Birthday gifts should be a gesture of love, not a transaction.

So when one college student’s parents gifted her cash, only to turn around and ask for it back for bills, her birthday celebration took a frustrating turn.

Did she overreact, or were her parents incredibly rude?

Read on for the full story!

AITA for complaining about my birthday gift

So I just turned 19, and my parents gave me a birthday party that was a cookout with my family and my best friend.

I enjoyed it, and then when I opened gifts, I got cash from all my family.

My parents’ present was $200.

It was soon clear that the present came with a catch.

After the rest of my family was gone, except my friend, they requested $280 to pay for my phone bill for four months.

When I gave it to them, I complained that it felt kind of like a non-birthday gift because they gave me money only to then request the money—plus extra—to pay for my phone bill for four months.

When I complained about this, they yelled at me and called me greedy while my friend was here, so I was embarrassed about getting yelled at in front of my friend.

Now she’s questioning if maybe they’re right.

They then proceeded to slam the door and get in the car to go complain about me to my grandparents.

Which I feel like I should be grateful because they are paying for most of my college and my car insurance, so was I being a greedy AH?

Expecting a birthday gift to actually feel like a gift shouldn’t be too much to ask.

What did Reddit think?

The timing was all wrong on the parent’s part.

This is just simply not how you give a gift.

There are so many other ways her parents could have gone about this.

Don’t her parents realize how expensive being a college student can be?

Her parents were the ones crossing the line, not her.

If you liked that story, read this one about grandparents who set up a college fund for their grandkid because his parents won’t, but then his parents want to use the money to cover sibling’s medical expenses.