Neighbor ran over nail near our trash cans—how should I respond?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just say thanks for the warning.

I like this approach. Also, did the neighbor actually ask for compensation or are you guessing that's where they were going with this? If they didn't ask it really could have just been a warning to look for stuff in the street.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I recently got a nail in a tire and never in a million gazillion years would it have occurred to me to try to weasel money out of a neighbor to fix it. I would respond with absolutely no opening of a discussion about it:

“Oh no! I’m sorry to hear that. We don’t throw away sharp objects like that. Best of luck!

Absolutely. There's no way this guy knows for sure it was "near your trash cans" unless he saw it first and deliberately drove over it. In which case ...

I got a nail in a tire so I got it fixed. I didn't go hunting for neighbors to shake down to pay for it. Not only do I not suck as a human, it is usually an incredibly cheap fix.

[Anonymous]

I would not expect compensation for this, even if you had been throwing out a bunch of wood with nails sticking out of it or something. You assume the risk of this kind of thing when you drive out of your own driveway.

That said, I got a big piece of glass in my tire a couple of weeks ago and got a flat and the mom & pop place my DH took it to for repair charged us ... wait for it ... $15. Granted, we are down in the middle of nowhere between Manassas and Woodbridge. (Moved here less than a year ago from Vienna and lived 15 years in Falls Church before that, and didn't think there would be much of an upside to living way out here, but there is -- things like $15 tire repairs).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Email them this:

“My response requires me to retain legal counsel. Please standby for a response from my attorney. Just as a courtesy, I want to let you know I plan to ask counsel to seek legal costs from you.”

This is way crazier than the initial text. Legal counsel? After one text request? YTA.

+1
People who go straight to lawyers just sound unhinged.

Pretty sure this was meant to be funny in that it is as over the top as requesting compensation.

[Anonymous]

Simple, two-word response:

Prove it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is very cheap to get a nail hole fixed in a tire - not an insurance event. I would say that you haven’t been doing any kind of home repairs and are sorry they ran over an errant random nail.

Not if your tires are five years old or more. You might need to replace the tire if it has ozone cracking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How odd. I’ve run over a nail a number of times (unfortunately) and have never “felt” when I ran it over. Didn’t notice until my tire pressure was low or had a flat. No way to know where it came from.

I’d just respond “Sorry to hear- that stinks! We haven’t thrown away any nails, so we are not the culprit 🤣 I’ve seen a few construction trucks go by recently- probably from them but who knows. Hope you had a good Thanksgiving weekend otherwise- good luck with the tire!”

I’d be friendly and light but take no responsibility at all. I would not under any circumstances pay for a new tire. Hopefully neighbor was just upset at the time, feels foolish and lets it blow over.

The bolded. I'm very surprised he felt it, got out and immediately had a flat tire. Must've been some nail!

Probably heard it.

[Anonymous]

Brief and kind. I liked this from a pp,

“Sorry to hear- that stinks! We haven’t thrown away any nails, so we are not the culprit."

[Anonymous]

The neighbor is clearly nuts. But as anyone who has been in an unpleasant neighbor situation can tell you, being right isn’t worth much.

I think I would go with:
“Oh no! Having a flat is so inconvenient. I’m sorry that happened to you. We haven’t done any construction or thrown away any nails, but I know that doesn’t help you right now. If your insurance company would like to see our Ring footage of the incident, please have them contact us! I would be happy to provide it and can connect them with our insurance company if appropriate.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Email them this:

“My response requires me to retain legal counsel. Please standby for a response from my attorney. Just as a courtesy, I want to let you know I plan to ask counsel to seek legal costs from you.”

This is way crazier than the initial text. Legal counsel? After one text request? YTA.

+1
People who go straight to lawyers just sound unhinged.

Pretty sure this was meant to be funny in that it is as over the top as requesting compensation.

I suspect so too, but everyone on DCUM has a stick up their butt

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would respond with

We didn’t throw away anything sharp, and our trash was fully contained in our bins, not loose at the curb. You getting a flat tire has absolutely nothing to do with us. It happened on public property on the public street.

Don’t mention you have camera footage. But Save that if they escalate.

+1

Though I'd nice it up a bit.

"What a bummer that happened to you! We didn’t throw away anything sharp, and our trash was fully contained in our bins, not loose at the curb. Not sure where that nail came from, but very unlikely to have come from us. Best of luck with your car!"

Nope. You can’t nice it up with people like this. Your version states “very unlikely to have come from us”. That leaves the crazy neighbor with ammunition that there is in fact a slight chance the sharp object came from OP. The previous version state clearly with certainty it did not come from OP.

And it is always better to have the husband send the text. Most men feel no obligation to nice anything up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would respond with

We didn’t throw away anything sharp, and our trash was fully contained in our bins, not loose at the curb. You getting a flat tire has absolutely nothing to do with us. It happened on public property on the public street.

Don’t mention you have camera footage. But Save that if they escalate.

+1

Though I'd nice it up a bit.

"What a bummer that happened to you! We didn’t throw away anything sharp, and our trash was fully contained in our bins, not loose at the curb. Not sure where that nail came from, but very unlikely to have come from us. Best of luck with your car!"

This. They are looking for a target so all you want to do is take yourself out of their crosshairs so they move on. Like PP said, if they press you can double down that you have no construction materials in use and you have Ring camera footage that substantiates what happened to his car that morning on the public road.

+1

[Anonymous]

Nails can end of in the street in one place but then run through gutters etc., tumble around, float down the street during rain storms, and end up in an entirely different location.

Not your problem.

Just out of curiosity is this person really young or really old? Or somewhere in between.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't respond. Nothing. Certainly DO NOT have the women discuss this. If the subject is brought up again, it's between the men.

[Anonymous]

I would wait 48 hours before replying to give the guy a chance to cool his temper. He may have been emotional when he sent the original text and baiting an escalated argument. Letting him cool off avoids the situation if he was just looking for a target to redirect his frustration.