Any idea how to ask neighbor to reimburse me?

[Anonymous]

Our neighbors returned from a vacation one week ago. After the left for their vacation, they called to ask if I would do them a favor. They had left an important item behind and wondered if I would overnight it to them. I happily helped them out. It cost $30 to ship it, plus my time, and while I didn’t mind helping them out, it’s been a week since they returned and they’ve made no efforts to try to reimburse me the money. Not sure if it slipped their mind, but I’m not sure how it could have since it was of great importance to their trip. I know how it is when you return from a vacation and have laundry/shopping/yard work to tend to so I said I’d give it a week, and here we are. How should I phrase it to them without sounding cheap or needy? “Do you mind paying me back now” just sounds weird to me. I can’t believe I’m even asking this! It seems so simple!

[Anonymous]

You posted this before.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You posted this before.

I have not! But I’ll try to find the post you’re referencing.

[Anonymous]

They put you in such a awkward position. It's the principal of it all! Don't be awkward. Just say hey, you owe me 30 bucks and smile. They will feel stupid.

[Anonymous]

Stick a Post-it note on the receipt with your Venmo or PayPal information and say hope you had a good vacation. Here’s the receipt for the shipping.

[Anonymous]

Assuming you’re currently friendly with them I’d let it go.
I do think they owe you and they’re rude not to ask you how you want payment. But I’d assume they’re forgotten and maybe you ask them for a favor next time you need something from a neighbor.

[Anonymous]

Is the $30 super important to you?

[Anonymous]

I would’ve texted them the amount for the shipping as soon as the item was sent.

[Anonymous]

Just ask for it.

[Anonymous]

Did they ever acknowledge that they received the item? Maybe you can reach out to say, "Welcome back! How was your vacation? I assume you received the item I shipped to you? Here's a copy of the receipt from FedEx--just let me know when you are ready to settle up." It's awkward only because they haven't proactively reached out to you to offer the money--which is really ill-mannered of them. If they refuse to pay you or act put off that you are even asking, I'd probably let it go but never go out of my way to help them again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is the $30 super important to you?

It definitely isn’t, but it feels more so since they haven’t even come over to thank us or pay us back!

[Anonymous]

Do you have the receipt from the shipping? I would take a picture and text them: “Hope you had a great time in Michigan! I was cleaning out my purse and found the receipt from Fed-Ex, can you venmo me when you get a chance? Thanks!!”

I don’t think you can ask for money for your time. Maybe they will pay a little extra or bring you a souvenir or flowers or something. But for just running something up to the post office or wherever is not a huge deal. That is kind of the nature of doing a favor. But they should definitely reimburse you for money spent!

[Anonymous]

I’d just send them a picture of the receipt and my Venmo info.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did they ever acknowledge that they received the item? Maybe you can reach out to say, "Welcome back! How was your vacation? I assume you received the item I shipped to you? Here's a copy of the receipt from FedEx--just let me know when you are ready to settle up." It's awkward only because they haven't proactively reached out to you to offer the money--which is really ill-mannered of them. If they refuse to pay you or act put off that you are even asking, I'd probably let it go but never go out of my way to help them again.

+1 Just slip the receipt under their door or mention it the next time you see them. They'll probably be very embarrassed that they forgot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did they ever acknowledge that they received the item? Maybe you can reach out to say, "Welcome back! How was your vacation? I assume you received the item I shipped to you? Here's a copy of the receipt from FedEx--just let me know when you are ready to settle up." It's awkward only because they haven't proactively reached out to you to offer the money--which is really ill-mannered of them. If they refuse to pay you or act put off that you are even asking, I'd probably let it go but never go out of my way to help them again.

Yes. I made sure they received the package when I saw it was delivered. They also had the tracking number. This is how I feel. They haven’t even approached us since returning. It just tl feels really strange.