I saw an appliance on someone’s curb with a “free” vibe. It didn’t have a sign, but my city doesn’t have curbside pickup for appliances so there was no mistaking that it was on offer for anyone who wanted it. No sign saying it was broken or for parts, so I loaded it up and took it home.
Once I got it there, I realized it’s fully broken and now it’s my problem. I wasted time and gas hauling it, and now I’m stuck either paying to dump it or fooling somebody else into taking it. It had only been out for a couple hours in good weather, so there’s no chance it was a working fridge that was ruined by the weather.
Part of me wants to put it back on their curb, since they’re the ones who put broken junk out for strangers without saying anything. It feels fair in a karmic sense, since making people think you’re offering them a working fridge to save yourself a trip to the dump is an asshole move. On the other hand, that also feels like I’d be dumping trash on their property even though they put it there in the first place.
So: would I be the asshole if I took the broken appliance back and left it where I found it instead of dealing with it myself?
YTA, you took it so now it is your problem. If you wanted to see if it worked you could have asked them.
YTA you took it, your problem
Dumping it back would be flytipping
Take this as a warning not to take random junk off the street because you think it might work. They never claimed it was working and it didn’t have a sign on, you took the risk. For all you know they paid a scrap service to collect it.
When someone dumps something out on the street to me the default isn’t “this is a perfectly working appliance” it’s “this broke and they bought a new one so they dumped it outside”
They didn’t trick you, you took a shot and it didn’t pan out. That’s just how it goes.
YTA. You took it, it’s now your problem to deal with.
YWBTA, that is a chance YOU took. You took it; it is now your problem. If you didn’t want to deal with it, you shouldn’t have taken it. You could have knocked on the door and asked if it was working.
Yes, YTA. This is a lesson in FAFO. Why did you assume it’s working? Why did you take something that wasn’t yours? Why would they need to tell strangers anything about anything on their curb? Just like the people stealing TV boxes with broken TVs in it.
You STOLE it so you deal with it.
YTA and the curb is for trash. You took someone’s trash. And now you’re mad that it’s trash. Strange.
YTA, this is honestly funny because people place things on the curb for “bulk pickup” that they pay for (I’ve done this many times with appliances). I wonder if you took something that was slotted for pick-up, it’s not like they get a refund if it’s not there.
You took it, it’s your responsibility now. Next time, knock on the door and ask.
YTA, there was no sign to say that it was free or being given away – you literally took it upon yourself to take it without checking or asking permission. This is all on you, and now your responsibility to get rid of.
YTA there was no sign saying it’s free or to take it. You just took it without inspecting and now are mad about a choice YOU made? Grow up
YTA
If you are not the kind of tinkerer who can fix things like appliances, you shouldn’t be taking stuff from curbs assuming they will work.
YWTBA.
There was no sign you say, so you just helped yourself to something on the curb. Usually if people put something on the curb for giveaway, they put a FREE sign on it. Ideally you would have rung the doorbell and asked about it before just taking. You’re assuming they put it out there to trick passers-by, but maybe they had arranged for a private pickup service to come take it. You don’t know because you didn’t ask.
A free “vibe”? “No mistaking” that it was on offer? “Making people think you’re offering”? You’re doing a lot of reaching to avoid the obvious conclusion: you made an incorrect assumption and now want to blame someone else for “tricking” you.
YTA – they could have scheduled their own bulk pick up for a broken item. You should never have taken it in the first place but now it’s your problem to get rid of properly.
YTA for wanting to put it back. Why would you assume that anything put at the curb is functional? They got rid of it for a reason, probably because it’s broken. You took a chance, it doesn’t work, now you have to figure how to dispose of it. For you to blame them for not putting a description of the item working or not working is ridiculous, saying it’s an asshole move on their part is even more ridiculous. This just proves even more YTA.They don’t owe anybody an explanation of the item’s functionality if they put it out on the curb. Suck it up buttercup, now you have to figure how to dispose of it