Neighbour keeps borrowing my hoover

kickstart_3

Hoovers are not that expensive in Tesco (for a basic one) mention to her you have seen some cheap ones there. We are talking about £20.

Dan_Thunder

Just say it's broken but whilst you were at X shop you saw they were selling them for £20. You could even offer to pick one up for her from the store if you're going?

[Deleted User]

No don't offer to pick it up, you may not get the money back!!!

davetrousers

Straight talking is what is required here. Your neighbour is taking the pi$$ and she knows it. She is probably thinking "Why should I spend any money on a new one when I can borrow next door's for free".

Next time she asks politely say no and explain that she has borrowed it loads already and never empties it and then you have to go and get it back, and that just isn't on.

I am all for doing favours for people but when they start to take the pi$$, you have to put a stop to it.

Sharifa_2

I agree with what dave says, but you could sweeten it a little by offering to go with her to help her choose a new one.

daisy_doughnut_2

i think the dead fuse idea will work...lol
or say its playing up an your waiting for dyson to get back to you as its not picking up properly

jungliemac

My Dyson has a sponge filter that needs washing.....it takes about a day to dry so could you tell her your filter has been washed and that it wont be ready for a few days?

sugaJen

I was in the same situation, but she lives over the road, constantly I'd have to drag my hoover back so I told her it was broke then I knocked it down the stairs....Anyway I ordered a new dyson out my dads catalogue when she asked to borrow it I told her where to go, paid too much for it to be dragging around the estate.

She used to borrow my iron so I gave her an old cordless one and she broke it, then mine broke.....do you think someone is trying to tell me something.....

She's borrowed my hair dryer.
She asked to borrow my ironing board??? my food steamer on xmas day??? hair curlers (which she has still got) Dont people buy things of their own anymore?

Now I just say No sorry, she usually too embarrassed to ask why and goes and asks someone else.
Oops shes here gotta go!! lol

crispeater

i think the dead fuse is a fab idea and if she brings it back an says oh i've changed the fuse as it was dead. just say oh it must be overworked then coz i only changed it a few months back!

Nicki

sav4it wrote: »

Good grief.All these people coming up with excuses. What's wrong with good old fashioned honesty!
Tell her straight in a nice way exactly what you've put in your post.

The key here is that OP likes her neighbour and doesn't want to fall out with her (just doesn't want to give her her hoover either!)

With the best will in the world, and however nicely you say it, telling someone off for not emptying your hoover, and not returning it to you fast enough, might be enough to prompt a cooling in relations (and please don't flame me, I completely agree that the neighbour is in the wrong here, and OP shouldn't be having to ask to borrow her own hoover) OP is looking for a tactful and effective solution which will stop the neighbour borrowing it without running any risk of offending anyone.

Its a really tricky one, but I would probably either:

1. say "sorry, I'm just about to use it" when she asks
2. tell her you've hurt your back and can't manage to keep carrying it back from her place so are afraid she can't borrow it again
3. look out for one on freecycle yourself, then tell her that your mum has just got a new one and given you her old one as a spare, and you're happy for her to have it.

I wouldn't go down the "you can get a new one for £20 route" unless you know for definite that she could afford to pay this. There are loads of people posting on these boards who just couldn't find £20 spare from their budget at the drop of a hat, but would be mortified if the neighbours found this out. If you look at the Old Style boards where some people have less than this per week to feed their families, you'll see that not everyone has it hanging around for a rainy day.