Woman blamed for her weight, after friend demanded she pay $250 for sitting on an antique chair that broke while she was on it, despite chair having already broken in the past: 'You're my biggest friend, it wouldn’t have happened to anyone else'

Author image for Emma Saven
Emma Saven
Sep 6, 2025 1:00 PM EDT

There are just certain things you shouldn't say aloud, as a friend and as a human being… like, telling your friend that they have to reimburse you for breaking their boyfriend's late grandmother's antique chair due to their "weight plopping down on it all at once" or calling them your "biggest friend." 

Even if you think it, it's time to find the key, lock your mouth, and throw the key away. Because it's not going to unlock a vintage door filled with dozens of antique chairs to replicate his grandma's, but what it will do is cause a potentially irreparable rift in your friendship! Part of being a good friend means trying to spare them any form of embarrassment, and we fear asking them for $250 to fix a chair that they broke, according to you, as a result of their heavier weight, might do quite the opposite. 

What makes this story even more cringeworthy is the fact that the chair was already faulty. Inciting a back-and-forth battle of 'was it me or the chair?'… We understand asking for reimbursement for something obviously broken by another person. However, if you're not quite sure who is at fault here —your lifelong friend or an over-100-year-old, Victorian-era chair, I think it's best to defend your friend over an inanimate object. It will save her many years of trauma…
 

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  • So if you really value your friendship, try sitting your boyfriend down and trying to explain to him that maybe when you host guests, it might be better to keep the antiques in the back. Alongside your degrading opinions…Because words hurt and are worth a lot more than a couple of hundred dollars. 

  • 01
    "It's only fair you reimburse us for the chair since you're responsible for breaking it"
    via massonstock

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 02

    AITA for refusing to reimburse my friend for a chair that broke under me?

    I (F25) was at a friend's house for a game night this past weekend with a group of about 6. Everyone brought food and drinks and we were having a good time.
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  • 03
    When about halfway through the night I got up to use the bathroom. When I came back, I saw that one of the girls had moved from a chair to the side to my space on the couch.
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  • 04
    This didn't bug me as people shuffle around in groups, so whatever. The chair was an antique wooden chair that sat a bit lower to the ground with an added back/b t cushion.
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  • 05
    When I sat down it immediately broke, sending me to the ground with the seat under me and the arm frames falling to the side. Everyone got quiet for a second before jumping up to help me.
    via FiguringItOutThisWay
  • 06
    I wasn't hurt, just very embarrassed. For context I'm a bigger girl, about 260 pounds at 5 foot 7 inches. My friend (F27) was very gracious and nice about it when it happened, accepting my apologies and telling me not to worry.
    via FiguringItOutThisWay
  • 07
    Her boyfriend (M29) said that the chair was his grandmother's and it has fallen apart before and he was able to repair it. I was ushered back to the couch and game night continued.
    via FiguringItOutThisWay
  • 08
    Fast forward to the next morning, I received a text from my friend who let me know that the chair couldn't be put back together, and that from her research it would cost about $250 to get a new one.
    via FiguringItOutThisWay
  • 09
    She'd let me know exactly how much when she found one. I was a bit taken aback, and responded confused, asking why I would be expected to pay for a faulty chair.
    via FiguringItOutThisWay
  • 10
    She said that while yes, on occasion the frames would become unattached and cause it to fall apart, but that that's not what happened this time.
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  • 11
    She sent me pictures of the broken chair, particularly a bent support and 2 other broken supports. She said that the chair broke under my weight and couldn't be fixed, and since the chair was an antique from her boyfriend's late grandmother, she wanted a new one for him.
    via FiguringItOutThisWay
  • 12
    Cheezburger Image 10549437440
    via gettysignature

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 13
    I responded that the chair was very old and had a history of collapsing. If they were concerned about preserving it, they should've not had it out for people to use, and $250+ for a chair I sat in for 1 second seems a bit ridiculous.
    via FiguringItOutThisWay
  • 14
    At this point she seemingly got frustrated, and said that she loves me but that I'm her "biggest friend" and that it wouldn't have happened to anyone else.
    via FiguringItOutThisWay
  • 15
    She said: "It broke from your weight plopping down all at once, not because the frame was loose. I think it's only fair you reimburse us for the chair since you're responsible for breaking it."
    via FiguringItOutThisWay
  • 16
    I'm still figuring out how to respond. I don't want to pay her for something I don't see as being completely my fault. I also think she's using the scenario to shame me about my weight a bit, which I find frustrating.
    via FiguringItOutThisWay
  • 17
    My friends' opinions are mixed. A few are saying that I should just pay her and move on, even if it's not exactly my fault.
    via FiguringItOutThisWay
  • 18
    One thinks it is my fault and I should pay up, and a few more think she's in the wrong for asking and I should continue to politely decline.
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  • 19
    AITA for refusing to pay?
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  • 20
    Appropriate_Sky_7676 She shouldn't be putting out an heirloom antique chair for anyone to sit on. You could actually fake a back injury and say geez you let me sit in a chair that was too fragile and I hurt my back when I fell. How about paying for the doctor bills?. I wonder what she would say to that?
    via Appropriate_Sky_7676
  • 21
    Conscious-Shoulder14 Normally, I feel like if you break something at someone else's house, you are responsible for replacing it. However, in this case, they knew it had a history of breaking and still provided it for you to use, also knowing that you are the heaviest member of the group. I don't think you owe them a dime.
    via Conscious-Shoulder14
  • 22
    SandsinMotion If it had issues in the past it had no business being out for public use. What were they thinking? Have you see the chair, if bent as indicated, would paying for a portion preserve your friendship? Is that going to be the real question? Pay or loose a set of friends?
    via SandsinMotion
  • 23
    Necessary-Cup-9628 I think paying half is fair. Its not nice to break someone's thing and not replace it. On the other hand something that old shouldn't have been out for use. ESH
    via Necessary-Cup-9628
  • 24
    ogscreamhorrorqueen YTA. I wouldn't ask you replace it, but if I were you, I would have genuinely offered to replace it.
    via ogscreamhorrorqueen

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friendship chair weight hangout embarrassing Awkward reimburse friends repay entitled broken laughing antique money rocky
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