Woman Cuts Off Neighbor Over Laundry Quarters and Missing $40 Payment

A woman turns to the Reddit community for support following an uncomfortable situation with her neighbor. In her post, she shares how what started as a simple favor spiraled into a disagreement.

She explains that for the past year, her neighbor, a woman in her fifties, has been buying quarters from her for the laundry machines. “I work in a casino, so I always am able to get as many rolls of quarters I want at work, so she’s not the only neighbor that buys them from me,” she writes.

It had always been an easy arrangement until about a month ago, when the neighbor made an unexpected request. “She showed up and asked to buy 4 rolls for $40. She usually buys 1-2 rolls at a time but it’s not a big deal, because I usually have 60-70 rolls on hand,” the poster shares.

This time, however, her neighbor didn’t have the money up front. “She says she doesn’t have the cash, but will pay me back ASAP,” the woman recalls, adding that she had no reason not to trust her after being neighbors for six years.

Weeks passed, and the neighbor never returned with the cash or the quarters. “Honestly, I didn’t care that much—it’s not like $40 is a ton of money, whatevs,” she admits, suggesting she was willing to let it go.

But the situation grew stranger when the neighbor showed up again asking for more quarters. “I told her I’d rather not because she still hadn’t paid me back from before,” the woman says.

That’s when the neighbor insisted that she had already settled the debt. “She then tells me that she did pay me for the quarters, and I was like noooo you sure didn’t,” the poster recalls.

The neighbor claimed she had placed the money under her doormat the next day. “I was confused, because I am kind of a homebody, and she has my number so she could text me about it,” the woman explains.

When she checked, there was nothing under the mat, and the story didn’t make sense. “She says someone must have stolen it, and it’s not her problem because she paid me,” the poster writes, noting that her apartment is tucked away on the second floor where no one casually passes by.

To make matters worse, the details were inconsistent. “I asked if it was the next day specifically, and about what time, because I have a security camera that looks towards the staircase,” the woman says. “She then suddenly can’t offer me any specifics.”

At that point, she decided it was best to cut off the arrangement altogether. “I tell her that this has gotten kinda weird and uncomfortable, and I would rather not sell her quarters anymore,” the woman explains.

Her attempt to set boundaries didn’t go over well. “She immediately got defensive, scoffed, and said something like, ‘Really? Over a few quarters?’ Then she just turned and went down the stairs,” the poster recalls.

Not long after, the situation resurfaced in conversation with another neighbor. “The old lady that lives below me casually mentioned while we were chatting that ‘she’s really upset with you,’ ” the woman writes.

She admits she doesn’t feel she’s in the wrong, but was curious about the perspective of others. “I don’t feel like I’m in the wrong here, but I’m curious after talking to my other neighbor a few days ago,” she shares at the beginning of her post.

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One commenter on her story told her plainly that she had been taken advantage of. “She owes you 40 … seems like for you it was a cheap lesson about this person,” they wrote.

The woman agrees with that perspective and is choosing to look at it as a learning experience. “That’s kinda how I felt. Like, at least now I know,” she says.

For her, the loss of $40 isn’t the real issue, but rather the broken trust and the strange turn the situation has taken. “I told her it would be best to avoid another ‘misunderstanding,’ ” she explains, showing she wants to avoid further conflict.