Would you help a nephew or niece out if you know that their mother isn’t willing to help her family?

This man has a teenage nephew who needs a computer.

He built him one from an old processor and preloved computer accessories, but it didn’t last long.

The kid’s mother wants him to fix it but doesn’t want to shoulder the cost.

Now, he doesn’t know what to do. Read the story below and weigh in.

AITA for refusing to fix my niece’s computer for free after I already helped out a lot?

So here’s the deal. I’m a tech guy, and I make decent money. But my wife’s family isn’t well off.

I’ve been trying to help out where I can, especially with her younger siblings’ kids (15 and 11).

This man built a computer for his sister-in-law’s teenage child.

Last year, the 15-year-old asked me to build him a computer. The family gave me a budget of $200.

This is pretty much impossible to work with for a decent gaming rig, but I tried.

I gave him my old RTX 2070 (I bought myself a new card a few months later). I put together a bunch of other stuff I had lying around, and used a really old motherboard/CPU.

The budget basically bought a case, power supply, and a decent SSD.

His SIL wanted him to fix the broken PC.

Out of the blue, my sister-in-law drops the broken PC off at my house and expects me to fix it.

No questions asked, no please about it.

I work 50 hours a week, have my own kids, and am dealing with some medical issues. So time is a luxury these days, and I’m really stretched thin. But I understand that they can’t afford to have it professionally fixed.

She told him to fix or or find cheaper alternative.

I finally find the time to look at it, and realize that the motherboard is in-fact fried.

Due to the age, getting a replacement board isn’t really an intelligent option. But I can upgrade the machine for about 228 CAD for a new mobo/CPU, which I think is a fair price.

I tell my sister-in-law (the mom) about the cost.

And she basically tells me to either fix the old one or make it cheaper.

He offered to share $100, but she should come up with the rest of the money.

At this point, I’m done with patching together old, unreliable stuff.

And I don’t have time to play around trying to re-sodder new capacitors on a motherboard that’s hitting 13 years old.

I tell her that I’m willing to pitch in $100 for Christmas. But she’s going to have to come up with the rest of the money herself.

He knew that she wouldn’t be able to pay him.

Now here’s the kicker: My wife’s sister is a substance abuser.

Her parents give them all a place to live and pay for most of her bills. But she doesn’t have a full time job, and any money she does get, she spends on partying.

So, obviously, she has no intention of giving me any money and expects me to foot the entire bill.

But he felt bad for his nephew.

I don’t want to see my nephew suffer.

Especially since that computer is probably the only refuge he has from his crappy living situation.

But at the same time, I’ve already done a lot, and I just can’t keep enabling his mother.

She does this with her parents, she does it with my wife, and she’s trying to do it with me.

Now, he’s wondering if he should just pay for the computer.

I’ve put my foot down, but my wife thinks we should just pay it. And the grandparents have already stepped in to tell me they can pay me back in her stead.

I’m conflicted because I don’t want her parents to pay me.

I want HER to pay me and stop being a leech and expecting free handouts. Especially when she’s going around telling her kids that “only idiots go to college” while, literally, in my presence.

So AITA if I put my foot down and refuse to fix the computer without full payment?

What do you think? Should he fix the computer? Let’s check out what others have to say about this on Reddit.

This user shares their thoughts.

Here’s a similar comment.

Another valid point from this user.

Finally, this person shares their personal experience.

He should do it for the kid, not her.

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