Real Life MMD: My son broke boy's glasses - should I pay?

elisebutt65

Actually I remember the original post and it turned out that the broken glasses were NHS free ones and the Parents decided to replace them with £100 worth of designer ones and get the OP to cough up towards them. No extras were required - like fancy lenses etc - They just wanted posh frames and used the play fight as an excuse.

Key point missed off here is that the parents waited 3 months, whilst junior went without glasses, to get this all sorted out.

They should really give all the facts in these MMDs

durezz

petaldust wrote: »

i work for specsavers. They will replace broken or lost glasses belonging to anyone under 16 for free on the nhs. So i don't know what the parents are trying to demand money for.

youv got your answer!

LeonV

As a response to Why the government should be responsible for glasses: The gov is not responsible for glasses, it just helps you being responsible taking away excuses, "I didn't know, there is no help!" etc..
We have a national health system, a system that helps but will not replace the parent. Working people contribute to it monthly... It is the least we can do.

It's the parent's responsibility to instil whats moral, healthy, reasonable, acceptable, to the child.
I use the word instill, not teach. it can be taken as you want.

It is not as simple as "yes you pay" or "no you don't". Ask the child, does it feel it needs to pay and why. This is the most important thing, making it part of it. You will be surprised how high the moral fiber of a kid is, it might teach you a lesson rather than the opposite. By letting the child teach you a thing or two, you instil some self respect into it.

jgriggle

ISAmad wrote: »

Seriously, why in Britain in the 21st Century is the government using taxes to give children 'free' glasses? Britons are amongst the richest people in the world. I presume this parental perk is open to all parents regardless of income?!

It's quite ridiculous that the government should be responsible for buying, repairing and replacing children's glasses.

ISAmad, you know this is MoneySavingExpert and not the Daily Mail website don't you?!

With regards to the dilemma, it may be that the parents are unaware that their child is entitled to a repair or replacement for free.

Tell them, and if they still demand the money (probably as 'compensation') then you know exactly the sort of people you're dealing with and should tell them to go whistle for it.

happyinflorida

What an absolute cheek these parents have got!

Get their bullying older kid dealt with by the school immediately.

Kids get their glasses free-tell them this & to go & get their free glasses & that you will happily pay half towards their free glasses!

If that doesn't shut them up refer them to the police for demanding money with menaces!

What are some parents like nowadays - really, really awful!

POPPYOSCAR

Petaldust wrote: »

I work for Specsavers. They will replace broken or lost glasses belonging to anyone under 16 for free on the NHS. So I don't know what the parents are trying to demand money for.

Even if they are not the NHS free ones?

Chipping

As long as both kids were equally messing about when the glasses broke (i.e one was not picking on the other):

Children damage things all the time, its the child's and the child's parents' responsibility. It appears the other parents are trying to shirk their own responsibility and at the same time opening up the school to administrative work in sorting this out and also legal claims. This is abhorrent as schools are usually cash strapped and don't need to be expending money and staff time in dealing minor nuisance claims like this.

I would at least deal with the matter by showing some level of involvement, show that you are willing to help (rather than just saying no). Offer to pay 50% or the value of the specs at the time they were broken. Therefore, get a copy of the purchase receipt, calculate depreciation of the specs over the time (as per insurance companies), and then deduct say 50% (total guess) of that value for the pre-existing damage. Then offer to pay 50% of the remaining amount as your share. This will probably end up being very small. Put the offer in a letter to the parents (mention depreciation has been accounted for). Mention that they should be able to get free replacement specs using an NHS contribution available at most opticians. In addition, I would mention you would like to minimise the effort the school has to endure for this minor matter as it affects their ability to educate the children.

I would also mention the bullying from the older son and that if that happens again you will, reluctantly, have to report it to the police.

xstitchcrazee

I wouldn't pay.
They were play fighting it was an accident. If the parents then choose to buy designer frames, that is down to them!!
My daughter when she was in yr 8 accidently dropped her glasses, bent down to retrieve them but not before a vindictive yr 10 student trod on them breaking them beyond repair. I have always had to pay for her frames, because when she started to wear glasses she was the same size as myself and none of the childrens frames fitted her. I did however receive the standard NHS voucher towards the cost of them. I paid for the new glasses without another thought. She needed them to see her work, therefore they are a necessity.

chrisjw37

Guess where the boy got his bullying skills from?

The parents.

- Stand fast, offer to pay if they can show depreciation over time and current market value as per a car when its damaged - you never get a new car!

- Ask for compensation for your sons mental and physical damage also - its worth thousands in court!

- Childrens glasses are free on the NHS, not BUPA which they may have if rich brat bully, or are no brain Chavs
in which case a new ferrit would be more useful to poach rabbits for tea with.


It happened to me when I was 14, the father bought us off so his son could have an uninterrupted chance of a foreign office career.
The Police wanted to prosecute the bully - he went on to bully his way through life at every opportunity; but could afford to buy the victims off.

Don't let these nasty people off the hook.

LennyB

We had a similar incident. We were away with friends and out of the blue one of the boys decided to throw a cushion at my daughter as she was watching a dvd. They snapped in half, which apart from anything else must have really hurt my daughter.
The glasses were new, they cost £55 for the frames although the lenses were provided free by the NHS.
First of all my daughter received no apology from the boy and we received no apology from the parents and there was no offer to pay anything towards a replacement pair. We were so stunned we didn't ask for any contribution but I haven't spoken to the friends since.