Real-life MMD:Slight damage, but free storage. Who pays?

tgroom57 · 20 November 2013 at 2:21PM

MSE_Debs wrote: »

My neighbours said it definitely wasn't theirs and said I could do what I liked with it, so I put it in the attic.

Whether it's theirs or not is neither here nor there.
They said you can do what you like with it.

Ergo, you no longer have it, do you. If they ask - tell them you used it for a hen-house.

Mojisola · 20 November 2013 at 2:28PM

MSE_Debs wrote: »

Six months ago a kitchen unit appeared in the area between my house and my neighbour's, packaged and sealed but with nothing written on the package.

My neighbours said it definitely wasn't theirs and said I could do what I liked with it, so I put it in the attic.

scarlet_macaw wrote: »

The key question here is "is it really theirs?"

If yes, then the rules of "breach of bailment" apply - you need to show that having taken responsibility for it you looked after it at least as well as you would have done your own property. - If you can show this you have no further responsibility to them, however if you have been more careless with it than you would have been had it been yours, then you would be responsible for the cost of the damage.

It isn't theirs - they said so.

pennypinchUK · 20 November 2013 at 3:54PM

After 6 months, it's clearly more yours than theirs. So it's entirely up to you whether you gift it to them, whether it's got damage or not. If you are willing to give it to them, just mention the damage.

Surely, the bigger issue is what actions you or your neighbour took to discover who left the unit in the first place. It's not rightfully yours unless you've made all reasonable efforts to determine who left it, and to contact them to advise them.

WastingMyTime · 20 November 2013 at 4:31PM

MSE_Debs wrote: »

My neighbours said it definitely wasn't theirs and said I could do what I liked with it.
It got damaged.
Neighbours told me it is theirs after all.
Should I offer to buy them a replacement? Or is that not necessary as they had previously said it wasn't theirs?

Give it back if you want but I don't think you are under any obligation due to the 6 months.

Don't offer a replacement. I don't think that it's your obligation (again 6mnths) If they pursue this as an issue tell them you are charging them 6mnths storage fee.

When they said it wasn't theirs - I think they lost all rights over it and that you could have been within your rights to have chopped it up for firewood.

nickj_2 · 20 November 2013 at 4:38PM

how can you forget that ordered something like that ? it's not something that would have taken years to make,

mr-mixalot · 20 November 2013 at 4:49PM

Tell them to do one or say you threw it away as it wasn't your either

End of

Patjan · 20 November 2013 at 5:07PM

Just ask if you can first see the other units it is allegedly going to join: colour, design, where it is going to be installed, etc. If the answer is along the lines of: "It's not for the kitchen...." ask (a) why the delay in claiming, and (b) can you see proof of purchase.

brewerdave · 20 November 2013 at 5:31PM

The last few of these "dilemmas" have been totally unlikely flights of fancy! ...Somebody just now remembers buying a brand new kitchen unit ,6 months ago??:rotfl:

SpecialBrew_2 · 20 November 2013 at 5:31PM

Tell them Freddie Starr ate it. The response makes as much sense and is as easy to find any truth in as the question.

Either your neighbour has taken six months to realise that he is one unit short of a kitchen, or you have taken six months to realise that he is one sandwich short of a picnic. There are no winners in this story, but plenty of evidence to suggest that it's full of losers.

Perhaps kitchen units just aren't an emotive enough subject for me. Next week's 'dilemma' may well be different - 'I agreed to share the costs of a pint of beer with my neighbour, and now six months later he is claiming full payment because I drank his half in order to get to mine.' Sleep will be lost.

TBagpuss · 20 November 2013 at 5:31PM

I would not mention the damage at all.

Tell them that although they told you to do whatever you wanted with it six months ago, you have not disposed of it and are willing to give it to them. If you're happy to have them in the house, let them get it down from the loft. This is not a case of you looking after something of theirs, when they might have a reasonable expectation it is returned in the condition it went in. They didn't want it.

If they notice / comment on the damage - so what/ They abandoned this 6 months ago, and how is anyone to be sure whether it was damaged while it was sitting outside your houses, in transit when being delivered, or while getting it into or out of the loft.

After all, even if you had been storing it for your neighbour, I don't think they would have a leg to stand on in terms of asking you to pay for damage, provided that you didn't damage it deliberately. It's not as though they were doing you a favour by storing it in your loft.

I have to admit that I am baffled as to why you would take a unit you didn't own or want and stick it in your loft

Real-life MMD:Slight damage, but free storage. Who pays?

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