Cousin knew it was expensive. He said he took it our because he wanted to see how it performed. He knew he wasn’t supposed to borrow it without permission but did it anyway. His kids friend then broke it. My guess is that kids parents didn’t want to pay to replace it and the cousin is pissed in general that he has to pay for the kid’s bad behavior. Cousin should have offered to replace it and apologized for taking it when he knew he shouldn’t.

If the aunt calls again just be blunt. Your son took something that wasn’t his without permission to borrow it and his friend’s kid destroyed it. He needs to replace it as any other well mannered and well raised person would do.

Anonymous wrote:OP is clearly in the right and cousin sucks. BUT I would never have done this over $150. Terrible plan that will poison relationships forever. Unless OP literally cannot afford the $150 (in which case, I can understand), OP will regret taking this stand... however right she is. And she is right.

We also don't know how the conversation went. Who started the argument? DH or Cousin? It very well could have been the cousin who escalated the conversation into an argument.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My siblings and I share a family beach house and it sure can create headaches. It sounds like you have more people coming into and out of the house than we do - we just have the 3 families - but especially for that reason, I would never leave stuff at the house that was off-limits for others who use it. I don't see how you would function if you had to request permission to use the toaster or a volleyball net or some other object in the house.

If I broke something that one of my relatives bought, I'd pay for it. OTOH I know that if I went after one of my siblings to pay to replace some inanimate object at the house, it would cause a blow-up that wouldn't be worth the trouble.

oh, I don't know. Maybe you can come to an understanding with family members and create rules regarding stuff. Maybe something like all the stuff in the beach house can be used by everyone. All the stuff in communal storage shed #1 can be used by everyone and all the stuff in communal storage shed #2 is not allowed to be used by everyone. Then put cheap boogie boards in communal storage shed #1 and put the expensive, special boogie board in communal storage shed #2?

+1000

Anonymous wrote:My siblings and I share a family beach house and it sure can create headaches. It sounds like you have more people coming into and out of the house than we do - we just have the 3 families - but especially for that reason, I would never leave stuff at the house that was off-limits for others who use it. I don't see how you would function if you had to request permission to use the toaster or a volleyball net or some other object in the house.

If I broke something that one of my relatives bought, I'd pay for it. OTOH I know that if I went after one of my siblings to pay to replace some inanimate object at the house, it would cause a blow-up that wouldn't be worth the trouble.

oh, I don't know. Maybe you can come to an understanding with family members and create rules regarding stuff. Maybe something like all the stuff in the beach house can be used by everyone. All the stuff in communal storage shed #1 can be used by everyone and all the stuff in communal storage shed #2 is not allowed to be used by everyone. Then put cheap boogie boards in communal storage shed #1 and put the expensive, special boogie board in communal storage shed #2?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The aunt who is “butting in” is an OWNER of a house you were a GUEST at. Any stuff you leave there is HER property along with the other co-owners. The rules are HERS along with the co-owners to enforce, not yours. I think you guys are going to get voted out of the beach house and that 275 board is about to be very expensive. But hey you stuck to your guns and got you $100 bucks!

You embarrass yourself by not reading the thread. Op’s father is also a co-owner.

Umm no the aunt can and should veto them from the guest list no matter what the other co-owners want. No one is allowed to have guests unless all co-owners agree on them. The entitlement of op is ASTOUNDING. They are guests who think they are owners. You don’t store your property on someone else’s house and then demand reimbursement for its damage.

yea, that would work out great in practice- Aunt, "I veto nephew and his awful family" FIL, "OK aunt, I veto your kids." And then you have a family beach house that no one can use

PP definitely didn’t think that one through clearly.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They couldn’t have possibly guessed that the boogie board was THAT expensive. So when it broke, I’m sure they had every intention of replacing it. But after finding out it costs a ridiculous amount of money, they offered to pay half. Don’t make them pay $275 for an accident, it will sow resentment. It’s really not worth it- just take the half and be grateful they offered at all.

I don’t know how much a nice bike costs these days so I take yours for a spin without asking permission and end up totalling it. My bad. So you tell me how much it costs and I had NO idea, so will you please accept half and be grateful?

For one, a bike is on a whole different cost bracket. The cheapest one might cost $300, and they can cost up to $10k. It’s not something you just “borrow” without asking especially of it’s clearly a nice one. Most boogie boards are $30. I had no idea they even made ones that are over $200. So if you want to make an equal comparison- it would be like accidentally staining someone’s throw pillow, and then the family member asking you to give them $300 to replace it. It’s bad such bad form.

But I didn’t know that because I’ve never paid for one but I know how to ride one. You’re my cousin and left it in a communal place so, surely, it can’t mean that much to you. I rode it a bit and then my kids’ friends rode it and one of them crashed because he was fooling around. Sorry! Could you accept half because it was used?

