Employee takes advantage of coworker changing his chair because it's broken, so he fixes it and keeps it, as it's better than the one he had: 'Then [he] brings back my original chair and says “hey man, thanks for fixing it. You can have yours back now.”

Author image for María Cetra
María Cetra • Writer
Aug 21, 2026 4:00 PM EDT

You can't expect to do someone dirty and then pretend it was nothing. Entitlement can be stopped!

Entitled people can be stopped; entitlement has an end, but you need to be firm for it to work out. Some people go through life thinking they can do whatever they want without ever facing consequences for their acts. They think that everyone else will just accept it and do nothing about it. Till the right person crosses their path. A person with boundaries, manners, and a strong personality. That is the person who will end the entitlement without a second thought. If you want to be that person, then maybe learning from the story below would be useful.

Charlie is an employee who thinks that every single entitled thing that he does can be excused. Why? Oh, just because he thinks he deserves to do what HE wants. To him, it doesn't matter if somebody else is affected by his actions. The only thing that matters is that he gets what he wants. This time it was a chair. He had this premium chair that was more comfortable and better than everyone else's (which is probably another example of the entitlement he always had), but the handle broke. He could have gone to the office supply closet and seen if he had something to fix it, but instead, he deems best to just change his damaged chair with someone else's. What he never expected was for this person who received the damaged chair to just fix it and keep it, as it was way better than his original one.

When Charlie saw that the employee had fixed the chair, he just expected him to give it back. You can't imagine his surprise when he realized that wasn't going to happen. He took it up with management, which seems insane, but let's remember that he believes that he's entitled to get everything he wants the moment he wants it's, yes, like a child. The boss ended up only listening to the coworker who received the damaged chair and acted in favor of him. This may seem like a dumb story, but it is actually a GREAT example of how to end entitlement. Charlie now has to keep a chair he never wanted all because he expected somebody else to suffer for the misuse he did with the previous one. Let's hope this sticks with him enough to change his attitude.

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  • 01
    So this morning, I walked into my office and when I sat down in my chair, I noticed that it was different. A little bit more comfortable, which was nice, but I soon realized that it wasn't my chair. I also noticed that one of the arm handles was extremely loose, almost rotating 90 degrees and about to fall off. I looked at the side of the loose handle and saw that one of the bolts had come off the main frame of the chair. Now I have two options. 1) swap this chair out with someone's chair in the
    via Mata187
  • 02

    The office chair that Charlie expected to get back

    An office chair at the desk.
    via Luca Bravo

    An office chair at the desk. 

     

  • 03
    went into our work area, grabbed an allen wrench, and secured the handle back to the frame. I also tighten all the other bolts, nuts, and the wheels too. So while I lost my original chair, I gained a better one. An hour passed and Charlie (46M) walked back into the office. The thing about Charlie is he suffers from a TBI from his time in the military. He some times isn't always thinking things through, is constantly questioning everything he has to do no matter how simple the task is, and he is
    via Mata187
  • 04
    battle/argument/conflict, etc, he gets this smirk on his face that makes you want to punch him. So when Charlie walked into the office, he had that smirk on his face because he thought he pulled a fast one, but that smirk disappeared when he saw that the handle on the chair was fixed. This is where the drama starts. Charlie then brings back my original chair and says "hey man, thanks for fixing my chair. You can have yours back now." I told him no that this chair is mine now and he can have my o
    via Mata187
  • 05
    Charlie went on to say how he ordered that chair specifically for himself and that he needs it to do his work comfortably. When I asked for proof that it was bought with personal funds, he said it was bought it through the GSA card for the office. So, that meant the chair is an office chair and not a personal chair. I also asked why didn't he fix the chair himself? Charlie answered he didn't know how. Which is funny because he's a maintenance guy and we have all sorts of tools in the work area w
    via Mata187
  • 06
    Charlie went on a rant about respect and fairness for a bit before going to the manager's office. I got called into the manager's office through a Teams message. When I walked in, Charlie had that smirk on his face again. When the manager asked why I stole Charlie's chair, I calmly gave a play by play of what happened. That's when Charlie tried to step in but the manager didn't let him. Finally, the manager asked "are you willing to give Charlie's chair back to him?" I answered no because he lef
    via Mata187
  • 07
    sided with me and Charlie storms out of the office p ed off at the world. AITAH here?
    via Mata187
  • 08
    An office with office chairs and desks.
    via Raj Rana

    An office with office chairs and desks. 

  • 09
    Carradee NTA. Where was Charlie's respect for you and your property when he took your chair and gave you his broken one in the first place? He's flunking basic personal responsibility for his own actions.
    via Carradee
  • 10
    Leucastic_Leopard NTA. If Charlie ever steals it "back" I highly recommend covertly "breaking" it in the way it was when it was gifted to you. Then just repair it when Charlie inevitably regifts it to you.
    via Leucastic_Leopard
  • 11
    Status_Reflection993 No lol. Who steals someone's perfectly good chair, swaps it with their broken one.. then acts like its all hunky dory cause they want to now return the stolen chair now that the chair they abandoned got fixed.. NTA. that guy is tho. I'd personalize the chair.
    via Status_Reflection993
  • 12
    BodaciousVermin Charlie's now known by your manager to have generated some unnecessary office drama. Fairly petty stuff, too. You're certainly NTA. He's a
    via BodaciousVermin
  • 13
    mcgee00 Nta, what did he think was going to happen? Hes TA for swapping chairs like he did. Wonder why he choose you.
    via mcgee00
  • 14
    HamRadio_73 NTA. If I were the manager I would have reprimanded the complainer and commended OP for repairing company equipment at no expense.
    via HamRadio_73
  • 15
    Odd-Elderberry-6681 I want to feel sorry for Charlie having a TBI, but the behavior you've described makes that kinda hard. If I were a manager at your company, I would thank Charlie for his service to the country and refer him for mandatory therapy to learn how to not be an AH.
    via Odd-Elderberry-6681
  • 16
    Dizzy-Cup1512 No you are totally in the right. How many times a day does it take to wipe the smirk off his face before he finally realizes maybe the problem is him and his smirk? Apparently more than two! Lol Good Luck and you handled it the right way too!!
    via Dizzy-Cup1512
  • 17
    anon5381 Hahahaha no way. He's an AH. You're definitely NTA. He tried you over swapping your chair out for his broken one. You fixed it. It's yours now. Management agrees with you. End of story. I'd hope this might change his behaviour but with the world being how it is I doubt he'd learnt any lesson.
    via anon5381

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