Most of us have borrowed a thing or two from a friend or acquaintance. But there’s an unspoken rule of borrowing: you have to return the item in the same condition you got it in. Since people are even bad at returning cash (25% of Americans say they never got back the money they lent to a loved one), can we really expect anything more with physical property?
To see just how bad it gets, we’ve scoured the internet for the worst examples of people returning borrowed items in an atrocious state. From broken computer mice to wrecked cars and ruined attire, these entries might make your blood boil at least a little bit.
#1 I Let A Colleague Borrow One Of My Favorite Books, And It Was Returned To Me With The Pages Written On And Stuffed With Sticky Notes
#2 My Partner Borrowed My Car For A Few Days, And Gave It Back Like This
#3 This Is Why I Hate Letting People Borrow Stuff
My mom borrowed my (nearly new) heels months ago and forgot them in her car… She found them like this today.
Although some of the faux pas in this list are outright inexcusable, some of you, Pandas, might have returned a borrowed item damaged or ruined at least once in your lives, too. When it comes to borrowing from friends, we don’t feel as guilty if we never return their items, for some reason.
What’s the science behind that, you ask? Behavioral experts explain that it’s precisely that close relationship that makes us think “It won’t be that bad.” As communication professor Emily Langan told The Atlantic, we justify it thinking “I’m doing something that’s right on the border of unacceptable, but I’m doing that under the safety umbrella of a relationship, where if I did it to a co-worker who I wasn’t friends with, they would call me [out on it] right away.”
#4 Roommate Let His Friend Use My Cast Iron Pan, She Ran It Through The Dishwasher, And Then He Left It In There For Days
Been seasoning this pan since I was 14 :/
#5 I Let My Son’s Teacher Borrow The Penguin Sculpture I Made And She Left It In A Windowsill For 6 Months
I spent several hours moulding and painting this penguin. It was lightweight, rubbery and pretty indestructible, so when my son asked to bring it to school for show and tell I figured the worst that could happen would be it getting detached from the base, so l obliged. His teacher liked it so much she asked to “borrow” it to use as a decoration in her classroom. She told my son she’d give it back at the end of the year. This is what he brought home. Apparently, her chosen place to display it was in an east-facing window.
I worked so hard on this thing and was so freaking proud of it. How it looks now is exactly how I feel: deflated.
#6 Roommate Crashed My Car While Borrowing It To Go To Work Then Refuses To Pay Anything Unless I Let Her Continue To Drive It In The Future
Langan says that we tolerate lots of things in friendships out of fear of losing a friend. In relationships with family members, we might not be as careful. That’s why we find it easier to ask family members to lend us things like clothes, computer accessories, or even ask them to share food.
It’s harder to walk away from a relationship with a family member than with a friend. If you’ve ever tried to borrow something from your sibling, you know that asking for the same thing from your friend is much easier. The risk in ‘stealing’ something from a friend has a much lesser downside than ‘stealing’ from a family member, Langan pointed out.
#7 I Let My Colleague Borrow My Laptop Charger For A Meeting. This Is How He Returned It
When I mentioned it to him, he told me it was “clearly an accident” and said I can “easily buy another one.”
#8 My Brother Borrowed One Of My Books And This Is How I Got It Back
#9 Borrowed My Car To A Friend And This Is How He Returned It. (I’m A Non-Smoker)
When we borrow something, we often treat it more carefully than if it were our own possession. In a 2014 study, researchers found that we “sacralize” such items. It might not be significant to us personally, but we deem that item important because it belongs to our friend. The stronger our relationship to that friend, the more likely we are to take good care of their possessions.
#10 I Let Someone Borrow My Knife At Work, This Is How They Gave It Back To Me
#11 This Is What Happens When You Let Someone Borrow Your Truck
#12 My Computer After I Let My Friend Borrow It
How can we make sure that we’re not overstepping any boundaries when borrowing from a friend? Etiquette blogger Lee Cordon has some borrowing etiquette tips.
First rule: only borrow from close friends. If you don’t have a person’s phone number or email, don’t ask them to lend you things. Just because you’re Facebook friends doesn’t mean they want to share their possessions with you.
#13 My Son Asked To Borrow Some Duct Tape… This Is What He Gave Me Back. Somehow Took Out The Entire Middle And Just Left The Sides
#14 I Let My Sister Borrow My AirPods. This Is How She Gave Them Back To Me
Apparently, it’s from her hair dye. I’ve tried everything, and the stain won’t come out. The fact that it happens to be the color of earwax annoys me the most.
#15 And They Wonder Why I Don’t Let Anyone Use My Knife. Found This Hanging Up On The Magnet
Ask for something well in advance. If you hit up a friend about borrowing their high heels the night before an event, you’ll clearly be putting them out. They’ll have to scramble looking for the shoes, perhaps even clean them, and rush to get them to you in time. Cordon advises giving at least a few weeks’ notice.
