Maintaining a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship can be difficult, and keeping promises is essential for a healthy relationship. When a verbal promise is broken, it usually results in an argument or some tension. However, one woman in New Zealand took it much further. She took her boyfriend to court for not taking her to the airport, demonstrating how seriously she values both punctuality and promises.
According to The Guardian, a New Zealand woman has taken her long-term boyfriend to a dispute tribunal for breaching a “verbal contract” by failing to take her to the airport, resulting in her missing a flight to a concert and forcing her to delay her travel by one day. The woman told New Zealand's dispute tribunal that she had been in a relationship with the man for six and a half years until the disagreement arose.
As per a Thursday-released tribunal judgement that did not reveal the woman's identity, she was supposed to go to a concert with her friends. Her partner agreed to drive her to the airport and stay at her home to take care of her two dogs during her absence.
The day before, she sent him a message letting him know that she needed to be picked up between 10:00 and 10:15. But he never showed up, so she missed her trip.
The woman incurred costs due to her boyfriend's failure to take her to the airport, including next-day travel, a shuttle, and kennel fees. She also sought reimbursement for a holiday ferry ticket she bought for him. Despite her claim of a verbal contract, the tribunal ruled it unenforceable without intent for a “legally binding relationship.”.
“Partners, friends, and colleagues make social arrangements, but it is unlikely they can be legally enforced unless the parties perform some act that demonstrates an intention that they will be bound by their promises,” tribunal referee Krysia Cowie wrote.
“When friends fail to keep their promises, the other person may suffer a financial consequence, but it may be that they cannot be compensated for that loss. There are many examples of friends who have let their friend down; however, the courts have maintained that it is a non-recoverable loss unless the promise went beyond being a favour between friends and became a promise that they intend to be bound by," she further said.
