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A repairman’s professional opinion should settle a noise complaint, but for one condo owner, it barely made a dent.
Living on the top floor with her AC unit, she called out a repair technician the moment a downstairs neighbor complained her unit was “keeping her son awake,” only to be told the unit was old but functioning completely normally.
Still, the incessant complaints continued anyway, escalating into repeated confrontations and even a joint listening session with the building manager, who also agreed nothing was wrong with it.
So when it came time to sell, the owner was forced to just give in to the neighbor, but years later, she wondered if she made the right decision.
Keep reading for the full dilemma.
Downstairs neighbor angry over my air conditioner running
Years ago, I was living in a condo on the top floor (3rd). All of the A/C units were in an alley by the condos on the bottom floor.
From the start, her neighbors seemed to have it out for her.
A woman who lived on the bottom floor let the building manager know that my unit was having issues and keeping her son up at night.
I immediately called out the repair man. He said there was nothing wrong with the unit. He said that it was an older unit (same as all of the others except maybe one or two).
Eventually, the issue was cleared, but the neighbor was still on her neck about it.
He did not recommend doing anything to it. I let the building manager know.
This woman was not happy. She continued to complain and confronted me in the building multiple times. The manager asked me to go with him to listen to the unit.
You could definitely tell it was old, but it was not unusually loud.
This neighbor’s concern really didn’t make a lot of sense.
Well, at some point it comes out that the unit is right outside of her son’s window, and they do not use A/C ever, so he has to have his window open at night.
It would not matter whose unit was there, it was going to wake him up unless it was brand new.
Still, the neighbor wouldn’t let up.
Soon I had to travel for work, and some friends moved into my place. The woman started calling my home number to complain. Finally, she called at 3am and my friend told her off.
Finally, the condo owner was forced to give in.
By that time I knew I was going to sell, and that a new unit would help with the sale, so I had it put in. There was about a year with my friends there and the old unit in.
I always felt like I buckled under the pressure. She chose to buy the condo by the A/C units, and she chose to make her child sleep with the window open.
But I did not want to have a constant battle.
This neighbor is clearly just used to getting whatever she wants.
What did Reddit think?
This user thinks this condo owner made the right choice.
At least some neighbors know when to give up the fight.
This neighbor could have taken a lot more responsibility.
There are unique trade-offs depending where you live in a building.
If you enjoyed this post, check out this story about a feud that starts between neighbors after one reports an illegal drainage issue and the other can’t let it go.
Some people don’t fight for the truth; they fight to win, and this neighbor clearly fell into the second category.
Two separate confirmations that the unit was fine should’ve been enough for anyone actually interested in a fair outcome, but she wasn’t looking for facts; she was looking for someone else to absorb the consequences of her own choices.
Rather than run her own AC or close a window, she decided it was easier to make an entire building’s worth of noise complaints someone else’s problem for months on end.
Caving wasn’t fair, but sometimes the fastest way out of someone else’s drama is just giving them what they want and walking away.
