To be furious that my neighbour ‘borrowed’ my garden furniture for her BBQ?

[2coolec]

Went away for the weekend, came back Monday afternoon to find our patio table, four chairs, and parasol in next door’s garden.

Turns out she’d had a BBQ on Sunday and “thought we wouldn’t mind” if she borrowed them. Was “going to return it”. Only I found out because by Monday evening it was still all sat there and I saw her teenage son and his mates hanging out on my furniture.

No note. No text. Just helped herself. I wouldn’t even have known if I hadn’t looked over the fence.

I’m honestly livid. It’s not a small thing to borrow and she didn’t even ask. What if it had got damaged? Or gone missing?

AIBU to think this is beyond cheeky and actually borderline theft?

Did they trespass? That is bloody cheeky.

So did they think a new fence would miraculously ‘grow’ before you got home??

Was your fence replaced?

I thought initially they’d dig you patio up and relaid it in their garden 🤣

Anyone asked why the OP minds as they clearly weren't using it at that moment yet?

This is bang out of order and I would let her know next time she enters my property and takes my goods I am calling the police.

run a search on my user name if you like

I have lovely neighbours and we all get on very well. I’d happily lend them garden furniture if they asked. I’m trying to imagine a situation where they didn’t ask. It would have to be a very far fetched situation with me being completely uncontactable and them having some sort of an emergency, in which case I’d be absolutely fine with it. Your neighbour is massively cheeky. Did they give a reason for not asking?

Actually I'm disabled and dying of a chronic disease. I have not "been on holiday" for more than a decade and can't really fathom people getting bent out of shape over such minor infractions. It strikes me as mundane, sad and missing out in life. Also deeply dull.

If my neighbours asked I would have said no bother.

However we lent a 14 man gazebo to our neighbours and it blew away. They replaced it with a 6 man spindly rubbish broken one. Very awkward. We let it go and took it as a lesson learnt. Now if we lend something out we say “happy to lend but if you break it you replace it-like for like”

your neighbour didn’t ask. So very very rude

I'd be flabbergasted and furious. That's beyond CF.

This happened to us about 15 years ago! Went away in the summer and after we got back our then neighbour said they'd borrowed our patio furniture while we were away. They'd gone over the fence (4ft) to get it. I thought it was proper cheeky, and would happily have said fine had they asked but what did annoy me when I thought about it was that he was the kind of neighbour who was lovely but would have gone nuts if we'd done that to them!

Because it's OP's property. Do you let somebody 'use' your house while you're not in it? It doesn't matter that you're not using something at the time - it's still yours and not free for anybody else to use.

that is disproportionate and vaguely insane

Wouldn't have put it past them!

Hardly. They broke into the ops garden and took their property without permission = theft. The fact that they hoped not to be caught is neither here nor there.

That is not acceptable. My gates got a bolt, so hard for anyone to get in. Suggest you do the same. But I would be livid. Invading my personal space, in my garden, peering in my windows? I am very security concious so I would freak out. Apart from the nerve of it. If you left your back door open by accident would they help themselves to your cutlery, plates, pots and pans?

Of course not. You must be new here.

Take some photo's OP of your property in her garden.
I honestly would be tempted to report it.
Complete CF behaviour.
Good to have proof of their form for future reference.
Decent people do not do that.
Yanbu to be very annoyed.

A good neighbour or friend would still message and ask though, that's nuts. I wouldn't even take my sisters garden furniture without asking if it was OK nevermind a neighbours.

I used to have a neighbour who had a spare key for my house. She was having her daughter over for lunch and knowing that I was working for a wine company and had a pretty good collection of wines, she decided to come in to my home whilst I was on holiday and help herself to a bottle of wine!

She bypassed the cheaper stuff and went straight for the harder to find bottles that were in a wine rack tucked into a fireplace behind a table - and waltzed out with a bottle of white Burgundy worth £45 (and this was in the 1990s).

My compensation was a bottle from M&S for £5.

She got told to never, ever do it again.

😲

I would be annoyed if she even entered the garden without asking or invitation let alone remove something from it.

Are you friendly with her? Have you ever borrowed garden accessories from each other before? I can't imagine what the thought process of people like this.

I would leave her in no doubt that you are very unhappy about what she did.

It wouldn't bother me in the slightest. You're really getting worked up over absolutely nothing 😄

It’s Tuesday today , surely you went to speak to them and have their lummocks teens bring it back around ??