The holidays are usually associated with generosity, but that doesn’t extend to skipping the bill for services that were already provided, like professional Christmas light installation.
A recent TikTok video from Seattle-based holiday lighting installer Dylan Thornsberry (@dylanthorns) went viral after he described a situation most people haven’t heard of before: repossessing Christmas lights. The video has racked up more than 1.2 million views.
How Does Something Like This Even Happen?
In the video, Thornsberry, the founder of Christmas Northwest, sits in his car explaining that one customer never paid their invoice.
“We have one customer this year who hasn’t paid their bill for holiday lights,” he says. “Their card keeps getting declined.”
Thornsberry says his team tried calling and texting the customer multiple times, but stopped getting responses. “At this point, they’re just ignoring me,” he adds.
With no communication and no payment, he explains what his team decided to do next.
“We went to the house, we knocked on the door, nobody was home,” he says. “So what we did is we simply cut the plug in their lights.”
According to Thornsberry, the team unplugged the display just hours before filming the video. They planned to wait and see if the homeowner reached out.
“We’re gonna see if they hit us up, but their lights aren’t working,” he says. “Pay the invoice, or if they just continue to ignore us, at some point we’re gonna go back and repossess the lights.”
Commenters Disagree
In the comments, some viewers thought Thornsberry should forgive the debt in the spirit of the holidays. Others sided firmly with the installer.
“Not me thinking you were going to just wipe their debt clean,” one person wrote.
“Repo Christmas lights are CRAZY!” another said.
“And this is how THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS,” a third joked.
In a follow-up video, Thornsberry responded to the criticism, saying he doesn’t believe the family is struggling financially. He claimed the home is worth “two and a half million dollars” and that there was “a brand-new Porsche in the backyard.” As of his latest update at the time of writing, he says they still haven’t paid.
“Having Christmas lights hung on your home by a professional company is a luxury,” another commenter pushed back. “This man does not owe them anything. Pay the damn bill.”
“Nothing more embarrassing than getting Christmas lights repossessed like a car,” someone else added.
BroBible reached out to Christmas Northwest for comment via its contact form.
What To Do If Something Similar Happens
Small businesses run into many challenges, one of which is dealing with clients who refuse to pay. This is common among creative freelancers, but it also happens with at-home services.
For example, a landscaper recently said she ripped out the grass from a client’s yard after the homeowner allegedly refused to pay. Similarly, a contractor in Australia smashed a concrete driveway they had laid after a payment dispute.
According to NextInsurance, if you’ve exhausted steps like talking to the client and trying to find a reasonable solution, you can consider settling the matter in small claims court.
If you choose to go the legal route, having a written contract that outlines what both parties agreed to can be crucial, experts say. Without one, it often becomes a matter of one person’s word against the other’s, making it harder for a court to rule.
For future jobs, experts recommend using legally binding agreements and requesting a 10–50% deposit upfront.