Freeloading friend "forgets" to pick up a couch stored in their buddy's garage for 3.5 years, then gets upset when they throw it away: 'I said two weeks'

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Jesse Kessenheimer • Writer and Editor
Jul 15, 2025 12:00 PM EDT

It's funny how freeloaders always conveniently "forget" they're being a burden. 

Unbeknownst to the craftiest of moochers, their antics cost their friends and loved ones dearly, but they don't seem to care about anyone but themselves.

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  • If you're like many, living a life of rental apartments, storage units, and general "stuff" hoarding, you've probably learned quite a bit about the value of space. I've lived in apartments most of my life, downsizing, moving, and changing around my living space to the whims of the local landlords. But when it comes to moving day, you really learn the value of the possessions you're needing to move around. 

    Suddenly, that sectional couch isn't worth throwing out your back , and that IKEA armoire isn't worth the hassle. So for most considerate friends, those items would quickly find their place on Facebook Marketplace. However, for the freeloaders of the world, they just see an opportunity to take advantage of another friend's hospitality.

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  • AITA for throwing out my friend's couch after it sat in my garage for 3.5 years, even though I said she could only store it for two weeks?
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  • In 2019, a friend asked if she could store a couch in my garage. It had belonged to her late father, and they were clearing out his house. I said no.
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  • My garage is small. One car and barely any extra room. It isn't insulated, it leaks, and squirrels basically have squatter rights. I don't store anything there on purpose. I also told her that people
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  • always say they'll "pick it up soon," and then never do. Somehow the person doing the favor becomes the villain. She kept pushing. I offered options:
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  • - Rent a storage unit - Get a U-Haul, take the couch home, and have her kids drive up and get her car - Leave it at her dad's and take the risk
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  • Her niece even borrowed a trailer to bring it to me. All that, just to keep it out of her siblings' hands. I finally said yes, but I was crystal clear. Two weeks. After that, I could do whatever I wanted with it.
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  • She said absolutely. Her kids would be there that weekend to pick it up. They never came. I called a few times that first year.
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  • "Oh yeah, we'll come get it." Crickets. In one of my "please get your couch" calls, she said, "I'm a Sagittarius. We're not good at this stuff."
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  • "I'm a Sagittarius. We're not good at this stuff"

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  • I'm still not sure what that has to do with picking up your couch. I tried again in year two. Same story. After that, I gave up. She never once brought it up on her own.
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  • Around year three and a half, I had construction work happening. The crew backed a trailer into the garage and accidentally crushed the couch. When we looked closer, it was already moldy and torn
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  • apart by squirrels. The workers felt bad. I told them not to worry. It had been sitting there for years. We even discussed whether I should tell her. Everyone agreed there wasn't much point. She hadn't mentioned it in over three years.
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  • So I didn't. Fast forward to this year - now year six. I mention I'm cleaning out the garage and she casually says, "Oh, I need to come get that couch."
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  • Me: "It's gone. The squirrels got it." Her: "What?" Me: "Yeah. The garage isn't insulated. They love it in there." Her: "I had no idea." Me: "You did. You just forgot. And I said two weeks."
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  • She hasn't spoken to me since. Unfriended. Full stop. Meanwhile, I lived around that couch. I broke my toe on it. I had to work around it constantly. I paid
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  • to have it hauled away. It took up space I didn't have for three and a half years. The first time she brought it up was in year six. So I'm really asking:
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  • Should I have told her back when it got ruined, even though she hadn't asked about it in years? At year six, should I have just said "sure, come get it" and played along, even though I doubt she would have?
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  • Or was this always going to end the same way, no matter what I did? TL;DR: Friend asked to store her dad's couch "for two weeks." I said no,
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  • then agreed with a firm limit. She left it for 3.5 years. Couch was destroyed. I tossed it and didn't tell her. She finally mentioned it in year six. Now she's upset. AITA?
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  • LouisV25 NTA. 1. That couch was legally abandoned long ago. 2. If she makes noise, charge her storage fees for 3.4 years of the time. 300
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  • Allaboutbird NTA. Your friend is an ungrateful flake. She did you a favor by cutting off contact.
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  • No-Sea1173. It was going to end that way no matter what. She's not a good friend or a reasonable person if she's blaming you. NTA. Y.T.A.H to the squirrels. Where are they living now?
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crazy friendship family drama uhaul freeloading storage garage couch friends entitled people karma entitled entitled people
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