25-year-old woman backs out of $550 music festival, expects friend to cover her half of the cost: 'She bailed last minute'

Author image for JR Atkinson
JR Atkinson • Writer and Editor
Sep 12, 2025 10:00 PM EDT

Owing a friend money is never a good idea. If you can avoid it at any cost, you should. You don't want to mix money and friendship and end up losing someone over a missed payment. But the question of money is going to come up over the course of a friendship. If you're friends with someone, odds are, you like to do things with them. You want to go on outings, see shows, travel, and eat dinners out. And those things tend to cost money. If both of you are in the same boat financially and you agree to split costs 50/50, this is the easiest way to do it while avoiding drama. 

But this still raises the question of when to pay and what happens if one of you cancels or backs out? It's not always so simple then. That's what happened in this story, where a pair of friends was left in a sticky situation after one of them decided she couldn't afford a concert ticket she had previously committed to. 

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  • A funky-dressed woman sits on the kitchen floor with a drink.
    via Thierry Biland

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • Instead of owning up to her indecision and managing the tickets, she left it up to her friend. But when he found that he couldn't regain all of what he had spent, he looked to her for a little assistance. Then, he reached out to the internet to see if what he was doing was above board. Read on to see what commenters had to say. 

  • WIBTA if I made my friend pay the difference?

    My (M25) roommate/friend (F25) and I planned on going to a music festival this month. I made the layaway for both of our weekend passes that totaled to $1100. She was paying for her own ticket, but hasn't sent any payments. This isn't necessarily an issue since she just moved back to the state and I knew she was getting on her feet. I knew it was happening.
    via u/Feisty_Spend1483
  • Anyway, she decided that she can't afford to go, but didn't inform me until the end of August. I believe it was the 26th/27th. This music festival is next week (18th- 22nd). She gave me less than a month to sell a $550 ticket. With the festival being so close, I'm having to lower my price consistently to get SOMETHING back from the loss. I'm fine with taking an L on $100, but not happy about anything less. I'm approaching almost $200 loss.
    via u/Feisty_Spend1483
  • WIBTA if I asked her to pay the difference of what I sell it for to make up for it? I'd take the L and just have her meet me at $450. TLDR: WIBTA if I asked my friend to pay the difference of what I sold a music festival for vs the price paid, after she gave me less than a month to sell it?
    via u/Feisty_Spend1483

  • Commenters agreed he was being more generous than he need to be.

    GreekAmericanDom 17h ago NTA Your friend owes you $550. Period. When she chose not to attend, it should have become her responsibility to sell the ticket, not yours.
    via u/GreekAmericanDom
  • A man explains something to a woman with folded hands.
    via Annika Gordon

