If you own a business, your friends might hope that you’ll give them special treatment like discounts and possibly freebies.

Friends who have this kind of attitude might ruin the friendship, and that could be what happens to the friendship in today’s story.

A woman who breeds lovebirds agreed to sell a bird to her friend, but now they aren’t even speaking to each other.

Let’s read all the details.

AITA for refusing to sell baby lovebirds to my best friend?

I (20f) am a lovebird breeder and have been breeding for the past 7 years (i started when i was 13)

I take my breeding very seriously, I have contracts in place for the safety of the birds and I have strict rules in place for new owners.

These include certain cage size, diet and how much outside time they need per day.

Well my best friend (21f) had had gained interest in my baby birds from all the times i brought the babies over to her house.

(I hand feed so they’re with me 24/7)

She’s not making an exception for her best friend.

At first she asked if she could buy one from me now so she could hand-feed herself.

I refused and told her that because she doesn’t have any experience with birds let alone in hand feeding them i couldn’t put their life and their wellbeing at risk.

If she’s still interested once they eat on their own i will consider selling to her AFTER she’s done all the proper research.

She agreed and she didn’t bring up the birds again after that.

Her friend seemed to expect special treatment.

Fast forward to after the babies were weened, she asked if she could buy one.

I agreed and asked her all the standard questions I ask all my customers especially those who haven’t had parrots before.

I could tell she was getting annoyed the more i asked and when i brought out the contract and other papers to sign she asked me why she had to sign a contract.

I told her it was standard procedure and that it was for the safety of the birds.

Her friend got really upset.

She looked over the contract and that’s when i mentioned the amount she had to pay which was 150 usd (that includes the bird, id ring, dna test, pedigree and birth certificate, and they get a chop recipe for free.)

To say she was angry was an understatement.

She was yelling and screaming that after spending so much money on all the cage and food that was required by me she will not be paying 150$ for “some stupid bird.”

That it was extremely disrespectful of me as her best friend ask her to sign a contract and not give her a discount for the bird and that i was making it seem like she was a bad owner and a bad person.

The birds might’ve ended the friendship.

I calmly told her that it was not my intention to make her feel bad and that just because she’s my best friend doesn’t mean i can bend my rules for her.

If she’s still refusing to pay and sign the contract she cannot have any of the babies.

I explained that it takes a lot of time, money and effort into raising these babies and that their safety and wellbeing comes first before anything else.

Frankly i don’t se her fit to be the owner to any of the lovebirds i have, that if she’s still refusing can’t even spend 150$ on the bird how can i be sure shes going to pay for all the monthly costs and vet visits in the future?

She got mad and stormed out of my house.

That was a couple weeks ago and she hasn’t spoken to me since.

Our friend group is mostly siding with her and maybe i was too harsh?

AITA?

I don’t think she’s being unreasonable at all.

She sounds like a responsible business owner and pet owner.

Let’s read the reaction in the comments on Reddit.

She’s being a responsible breeder.

Birds are a huge commitment.

Here’s more praise for her as a great breeder.

The friend doesn’t sound like a good bird owner.

Her friend clearly doesn’t want this bird badly enough.

And it sounds like she doesn’t deserve one, either.

If you enjoyed that story, read this one about a mom who was forced to bring her three kids with her to apply for government benefits, but ended up getting the job of her dreams.