OP is clearly in the right and cousin sucks. BUT I would never have done this over $150. Terrible plan that will poison relationships forever. Unless OP literally cannot afford the $150 (in which case, I can understand), OP will regret taking this stand... however right she is. And she is right.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They couldn’t have possibly guessed that the boogie board was THAT expensive. So when it broke, I’m sure they had every intention of replacing it. But after finding out it costs a ridiculous amount of money, they offered to pay half. Don’t make them pay $275 for an accident, it will sow resentment. It’s really not worth it- just take the half and be grateful they offered at all.

I don’t know how much a nice bike costs these days so I take yours for a spin without asking permission and end up totalling it. My bad. So you tell me how much it costs and I had NO idea, so will you please accept half and be grateful?

For one, a bike is on a whole different cost bracket. The cheapest one might cost $300, and they can cost up to $10k. It’s not something you just “borrow” without asking especially of it’s clearly a nice one. Most boogie boards are $30. I had no idea they even made ones that are over $200. So if you want to make an equal comparison- it would be like accidentally staining someone’s throw pillow, and then the family member asking you to give them $300 to replace it. It’s bad such bad form.

It doesn't matter what they would have guessed. The item was in the "do not use" storage area that has been the agreed upon practice for the last 12 years. OP said there was never any issue with this agreement until now, when cousin decided he wanted to see how that board rode. It sounded to me like the family all agreed: stuff "over here" is not to be used unless you own it; everything else is fair game. He broke that agreement, not OP, so he should pay for it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The aunt who is “butting in” is an OWNER of a house you were a GUEST at. Any stuff you leave there is HER property along with the other co-owners. The rules are HERS along with the co-owners to enforce, not yours. I think you guys are going to get voted out of the beach house and that 275 board is about to be very expensive. But hey you stuck to your guns and got you $100 bucks!

You embarrass yourself by not reading the thread. Op’s father is also a co-owner.

Umm no the aunt can and should veto them from the guest list no matter what the other co-owners want. No one is allowed to have guests unless all co-owners agree on them. The entitlement of op is ASTOUNDING. They are guests who think they are owners. You don’t store your property on someone else’s house and then demand reimbursement for its damage.

yea, that would work out great in practice- Aunt, "I veto nephew and his awful family" FIL, "OK aunt, I veto your kids." And then you have a family beach house that no one can use

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The aunt who is “butting in” is an OWNER of a house you were a GUEST at. Any stuff you leave there is HER property along with the other co-owners. The rules are HERS along with the co-owners to enforce, not yours. I think you guys are going to get voted out of the beach house and that 275 board is about to be very expensive. But hey you stuck to your guns and got you $100 bucks!

You embarrass yourself by not reading the thread. Op’s father is also a co-owner.

Umm no the aunt can and should veto them from the guest list no matter what the other co-owners want. No one is allowed to have guests unless all co-owners agree on them. The entitlement of op is ASTOUNDING. They are guests who think they are owners. You don’t store your property on someone else’s house and then demand reimbursement for its damage.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They couldn’t have possibly guessed that the boogie board was THAT expensive. So when it broke, I’m sure they had every intention of replacing it. But after finding out it costs a ridiculous amount of money, they offered to pay half. Don’t make them pay $275 for an accident, it will sow resentment. It’s really not worth it- just take the half and be grateful they offered at all.

I don’t know how much a nice bike costs these days so I take yours for a spin without asking permission and end up totalling it. My bad. So you tell me how much it costs and I had NO idea, so will you please accept half and be grateful?

For one, a bike is on a whole different cost bracket. The cheapest one might cost $300, and they can cost up to $10k. It’s not something you just “borrow” without asking especially of it’s clearly a nice one. Most boogie boards are $30. I had no idea they even made ones that are over $200. So if you want to make an equal comparison- it would be like accidentally staining someone’s throw pillow, and then the family member asking you to give them $300 to replace it. It’s bad such bad form.

Family treats you like family, and you treat them like it all is a business.

The alternative is to tape a large sign to valuables that clearly says: "Property of Uptight Larla. Do not touch, unless you want to refund me the entire retail price!" complete with skull and crossbones and a reminder that there is a camera trained on your item 24/7 that feeds directly into your phone.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For the people googling the 275 boogie board, I found them!!
https://hubboards.com/collections/boards

For the record, I think the cousin shouldn’t have touched or taken the board but also, who the heck buys a boogie board for 275 dollars?

Are you a serious boarder or surfer? No? Then you know nothing.

From the OP:

"Also want to add that my kids picked this specific one because of the colors and of course, it isnt available anymore so another reason we are annoyed."

Pretty sure serious boarders and surfers don't choose their board because of the color.

Anonymous wrote:For the people googling the 275 boogie board, I found them!!
https://hubboards.com/collections/boards


For the record, I think the cousin shouldn’t have touched or taken the board but also, who the heck buys a boogie board for 275 dollars?

Also this: https://www.amazon.com/Morey-Mach-10-Body-Boards/dp/B073WH5KTM/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=boogie+boards&qid=1625595228&refinements=p_36%3A1253559011&rnid=386589011&s=sporting-goods&sr=1-1