<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: bigdog1218
<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: wyvrn
<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: Number1
Now that you made your point consider the following:
Your neighbours are getting old, probably a little senile. It's not their fault.
They have always been nice to you up to this point.
They care VERY much (old lady was in tears according to one of your post) about the look of the fence.
They might be stuck to look at your ugly fence color for the rest of their life.
You have nothing to gain by having the neighbour mad at you.
Why don't you be the nice guy, ask them to buy some paint of the color of their choice and paint their side of the fence for them.
That way everybody is happy and you have the moral high ground.
</end quote></div>
The way they were nice and hired a contractor and tried to make me pay for it? The way they were nice and threatened and bullied me? If I caved now they wouldn't have any respect for me. ALL they care about is getting what they want. If they were decent people, they would have apologized for being jerks. But they aren't going to, and therefore, they have the option of building their own fence.</end quote></div>
All you had to do was say no I'm not going to pay for a fence built on your property, but instead you wanted to tell them how a fence on their property should look like. Sounds to me like your the jerk and the bully. And why the hell did you secretly rip out the poles? Or throw the waste in their yard? As far as her kids treating you like crap, congratulations on not taking the high road and acting just like them. I hope I never have to deal with a neighbor like you.</end quote></div>
I didn't say no to building the fence because it bordered both our yards, and was the nice thing to do. We were both going to get the benefit of it, so why not chip in? I have always either offered to pay half or do the work. Yes I could have said no, but then I would have been a jerk and it didn't solve the problem of the old fence falling down in my yard. I was trying to be the nice guy and help the old couple out. I also wanted the fence for privacy reasons, so this seemed like a way for both of us to get what we wanted.
I didn't tell them how the fence should look like. We agreed on terms on the type of wood, size, length, general cost parameters, etc.. Did you even read the OP at all? We had a conversation in which we agreed in principle on everything imaginable. I didn't bully them, I simply offered an alternative to a contractor job that was going to yield a shoddy product, and THEY AGREED. The problems didn't start until the neighbors' son berated and threatened me on the phone after they hold told me everything was fine.
Lastly, I didn't secretly do anything. I am in full view of their property. Once they rescinded their agreement, I simply moved the poles, in broad daylight, to my property. After all, I had paid for them. Should I have just given them $150 worth of fence poles and the concrete to boot to build their own fence with after they broke their end of the agreement, twice?
I understand you trying to see both sides, but you really need to be able to organize the events chronilogically in your head. You seem not to comprehend what came first and who started the disagreements. Would you not hold them responsible for their behavior if they had treated you this way?