'Entitled neighbours threw wild pool parties at my house while I was on holiday'

04 August 2023 , 12:42

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He usually gets on well with his neighbours - but is now really upset with them (stock photo) (Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

A homeowner has been left gobsmacked after discovering his neighbours invited the entire street to his house for pool parties while he was on holiday. The man explained how he gave his neighbours on either side the combination to his gate lock, saying they could use the pool while he was away.

But he never expected them to invite the entire neighbourhood to party in his swimming pool, leaving their mess for him to clean up. Taking to Reddit, he said: "We live on a cul-de-sac and are good friends with our neighbours. We regularly visit each other's houses, our kids are friends, the dads regularly play golf, and the mums regularly have events like drinking wine while watching the Bachelorette.

"We were out of town last week, and mentioned to our next door neighbours on each side of us that they were welcome to use our pool while we were gone. I shared the gate combination number with them. When we returned we found that they took us up on the offer which is fine, however, I found they also invited other people on the street over, and had several parties inviting other neighbours and their younger kids over while we were gone. What they did wasn't cool."

His wife raised her concern about "liability", claiming if somebody injured themselves on their property, they could have been sued. Wanting to know how others would handle this situation, he asked Reddit users: "We're planning on being away again later this month. I'm just wondering what others' thoughts [are on this?].

"Do we continue to extend the invite allowing the group over while we're away, or have a talk with them and tell them we are fine with them using it but not others, or do we lock the gates entirely? I don't want to upset anyone or put a divide in our friendships, but at the same time I don't want to make it look like we played favourites amongst our neighbours."

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Commenting on his post, one user said: "You allow a neighbour to use your pool, that's cool. They should know that it doesn't extend to inviting other people. They had a free pass, they lost it."

Another user added: "Yikes I think that’s incredibly rude they took it upon themselves to invite others to your house without asking. Personally I would lock the gates going forward and install some cameras for when you are away."

A third user said: "Don’t ever let them use it again. You gave them a chance and they showed you that they couldn’t handle it. They disrespected you and your property while taking advantage of you. Also who cares what the neighbours think. It’s your pool and you pay for it. You decide who can use it and when."

Paige Freshwater