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

goldfishimon

Wow, there are some strong views...
IMHO if someone breaks something of yours then they should pay to replace it. Not just give you one of their cast offs. However if the colleague will not accept responsibility then you cant do anything about it..

We cant second guess as to the motives behind your colleague picking up your phone, or the strictness of your office on whether you are allowed a personal mobile or not. Some places don't mind at all. The simple facts and information you have given are that your colleague damaged your property.

The phone cost you £500 a year ago and you managed not to break it all that time, so I dont think you are that silly for not having insurance. Phone insurance is very expensive and you have probably saved yourself £10-£15 per month for not having it..

The cost of the phone has probably depreciated a lot by now, so why not investigate the cost of a replacement or a refurbished/second hand one, and ask the colleague to pay towards one of them. Its not the ideal but as some one else said - you cant FORCE the colleague to pay.. Unless you get them arrested for criminal damage lol!
You might be better off getting whatever cash you can from your work mate and topping the rest up yourself. Otherwise you could end up with nothing..

Its a tough one and I hope you get it sorted out. But if she wont admit responsibility then there is really no way of winning this situation.

stewgreen

I liked the comment in the Guardian thread, "thank your colleague profusely for : destroying your phone & therefore bringing you back to the real world."

istorey

If you could afford £500 for the phone and not pay a pittance for the insurance cover you are a plonker. Leave the girl alone and get a life!

WillBanyard

She should offer to pay for it, but as savvy money savers, you have another option. Go to a big chain shop with poor customer service and buy a brand new phone of the same type, which of course will come with some kind of short term guarantee. Before this guarantee ends, take back your old phone and get a full refund.

Expensive phones are for those who can afford them.

warychick

Too right she should pay for it! Rule one of an open plan office, never ever ever, under any circumstances invade someone's personal space! That includes touching someone's personal property. Would she have gone in your bag to answer it if it had been in there?
Yes, of course it would help if it had been insured, but that's not the issue. The issue is a colleague interfering and then not being willing to pay for her carelessness. Pursue her for the cash in every way you can! She won't make the same mistake again!

LilStar25

Yes, she should pay, or at least half!
So you didn't have insurance, so what, you shouldn't have to insure your phone in case some else decides to pick it up themselves and then drop it.
Really, she shouldnt have answered it, she should have left it.
And £500 for a phone, yes it is a lot of money, but iphones these days are that money, why shouldnt you have a nice phone?!
Ask her for either half the money you paid or pay for it to be repaired!

mannyb_2

Why wasn't your phone away in your bag/ locker/drawer? Surely if you're in work you're there to work not answer personal calls etc on YOUR mobile?! If you are allowed to keep them handy, perhaps it should have been on 'silent' and perhaps you wouldn't be in this predicament.

dave82_2

WillBanyard wrote: »

She should offer to pay for it, but as savvy money savers, you have another option. Go to a big chain shop with poor customer service and buy a brand new phone of the same type, which of course will come with some kind of short term guarantee. Before this guarantee ends, take back your old phone and get a full refund.

Expensive phones are for those who can afford them.

1. This sounds more like fraud than money saving!
2. Guarentees don't usually cover damage
3. Even if you feel comfrotable doing this an item like a phone will have a unique code called an IMEI number no matter how bad their customer service they will not accept the exchange.

FIK

If you have your phone at work it should maybe be on silent? It was an accident and she was trying to do you a favour. You have no moral or legal right to ask her to pay anything. Perhaps you should send it to be repaired under the warranty. They will tell you if the issue is because it was dropped.

If you try to push this then everyone you work with will think your an idiot. Knobody likes a rich cheapskate?

purplepegasus25

I dont normally reply to these but so many of the responses amazed me that I felt I had to.

1. There's no mention of whether the phone ringing was on silent or not. I dont disagree that personal phone calls at work can be a pest and that they should be on silent but sometimes people need to get hold of you during the day.

2. Just because OP opted to spend £500 on phone they're getting slated for a) doing just that and b) not insuring it.

I always used to have a PAYG sim and every 18 months or so (as the battery started to die) I'd buy myself a new phone. I've gone contract now so I could get an iphone without paying out up front for it but it maybe that the OP saved for ages to buy the phone they wanted/needed - there's a lot of people seeming to jump to the conclusion that OP has money to burn.

I did look at insuring my rather expensive phone (yes my choice to have) but I took the risk as I've never lost or broken my mobile before and as my property it is my responsibility and so I'd be careful where I left it/what I did with it. However if my phone was on my desk at work I wouldnt expect any of my work mates to touch it!

Yes this dilema is 'an accident' and I dont think OP has any hope of getting money for it - but shoudl investigate cost for getting fixed and then approach person again.

To those of you who suggested OP should have accepted offer of person's old phone and happen to have a nice car which might be worth more money than others may have spent would you expect someone to damage it and offer you an old one or only a token amount of money? (Yes I know then you'd hope the damage was done from another car so you could claim on their insurance but if it was a kid on a bike you'd be as miffed!!)