Real life MMD: She broke my phone — should I make her pay?

lkate

thegrifter wrote: »

What seems to me to be the general trend running through this thread is an incredible amount of JEALOUSY....so she has a £500 phone, !!!!!!, so has many other people or they wouldn't exist.

Why should the OP have to pay for insurance if she takes care of her possessions? It strikes me that maybe the person who dropped it should have some kind of insurance.......if she can't pick up a phone without dropping it she's a high risk liability... she should have left well alone or stump up.

Personally, if I was taking care of something I had spent that much money on I would never have it off my person or leave it on my desk within reach of others unless I was actually at my desk.
For instance, the only time I ever take my iPad out of the house is when I'm going to my partners house. And even then I keep it close to me in my hand bag and only if I am going straight there.

This who world of insurance and liability and suing is just ridiculous these days. Especially when it's over dropping a mobile phone? Accidents happen. If you want to avoid an accident then don't leave you possessions laying around in reach of other people whilst you're at work.
Have you thought that maybe her co-worker was doing her a favour?

2dachs

I've just purchased one the Nokia Lumia phones and it cost me just under £500, i purchased it to treat myself as i've had my last Nokia 7100 Supernova for two and a half years and wanted an up to date mobile with all the exras that i have not been used to and it has a manufacturers guarantee of 2 years, i would check my guarantee if i were you to see if yours is also longer.

Mine is a sim free mobile not on pay as you go or on never never ending contract.

I have had my phone added on the home contents but i have not taken a seperate policy for it.

I have my phone by the side of my desk and if my mobile went off either at the side of me or whether i was at the other side of the room i would not expect any one to touch it, i would not touch theirs so why should they touch mine?

Then again i know people whos work places do not allow them on their person while at work at all.

I would expect the person to buy the same make or model to replace it or to offer a payment or replacement of the equal value of what the phone is now worth.

Failing that if she has a mobile then i'd wait until they have gone out of the room ,bathroom etc and place it in a nice cup of water or coffee or even borrow hers and drop it down the loo whooops... revenge is so sweet:rotfl:

SaverSharon

I think most people on here are crazy!!

Loads of phones are £500 such as the Iphone and I defo think that she should pay for it, you didn't ask her to touch it she did it broke....simple

Don't think just cos something is sitting on your desk she has the right to touch it!

bulletproof_1979

I feel sorry for those who're saying the OP shouldn't have had the personal phone on them at work - are your workplaces really so old fashioned/strict? It's like people who say they are forced to wear shirt and tie at their offices - in this day and age...

noncemale

Accidents happen. The colleague was trying to do you a favour.

Whatever people might think of your decision to buy a £500 mobile, it was your personal choice. Not to ensure it and to leave it hanging around was your personal choice too. I'm afraid you now you have to take the consequences of your decisions.

Your colleague may offer to make some contribution towards the cost because she probably feels a little guilty but I don't see that she has any moral obligation to do so.

Anyway, how come a £500 phone cannot survive being dropped? How many storeys did it fall?

Mrs_Frontage

bulletproof_1979 wrote: »

I feel sorry for those who're saying the OP shouldn't have had the personal phone on them at work - are your workplaces really so old fashioned/strict? It's like people who say they are forced to wear shirt and tie at their offices - in this day and age...

It's called "Being professional"!! Whilst I am at work I have to give 100% to my clients and my company! I do have a personal mobile phone which is kept in my handbag for safe keeping and if it rings I ignore it. Mobile phones are equipped with wonderful things called 'voicemail' which means you can deal with the caller at a convenient time. We seem to live in a world now where if the phone goes off we have to drop everything and answer it! I had a mother who had queued a long time to see me, her phone went off and she then left her child unattended in front of me and wondered off talking to a friend! How rude and also no regard for the safety of the child!

assessor69

If you choose to save money by not paying for insurance then you are in a position of 'self insure'. If it gets lost, stolen or broken then you pay. Sorry but it's a fact of life. I hate insurance companies, as a matter of principle, but if I had to have the most expensive phone I could find, then even I would take out insurance. Even then you would probably find that the insurance company would do all in it's power not to pay out.:(

John_Pierpoint

Mrs_Frontage wrote: »

I had a mother who had queued a long time to see me, her phone went off and she then left her child unattended in front of me and wondered off talking to a friend! How rude and also no regard for the safety of the child!

Careful, you owe a far higher duty of care to a child, insured or not, in public or private places.

This one could really have serious consequences, especially if one attempted to flush it down the toilet.:eek::rotfl::eek:

Then the child picks up the phone and and drops it in the toilet - the plot thickens.

pineapple

KxMx wrote: »

I agree she shouldn't have picked it up. But accidents do happen and the responsibility lies with you to insure yourself against such things.

I agree. For me, it's always a bit of a dilemma when a colleague's mobile rings. Personally I don't pick it up - unless I know they are expecting an important call. Whatever - don't buy an expensive mobile and leave it lying round work. Should you even be using it at work? Simples.

h15t0r1an

It seems to me that your colleague was trying potentially to obey a rule of the employer (e.g. no mobiles in office during work hours) or perhaps just to ensure the efficient running of the office by answering your phone and stopping the ringing disturbing others.

Does your employer therefore have any insurance you could claim this accidental damage on? or would the employer be willing to contribute all or part, perhaps by way of an expense claim?

If not then the fact that the phone went down the following day - and not at the time - makes it all murkier. perhaps the phone would have gone down anyway, could be a defensible position. Either way as the damage was surely not intentional I believe to ask your colleague to pay is a very sticky one, however justified you may be. I'd try to find another alternative.