MAILBOX FEUD ON ICE

A neighbor's mailbox got clipped on black ice, and what started as a simple insurance claim turned into a text-message war over a cracked post, a sick child, and a replacement mailbox that never seemed to arrive fast enough.

The poster says their car slid on black ice and struck a neighbor's mailbox. They gave the neighbor their insurance information right away. At first, the plan sounded straightforward: the neighbor told them the insurance company wanted her to pay upfront, and she said she didn't have the money. So the poster offered to buy a new mailbox and pay a handyman to install it.

There was only one catch: the timing. The mailbox wouldn't arrive until 12/29, and the handyman already had family plans, so the repair would have to wait until after the first of the year. Then life got messier. On 12/29, the neighbor called, but the poster says they couldn't answer because their daughter was sick. They texted the handyman instead and asked him to coordinate a day to install it. The handyman contacted the neighbor, told her he had the mailbox, and set Friday 1/2.

By 12/31, the neighbor was done waiting. She sent a sarcastic text saying the poster did not care. The poster replied that their daughter had ended up in the hospital and that was why they couldn't return the call. They said the handyman had already reached out to schedule a day and time.

That answer did not land well. The neighbor fired back that the poster should have called her back out of respect, said they should be ashamed, and told them they should be more apologetic. The poster says they had already had two 30-minute calls and had been profusely apologetic during both.

At that point, the poster told the neighbor to go through insurance if the process was not moving fast enough. The neighbor replied with another message, calling them "pathetic," saying they were "completely disrespectful and sinful!!" and telling them to be ashamed and embarrassed.

The poster then sent one final message: "I'm returning the mailbox. Go through insurance. You have the info. I didn't have to buy them and pay (handyman) to put them in. He told you he'd be there on Friday and I told you the same thing. That obviously isn't good enough. So go through insurance." Then they blocked her.

In later edits, the poster said the mailbox was still usable, the neighbor was still getting mail, and the damage was only a crack. They also said the neighbor had chosen that exact mailbox herself and knew when it would arrive. The poster added that they had already sent the handyman to fix the neighbor's leaky sink as an apology, and had dropped off treats and homemade bread.

In the update, the poster learned the neighbor had already filed an insurance claim and requested receipts. The handyman asked to buy the mailbox from the poster, and they gave it to him after his schedule had been canceled. The poster also noted they already had a claim open for damage to their own car, so the deductible would have to be paid anyway.