Favors between friends can quickly become complicated when boundaries are ignored. In Illinois, one man apparently decided his friendship was worth less than $800 worth of furniture. But that is only part of the story. According to reports, he had allegedly left the furniture at his friend’s home for nearly two years and failed to pick it up despite being asked to do so. After six months of silence, the friend ultimately disposed of the items—but only after giving the owner a 30-day warning.
The friend, who goes by Post-Modern_Trash on Reddit, shared the predicament on r/legaladvice. According to them, the acquaintance had initially asked to store his furniture in their garage for free for “a few weeks” while he sorted some things out. “It wasn’t a few weeks. I texted him twice in the first year asking when he was coming to get it. He said he was still figuring things out,” Post-Modern_Trash wrote.
After 19 months, Post-Modern_Trash finally disposed of the furniture, but only after sending their friend a 30-day notice. A week later, the man contacted them, furious. “He said he had been planning to come get it and that I had no right to touch his property. He wants $800 for what I threw out,” they wrote. The post quickly gained thousands of upvotes, with more than a hundred commenters agreeing that the furniture’s owner didn’t deserve a penny.
Reddit Weighs In
“Two years of free storage is already more patience than most people would have given him,” one Redditor remarked. “That’s what I keep coming back to. I didn’t toss it after a month; it sat there for nearly two years,” Post-Modern_Trash replied. “This was his way of proving your friendship means nothing to him,” another user wrote, while someone else reassured him that a storage facility would likely have handled the furniture the same way.
Some commenters were convinced that the owner—and so-called friend—may have been deliberately trying to push Post-Modern_Trash into throwing out the furniture so he could later demand compensation. “It’s interesting that he wants money right after the 30-day notice and disposal. Like he was waiting for this or something. This really sounds like he is now trying to scam you out of $800,” one commenter pointed out.
Whatever the case, many Reddit users don’t believe OP will have to deal with the Illinois man again anytime soon. Filing a small claims case can cost between $300 and $400, and the alleged text evidence—combined with nearly two years of “free” storage—would likely work in OP’s favor. At the very least, Post-Modern_Trash now has a clearer understanding of what his friendship meant to this person.