#16 My Mom Borrowed My Gaming Mouse Because She Lost Hers. This Is How She Returned It
#17 Before And After My Little Brother “Borrowed” My Racket For Badminton Practice
#18 My Mom Let Her Friend Borrow Her Van For The Day And It Got Returned With This
Always pick up the thing you’re borrowing yourself. Don’t make the lender drop off the item at your house, workplace, or somewhere else. You’re the one who needs it, so you should be the one putting in the extra effort to get it. Asking the lender to deliver the item is equal to asking them for another favor on top of the first one.
#19 Friend Borrowed My Laptop. Said He Left It In His Car For A Day. What’s Going On With The Screen?
#20 When Someone Borrows Your Needle Nose Pliers And Returns Them Like This
#21 My Friend Borrowed One Of My Records And Returned It 4 Days Later Like This
Return the item in the same – or even better – condition. This is the golden rule that many of the borrowers in this list didn’t follow. If you borrow someone’s car, drive it to a carwash and have it vacuumed. If you’re borrowing clothes, wash them too, or even have them dry cleaned.
#22 Dad Borrowed My Tablet, Sat On It And Then Returned It Like This. God Damnit
#23 I Let My Brother Ride My E-Bike. This Is How He Returned It
I’ve had the bike for maybe 2 weeks. I let him ride it to work yesterday because I didn’t need to ride it. I rode it to work today and when I took the battery off I saw the key and the battery. This is how I get it back? Not only that, but when I push the bike the chain makes a clicking sound.
This is my first time owning an ebike and I have no idea what to do. When I would ride it to work before the battery would stay on 6 bars the whole way there and would only go down 1 bar when I got back home. On the way to work today it went down 3 bars and the 2nd bar is flashing indicating it’s going to drop down again. I don’t even know if I’ll make it home in 6 hours or not, I’ve got nobody to pick me up so I’ll have to see how this goes and hope for the best.
I keep the e-bike in side to stay out of the rain. The battery is always removed from the bike when not in use.
He promised he would take care of it and if it rains he said he wouldn’t ride it. He lied.
#24 I Let A Kid In My Class Borrow My Calculator, I Got It Back Covered In Scribbles
Say ‘Thank you’ or reciprocate. Returning the item promptly and with a “Thank you” note is the polite thing to do. Better yet, offer a favor in return. Borrowing and lending don’t have to be a quid pro quo, but it’s always nice to know that a borrower will have your back in the future if needed.
#25 Loaned My Wife’s Brother My Truck So He Could Move. This Is What Greeted Me When I Got It Back
#26 Let My Friend Borrow My Honey. This Is How It Came Back
#27 I Think My Husband’s Going To Realize I Borrowed One Of His Extension Cords
Don’t ask to borrow heirlooms and respect it when you’re told “No.” Some people just might be too polite and don’t know how to say “No.” Be the bigger person in a situation where you see that someone doesn’t want to lend you their favorite or cherished item or just straight-up don’t reply to your request.
#28 Let My Girlfriend Borrow My Controller For One Set, Never Again. What Is This
#29 Let My Friend Borrow My Earbuds For A Week
Before giving them to him, I took a toothpick to the insides, and wiped down the tips with disinfecting wipes, making sure that they were spotless. I’m a very clean person, almost to the point of being a mild germaphobe. I specifically asked him to take care of them, as they are $300 Sennheiser MTW 4s. He only asked to borrow them for a week, and I kind of forgot about it. A month later, I ask for them back, and he legit spends almost 20 minutes rooting through his wreck of a room before he finally pulls them out of a random pair of jeans on his floor. I thank him and head home shortly after. I pop the case open to give them a disinfecting wipe down before using them again, and see this abomination. Common sense and human decency people. sigh
#30 Let My Friend Borrow A Nintendo Switch Game. One Week Later It’s Damaged
Let my friend borrow Splatoon 3 for about a week. when I asked for it back. As I went to go play it was all messed up looking and wouldn’t work, it would also freeze up the entire console causing me to keep restarting it as I kept hoping it would work.
For comparison I put it next to a non damaged game in the second pic.
What are your worst stories about lending things to friends, Pandas? Talk the rest of us out of ever lending things to other people in the comments! And if you’d like to see more situations that turned friends into strangers, check out our previous pieces here, here and here!
#31 My Mom Borrowed My Car. Got It Back Smelling Like Cigarettes And My Mints Perfectly Trapped In My Cup Holder
#32 Sister Borrowed My Guitar And Broke It
#33 Friend Asked To Borrow My Soldering Iron, And He Returned It Like This
#34 My Neighbor Borrowed My Hedge Trimmer. This Is What She Did To My Extension Cord
Bonus points for the best way how to fix this.