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • Traditional-Swan-130 17h ago You fronted $550 on her word, and she bailed last minute. It's not like you're asking for the full price back, you're literally just asking her to cover the loss she caused. That's not petty, that's basic accountability
    via u/Traditional-Swan-130
  • emzyyx • 17h ago NTA. Your friend agreed to pay you for the ticket at a later date. She should be paying you for it, and trying to sell HER ticket herself. What you are asking for is extremely generous of you
    via u/emzyyx
  • Toad_004 17h ago You WNBTA if you made her pay for her entire ticket. What you should do is give her the ticket and let HER sell it. She needs to make up that loss.
    via u/Toad_004
  • Thi... • 17h ago ⚫ Edited 12h ago NTA, because what you're asking is very reasonable. In fact, I'd argue she owes you for the whole ticket, because she committed to it. It's now her responsibility to pay you, and then to try and sell it and recoup her money. If you're prepared to wear at least some of the cost, that's very generous of you.
    via u/ThisWillAgeWell
  • Even though you're not the ah le, it would be a good idea to learn from this. Friendships go a lot more smoothly if one friend is NEVER in debt to the other. Occasionally it is unavoidable - e.g. she goes out for the evening, someone steals her purse, and she needs to borrow taxi fare to get safely home. But the person borrowing the money should pay it back the next day.
    via u/ThisWillAgeWell
  • In this case, you had a very expensive item ($550 a ticket is a huge outlay for most people), she committed to it, she was happy for you to buy the tickets, and there doesn't appear to be a set deadline for repayment. That was your big mistake not sorting this out upfront. -
    via u/ThisWillAgeWell
  • You could have said "I'm going to need repayment of the $550 by [date], and if something comes up and you can't go, or you change your mind, you STILL owe me $550, and YOU will have to try and offload the ticket yourself, not me. Are we agreed? Yes? OK, then I'll book the tickets."
    via u/ThisWillAgeWell
  • Or you could have each bought your own ticket. It's a festival, not a theater with allocated seats, so I presume it wasn't strictly necessary to buy both tickets together. If I asked her to pay the difference, it could hurt her finances more since she is still getting back on her feet.
    via u/ThisWillAgeWell
  • True, but not your problem. If she's struggling financially, she should never have committed to an expensive festival in the first place. Priorities, man. You don't drop $550 on a fun weekend if you can't pay your rent. I'm also worried it will cause a bit of tension in the apartment.
    via u/ThisWillAgeWell
  • There's ALREADY tension in the apartment, because you're out of pocket to the tune of $550. Which is why I said: friends should make great efforts NEVER to be in debt to each other. It creates awkwardness on one side and resentment on the other. Friendships rarely survive significant unpaid debts.
    via u/ThisWillAgeWell
  • MedicinalWalnuts 17h ago If she can't afford to go, she isn't going to give you any money for a ticket that she isn't using. ESH. Her for backing out, you for not insisting for payment upfront.
    via u/MedicinalWalnuts
  • gitepoviv8010 • 17h ago . nah... NTA... like, u trusted her and she failed... the less she can do is all the necessary compensations...
    via u/gitepoviv8010
  • . Wonderful_Two_6710 17h ago NTA. A friend doesn't leave another friend on the hook for $550.
    via u/Wonderful_Two_6710
  • . The_Ocean_Is_A_So... 17h ago She basically just asked you to pay for something really expensive, decided not to go last minute, and essentially told you to "sell this in less than a month because why not" this is kind of a-he behaviour
    via u/The_Ocean_Is_A_Soup0
  • Lorelei-4444 • 17h ago . I'm not sure how she can pay $450 if she's still trying to get back on her feet. I think at this point, it might just be easier if she goes and just pays you back when she has the money or little by little.
    via u/Lorelei-4444
  • Outrageous-Arm1945 17h ago . NTA, it's her ticket, she should be trying to sell it, and she should be eating any loss. She knew a whole ago she wasn't going to manage it, or at least knew it was a distinct possibility, that's AH behavior
    via u/Outrageous-Arm1945
  • moonhrafn • 17h ago NYWBTA to ask her to pay the difference though you may want to consider whether it's worth risking the friendship over as regardless of whether it's an a hle thing to do she may feel it is cheap of you to do so, especially as she is financially struggling rn.
    via u/moonhrafn
  • brielledarling • 17h ago nah you wouldn't be outta pocket for that. she bailed last minute and left you holding the bag, so it's fair to ask her to cover at least part of the hit. you're even being generous offering to eat some of the loss yourself. if she's a real friend, she should get that it's on her.
    via u/brielledarling
  • alicat777777 • 14h ago Always get the money right away for this very reason. Absolutely ask her or tell her she can pay you and sell it herself. NTA.
    via u/alicat777777
  • abcdef_U2 13h ago NTA • And that is not outlandish to expect to get the full amount back for this ticket she only just decided she can't afford. She realistically should be selling the ticket herself and still paying you for the total cost of her commitment.
    via u/abcdef_U2
  • Grand_Two2692 · 16h ago • NTA but have you tried selling them on a resale platform like ticketswap or just privately on fb / socials? I've had really good luck making my money back on tickets for concerts I couldn't make it to at the last sec, sometimes day of. I'd rec checking those out if you haven't already
    via u/Grand_Two2692
  • MaeSilver909.16h ago NTA. Your friend should have stepped up and said she would sell the ticket & pay you the difference.
    via u/MaeSilver909
  • sakebo13 8h ago . What is it with ppl?!? This is a clear one. She should pay you for the full amount as soon as she is able (and sell the ticket for the sole purpose that it will allow her to pay you back sooner).
    via u/sakebo13

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