Well, there was a reason she was sent to a nursing home...

Aaaand she gets a free pass, because she's old.

That was friggin' precious. By the way, you were bustin' your ass for pay, not the old lady, so screw you.

Seriously, while I agree that it's great to volunteer and help people out without expecting anything in return, you guys are really missing the point. She didn't ask him to volunteer. She asked to hire him. And then backed out on her side of the deal. Either she's so senile that she's completely out of touch with reality, or she knows that she can use that excuse to exploit and manipulate people. If this had been anyone other than a little old lady (say, he'd helped a neighbor move and was "paid" in pizza when that wasn't the original deal) you wouldn't cut the other person any slack. If the lady was senile than it's not really her fault, but this guy still got screwed over. FYL.

aw poor me I didn't get any money for helping an old lady move her stuff. ugh you make me sick! you are so greedy! just be happy that you helped an elder during her time of need.

YDI for not specifying a price beforehand.

Look, I feel really bad for the lady too, it really stinks that she has to move into a nursing home. Plus, since she had to get someone she doesn't even know to help her move her stuff it seems like her family doesn't really care about her and that is awful. However, if someone is told they are going to be paid they should be paid. It is reasonable to assume that you will be paid in standard currency or at the very least given something of actual value (not just sentimental). It was wrong of the lady to give him just a car when he spent four hours doing manual labor, where had he used his time somewhere else he would have been compensated. It would have been really nice of him to do it for free, I totally advocate charity and selflessness, but you don't know his position. What if he needs to pay his bills and he is doing odd jobs? Perhaps he really needed the money. Lastly, everyone who assumes she is just a silly old lady is stereotyping. This woman could be in full mental health and knew she could get away with it. Don't just assume he is the bad guy because he wants to be paid for an honest day's work and she is a poor, old, senile lady.

He still should have agreed on a price though if he was really doing it for the pay. What if she had given you a dollar, would you have been happy? Technically, that would be payment. There are too many FML's (mostly babysitting) where the OP didn't settle a price beforehand.

don't worry, you did something nice. Good karma :)

You did something nice at least. There doesn't always have to be a reward.