#35 My Coworker Returned The Front Desk Stapler Like This. Told Me It Ran Out Of Staples
#36 Girlfriend Borrowed The Car This Morning And Just Sent Me This
#37 My Brother Taking My Bluetooth Headset Without Permission And Returning It Like This
#38 My Mom Let Me Borrow Her Cd. Broke It When I Tried To Pop It Off
#39 My Ex-Wife Borrowed My Car Saying She Needed More Room. She Left Me Her Mini Cooper. This Is The Tire
I’m sure some people would consider this more than mildly infuriating but I guess she didn’t have the money to get it fixed and this was her way of asking for help. she can’t be driving my son around on a tire like that it’s not safe. “Well it wasn’t my car” would be a terrible eulogy.
#40 Let A Friend Borrow My Magnetic Beads About A Week Ago. Got Bored Today And Decided To Rebuild The Original Cube (How It Was When Borrowed)
One blue bead is missing and I can’t make the whole cube now.
#41 My Sister Is Borrowing My Car And Annoyed Someone Because She Kept Parking In The Handicapped Parking Space. So They Keyed My Car In Retaliation
#42 Let My Buddy Borrow My Truck For A Couple Days
My friend was redoing a small bathroom over a long weekend and asked to borrow my truck. I got it back with big dent on the front fender, the plastic cap on tailgate missing and big dent, some permanent stains on my passenger seat and the carpet. Also truck has about 3/4 tank of gas, maybe a little more, now it has so little gas the needle doesn’t move off the bottom position, over $100 to fill up.
#43 Let My Friend Borrow My Oculus, And He Broke The Controller. It Doesn’t Turn On
#44 When You Need To Use The Air Mattress For The First Time Since Borrowing It Out 1 Year Ago
No idea if the person borrowing it did this or if it’s from storage.
#45 My Cousin Told Me He Took Up Guitar And My Grandmother Suggested I Lend Him One Of Mine. Got It Back After A Month And Noticed Something A Bit Off
#46 I Gave A Kid A Pencil, This Is How I Got It Back
#47 Someone Borrowed My USB-C To Micro USB Adapter At Work While I Was Out Of Office, And This Is What I Came Back To
#48 Let Someone Borrow One Of My Nice Pens. Was Returned Like This (Compare To Top Pen)
#49 This Knife Blade Was 15 Days Old. Still Factory Sharp, When I Handed It To A Coworker Who Wanted To Borrow My Pliers. He Had It For 15 Mins
#50 Cousin Borrowed Keyboard. Returned Like This
#51 My Friend Though The Red Box Meant “Negative”
My friend borrows my car for work when I don’t need it, and this evening he texted me this photo. I called him and he kept saying “it’s at negative 5. I figured I’d send you a picture and let you deal with it in the morning.” He thought the 5 with a red box around it meant the tire was 5psi below the recommended amount. Finally, I sent him the screenshot of the app stating the tire was flat and it still took a $5 air pressure gauge and 45 minutes to convince him otherwise, and he still doesn’t fully believe me.
#52 Let My Friend Borrow A Tent I Just Bought
I was on a camping trip with a social circle. A friend knew I was leave the same day as he was arriving. Friend asked to borrow my tent. Told him to be careful as it was a new tent and I spent almost 300 on it. This is how he returns it.
#53 I Let My Brother Borrow My Car Once And He Burns My Cup Holder With His Rig
#54 Don’t Lend People Your Pods
#55 I Let My Dad Use My Earbuds Last Night And I Didn’t Check Before An 11 Hour Flight
#56 Loaned My Car To My Mom While Hers Is In The Shop. Today She Returned It Like This
#57 Let Someone Borrow My Truck This Is How It Was Returned
#58 My Friend Borrowed My 100$ Calculator And Returned An Identical Broken One
#59 Person I Borrowed My Charger Cable To Brought It Back With Nutella Inside
#60 I Borrowed My Freshly Sharpened Axe To A Friend. He Got Mad At Me For Telling Him To Be Careful With It. He Returned It Like This
#61 “Friend” Asked To Borrow My Phone While He Went On A Road Trip So He Could Call His Mom. This Is How My Phone Looks Like Now
#62 I Let My Friend Borrow My Earbuds For The Weekend Since He Lost His, Let’s Just Say I’m No Longer Gonna Let Him Use My Stuff (I Still Don’t Know Wtf He Did)
#63 Loaned My Neighbor An Extension Cord A Couple Weeks Ago. Found This In My Garage This Morning
#64 I Gave My Old Laptop To My Friend To Play Games With Me And The Rest Of Us Because He Didn’t Have A PC And Bought A Normal New Mouse For Him 1 Month Back
#65 Just Can’t Have Nice Things
#66 I Gave My Colleague A Book To Read A Few Sentences Out Loud And She Bended It All Over. Ain’t Smooth Anymore
I have read almost half of it and it was completely flat and smooth. Can’t focus on the plot now that I feel it while holding. I’m so annoyed.