'AITA for getting my neighbor's Airbnb guests' car towed?' 'It's been a nightmare.'
"AITA for getting my neighbor's Airbnb guests' car towed?"
So, I've had a ton of issues with Airbnbs in my neighborhood in the past. I won't get into all of it, but just know that it's been a nightmare, including my house being hit by 20 bullets during a gunfight at a neighbor's Airbnb party earlier this year.
Fast forward to last night, the guests at the Airbnb next door were blocking our shared driveway. I went out and politely asked them to move their car. They responded rudely, saying, "ain't got the keys. NO," and then drove off in another car.
I've tried reaching out to the Airbnb owner before, but she hasn't responded to me since May. Given her track record of ignoring my messages, I assumed she wouldn't do anything this time either.
So, I shot her a quick text and called the non-emergency police line, explained the situation, and they said they would make the guests move it. Well, it turns out they towed the car instead. Now, the Airbnb owner is furious, saying I didn't give her guests a chance to move it. Am I the ahole for calling the cops on them?
Later, OP edited the post to include:
I’ve decided to send her the message below because I think it’s important to take the high road in this situation. I realize she could make things much worse for us if she completely stopped caring about what her guests do, so I’m trying to keep things as civil as possible.
That said, I’ve also made up my mind that if something like this happens again, I won’t bother texting her. Instead, I’ll go straight to the authorities. I think it’s the best way to handle things moving forward while ensuring our peace and safety.
She texted me this morning " After you called the police, only minutes after notifying me, they had it towed. They didn't have an opportunity to move it." My response tentatively will be:
1.) I did ask them to move. Unfortunately, they responded with, "Ain't got the key. NO," and then proceeded to get into another vehicle and drive away.
2.) I didn't wait for your response because I haven't heard back from you in a while regarding previous messages. I’ve sent four messages since May, and I didn’t receive a response to any of them.
I’m sorry to hear that your guest's car was towed; I know how frustrating that can be. My only intention in calling the police was to have someone with more authority request that they move the car, as they had refused to do so when I asked. I never asked for the car to be towed and was quite surprised when I found out that it happened.
Here's what top commenters had to say about this one:
Firm-Molasses-4913 said:
NTA. But you did give them a chance to move it AND you texted the owner who did not get back to you at the time. The non emergency line was an option and you took it. I expect the owner to be much more responsive to you in future. Perhaps the listing should include info that the driveway is shared. Read the listing and see what it says.
Brit_in_usa1 said:
NTA and I would go even further and tell her that this is her notification that you’ll just go ahead and do it every time without giving anyone a heads up, so she better inform her guests not to do anything like this again because they’ll be towed.
stroppo said:
NTA. You *did* give the guests the chance to move it and they refused. I would report the owner to ABnB and report other incidents to them as well, meaning the folks in charge, not just the unit owner.
DrTeethPhD said:
NTA. Never feel bad about doing ANYTHING that makes the lives of AirBNB owners or guests more difficult.
NixKlappt-Reddit said:
NTA. You showed much more patience than I would have shown in this situation.
OkeyDokey654 said:
NTA. Ask her how telling them in person is “not giving them a chance.”