"It Is Actual Theft" — Woman's Brand-New Desk Chair Stolen by Neighbor and He Won't Give It Back

I don't know about anyone else, but I get pretty nervous whenever I'm expecting a package. As someone who orders way too many things online, I get this irrational fear that if I miss a delivery time or fail to sign for a package that needs a signature, the package I'm expecting becomes lost to me forever. Or at the very least, I have to wait at least another day for another delivery attempt. Unfortunately, this person's package-related conundrum has instilled a new irrational fear in me.

As Bridget Schwartz (@bschwartz98) recalls on TikTok, she had her brand-new desk chair stolen from her by someone in her apartment building. Not only that, but she's had a hard time getting it back from the person. Here's what happened.

Though Bridget's TikTok on the matter was posted in mid-November 2023, the incident itself reportedly took place earlier in the year on Oct. 17. At the time, Bridget had ordered herself a new desk and chair and had it delivered to her small apartment building.

She'd scheduled the delivery for the Friday of that week. Unfortunately, a family emergency pulled her away from home, meaning that she had to miss the actual delivery date. However, she thought it would be safe in the lobby for when she returned that Sunday.

Unfortunately, while the desk and chair were safe from people outside of the building, it wasn't safe from people in it. When she got back to take her things in, the desk chair was missing. In its place was a note from a fellow tenant of Bridget's apartment building that read, "Took the chair. Assumed it was trash. Call if not," along with a phone number.

Sure enough, Bridget tried calling the number to get the chair back. While she was able to get in touch with the man who took the chair, he wasn't able to return it right away. Though he promised he would do so, he's been giving her the run-around ever since.

As Bridget tells it, this neighbor has been extremely difficult to pin down for what would only be a two-second exchange. Though they've been in contact, the man seems to always have an excuse to not be able to return the chair right away. And every time she reached out to him about one plan, things would suddenly shift around.

Eventually, it got to the point where Bridget had had enough. She'd sent lengthy texts explaining her displeasure with the situation and with the man's inability to simply correct his mistake. According to Bridget, he hasn't even yet apologized for the incident.

Based on the information we have from Bridget's TikTok, we can already assume that this guy would be in deep trouble. Not only did he steal someone's property, but it was likely packaged as mail, meaning that he would have simply opened someone else's mail without consent. That's already two strikes against him.

It would be one thing if the chair was simply stolen. But for the perpetrator and the victim to be in such close proximity and close contact with each other only for the former to do nothing to address this issue is just plain inconsiderate.

As of this writing, there is no update as to whether or not Bridget was able to get her chair back.