Money Moral Dilemma: Should we return the furniture we thought we'd been given for free?

Jami74

I bet there was a conversation that went like this:
Son: Your neighbours kid donated £100 to my charity!
Father: Yeah I gave them all that old furniture
Son: What? If you didn't want you should have sold it, it's worth much more than £100.

Personally I don't think you can ask for a charity donation back. Who would pay it? Don't think the charity will, son might not have £100 to give you and the Father might not either.

As for the furniture, I'd probably say "Really sorry we misunderstood. We can't afford to pay for it or pay another donation so you'll have to take it back to sell." I bet they'd decide that it would be too much hassle.

primrose_penguin

What a miserable grudging attitude your Mum's neighbour has. It doesn't sound as if you asked for the furniture, what would have happened if his son had not been running the marathon there would have been no £100 donation. If he wanted money for the furniture he should have said when offering it to you. I agree with others, if you do not feel you want to keep the furniture after his rude comments I would get in touch and ask him to come and collect it if he wants to sell it. I would not ask for the return of your generous donation as it is not his son's fault and it was probably for a good cause. If however you would like to keep the furniture I would ignore his remarks and carry on as if nothing has happened, in no way would I increase my donation or give him any money for the furniture he obviously didn't want, or he would not have offered it to you in the first place.

Landgate

What awful people your neighbours are, they should have sold it in the first place. They probably had no idea that they could have got money for it, you have shown really good will and they are just showing greed and extreme rudeness. I would simple say "I'm sorry you feel that way, we love the furniture and thank you once more"

Sheepster

Thing is, whenever anyone says “I could have sold this…….” etc, invariably they don’t want to.
What they mean is, they want SOMEONE ELSE to do the listing, to take messages, to arrange viewings, to sort out delivery or arrange collection with buyers (preferably at someone else’s home). For someone else to deal with the time wasters and “tyre kickers”.
Someone else to do all the hassle but of course they have no problems accepting the eventual payment for said goods.

Yes tell them to come and take back their beat up cast off furniture and sell it then. They will likely back down very rapidly (but will have a little passive aggressive moan so you know it’s everyone’s fault but theirs)

catprofit

Absolutely not. If you were expected to pay I'm sure that it would have been made clear from the start. You made a donation which you didn't need to make...a kind gesture ( I would have done the same) Don't increase the donation. Hold your head high and ignore them or ask them outright if they wanted paying for the furniture. Tell them that they are welcome to collect the furniture and return the donation. This may stop the comments. 

JayD

I think you should explain to your neighbour that, as no money had been discussed when the furniture was given, you assumed it was just a generous gesture but you were aware that the furniture was expensive. That is why you thought it would be right to make a generous donation to their son's cause, and felt it appropriate for these 2nd hand furnishings. Should they feel this was insufficient, apologise for the misunderstanding and suggest that, If they would prefer to sell them, then maybe they can reimburse your donation and collect the furniture.

uk2009

I think you did them a favour taking their old furniture. I doubt they would have had many interested buyers and if the fire labels are missing its unlikely any charity would have taken them either. Quite frankly they have a cheek. However if the furniture is in an exceptionally good condition and a well known brand I would offer another £50 - take it or leave it. 

Jason9091

It entirely depends on what was said at the time the furniture was agreed to be handed over. Without those details, it's impossible to form an opinion of how this misunderstanding came to pass or how best to proceed.