

Ask for it back! She’s taking the piss.

grannyinapram · 02/02/2021 19:17

does her name start with an s because I think I know her! Shock

AhNowTed · 02/02/2021 19:18

I would ask for it back. She clearly doesn't need it.

Call her bluff OP. Cheeky cow.

Shoxfordian · 02/02/2021 19:18

Is she still paying you back?

Ileflottante · 02/02/2021 19:18

She’s sold it.

ExitChasedByABear · 02/02/2021 19:20

@PenAndPaperback That sounds rather cheeky of her. What does she mean by storage? As in using to save backup files?

Could you possibly ask for the MacBook back? She clearly doesn’t need it as she already has a laptop for work etc.

Also, she can’t have sold it that quickly if you were getting such low offers on Facebook Marketplace. Although, she might have had better luck selling on eBay/Gumtree/Shpock.

ScrumptiousBears · 02/02/2021 19:21

I'd ask for it back and see what she says.

Completelyunassertive · 02/02/2021 19:21

I'd dump her as a friend, and have dumped a friend in the past for something very similar. Cheeky cow!

3JsMa · 02/02/2021 19:26

That's incredibly cheeky!
Tell her that you have noticed that she is not really using it and say that your one is broken and you need to borrow it for couple of days.
See what she would say.

ProfessorInkling · 02/02/2021 19:27

She’s taking the piss. I’m usually very much - a gift is a gift and you have no say in what happens with it - but you didn’t offer it as free until she manipulated you into doing so.

Avondklok · 02/02/2021 19:29

Yes ask for it back and see!

Therealjudgejudy · 02/02/2021 19:29

I'm also thinking she sold it..

MissBaskinIfYoureNasty · 02/02/2021 19:30

She's sold it. I'd be more than a bit miffed.

Iooselipssinkships · 02/02/2021 19:31

She's sold it. Say to her that since she has a working laptop could you have it back as you were under the impression she had no use of one. Cheeky cow. I think even with the payment plan in place she was always gonna sell it.