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

telsco

Don't you watch Judge Judy? These sort of small claims are always on there.

If it was just your colleagues decision to pick up the phone then she should pay £500. If you had asked her to pick it up, then its partly your fault for putting her in that position and she should only pay £250.

Even if it was insured she should pay - why should you take the hit for someone else's mistake?

If she has a problem paying then ask her to pay in instalments otherwise the next thing you'll know is she'll be going on a summer holiday to Florida with the money she should have given you.

thegrifter

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.

zeegee1339

As far as I have studied the law, even the law requires to take appropriate measures to reduce your liabilities even if the other person is at fault.

Apart from the matter of the law, be prepared to have your image tarnished forever with your work colleagues if you do pursue her to pay.

redfragglebiker

Am I missing a trick here. Making the assumption that this was in a pretty standard normal UK office then how on EARTH did this woman break a phone by dropping it. Unless he is the crazy mad 16 ft tall woman I cannot see how dropping a phone on a carpet is going to magically make it stop working. The OP states that the phone was also purchased last year so they seem to be getting the purchase price confused with the actual value of the phone. Why not take the phone to its original place of purchase and ask them to quote for a repair. It's likely to be substantially less than a brand new replacement phone. I also agree that whilst the OP shouldn't necessarily HAVE to have insurance if he/she is careful with their things it is incredibly short-sighted not to realise that accidents out of their control may happen and damage property.

Beerbottle

Shoulda got insurance... (in the shoulda gone to Specsavers style)

Fujiko

FIK wrote: »

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?

It seems people are now so obsessed with their mobile phones that they cannot function without them, but judging by the trivia one hears on the train or in the street none of these conversations is urgent, and one place where they should not be used is while you are at work. As to an uninsured £500 mobile phone the old proverb about a fool and his/her money comes to mind - especially as it appears to be so easily broken.

florere

You brought a £500 phone and it wasn't insured, what was she supposed to do, leave the phone to ring until you had time to answer it, she was trying to be helpful. It's your fault for not insuring it, I suggest you either buy a £12 phone or you buy insurance. If you can't afford insurance you can't afford a flash phone.:mad:

golddustmedia

It may have cost £500 a year ago but its not worth that now!

Maybe find out the cost of repair or the cost of a 2nd hand identical replacement via ebay? It's probably now only worth £150!

happyinflorida

What an idiot you are having a phone worth £500 with no insurance. Learn from this and if you're going to buy something that is so expensive in future, make sure you've got insurance for it.

Have you got contents insurance? Check if your phone is covered on that first too.

No I wouldn't make a work colleague pay for a new phone - when it's cost that much. Not many people have a phone worth that amount, so she shouldn't be expected to repay you for it. It was an accident after all and she was trying to help you.

Get the phone checked first as if it was working at first and stopped the next day it may be nothing to do with what she did to it.

If you make her pay, you could end up with a lot of hassle at work from other people - do you want that?

I think you're being totally unreasonable. Learn from this - don't leave valuables lying around and switch your phone off at work - then this won't happen again will it?!

yorkshireman99_2

I wouldn't ever consider touching anybody else's mobile phone. I think she should pay for a new one - but one priced sensibly - say £200. Whoever needs a phone costing £500? Perhaps it is just a boy's toy to show off to your mates. Get real.