Friend group refuses to refund 19-year-old $600 after she bails on girls trip by faking a family emergency: "She went insane and started calling me a bad friend"

Author image for Ely Bulnes
Ely Bulnes • Writer and Editor
Feb 6, 2025 5:00 PM EST

Ladies of the World Wide Web, we all know how hard it can be to actually get the girls trip out of the group chat. If your friend group is anything like mine, you're all constantly sending each other Instagram reels of beautiful locations, cheap AirBnBs, and delicious restaurants from all around the world. My friends and I even go as far as to check flight prices, but rarely do we ever actually venture outside of our own city limits. When everyone has different schedules, budgets, and destination choices, turning the dream adventure into a reality can be quite tricky.

In our story today, a group of adventurous women actually manage to get the ball rolling for a trip. However, one friend pulls out last-minute, citing a family emergency. When the girls suss out that she lied and spent the time with her boyfriend instead, they're reluctant to reimburse her for the AirBnB she paid for but didn't stay in. To get the full story, take a look-see down below.

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  • 01

    AITA not refunding my friend $600 after she bailed on our group trip

    "She said she had a "I family emergency..."
    via Lifestock

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 02
    My (19f) friends and I all decided to go on a ski trip for a 12 days over winter break. We found a place to stay and all in all it was around $600 per person for the rental and we decided it was just easiest to have one person (me) put all the money upfront and just everyone pay me back before the actual trip, which everyone did.
    via u/Ok_Mind9160
  • 03
    In my friend group we have a girl let's call Sarah. Sarah comes from a comfortable family and was even one of the people who suggested the trip and was one of the leading forces to finding the Air Bnb. Literally in the weeks leading up to the trip we were all fine, sending outfit ideas, restaurants to books
    via u/Ok_Mind9160
  • 04
    Cheezburger Image 10464661248
    via Ketut Subiyanto from Pexels

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 05
    etc. the Tuesday before we left (Saturday) Sarah starts sending texts to the gc like "guys Jacob's (boyfriend) family is going to xxxxx next week" basically sending us a LOT of details about where his family is going for winter vacation that we didn't really need to know. Then on Thursday (again we
    via u/Ok_Mind9160
  • 06
    leave on Saturday) she texts the gc saying how she couldn't go because she had a family emergency, said her grandma had gotten admitted to the hospital. We were obviously bummed but family comes first and I told her that I would send her the money back that she sent towards the rental.
    via u/Ok_Mind9160
  • 07
    We go on the trip and everything is ok until one of my friends who has Sarah's location on Life360 (roommates) sees that she's in a beach town and we put 2 and 2 together. We spend that night p and we call her out the next day where she admits
    via u/Ok_Mind9160
  • 08
    everything. She had been last minute invited on her boyfriend's vacation and decided that she wanted to go to that instead but didn't know how to tell us. We were all obviously hurt and upset that she would choose a boy over us but at the end of the day she's a 19 year old girl so I guess it's just immaturity.
    via u/Ok_Mind9160

  • This girl sounds really young, immature, and impulsive. Even if her friends didn't happen to look at her location at the right moment, one of them may have asked her family how Grandma is doing. Her lie was going to get exposed eventually no matter what.

  • 09
    Cheezburger Image 10464661504
    via zstockphotos

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 10
    The part that I'm wondering if I'm the a h le with is that after finding out that she voluntarily pulled out of the trip, I had told her I wouldn't be refunding her the $600 she had sent me for the rental. She pulled out so last minute that we couldn't find anything cheaper and I said I was ok just wasting that money. because again I thought she was having a family
    via u/Ok_Mind9160
  • 11
    emergency. After finding out that she wouldn't be getting that back she went insane and started calling me a bad friend and everything. My parents think I should send it back to her but I don't see why I should, she pulled out because of her boyfriend and expected us to all just absorb the costs??
    via u/Ok_Mind9160
  • 12
    umpaloompababy NTAH. She voluntarily bailed on the trip and lied to everyone saying that her grandma was in the hospital. She could have told the truth but she may have known she wouldn't get the money back or she'd be judged by all of you. Either way you paid solely for that bnb expecting everyone would chip
    via u/umpaloompababy
  • 13
    in. In this sense you're only expected to pay 600, not 1200 because she lied and went on a different trip instead. The bnb was already paid for and she knew it. If she really is from a comfortable background, she should have no problem paying the 600 for a choice she made.
    via u/umpaloompababy
  • 14
    Quantum Riff Honestly, if they were going to excuse her and refund her, the 600 dollars extra would be devided by how many other people were on the trip. If there was 7 people, and she backed out, is each person okay coughing up and extra $100 to cover the costs?
    via u/QuantumRiff

  • While it's no fun to be deceived by someone you thought was a friend, the best course of action would be to return the money and cut ties. Our protagonist shouldn't have to foot the bill herself, though. 

  • 15
    hookedonnaturr She probably did not have to pay for the trip with the boyfriend so friend is trying to get a vacation for free. Keep the $600!
    via u/hookedonnaturr
  • 16
    WolfDaddy1991 For me it's the lying and still expecting to be refunded. If she had told them earlier in the week maybe they could have found alternative accommodations. And even if not if she had just been honest about it the other friends would have probably been more likely to be okay with covering what would have been her portion.
    via u/WolfDaddy1991
  • 17
    LessResident9495 NTA Airplane tickets wouldn't be refunded that close to the trip, neither would a hotel accept a cancellation 2 days in advance. That + the lying means she chose her priorities, and should foot the 600€. Maybe she'll think twice next time
    via u/LessResident9495
  • 18
    ApprehensiveBook4214 NTA. She lied and got caught. Technically you didn't need to refund even with a family emergency, but I understand doing so (if you can afford it) because they'll most likely have unexpected expenses to cover. That's not what happened. She chose to go on vacation instead.
    via u/ApprehensiveBook4214
  • 19
    "Friend i was willing to take a financial hit and refund you when you said you had a family emergency. You lied. You chose to go on vacation with your boyfriend instead. Which is your decision to make. Just like not taking a financial hit due to your decisions is my choice to make. You will not be refunded anything.".
    via u/ApprehensiveBook4214
  • 20
    Dangerous_End9472 NTA. Why should YOU alone eat $600 because she flaked and lied?
    via u/Dangerous_End9472
  • 21
    Jocelyn-1973 NTA I agree with you - reimbursing the money when there is a family emergency was being a good friend. But she was not being a good friend, she ditched you for her boyfriend and lied about it too. She should still pay for her previous commitment and you have no moral obligation to give back the money.
    via u/Jocelyn-1973
  • 22
    Frequent-Interest796 I'd tell her to get lost. However, if you feel bad....Take the number of friends you had on the trip and divide up the 600$. Give her your portion and tell her to ask the other girls for their portions.
    via u/Frequent-Interest796
  • 23
    Dangerous-Sense7488 Yes. this is the answer. And it puts the onus on her to go to every friend and explain to them the lie and ask for money back. I bet she'll get at least a couple noes. And she might learn a lesson from it.
    via u/Dangerous-Sense7488
  • 24
    Lagoon13579 Sarah is not exactly friend material. I felt bad pulling out of a two night camping trip that had been agreed on, but not booked or paid for, because my father had had a heart attack in my home country. In fact I am still sorry 15 years later, but my friend forgave me and we are still good friends!
    via u/Lagoon13579
  • 25
    FadedQuill NTA. She bailed on you all after you had all made a financial commitment and booked a rental. That's reneging on a verbal contract. The rental doesn't become cheaper because she decides last minute to go to the beach
    via u/FadedQuill
  • 26
    Seems like she would happily dump $600 of extra cost on you all, or more likely, you because you're the lead booker. That's some really entitled behaviour, and not that of a good friend.
    via u/FadedQuill

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